“I actually tried this pinot gris just a couple of weeks ago. If it wasn’t such a silly undertaking to send a case of wine from here to France, I would have bought some.” She finds my gaze. “Is that wine okay with you?”

“Of course.”

She calls for Thomas and orders the bottle. When he comes back we order a couple of delicious-sounding dishes. Then I can’t hold my curiosity any longer.

“So, you googled me, huh?”

She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip and gives a slow nod. “Very interesting.”

“So now you know all about me and I don’t know anything about you.”

“You mean to say you didn’t google me? You, the journalist?” she says with a chuckle in her voice. “You keep surprising me.”

“You mean my ignorance about certain things?” I try to look apologetic. “I had a crazy day and…” I pause. “I don’t even know your last name.”

“It’s in the Airbnb reservation.” She holds up her glass of wine. “To my advantage in knowledge.”

I clink the rim of my glass against hers. “You really do have to tell me what you found out. I won’t be able to relax if you don’t.”

She takes a sip. “Hm, that’s really good.” Then puts her glass down and leans over the table a little. “You are Zoya Das, of the TV show with the same name. You’ve won numerous awards. You are actually a journalist and not, as you said, a TV presenter. You are an out and proud lesbian, who recently separated from her long-time partner. And you have no clue how to change the batteries in household appliances.” She slants back. “That’s about it.”

“All true.” I lean over the table a little as well. “You must have avoided certain websites.”

“I have a pretty good sense of what is true and what isn’t.”

“That’s an excellent quality to have.” I drink from the wine Camille has picked. It’s light and smooth and goes down well.

“Some things you have no choice but to learn. Not paying attention to gossip magazines is one of them.”

“Are prominent scientists often the subject of slander in France?” I ask.

“Only the ones going through a well-documented divorce from a high-profile politician.”

“Ah.” I could kick myself for not doing any research on her. “Is that why you needed to get away from it all?”

She nods. “This is my Eat, Pray, Love journey.” She smirks. “Except I drank more than I ate. I don’t actually pray and there have been no occurrences of romantic love, though I have fallen in love with your country a little.”