Perfect Peugeot

When I’m in France I drive a Peugeot which I lease from  Peugeot EuroLease in AuckIand.  I have been doing this for years so this is a shameless plug for EuroLease and the lovely Delwyn who is the person you call in Auckland, should you fancy zipping round Europe in a Peugeot of your own. If you're going to be in Europe for any length of time, I honestly can't see why you wouldn't lease – so much more convenient than public transport and so much cheaper than hiring a car, the cars are practically brand new and most of all the service is so fabulous, should you need it.  Think seaside, sunshine, oysters and fast cars!

I put Bouzigues, (oyster capitol of the South of France) into the Peugeot 308 GPS, picked my friends up and drove an hour and a half to the Mediterranean coast. When I made my TV series on the South of France I filmed a little oyster bar right on the Thau lagoon. You could literally walk out of the bar and have a swim, except you don’t because the water is full of oyster farms. Jean-Pierre and his pretty daughter Jeanne run this joint like real meridionals – with warmth and generous hospitality. The real secret to their fabulous briny oysters and seafood is that J.P. owns the oyster beds out front and the produce is desperately fresh. The best way to eat oysters is just with lemon juice or vinegar and shallots and when in this area, one drinks the lemony Picpoul de Pinet white wine, grown down the road in Mèze.  J.P. wasn’t sure I was getting the absolutely best view so he took us with our coffees up three flights of vertiginous stairs to his private deck where we could view Sète on the other side of the lagoon. Then we hopped in the Peugeot and it drove us home virtually by itself... n’est-ce pas!

Peta