mmm-yoso!!!

Carcassonne - More of La Cité and Lunch at Adelaide

After a wonderful night's sleep at the flat we were staying at, we were ready to do more exploring of La Cité. The previous day had been quite interesting with the medieval city almost empty. While it made exploring easy, it gave the place an almost eerie atmosphere.

There had been sporadic drizzles from the night before so we took our umbrellas with us. Instead of taking the same route up to Porte de l'Aude like the day before, we swung around the city. Passing Rue Trivalle where we had dinner the night before.

We took a walk down the street and did notice that many of the restaurants on the street were closed for the week.

We skirted past the hotels on Rue Gustave Nadaud and made our way to what is considered the main entrance to La Cité, Porte Narbonnaise.

The gate with two huge towers and drawbridge is quite impressive.

    As you walk to the gate you can't help but notice the bust to the right. Who is this you might ask? It is the bust of Lady Carcas, the namesake of the city. So, why is the city named after her? Well, according to legend, and yes it seems that this is a legend, while under the rule of the Saracens, the Franks under Charlemagne surrounded the city hoping to retake the city that was once theirs. At the point where the siege had gone on for over five years the citizens of the city were running low on food and water. Lady Carcas, the widow of the former chief requested an inventory. She was told that there was some grain left and a single pig. She ordered that the pig be launched at the Franks. Charlemagne seeing this pig launched toward his army believed that the city had enough surplus supplies that it could waste food, lifted the seige! As the Franks retreated Lady Carcas ordered the bells of the city to be rung, which led people to exclaim "Carcas sonne" - "Carcas Rings"! You gotta love it.

 One thing that is easily noticed as you cross the drawbridge into the city are all the formidable battlements and defenses. There's a huge metal gate to crush you, notice the curve as you cross into the city, that serves a defensive purpose as well; to slow you down as you attacked the city.

The place was very quiet, just as the day before. The intermittent drizzle set the mood as we walked along the cobblestones, winding streets, passing medieval structures. Even the TI was closed!

Though unlike the previous day, some of the shops were open or opening.

And the Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus was open as well, so we decided to take a look.

We spent a good amount of time walking the avenues of La Cité and before we knew it, the clock stuck noon. We were lucky enough to notice that one of the places I had on my "list", Adelaide was open! So, we headed on in.

The place had just swung open its doors for the day, so we were the first customers.

The folks were very mellow and friendly, of course there was one key item on the menu that the Missus was raring to try. 

We started with some salads, not "just greens" mind you. The Missus got the Foie Gras mi Cuit de Maison (22€).

We loved the greens here, crisp, fresh, tossed with a nicely balanced vinaigrette. Of course, you're wondering how the foie gras was, right? Well it was quite good, somewhat rustic, light funky-offal tones, that caramelized onion jam was the perfect foil for it.

I got the Salad Adelaide (17€)

  Which included the same salad, some fois gras, but much more. There was a nice cured duck breast and more importantly, what you see at the bottom of the plate in the photo above, Gesiers de Canard, duck gizzards. I had really enjoyed the version we'd had in Sarlat la Caneda years ago and couldn't wait to try this. We could not believe how tender these were, they basically melted in your mouth. Loved the flavor we call "funky-ducky", it was so good!

And the Missus and I split a main, the house specialty and one of the reasons we traveled to this area; the Cassoulet (15€).

 Man, this was not to our liking. It was super salty, the duck confit dry, the sausage tough and bland, and worst of all the beans were hard and undercooked. I did appreciate the piece of pork rind at the bottom of the pan. But overall, this was not very good.

Man, after those salads our hopes were high, but the cassoulet had us crashing to the earth. There were two other couples in restaurant as we left and we noticed they were having cassoulet as well. I'm wondering how they fared. Well, at least the price at 15 Euros for the cassoulet was not bad.

Adélaïde
5 Rue Adélaïde de Toulouse
11000 Carcassonne, France

As we made our way back to the Porte Narbonnaise, we ran into a few people.

We had enjoyed our time in La Cité, but it was still mid-afternoon and I could tell the Missus wanted to do more.

So now what to do?

Stay tuned!

Montpellier - Antigone, L'Arbre Blanc, Dinner at Le Bouchon Saint Roch, and Maison Bonnaire

As we were trying to decide what do for the afternoon it started drizzling. But that didn't deter us once we made a decision. I knew the Missus got Her fill of the Old Town, so how about checking out the "Neoclassical" side of Montpellier? We decided to take a walk to Antigone. Heading thru the Polygone Shopping Center.

Much of Antigone was designed in the Neoclassical style by Spanish Architect Ricardo Bofill. There are some pretty grand structures.

That's the huge Place de l’Europe.

It was quite grand. Though all the restaurants seemed very corporate and chain like in the area.

As we crossed the Lez River we came across the most distinctive building, which the Missus called "the White Cactus".

