The marche nocturne season in the Perigord opened last night at the lovely 14th century bastide town of Beaumont. 

From 6 pm the old town square was filled with tables and benches and all around were kiosks selling grilled meats and sausages, salads and foie gras, cheese and strawberries, roasted legs and hocks of pork, barbecues of shrimp and ribs, ratatouille and fries.

This year, something new: chicken fajitas, Tex-Mex style. 

The wine stall sold bottles from the terrific Domaine de l'Ancienne Cure for a mere 7 euros and there was a live jazz-blues band. Five of us ate and drank very well and enjoyed a grand evening for about 15 euros a head. 

One can do this every day of the week and never need pay restaurant prices all summer. Mondays in Beaumont, Tuesdays in Eymet or Le Bugue, Wednesdays in Perigueux, Thursdays in St Cyprien, Fridays in Sarlat or le Buisson, Saturdays in Audrix and Sundas in Monbazillac or Limeuil.

I am back in the Perigord after a month of book tour in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and nearly two weeks of book tour in Canada. 

It all started in Montreal, where in my role as honorary ambassador for the Perigord I took part in the visit of the Dordogne tourist board to Canada to help promote the traveling exhibition of the Lascaux cave, now on display at the Centre de Sciences in Montreal. 

Then I was a guest speaker at Bloody Words, the Canadian crime writing festival in Toronto, before going on to give presentations at bookstores around Toronto and in Port Hope, Burlington and Etobicoke. 

After a month promoting Bruno in German, it makes an interesting change to do the same in both French and English in bilingual Canada. And once back in Perigord, the first stop was the literary festival at Champcenivel, a pretty village near Perigueux.