As we mentioned in one of our earlier posts, we have been feeling the occasional urge for some decent pizza out here, and have largely been frustrated in our efforts. Back in London, we used to enjoy a Dominos pizza now and again: our local branch in Hackney was newly-open and not too busy, so orders never took more than 20 minutes to arrive and were always piping hot. We had even taken advantage of their highly dangerous text message service: simply send them a text saying “the usual” and hey presto, your order is placed. How marvellous. I am also missing a great deal my weekly lunch trip to Pizza Express with the lovely Mrs Murrells, who I used to work with. We would always each have the same pizza every time and then sit and ridicule the senior management for an hour before trudging back for more punishment.
Well, enjoying a good pizza is not so easy out here, you may not be surprised to learn. There is a pizza place in Brantôme called Le Vieux Four (The Old Oven), which caught our eye when we were out there looking for a spot of lunch a few weeks ago. It has Siren-like signs dotted about the town, promising freshly-prepared delights, open all year…. and it was closed. We walked by again a few times, but the one and only time we found it open, we weren’t hungry so didn’t go in.
A couple weeks later, there was the fab vinyard trip to the Duras region with Sharon and Oscar. Ready for lunch, we hit the town centre of Duras and immediately homed in on a sign for a pizzeria. “Finally”, we thought as we made our way to the door… which bore a sign telling us that no dogs were allowed inside. Merde, merde merde!
Well, today we are victorious! Le Vieux Four’s signs that state “open all year” could do with some added detail – such as “open all year, but only on Fridays” – that would have saved much heartache. Having got their hours sussed, we decided earlier in the week that we would give them a go at the weekend and take advantage of their takeaway service. Wohoo! Like nearly all companies out in France, they do not have a website (what is the French for “its the 21st bloody century for Christ’s sake?”) but we called them up a couple hours ago and ordered a pizza each and one for Sharon. They were amazing! Freshly cooked in a traditional stone oven, thin-crust, fresh ingredients… We ate the lot and are MUCH happier now! Mmmmmmmmm pizza….