   This "interesting" building is L’Arbre Blanc designed by Japanese Architect Sou Fujimoto. It drew the Missus and I like moths to a flame! We didn't quite know if we liked it or hated it. And it seems many feel the same way, see the comments for this article. Still, once you see it, you'll never forget it. In fact, after I got home, I watched an episode of House Hunters International. I really don't watch a whole lot of television, but I will watch some episodes of HHI to see cities that we've visited. And guess what? It was taken in Montpellier (and the couple was moving from San Diego)! Plus, Adrian Leeds cracks me up. Anyway, one of the properties shown was a unit in the white spiked bladder stone porcupine!

We headed back thru Place de Thessalie.

And Polygone Shopping Center.

Where we stopped by the madhouse of a pharmacy for some eye solution.

And then back to the apartment where we took a break. For dinner, much like our last two getaway meals in Paris, I wanted something a bit more traditional.  A Boullion or Bouchon would seem like a good bet. So, of course I went to this older Montpellier post from Edible Reading, where I saw a mention of a place named Le Bouchon Saint Roch. I went ahead and made a reservation for 7pm online before we left on our trip. Of course, 7pm is almost an ungodly, early dining time....and would severely interrupt the heart of "apero time" in France!

And of course, when we arrived the place was empty.

The dining room was decorated in what we might call almost "stereotypical brasserie le cochon" as piggy posters and art was everywhere. And of course, the red checkered tablecloths and all that....

The two folks working were quite cheerful! As with the name, the restaurant's menu leaned Lyonnaise.

The Missus wanted some Escargot (9,€ ). I remember those days when the Missus (thought) She hated escargot; until our first meal in Dijon. She's been on the escargot wagon even since then!

This was decent; though we prefer a stronger garlicky-olive oil-parsley flavor. You know, because half of the enjoyment is dipping your bread into the drippings. The gastropods were on the chewy side, but acceptable. The plain salad had a decent Balsamic dressing.

We also got the "Oeuf Poché à la Crème de Morilles, Parmesan et Ses Toasts" (11,€), whew talk about a mouthful! Basically poached egg in morel creme with Parmesan and toast.

That sauce with a bit of cheese on the toasts was really nice. Good earth-slightly sweet mushroom tones, perfectly salty, the egg added an additional layer of creaminess and egginess to the dish.

We got a third starter, the Bone Marrow (10,€).

Man, this was so creamy and savory. Perfect amount of salt and the toasts and even more bread was needed to finish this!

About this time folks started arriving; several groups of students....most of them got burgers; go figure!

The Missus and I split a main; the "Quenelle de Brochet Sibilia, Sauce Nantua, Riz, Poêlée de Légumes" (19,€). The Missus really enjoyed the Quenelle we had when visiting Lyon so we ordered this.

The darkness of the Nantua sauce threw us off a bit; but it was pretty tame with regards to seafood tones. The quenelle was a bit tougher than we like but was quite mild in flavor as is typical. The rice was on the hard side and the cooked vegetables was actually "légumes trop cuits" and really mushy.

By this time the more "French" crowd started arriving.

I've been enjoying having cheese for dessert and ordered the Saint Marcellin (7,€ ), the menu said it came with "olive oil" which I thought would be interesting for dessert.

Saint Marcellin has a somewhat fruity-nutty flavor and this was no exception; along with being so creamy. Along with the olive oil, there was a Balsamic glaze which helped things along. I'm thinking this might actually be a nice starter.

As we left the place started filling up. This was a nice meal and a great way to end our time in Montpellier.

Le Bouchon Saint Roch
14 Rue du Plan d'Agde
34000 Montpellier, France

We slept in the next morning, then I decided to get a croissant to have with my last coffee in the apartment. We had also become converts to the French way of traveling on the TGV.....having a sandwich or something similar for lunch on the train.

We had passed an interesting looking Boulangerie/Pâtisserie several times during our walks and decided to stroll on over.

The name of the shop is Maison Bonnaire.

And along with the usual baguettes and croissants, the window had many temptations, the eclairs looked especially tempting.

We got a croissant and two tartes for the train ride and headed back to the apartment.

  The croissant was dark, flaky, and light. But it really lacked the butteriness I like and was on the dry side.

Maison Bonnaire
45 Rue Saint-Guilhem
34000 Montpellier, France

I did a final cleaning and bade the apartment farewell right at 11am.

We took the short stroll to the train station. Our train wasn't leaving until 1pm so we had some time to kill. Like much of the architecture in the city, the Montpellier Saint-Roch Station has an interesting design.

We found seats and relaxed, grabbing some coffee from the outlet of Paul in the station and bought some water from Casino. Soon enough we were on our train.

We had the Tartes which were pretty good, the one with the roasted tomatoes and tapenade was the better of the two. But the crusts were crisp and flaky.

And this did a good job of holding us over.

Perhaps we stayed in Montpellier a day longer than we should have; but I enjoyed myself.

But now I was looking forward to our next stop. Carcassonne!

Thanks for stopping by!

Montpellier - Reflet d'Obione

I had a nice dinner planned for our first evening in Montpellier with reservations at the one Michelin Star Reflet d'Obione which I had read about in this post on the Edible Reading Blog. Being that we were spending an entire month in France I knew that we'd need to pick our "tasting menu" spots judiciously. We surely didn't want to burn out on these places. We both thought that having a nice dinner in Montpellier would be fun.

