A couple of photo ops on the same day

Beets, or beetroot or silver beets, depending on where you come from, take a long time to cook. Here you can buy them already steamed, vacuum-packed in fours at the supermarket or individually from a market stall. I'm not sure where this one originated but, dressed with olive oil, its juices had Peter leaping for his camera the other lunch time. That night, the sky was a suitably beet-crimson and olive-oil-gold. 

Olive Oil, Airstreams, Gaston and Les Girls.

A half hour drive from Léran is a winding road that eventually ends at Belpayre, the hilltop farm owned by our friends Perry and Coline. Dotted around the main house are big silvery Airstream trailers. Take a look at them at www.belrepayre.com and guaranteed you'll want to rent one for a bit of retro camping. With its view of the countryside and the Pyrenees, the hot tub alone is worth the trip. 

Right now, in the field used for summertime cricket matches, Gaston and his 14 ewes are doing whatever it is that sheep do. Unlike most sheep, this flock is mostly dark brown and black with their tails left undocked. 

One of the reasons for our visit was to get our hands on some of the olive oil that comes from Perry and Coline's land in southern Spain. We tasted, and left with two litres, bright green, cloudy and so full of flavour we keep pouring saucers-ful to dip chunks of baguette into.