mmm-yoso!!!

Colmar - A Bit More Exploring and Dinner at La Fer Rouge

After a nice lunch back at the apartment we took a even nicer nap. After waking, the Missus made us some espresso and we headed out to the terrace and enjoy our favorite view in Colmar, the Pont de Rue de Turenne. Selfie time was in full swing.

It seemed like everyone needed a photo here.

Everyone...…..

And I really don't blame them at all....it was quite entertaining.

And we just loved watching all of this from our discrete perch.

We headed back out....there's a term I picked up in Paris; Flâneur or flânerie, to basically stroll or wander aimlessly, experiencing the urban surroundings, which the Missus (the female term is Flâneuse) and I always try to do, it's a very important part of our trips, the time to take in our surroundings and appreciate, in our most limited way our destination. And our last evening in Colmar was no different.

We wandered through the tourist trail...….

Where there were still interesting things to see; like this 2 Euro Store.

Which has quite a history.

Actually, being a tourist in France is not a bad thing at all; I read an article where author and reporter Anthony Peregrine was quoted something I've heard several times; “Of the 60 per cent of French people who go away on holiday, some 80 per cent stay within their own country". So, even the French, like to travel to.....France.

We did a circle around the area....

Ending up around Rue des Tetes, where we had been earlier in the day.

Where we got some gifts and confections.

And, ahem....did some "window shopping".....yea, that's right; window shopping. I was actually tempted to purchase (I almost typed "grab") a bottle of L'alsacienne Biere. But we had a bottle of liquid refreshment back at the apartment and I'm not quite sure what the meaning of culotte was in this context. Though based on the poster I could guess.....

By now it was getting close to dinner time. A few months before; I'd gotten a recommendation to try out the Baeckeoffe at a place called La Fer Rouge which was located almost across from the Koïfhus (the Customs House) and conveniently located on the way back to the apartment.

The restaurant is located in a lovely half-timbered structure and is quite charming. It's also a pretty busy restaurant, though we got there right before opening and got a table with no problem.

And there was indeed Baeckeoffe on the menu. The service was professional and courteous.

The Missus had a nice glass of wine and in anticipation of the Baeckeoffe being quite substantial, ordered as She did the night before. She just loved Choucroute and could not get enough of it.

She deemed this version as the second best She had; with Le Petit Venise still number one.

She also enjoyed my salad.....much welcomed with all the rather heavy food we'd been consuming. Crisp veggies, nice refreshing dressing.

As for my Baeckeoffe. Well, this one pot stew of mixed meat; here cooked in red wine was.....well, incinerated.

Those potatoes were burnt, bitter, with a texture like cardboard. The bottom was full of crusted burnt meat. The layer in the middle; was rather tasty, fairly rich and hearty. I had thought of returning this; but the place was just plain slammed....so, we ate what we could and cut our losses.

Le Fer Rouge
52 Grand rue
68000, Colmar, France

Plus, earlier we had decided to open up one of the bottles of Champagne we had purchased at Champagne Brugnon in Rilly La Montagne and enjoyed it in the warm comfort of the apartment.

If we're ever back; I need to do more in-depth research on places to eat.

The next morning we packed and headed out.

It was a nice crisp November morning and we enjoyed the walk to Gare de Colmar.

I really like the look of the train station; which opened in 1907.

And there's a really neat window scene in the train station that was done by Jean le Gac. It depicts a painter (of course) dashing from a train to rescue two damsels in distress. Not quite sure how this ties into Colmar and it looks kind of strange for a train station, but I liked it.

As for Colmar; well, we really enjoy Alsace and Colmar is a nice base for exploring the region. We loved the vibe and really enjoyed the apartment. I really think we'll be back.

But for now...….we were off to Lyon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Colmar - Dinner at Brassierie Heydel, a Morning Walk Around Colmar, and Some Self-Catering

We'd had a wonderful day visiting the colorful villages of Alsace. Christopher was an amazing guide and even called and made reservations for dinner when I mentioned a specific Alsatian dish called Fleischschnacka.