There was a reason we had taken our specific walking route earlier in the day. The restaurant was close to Porte du Peyrou off of Rue Foch, down a quiet side street so I wanted to have some familiarity with the area. Like many of these places, which really don't need to advertise, the entry was rather simple and discreet.

And the interior simple, but classy as was the service.

We took the larger "Horizon" menu which featured 7 courses and shared a wine pairing. All the dishes are sourced from the region and seasonal. Montpellier is located a short distance (+/- 10 kilometers) from the Mediterranean, so we were interested to sample the seafood,

The oysters were nicely presented and prepared.

Crisp and briny, with savory minced sea asparagus (salconia) and was topped with frozen, mildly tart shavings that we were told was yogurt (?!?). This was a very nice start to the meal.

The next item was a bit strange. They called it Alkaline Broth.

This was like a weak dashi with sprouted lentils in it. 

The scallop dish was outstanding.

The scallop was perfectly seared, rare, sweet, and tender. The charred endive was wonderfully sweet with a pleasant bitterness, the sabayon was light, yet rich, with a very clean finish.

The Missus loved the Guinea Fowl Quenelle.

Which was light and savory; but I think it's the celeriac puree, the Missus is not a big fan of celeriac, which went so well in this dish with a light celery-sweetness. The coffee veloute was a nice and savory surprise.

The Langoustine was sweet and tender.

And one thing we had noticed with this and all of the previous items; in spite of the rather elaborate presentation and combinations, the flavor of the primary ingredient shone thru. The minced butternut squash and puree went well with this.

The local line caught fish, in this case sea bass was again seared perfectly. Tender, buttery, with a hint of sweetness.

Up to this point we had enjoyed this dinner more than what we'd had at Granite a few nights previous. The one dish that we enjoyed more at Granite was the pigeon. Here the overall flavorings of the pigeon was too sweet and tart.

We did love the beetroot Napolean, though it added yet another layer of sweetness to the dish that was not needed in our opinion.

The entrements were good, refreshing, and very restorative.

The Missus enjoyed dessert.

And heck, even non-dessert lover me, enjoyed the Chocolate Fondant, which wasn't overly sweet.

It was rich and creamy; the praline crisp with the unique nutty flavor of chicory.

This was an excellent meal. The service was well paced, efficient, polished, and professional, while still being friendly. Except for the wine pairing and the pigeon dish, we enjoyed this more than Granite in Paris.

Reflet d'Obione
29 Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau
34000 Montpellier, France

Well, Montpellier who knew.....

Paris - La Maison d’Isabelle (Yet Again), The Cluny Museum, Au Pied de Cochon, and Le Train Bleu

When planning for our trips I'm careful not to over schedule ourselves. Yes, we could probably do three museums in a day, but would we really enjoy it? And especially when we return to our favorite locales, I tend to sprinkle out our planned activities, knowing that we'll probably return in the future. And since we'd be spending a good amount of time in Paris, I only scheduled or made reservations for about every other evening.

On this day, I made plans to visit the Cluny Museum whose collection covers the Middle Ages. I had always wanted to visit the Cluny for one main reason which I'll detail a bit further on in this post.

But first; did you know that there are 8 fontaine petillantes; that is, sparkling water fountains in Paris? Yes, for real, these fountains will dispense sparkling water at the press of a button. For free. There was one close to our hotel next to Les Halles so we decided to try it out.

I liked it; the Missus wasn't impressed. Perhaps if the weather was hotter it would have made more of an impact. I did think it was pretty neat though.

From here we headed off to the 5th passing all those familiar places.

And soon we were close to our destination. But first......the museum is located in the 5th Arrondissement which gave us an opportunity to revisit our favorite croissant purveyor yet again. Man, we could smell the butter a block away. And the line at La Maison d’Isabelle, which always moves quickly anyway, wasn't very long at all.

The shop is located right at one of the metro exits, just think, you'd be coming up the stairs or escalator from the Maubert - Mutualité metro station to be hit with the scent of butter in the air?

We got our croissant and headed on over to Square Samuel-Paty just like the last time to devour our croissants.

And it was a good as ever.

Crisp and flakey exterior, fluffy on the inside, great butter to salt ratio.....

Still our favorite in Paris.

La Maison d’Isabelle
47T Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris, France

And the Cluny is located basically across the street from Square Samuel-Paty. We arrived right after the 930am opening time, so the museum wasn't very busy, which made for a relaxed visit.

   And while we loved the heads of kings of Judah that originally graced Notre Dame and were severed during the French Revolution ("off with their heads I say!!!!") in what is called vandalisme révolutionnaire, wonderful jewelry, Limoges Enamel, and the stunning stained glass from Sainte-Chapelle that depicts the story of Samson; there was one collection I wanted to see.

It's a series of 6 tapestries completed around 1500, famously known as The Lady and the Unicorn. Upon entering the room we were stunned; it is one of those times when seeing a renowned work was actually more impressive in person.

The 6 tapestries, made of wool and silk were amazing. It is generally accepted that each one represents one of the senses.

Though you might ask, "why are there six tapestries". The sixth work has the inscription “À mon seul désir” (To my only desire) and has been interpreted in many different ways.

