There are proper knives, a heavy pan that holds heat, a cafetière and a stovetop espresso pot. There is no microwave and no dishwasher. In a two-person apartment a dishwasher takes three days to fill and the space is better used for storage.
The layout is a galley, which is efficient for one cook and awkward for two. Open shelving above the counter keeps everything visible, and the things you reach for daily live at eye level rather than in a cupboard you have to learn.
The reason to cook here is the shopping. The covered market in the Bastide runs several mornings a week and is genuinely a working market rather than a tourist one - producers selling their own, prices marked, no English spoken at most stalls and none needed. There is also a supermarket five minutes away for the ordinary things.
What to buy: whatever the stall has most of. In spring that means asparagus and strawberries, in high summer tomatoes and melon, in autumn mushrooms and the first of the game. Buy less than you think and go back tomorrow, which is what everyone local does.
The building has no lift and the apartment is on the top floor. Worth knowing before you buy a case of wine at the market, though the man at the wine stall will happily hold it until you come back with the car.