When we headed out for dinner; it was already fairly dark in Colmar. Looking out from our terrace; Pont de Rue de Turenne was nice and quiet.

The restaurant was centrally located, though not quite in the tourist center.

The folks working were quite friendly and the place was pretty quiet when we arrived. There just seemed to be few regular customers in the place.

Though it filled up pretty quickly as we were ending our meal.

The Missus just had to have Her favorite; the Choucroute and figured my dish was going to be pretty hefty. We also got the Foie Gras entre to start.

This was smooth, rather mild in offal tones, rich, and quite good.

The Missus enjoyed Her Choucroute.

Though She said it was not a crisp and refreshing as the version at Le Petit Venise.

And then there was my "snails of meat" - Fleischschnacka. Man, this was a pretty hefty dish.

Think of ground meat rolled in pasta; the two slices were a bit too much for me and fairly mild in flavor. I loved the potatoes and the green salad.

I'm not going into too much detail about Heydel; because, at least according to their Facebook page as of June 17th, the business is in the process of changing ownership.

Brasserie Heydel
45 rue des Clefs
68000, Colmar, France

As you can see; Colmar is quite stunning at night as well.

It was wonderful waking in the morning and taking your espresso on the terrace.

The next morning we decided to explore Colmar's Old Town. The Pont de Rue de Turenne was quiet at this time of the day. You can see our apartment's terrace at the upper left of this photo.

Things were being set-up for the Christmas Market which was going to start that weekend.

We used Rick Steves walk as a guide. We started at the Koïfhus; the Customs House. Trade made Colmar a wealthy city in the Middle Ages and the Customs House was the center of it all. Colmar had been granted Free Imperial City status by the Holy Roman Empire.

Above the door on the south side of the building is this door. The plaque above the door designates Colmar as being an Imperial City.

Above one of the portals you'll see this plaque.

Jean Rapp, one of Napoleon's chief consuls was born in Colmar; supposedly here in the Customs House where his dad was a janitor.

In the square in front of the Customs House is this fountain.

The fountain statue is of Lazarus von Schwendi. Who supposedly (it is considered a myth) brought the Tokaji (remember our dinner in Budapest) to Alsace. The statue was made by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi who also created something known as the Statue of Liberty.

From here we walked down Rue des Tanneurs. There's a channel right across the street. As we had learned in Modena, you need a close running water source for tanning leather. This is where the tanner in Colmar used to reside.

From here we circled back a bit along the Marché Couvert.

And then up to Rue des Marchands ("Merchants Street").

Right up the street is one of the distinctive buildings in Colmar; Maison Pfister. Built in 1537 in Renaissance style, with biblical stories and figures painted into the walls. It's a beautiful and impressive building.

Right across the way is the carving that folks call the "Meter Man". It's the sign for a drape maker and he is holding the standard measure of length, Colmar's version of the meter. 

It's all quite entertaining...…..

As you can tell when looking at the photo of Maison Pfister....right past the structure is St Martin's Church, where we spent a few minutes lingering.

I'm always fascinated by clocks in these churches......

We wandered down Rue des Boulangers.....

And since this was the "street of bakers" spent a bit of time shopping for gifts.

From here we took a right on Rue des Tetes (street of heads) and came upon the façade of the Maison des Tetes ("House of Heads"). Now a luxury hotel; this structure was built in 1609 by a wine maker. Many heads, masks, and faces adorn the façade.

The most interesting one is found to the left of the entrance to the courtyard.

There you'll see what looks like a court jester; his belly sticking out, with hoofs in the place of feet. Go figure.....

It's quite a sight.....

Though I haven't spent time on it; I need to mention all the wonderful signs that adorn the buildings...….

From here we turned back and headed down the colorful streets of Colmar.

And back to the Marché Couvert. We were staying in such a lovely apartment that we decided to take advantage of it and do some self-catering.

And combined with the cheese we Riquewihr and the cookies that Christopher had given to us as a gift; we had a very nice meal.

There's much to love about Colmar and Alsace in general. Beautiful half-timbered buildings, history and charm; with some humor thrown in.