As for me....well, I happened to see Frankie in the tapestry and perhaps he knew we would be visiting on this day! We'd have another reminder of F during this trip as well. We were comforted knowing he was watching over us.

Seeing this was one of the highlights of our trip....

I have a feeling we'll return; if only to see that tapestry again!

Musée de Cluny
28 Rue du Sommerard
75005 Paris, France

We strolled back to the hotel and took a nice break. We'd be headed to Montpellier the next morning. We had enjoyed our meal at Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond at the end of our last trip to Paris, a big plus was that it was very close to our hotel, that we went to see if we could get a table. Man, there was a line to get into the Boullion, even at the ungodly dining hour (for Paris) of 6pm! So, we needed a "plan B". There was a place I'd had on my "list" for a while, it seemed a bit touristy, but has quite a history. Au Pied de Cochon was founded in 1947, at that time Les Halles was still considered the "belly of Paris" and Au Pied de Cochon fed the hungry masses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We thought it might be fun just to drop by and see if the place had an open table.

And this quite colorful brasserie still had tables available. You gotta love the decor as it just oozes almost stereotypical Frenchness.

As you can figure by the name of the place, pork is king here.

The bread provided was a nice and crusty baguette.

Which came in handy since the Missus, wanting Her beans, ordered the Cassoulet de Pied de Cochon ( 27 €).

She liked the beans, thin skinned and creamy. The garlic sausage was decent as well, though all that pork was a bit over-the-top for Her. This also needed some salt as well. The Missus did a nice job of finishing this off!

I got what is possibly the signature dish of the restaurant; the Tentation de Saint-Antoine ( 27 €) - "Temptation of Saint Anthony". If you recall from a previous post, Saint Anthony de Abad is the patron saint of pigs.

In case you're keeping score at home; this consists of breaded and fried pig's feet (pied de cochon), very tough and undercooked for my taste, snout, chewy and quite meaty went well with the Bernaise sauce, ears, too hard (still trying to find a version that lines up with what we had at that little Izakaya in Hiroshima, and the winnah, that pig tail...which was fairly tender with some nice crunchy bits, and was oh so porky. Maybe all the "stuff" that stuck to that tail when in use added to the flavor????

The Missus had a taste of all of this and agreed, that tail was good. The French couple sitting next to use had two tails as appetizers. I didn't see it on the menu; but we'd definitely come back for that.

Overall, a fun meal, and service was quite good as well. 

Au Pied de Cochon
6 Rue Coquillière
75001 Paris, France

Needless to say, it was a food coma evening.

We awoke early the next morning and relaxed a bit before heading off on the metro to Gare de Lyon. I will often try to schedule our trips on the metro at hours when I believe things won't be too busy, especially when we have luggage. It's not always possible, but I try. I also try to schedule and coordinate check-out times at our locale with check-in times at our destination, and our scheduled arrival by train. We got to Gare de Lyon a bit early; this was because I wanted to grab some coffee and tea for the Missus at a place I'd heard about located in Gare de Lyon named Le Train Bleu. I had heard of Le Train Bleu, but had never really given much thought to visiting the place even though we'd been through Gare de Lyon a couple of time before. However, after listening to one of my favorites Podcasts on Paris; The Earful Tower, which I started listening to when I was missing our travels during Covid and after reading Oliver Gee's post on Le Train Bleu, I wanted to check the place out, if only for some coffee and tea. And so we got to Gare de Lyon, and found the rather discreet entrance to Le Train Bleu. And you can see why you might want to have at least some coffee here......

Le Train Bleu was originally built for the Paris Exposition of 1900 in the Belle Époque style. The setting is so regal, elegant, grand, and beautiful. It transports you to a different age. 

And in the morning, it is perfectly fine to have coffee, tea, and maybe some yogurt while waiting for your train if you aren't keen of having lunch or dinner here.

The prices aren't cheap, but not bad overall.

And man, I could just keeping looking at paintings for hours.....

You might also want to read this post on Le Train Bleu.

Le Train Bleu (In Gare de Lyon)
Place Louis-Armand
75012 Paris, France

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris - Au Petit Versailles du Marais Revisited and Dinner at Granite

We were really enjoying our day in Paris and decided to just keep on strolling to Tuileries Garden.

Familiarity had changed our perception of distance in Paris. Places that used to seem quite far now seemed relatively close.

And we got to Tuileries Garden in what seemed to be no time at all. The Tuileries Christmas Market was being set-up and we could see that the Ferris wheel was already in place.

It would be in full swing when we returned to Paris.

Even though it was fairly chilly, the sun was out, so you could count on Parisians and a tourist or two (i.e. us) taking time to enjoy the day at the fountain and pond known as the Grand Bassin Rond.

It made for a relaxing afternoon.....

I'm not quite sure if it was the weather, something in the water, perhaps the air, or the environment, but we would readily adopt, the French equivalent of "Afternoon Tea", known as Le Goûter. We just seemed to flow into it. And it started on this day as the Missus decided She wanted something sweet and a spot of tea from that place She had come across when I took my baguette class on our last visit. So we headed back to the Marais and Au Petit Versailles du Marais.

