Stage 2: Monanco --> Brignoles

Today's stage moves into the Var départment and ends in Brignoles, where the counts of Provence built a summer residence in the 13th century.

In an ideal world, I'd be able to get my hands on beautiful, fresh, succulent, mussels on a July Sunday in Durham, NC. If so, I'd cook either Pot-au-Feu de Poison (fish stew) or Soupe aux Moules (mussel soup). But I think I'll need to take a rain check on that idea, and perhaps return to it later during the Tour.

Assuming that I can locate good tuna, here is my tentative menu for this evening:

• Salad de Tomates (Tomato salad)
• Civet de Thon (Tuna braised in red wine)
• Riz au Safran (Saffron rice)

Dessert is up in the air, perhaps a fresh cheese from Chapel Hill Creamery, maybe Petits Pots de Crème à l'Orange (Little pots of orange cream) ...

UPDATE: I did find five pounds of luscious mussels, and so here's what we ate:

• Green beans and anchoïade
• Soupe aux Moules (mussel soup)
• Carolina Moon cheese from Chapel Hill Creamery
• Melon and blackberries

The mussel soup was hearty and complex, appropriate for the colder-than-usual and wet weather here in Durham. I began with a mirepoix (leeks, carrots, and celery), which I later pureed; cooked the mussels in white wine and shelled all but two dozen; sauteed lardons (half-inch strips of bacon) and added diced leeks, carrots, and celery; finally combined everything and seasoned the soup.