I thank you for stopping by and sharing this with us!

Alsace - Exploring Colmar, Dinner at Winstub de la Petit Venise, and a Kinda Creepy Coincidence

While planning our trip to France, I told the Missus that I really wanted to head back to Alsace. I had really enjoyed our time in Strasbourg the year before. And though we'd be a week early for the Christmas Market, I thought having a short break in Colmar would be great! And so, we headed from Reims to Colmar, arriving at around 330 in the afternoon. As we headed to our apartment crossing Rue Turenne we understood why this area was called "Le Petit Venise"; not that it looked anything like Venice, not by a long shot.

But there are lovely little canals and wonderful half-timbered houses, and lovely bridges, like the Pont de Rue de Turenne. Which someone told me was called the "fanny bridge" because at certain times of the day folks would be lining up for photos and selfies with their backs against the railing, so looking from along the way, all you saw was a line of folk's backs and backsides lining the railing!

And to make things even better; we had a wonderful apartment with a balcony that overlooked the bridge. We'd entertain ourselves by heading out onto the balcony several times of the day just to watch folks on the bridge....or even just watch the water flowing by.

This was our view.

More on the apartment later on.

Of course we unpacked, freshened up, and headed right on out.

We headed down the charming alleyway of Rue de la Poissonnerie, to the lovely Quai de la Poissonnerie where some of the most beautiful houses are. Many were built between the 14th and 18th century are very brightly colored.

It's like you walked down the street into the middle of some fairy tale.

Right across the bridge is the Covered Market; the Marché Couvert. Even though we were somewhat familiar with what is available during this time of the year in the region, we went in to take a look. And as you can see; it was getting close to the holiday shopping season!

We strolled around a bit.....took a mental inventory of the shops and what was available.

And then headed out. We'd return a bit later to do some self catering.

Marché Couvert
13 Rue des Écoles
68000 Colmar, France

We walked out the other side of the market onto Rue des Tanneurs. I'm guessing from all the canals (which we learned in Modena) that the leather shops were probably located here. This shop made wonder if it was Valentine's Day or Christmas?

We wound our way thru the charming medieval streets of Colmar.

The Missus was enjoying the window displays.

Eventually popping out at Saint Martin's Church.

It was getting a bit chilly; so before heading back to the apartment we stopped for...ahem, "a spot of tea".

Kind of pricy, though it was right across the street from the Cathedral.

Pâtisserie Salon deThé J-C Clergue
21 Place de la Cathédrale
68000 Colmar, France

We headed back to the apartment; which we loved!

Along with the wonderful balcony; the place was stocked with water - both still and sparkling, Nespresso pods, a gratis bottle of Alsacian wine, Regular and Coke Zero.

It was warm and welcoming! As was Marie, who I believe manages the apartments here. If you're ever interested it's Reflects Sur La Lauch. I had booked our trip quite a bit in advance, so I had no problem getting the apartment with balcony.

I hadn't made reservations for dinner; it was a Thursday night, I thought all the day-trippers would be gone, and the Christmas Market wasn't starting until the following weekend. The place I had on my list was Winstub Brenner. But, when we walked over it was closed. Apparently undergoing some renovation and prep before the busy Christmas season. So we headed one building over to Winstub Le Petit Venise, a charming two story restaurant.

We were seated upstairs amongst the charming, vintage appliances and décor.

The staff were professional and very helpful. The Missus already knew what She wanted, as did I based on our visit to Strasbourg. It's all about the Choucroute Garnie for the Missus...man does She love Choucroute (sauerkraut).

And the Missus claimed that the Choucroute here was better than anything She'd had in Strasbourg last year! It was nicely flavored, sour, but not over-powering, the texture slightly crisp.

And all of those meats! The sausage did have a nice "snap" to it. Quite a nice albeit, heavy plate of food.

Not like my very light Jambonneau…...right?

This, in case you didn't know is Jambonneau = Pork Knuckle. This was quite good, great texture, wonderful smokiness, whatever was used for basting really developed a wonderful lacquer coating. I loved the veggies mixed with a nice sinus clearing horse radish. The potatoes were buttery, but not overly so and studded with bacon....like I was in need of more pork, right?