After ogling the dessert collection.....

We headed over to the tea salon, grabbed an outside table, ordered the Missus's selected pastry, tea for Her, and coffee for me.

The woman working here is a hoot....she works real hard at wooing folks in who look at the menu sign and always says "best choice...best choice...." when you select one of the pastries.

I gotta say, I even enjoyed the Royal Caramel as it wasn't overly sweet.

Au Petit Versailles du Marais
1 Rue Tiron
75004 Paris, France

After our snack we headed back to the hotel and took a break.

I had made reservations for dinner with a restaurant I'd had my eye on since reading about it in Alexander Lobrano's blog named Granite. It helped that the restaurant was less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel.

Located on Rue Bailleul, Granite does modern French, and the chef Tom Meyer worked under Anne-Sophie Pic at the 3 Michelin starred Maison Pic.

The place looks quite modern.

The service was quite warm and yet professional and we got the 7 course tasting menu with a single wine pairing which the Missus enjoyed.

Things started out with an oyster course.

The brininess of the oyster was balanced out with a bit of sour tartness from green apple and the celery like flavor of lovage. The menu stated that kimchi was used in this dish but I couldn't detect that. Very clean and refreshing overall.

We both loved the Cepe; porcini mushroom which was wonderfully earthy.

The mushroom was seared perfectly with almost a buttery texture, though the other items on the plate added a bit too much sweetness for us.

Like the mushroom, the scallop was seared perfectly, the interior was perfectly rare and sweet.

Though there was a bitter component in the dish that distracted from our total enjoyment.

The Artic Char was wonderful.

Tender and buttery in texture; the lentils were wonderful and almost nutty, and there was a light sweet earthiness to the dish which elevated the flavors. The sauces really enhanced this dish.

Of all the items presented for this meal, we enjoyed the Pigeon Course the most.

 We were instructed to start with the "naan", basically a buttery cube of flatbread with wonderfully flavored fowl in it. The skewered liver was wonderfully gamy and delicious. 

But the real "winnah" was the seared pigeon breast which was quite tender, wonderfully gamy, the sauce featured chocolate which was more savory than sweet. There was so much complexity in the flavors. This was amazing!

The rose foam was a perfect palate cleanser.

I enjoyed the Pomelo Meringue as it wasn't overly sweet.

The Missus loved the chocolate; which was very decadent, without being overly sweet. The Earl Grey sorbet was wonderful as it added a grounding, almost lemon-orange flavor which went so well with the chocolate.

We enjoyed the service and pacing. And while I don't think we'll be returning; there are just too many options in Paris, this was a pleasant meal.

Granite
6 Rue Bailleul
75001 Paris, France

 

Paris (2022) - Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond

We'd had a pretty busy day. And then I got the notice that our flight time had changed to very early in the morning. I had reservations about getting up at 4am, then managing to get to CDG for our early flight. So, much like what I did on a previous visit, I went and booked a night at the Sheraton in CDG Terminal 2. We'd have dinner and what not, then vacate the apartment, heading to the airport via the RER arriving around 9pm or so.

While having our no-so-good dinner at Pirouette, we noticed another place in the square was doing some major business. I looked up the place; named Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond, in case you don't know, a Bouillon (like the broth) is traditionally a restaurant that serves traditional French meals, for good prices, that serves the working class. We think of it as kind of a "diner", but with definite French touches as most Bouillons have wonderful, traditional decor. In recent years the Bouillon has been making a comeback in Paris. I had been eager to check one out and here was the opportunity. Plus, Pharamond is open from noon to midnight daily; making a very non-Parisian dinner at 530pm a possibility. Plus, we'd beat all the dinner crowds.

We managed to just walk in a snag a table with no problem. We loved the decor of the place.

And lest you think it was only tourists eating that this hour; I present this gentleman.

He strolled in, took a table, knew all the staff, never needed a menu and they just brought him his dinner. There are many apartments in the area, so perhaps he lives in one of them?

We each ordered one entree and one plat.

The Missus started with the Terrine et Poulet (6,9 € - $7.25/US).

This as quite nice; tender, great balanced offal flavors with a hint of sweetness.

I got the Bone Marrow (6,5 € - $6.75/US)

Simply seasoned with sea salt, this was so buttery and beefy. It was heaven with the baguette.

Speaking of the bone marrow; one couple saw a gentleman and his friendly pooch having an apero at one of the outdoor tables. They asked and got permission for this 70 kilo (we asked) sweetheart to get his own "entree".

For Her plat, the Missus ordered the Andouilette Grillee - the grilled sausage (11,5 € - $12/US)

The sausage had a nice "snap" with a herby-garlicky flavor. The jus had just the right amount of salt for our taste and those mashed potatoes were quite  nice.

I got the Beef Tartare (11,9 €, $12.40 US).

  Man, this was much better than I expected. The beef, while perhaps chopped a bit more finely than I like was nicely chilled, with a clean finish, loved the ratio of capers and scallions to beef. But the most surprising thing were the frites, which were crisp outside and creamy inside.

