So it's Valentine's Day, I'm in the (supposedly) most romantic country in the world and I'm invited over to chez mon chéri for the evening. Candlelit dinner? A dozen roses? Diamond ring? Erm... my 'present' was that he'd had a shave, and we ended up watching 'Fatal', a rap comedy starring Fatal Bazooka and a Paris Hilton lookalike. Better than a punch in the face I suppose.

Then came the beginning of what was a gastronomic three day feast. As GL's friend SH was over for a few days we decided to go out for dinner. We decided to have a burger at what is the only good place to have a burger in Montpellier (nay France; none of that steak haché rubbish). After a bit of hilarity when GL tried to read the entire menu to LA over the phone because she thought the kitchen might close, we made our choice. But I'd noticed everyone's meals were arriving with salad instead of the usual wedges; and sure enough they'd 'run out' of wedges. Obviously I was furious as this is also the only place to get good wedges (yes I am seriously missing carbs) so I made up for it with a brownie from Sucré Salé on the way home. The next night I was invited out with OL, where I enjoyed a poisson gratin and a bottle of Faugères; though apparently I have little to no skill when it comes to tasting wine correctly. The third night I received a text from YO asking me to a little known restaurant called McDonalds. And he paid for most of it with a voucher. YES. I'm just thankful we got to go to the Comédie and not the Gare. I did forgive him (kind of) as he was missing most of his friend's birthday and so had to eat quickly, and also because he gave me some of his mum's lovely veal in Basque sauce.

Saturday GL, SH and I went to Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, about an hour from Montpellier. Obviously the bus driver at the station had no idea how to get there and so asked his friend 'Jaques'. When we finally arrived it was beautiful, built along a valley. The streets are mostly too small for cars in the Medieval village and as it's a UNESCO sight it's pretty much unspoilt by the 800 people that live there. At first we couldn't find a restaurant that was open so we just went into the first place we came across. Unfortunately it turned out to be a cross between a café and a medieval cave. The couple that ran it seemed a bit odd and their wares included statues of dragons and pots of jam. We only stayed for a crêpe and made a hasty exit. We eventually managed to find the main square, where we had a pizza next to the abbey in the sunshine and then went for a stroll along Le Bout-du-Monde. Due to unsuitable footwear and the fact that we had to make sure we caught the only bus back to Montpellier at 17h, we didn't get to find out what was at the End of the World, but I'm eager to go back for another randonnée.