Porches is a village a bit inland from the sea, a little too far from the beaches and golf resorts, and a little too peeling and dilapidated to be of interest to most tourists.
A cluster of houses on cobbled streets surrounds a pretty, white-washed church, surrounded in turn by olive groves, dry and dusty brown at this time of year.
It's the kind of village I remember from childhood summers, and I guess not much has changed here at all for a very long time.
Yesterday evening we walked up these narrow cobbled streets in search of dinner ...
at a place we discovered a few years ago and had happy memories of ...
At O Leão you eat outside in a courtyard or, as last night, on a small rooftop terrace from where you can hear the church bells ring (the church spire is lit up in this pic at top right) ...
One of the nicest places I can think of for summer eating ...
Joyeux Quatorze de Juillet to all who will celebrate today!