Service was efficient and fast. Man, to think that this dinner with wine was around $45 US....and remember, this is France, where the 15% service fee is included (not added) in the pricing.

We'll definitely check out more Bouillons when we're wanting a more traditional French meal in Paris.

Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond
24 Rue de la Grande Truanderie
75001 Paris, France

After dinner we decided to take a nice stroll past all those familiar places.

Traveling has changed me a bit.....and for some reason France has as well. When walking past the Louvre I saw this Nona struggling to get up on one of the stone photo thingies outside the Louvre.

I'm not sure why; but I decided to "lend my shoulders" to the effort.

Which was a success and we all go a good laugh out of it.

I hope she made it down safely!

There's something about Paris that we love. We can't really put our collective fingers on it. It's vibrant, full of surprises, excellent food, and also there are those other moments.

I'm not sure where I read it; but the city still defines itself as a conglomerate of "villages".....

And a beautiful one at that!

Ah Paris, we can't wait to return!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris (2022) - Edwart Chocolatier and Dinner at Le MaZenay

On the way back from lunch we passed this chocolate shop. We were given samples and the Missus ended up buying a variety of items.

This was Edwart Chocolatier and would end up being Her favorite chocolate shop during this trip.

Edwart Chocolatier
17 Rue Vieille-du-Temple
75004 Paris

So I'm certain we'll return the next time we're in Paris.

We then worked our way back to the apartment stopping at a few shops along the way. This was back in May so the days were fairly long.

We headed out for our dinner destination at bit early...the better to do some shopping you know. As we headed up Rue St Denis we came across a couple of women, probably in their 40's-50's, tons of make-up, dressed somewhat provocatively, just standing around. From which this short conversation arose....

Me: "Hmmm.....must be the remnants of the old Saint Denis" (It used to be the Red Light district but is now gentrified)
Missus: "No, way...maybe they are hairdressers taking a break"
Me: "But I see no salons around here...."
Missus: "Maybe they're taking a smoke break from work."
Me: "But none of them are smoking..." 

Bless Her heart....

For dinner I had made reservations at Le MaZenay, a modernish bistro, located in the Marais.

The setting was quite simple and the service friendly.

As with how we typically order, we ended up getting 3 entrees and one plat, with a side.

The Missus really enjoyed the Ouef Confit.

The buttery, creamy egg yolk went so well with the petit pois, which brought a nice, mild sweetness to the dish. The sauce, made with creme fraiche was lighter than it looked and went well with the dish. The croutons added texture.

I got the Tartare de Veau and when it arrived totally drenched in sauce, I was a bit hesitant.

It was still a bit too much sauce, which was nicely flavored. The cut of the protein was to my liking, the meat was tender, and it was chilled well.

We enjoyed the rustic Chicken Liver Terrine.

The rustic terrine wasn't overly offal-ish, had a mild sweetness and went well with the cornichons. It had a pleasant texture and there seemed to be mashed potato in the terrine as well. This was a lot milder in flavor than we expected.

For the main, we chose one of the specials of the evening, the Skate Wing.

   A very pleasant dish. The skate had been nicely prepared, buttery in texture, good black pepper, though perhaps a bit more salt would have helped. Very moist and tender. The accompanying veggies were fine and the caper butter sauce did well with the fish.

We also ordered the Pommes Dauphines which were excellent, crisp on the outside, light and fluffy inside.

This was a nice meal and like I mentioned earlier, the service was quite friendly. At the table next to us sat two women who seemed to be regulars, the chef and his wife, who runs the front of house came out to chat with them. The women were from London and arrived via the Eurostar. Something I'd like to do in the future!

Le MaZenay
46 Rue de Montmorency
75003 Paris, France

It was a nice evening and we took our time heading back to the apartment.

Tomorrow would be our last day in Paris before heading home and we wanted to make the best of it.

 

Paris (2022) - Musée d'Histoire de la Médecine, Au Petit Versailles du Marais, Dinner at Pirouette, and Some Revisits

After enjoying our croissant at Square Samuel-Paty, I took a look at the time. It was perfect; the museum we wanted to visit, The Musée d'Histoire de la Médecine would be opening in five minutes. We headed on over the two blocks to Paris Descartes University and was instantly confused. I quickly stepped into the local tabac shop and the really nice gentleman pointed me in the right direction. The museum is located on the second floor of the College of Surgery.

The first floor features statues of well known practitioners of medicine. In fact, if you look at this painting.....

And then the accompanying "guide", you might recognize some names.

The building itself is quite impressive. It was  build between 1769 and 1775 by Architect Jacques Gondouin and was the original location of the Medical School which was founded in 1803.

For us, the main focus was the collection of medical instruments. The museum is famous for having the bag and tools of François Carlo Antommarchi which was used for the autopsy of Napoleon Bonaparte. 

I think I'll leave the verbiage here; you'll be able to figure out what all these medical instruments tools were used for. Some are fairly cringe worthy.

And while not quite as enjoyable as the Surgeons' Hall Museums in Edinburgh, this was an interesting stop.

And was well worth the 4 Euro entrance fee.

Musée de l'Histoire de la Médecine
12 Rue de l'École de Médecine
75006 Paris, France

This was back in May and it was a beautiful day.

