Perle du Chine

Perigueux is our nearest city.  It has a centre full of medieval buildings, many of them now turned into shops, restaurants and flats.  It also has a beautiful cathedral.  We usually don’t see any of this, though,  when we have a day in Perigueux.  We shop at the supermarket just outside the main town, Mike gets a haircut and we have lunch at the Perle du Chine, the eat as much as you like Chinese restaurant next to C & A.    Which is what we did yesterday. 

Indian restaurants don’t do well in France.  I imagine that the French don’t like curries.  Chinese restaurants are popular, though.  The Perle du Chine was chocker yesterday.  The empty tables behind us in the photographs are there because we were put into the last unoccupied section of a very big restaurant.  Many of the diners eat in a polite French way.  They take a small plate and choose a little starter and then move onto a larger plate for their  main course and finish with a small dessert.  Others seem determined to get their monies worth. “Look at that man,” said Mike, “That’s his fourth helping at least”. He was a large man with a lot of space to fill.

I’m keen on the Perle du Chine.  The food is good – there are pretty pink and yellow lights on the ceiling and the waitresses are ace.  They rush round clearing tables and bringing drinks.  We always have our three courses in the polite, French way. Mike has a small pichet of wine and I have my pot of jasmine tea.   It’s becoming one of our institutions.