The Best Mussels in the World

We bought a kilo of mussels from this boat in Eden Harbour, New South Wales, last December. They had just been harvested from the mussel beds across the other side of the bay -- you can see them from the harbour. The owner assured me that he had just come back from Europe where he had tried the mussels everywhere, and he had travelled all over the world. These were undoubtedly the best mussels I would find anywhere. They were certainly very large and they were very good. Unfortunately, I'd had a stupendous eggs benedict breakfast at the Waterfront Café in nearby Merimbula, and couldn't really do the mussels justice at lunch time. They cost $10 a kilo (the equivalent of €7.85 -- normally I pay €5 or €6 per kilo at the fishmongers in Preuilly market, for mussels half the size and rope grown at La Rochelle.)

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We're Back!: We got back yesterday afternoon from a mini camping break in our newly acquired tent. Two points will be awarded to anyone who can guess where we went. Here are some clues:

• we saw rasta donkeys in pyjamas (1 bonus point if you can tell me what they are usually called in French.)
• we camped within the walls of one of the finest historic defensive complexes in France (1 bonus point if you can tell me the name of the architect).
• we ate lots of oysters.
• we saw rare birds breeding on saltmarsh.
• there were more bicycles than cars and every second shop was a bike hire place.

We had a great time although having a piece fall off the car on the motorway on the way home was not ideal. Fortunately Simon is the sort of bloke who has a toolbox full of random stuff, some of which might come in handy for any given emergency. Photos and blog posts to come.

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Quiz Results: chm is the winner with 3 points. He was the only one who correctly guessed the name of the place, and from there it was an easy step for him to get the architect. Second was Anton who got both bonus points, but did not guess the place. Third was Lady Justine, who I was very tempted to give an extra bonus point to as she was so close and had reasoned very well. She was the first to guess the donkeys.

Surprisingly, although several people guessed that the rasta donkeys were the breed called baudet de Poitou, and I have awarded them points, no one picked up on the 'in pyjamas' part. The phrase I was actually looking for is ânes en culottes, and you will find out why in a few days.

So, the answers to the questions are:

We went camping on Ile de Ré, inside the 17th century star fort created by Vauban around the town of Saint-Martin-de-Ré. The donkeys are a tourist attraction in the town and known as 'donkeys in trousers'.