On the way back to our accommodation, the Missus wanted to stop by what She called a "nice café" that She had enjoyed the previous day when I was taking the baguette class, so we headed on over to Au Petit Versailles du Marais. I cracked up when I saw the sign....

The Missus didn't understand why I cracked up. I told Het look at the sign, it says "Christian Vabret, Meilleur Ouvrier de France". She said "So....." And I had to explain "think of it this way, it's competition for the best in France in different categories." Once you win you hold the title for life. So you found the Boulangerie of a "master". And all by accident.

The Missus then told me; "I was wondering why all these tour groups were stopping by this place while I was enjoying my pastry and coffee.....it was so annoying!"

You gotta love it.

It's a lovely little shop with many temptations.

The Missus made Her selection and we both got coffee.....

And the Missus really enjoyed Her treat!

Au Petit Versailles du Marais
1 Rue Tiron
75004 Paris, France

We then headed back to the apartment for a nice little break. We decided to have dinner nearby. I had read some good reviews on Restaurant Pirouette which was basically a block from where we were staying, so we decided to see if we would be able to grab an early dinner there. Since it was fairly early, there were outdoor tables available.

We ordered 1 entree (appetizer) and 2 plats, starting with the Langoustine "Tempura" (18 €).

Notice the quotation marks around "tempura". This wasn't deep fried. It was also overcooked, chewy, and under-seasoned. The fennel did add a nice anise-crunch and textural contrast. The pesto rosso; sun dried tomato pesto, was pretty much sun dried tomato oil. Not very good.

The Missus got Razor Clams and Cockles (25€).

The white wine sauce was nicely done, it had a nice, pleasant acidity. Unfortunately, there was a good amount of "grit" in this dish which made eating a bit unpleasant. The potatoes were really dry, though the razor clams were tender and sweet.

I got the Lamb Shank, Chard, and Thyme Jus (28€).

The lamb was super tough and there just wasn't enough of the thyme sauce to go around. The leaves of chard were basically uncooked.

Service was a mixed bag; the young lady working was wonderful, but it seemed that the gentleman working just wanted us out of the way.

This was the most disappointing meal of the trip.

Restaurant Pirouette
5 Rue Mondétour
75001 Paris, France

After dinner we took a short stroll, then headed back to the apartment to watch the sunset. We relaxed, caught up on emails and then decided to head on out for a nightcap. We had enjoyed our previous visits to Jefrey's on Rue Grenata. So, we headed there.

I don't know if Covid had really affected things, but the drinks tasted watered down and the service was not as welcoming as on our previous visits.

Jefrey's
14 Rue Saint Sauveur
75002 Paris France

Man, it was kinda sad, we were "oh-fer-two" on favorites of ours during this trip. We headed down Rue Tiquetonne on the way back to the apartment and came across a familiar site.

The Golden Promise Whisky Bar. When waiting for our table at ERH, we'd had a drink here. Hmmmm.....well, we decided to givre it a shot and this time, instead of drinking at the bar on street level, we headed downstairs to the bar. Which had almost a speakeasy like feel to it.

Not wanting to mess around with another cocktail, I just had a Yamazaki Single Malt, which was a nice end to the evening before calling it a night.

It was quite interesting as the other folks at the bar seemed like regulars.

Golden Promise Whisky Bar
11 Rue Tiquetonne
75002 Paris, France

Arriving back at the flat, we decided to get to sleep fairly early. But not before enjoying the sites from the window.

Guanajuato (2022) - La Table de Andrée and La Clave Azul

After our walking tour and lunch at La Vela, we did a bit of shopping, then returned to our room for a short nap. Soon enough it as dinner time. On the evening we had dinner at Mestizo, there was a restaurant we noticed across the street named La Table de Andrée. It was a French restaurant....in Guanajuato......we looked over the menu and decided why not? After our dinner we strolled over and made dinner reservations.

We had early reservations and were the first customers in the restaurant. The staff was really friendly and accommodating.

The Missus got a glass of wine which She enjoyed and we placed our order.

The baguette was interesting; it was super light almost like banh mi.

The amuse was bacon wrapped dates.....not a bad start.

We ordered the Pate de Cerdo al Cognac - pork pate.

This was not bad; porky, slightly sweet, boozy-winey, nicely chilled and moist, a bit on the crumbly side. It went well with the whole grain mustard which added a bit of pungent-spice. The portion size was quite generous as well.

The Missus got the Camarones a la Persillada - shrimp with parsley sauce.

The shrimp was a tad overcooked and the risotto was on the hard side. The sauce was nicely flavored though.

I went with the Hachis Parmentier, a classic French dish that uses leftover Beef Stew topped with mashed potato and baked.

This version used a very flavorful leftover Beef Bourguignon, super tender and beefy, and I believe there was come chorizo as well in this. It was topped with buttery mashed potatoes and cheese which was nicely broiled adding a wonderful texture to things. his was quite good!

The Missus enjoyed Her dessert.

Overall, the dinner was better than we thought it would be. I'm thinking that being a college town, there might be a diverse clientele......as we noticed some French speakers, a German couple among the other customers.

