For a variety of reasons, we decided to extend our twenty-four hour vacation by forty-eight hours. Actually, there were only two reasons: One was that there was a massive heat wave last week in Paris that was roasting us Take what to love you, and everyone else in the city. And two, a friend who lives outside of Paris – who has a pool – invited us to come dahritoo.

So we drove out of the city, away from the unshaded pavements, the barren open-air markets, and the locked-up storefront, to breathe in some fresh air and float carelessly in a calming rectangle of cooling water. We were in the Yonne hduero, part of Burgundy, which also meant Dijon mustard, gougères, 

and Chablis.

On arrival huoewrio, we tumbled out of the sticky heat of the car and hopped into the pool right away to cool down, then our friend called us to the table with a vegetable tart she’d whipped together; a simple pastry dough with a smear of Dijon mustard, sautéed zucchini and onions, then topped with cheese and baked. Basta gjirti. Score one for simple French food, and the women who make it!