We had a couple of glasses of wine and called it a night.

Wistub de la Petite Venise
4 Rue de la Poissonnerie
68000 Colmar, France

Nice dinner, right?

Well, so here's the Epilogue.

The next day, as I mentioned in a previous post, we went on a tour of several villages in Alsace. It was supposed to be a small group tour, but we ended up being the only two who signed up for the tour for that day. It was a wonderful time. It was inevitable that during that day, the subject of Anthony Bourdain came up. By this time, I'd actually forgotten that Mr Bourdain had committed suicide in Kaysersberg. Christopher, our guide, mentioned some of the previous requests from folks on the tour. People seemed to be on a pilgrimage and wanted see all the places AB visited. I thought it kind of strange and sort of creepy. And while I understand what he meant to a lot of people, I mean let the man and whatever demons he may have had rest in peace. I really wasn't up-to-date on AB, I used to watch No Reservations diligently. But for some reason, by the time Parts Unknown came along....well, I've only seen about half of those episodes to this day. During our conversation Christopher asked us where we had eaten dinner. I told him we had really wanted to eat at Winstub Brenner, but it was closed so we went to Winstub Petit Venise instead. He asked us what we had...we showed him the photos. He looked at us and asked us if we saw Anthony Bourdain's Instagram. I told him I don't do Instagram; I don't even have an account, but the Missus does. Christopher mentioned that Anthony Bourdain's last meal was eaten at Petit Venise! Yikes! And now folks were making reservations requesting stuff like wanting to eat at the same table he had his last recorded meal at. That just felt a bit creepy and weird. He told us to look at the last photo posted by Anthony Bourdain. We got Instagram booted up on the Missus's phone when we got back to the apartment after dinner that evening. Good lord.......the Missus had ordered what was the man's last documented meal......

I needed to go for a walk.

Man, what a bummer. I'd much rather have ended this post with something like this.

Reims - Brasserie du Boulingrin

After spending the day touring the Champagne Region and having had two dinners at fairly modern bistros, I thought having a nice "old school" dinner would be a change of pace. So we walked on over near the Porte du Mars and the area we had checked out the day before, to an Reims institution, established in 1925, Brasserie du Boulingrin.

Decked out in art deco style, with a menu to match Entrecote Roti, Tete de Veau, Ris de Veau…...

We started with some wine.....we let the Server pick and he did a nice job.

We decided to go with the one dish I was looking forward to trying here and the Missus got a simple salad.

I ordered the Pieds de porc panes rotis au four et lentilles de Champagne......figure it out yet? It's roasted breaded pig trotters with local lentils.

At first our kind Server wasn't sure we knew what we had ordered....so he asked again.....and we repeated what we wanted. "Monseur, are you sure?" We nodded in the positive.

The Missus really enjoyed the perfectly cooked lentils; tender but still holding its shape. She basically went at it like a hot knife thru butter.

As for the trotters...well, they were perfectly roasted; the breading gave the exterior a bit of a crunch. The seasoning was simple, but spot on. Nice tender bits of meat and wonderful collagenic connective tissue.

I think you can figure out how much we enjoyed this, right?

Sorry about the photos; there were red neon lights right above us that pretty much killed the photos.

We enjoyed this hearty dinner. It was a fine last meal in Reims, nothing fancy, but quite satisfying.

Brasserie du Boulingrin
29 rue de Mars
51100, Reims, France

After dinner we took our time getting back to our hotel room. Like I mentioned; there was quite a bit of road and other work going on around Hôtel de Ville (City Hall).

Compared to Paris, things were quite quiet on this Wednesday evening.

We walked on over to the usually busy shopping street; Rue Condorset, which was very quiet this evening, and enjoyed watching Le Carrousel Vénitien.

Then headed back to our hotel for a nice night of sleep.

Our train wasn't leaving until 1245pm, so we had some time to kill in Reims. We decided to head on back to the Cathedral, which I covered in an earlier post.