La Table de Andrée
Positos 66
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

After dinner we decided to head on over to the bar Susana recommended and we were glad we did.

    It was somewhat divey, the bartender was super friendly, the decor was quirky and eclectic. The music was what I often call the Unites States' greatest export...rock 'n roll.

I enjoyed my Victoria and chased it with some local Mezcal. Guanajuato is one of the nine states within Mexico that have DO (Denomination of Origin) to produce Mezcal. This was a nice Espadin the bartender picked out for me.

We really liked the bartender and the vibe and would end up returning here the following evening.

La Clave Azul
Segunda De Cantaritos 31
Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

We then headed on over to Jardin de la Union....all cities have their central plaza, where folks gather during the day (and night). For Guanajuato it's Jardin de la Union. Things were bustling and alive.

Folks walking and chatting....Mariachi working the crowds. We ran into a young lady selling cheesecakes who walked up to us and spoke perfect English. She is from Texas, but returned with Her Dad to Guanajuato. She helps out the family by selling the dad's cheesecakes, which were terrible, but of course we bought some. I wish I could remember her name; she was so sweet.

It was a lively scene.

We were enjoying our time in Guanajuato.

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip (2022) - Bob's Well Bread and Lunch at Bells (Los Alamos)

After an excellent dinner at Bell's, the Missus and I were looking forward to our return for lunch. But what to do in Los Alamos before lunch? We had pretty much seen the entire town the day before.

I thought that the Missus and I should ponder that over some caffeine and perhaps a croissant? And I had a place in mind. 

At the Eastern edge of the (4 block) downtown area in a structure that was formerly a gas station resides Bob's Well Bread.

The business has quite a story. You can read it here. Bob's Well Bread has quite a following, mainly for the artisan, small batch bread made from all natural ingredients. I've heard the phrase "like European" artisan breads in several posts I saw. We wouldn't be grabbing a loaf on this trip; but since it said "Croissants" clearly in the window sign, how could I not try that?

We went in and ordered a Cortado for the Missus, a cold brew for me, and a croissant. The Missus also got several cookies as well.

We then went and had a seat sat one of the picnic tables outside.

I was expecting to have my name called, but the very nice young woman working actually brought us our coffee and croissant. How nice!

  So, how did this croissant lineup? In terms of the looks department, it was beautiful; perfectly baked. It was crisp and flakey; the interior so moist and almost creamy in texture. Unfortunately it was really lacking in butteriness and since I love my croissants au buerre, this failed at the "third point". Bummer.....

The Missus did love the cookies we bought however, and I think if we're in the area we'll stop for those and perhaps a baguette.

Bob's Well Bread Bakery
550 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440

As for our plan? We decided to head on over to Solvang which is just 20 minutes away and get some cookies for the Missus's coworkers. We then took a stroll around Danish Disneyland and just chilled.

We then returned to Los Alamos, relaxed a bit, then checked out. I parked the car and we crossed the street to Bell's right at 11am.

   We had requested to sit on the patio again. Same relaxed and friendly service. A lot of the Servers were wearing "Franch" t-shorts.....Bell's say they serve Fr(ench R)anch cuisine. 

We looked over the tempting menu and placed an order for four dishes and then went one step father. There was a sandwich we wanted to order, but knew we wouldn't be able to finish, so we got a takeout order as well!

My two favorite dishes came out first.

The Steak Tartare ($25) was amazing. It is now my favorite version in the U.S. it was just so perfect.

    Just the perfect cut, the beef was super tender, like the night before, all items were perfectly seasoned. Perfect amount of capers, and that egg yolk, oh my! This was just so clean tasting and refreshing.

I also loved the Country Pate ($18), it was tender and had just right amount of wine in it.

Nice amount of offal-ish flavor for me; the cherries didn't overwhelm anything, and the fried shallots in the pate was perfect. Was not a big fan of the baguette as it was typical hard and chewy American style. The frisee was a lovely addition to the dish.

I was shocked that the Missus ordered the Escargot ($16). While the Missus loved the Escargot in Burgundy, She had never found a version here in the States that She enjoyed.

Well, mark this as the first Escargot She liked outside of France....leave it to "Franch" to deliver. Good amount of garlic, nice balanced flavors. The menu noted that these were "wild snails" and they were much more tender than I expected. Still, that baguette......

I was also surprised that the Missus ordered the La Brujula Tinned Mussels in Escabeche ($20)!

These Spanish tinned mussels were quite good, nice and tender. We didn't care for butter and the ketchup like sauces, but the homemade saltines were wonderful.

This was wonderful meal, we actually enjoyed it more than our dinner. And we really want to do it again soon.

Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
Current Hours:
Thurs - Mon 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 830pm
Closed on Tuesday - Wednesday

And as the postcript. On the lunch menu there was Braised Beef Cheek Sandwich that sounded so good. So, after consulting with our Server, we got it to go with the bearnaise aioli on the side.

It was still in fine shape after the five hour drive home. The bread, in this case a ficelle held up fine; the meat was so intensely beefy; I loved the pickled Basque peppers.....

I guess we'll need to return again soon!