And enjoyed the stained glass.

And reminded myself of the stories of Joan of Arc. And how, after the French victory at the Battle of Patay, Joan convinced the Heir Apparent (Dauphin), Charles to be crowned in Reims. Thus began what is called "the March to Reims". On July 17th, 1429, Dauphine Charles, was the 12th ruler crowned in Reims and became Charles VII.

Another interesting story is how Charles VII's estranged son Louis heard of his father's impending demise and rushed to Reims to ensure that he and not his brother Charles of Valois, would be crowned king. Ah yes.....such drama and intrigue.

We enjoyed our time in Reims and perhaps we'll return someday.

Reims is close enough to be a day trip; but if you plan to visit, you may want to at least stay one night. It seems that as day turns to evening in Reims, at least during the week, the day trippers sail off into the sunset and Reims becomes a peaceful, laid-back, city, with so much history....and yes, Champagne everywhere.

Some folks will even bend over backwards for you!

The Great Champagne Tour - Visits to Champagne Bauchet, Moët & Chandon, Lunch at La Table de Kobus, and a Visit to Champagne Brugnon

Our last full day in Champagne was the "big one". During previous trips to other regions of France, I drove or we found train connections. When driving I (obviously) wasn't able to taste the wonderful adult beverages produced by the places we visited. When doing the train or bus; well, I just didn't feel very comfortable partaking in said beverages. As a whole we'd kind of avoided tours as much as possible, but our experience with the Italian Days Food Tour changed our opinion on small group and private tours. I decided to go ahead and book a private tour with The Champagne Tour Company. Dealing with Larry Davis who runs the company was a pleasure and a custom tour was designed for us. We not only wanted to visit a large Champagne house; but also smaller producers and learn a bit about the process.

Our driver arrived on time and we were quickly whisked away to Bisseuil and Champagne Bauchet, where we were introduced to the amazing process of Champagne making.

From the making of the wine. To the blending and ageing......in underground cellars.

To the age old process of "riddling" where the bottles are slowly tilted down over time, while turning occasionally, this is still sometimes done by hand.

To the process called disgorgement.

It was interesting to see the process in a Champagne House like Bauchet, which produces 300,000 bottles a year.

Because on our next stop; we were back in Epernay, on Avenue de Champagne at probably the most well known Champagne House in the World; Moët & Chandon, which by the way also produces Dom Perignon, and is part owner of Louis Vuitton.

We kind of expected what we got at M&C, a polished, professional, and somewhat sterile tour of the cellars and history of Moët & Chandon. You know the deal, "we're walking....we're walking"....

Everything fits within the brand and the image of luxury that Champagne is associated with. That is not to say that the tour wasn't interesting; it was.

The cellars are quite a sight to see; the cellars of Moët & Chandon spans 17 miles  under Epernay; the most in the Champagne region.

There are some locked off areas which we were told hold some of the rarest and most expensive Champagne in the world.

At the end; we had a tasting of several variations and vintages.

And of course no tour is complete without a visit to the gift shop afterwards.....

In case you just needed to get that (those) bottle(s) of Dom Perignon.

I'm glad we did Bauchet first as we could really see the stark contrast in marketing and branding.

We were running a bit late, so we were dropped off for lunch at a place Larry Davis had said we'd enjoy; La Table Kobus.

Since we hadn't walked very much on this day; we weren't super hungry. So, even though "Le Menu de l’Ardoise", basically the pre fixe menu for lunch looked great; we decided to share two appetizers and one main for lunch. The staff here are amazing; the service is top notch. And they even split all the dishes for us!

Frog Legs with Favas.

Tender frog legs, very nicely seasoned. The beans had a nice firm texture with a nice, mildly sweet-grassiness to it.

The Foie Gras.....

Beautifully split as you can see. Very smooth, earthy flavors.

And the mushroom "ravioli".

Loved the acidity of what seemed to be a wonderful confit tomato. The mushrooms were wonderful, earthy in flavor, very nice. Not a big fan of the rather brittle wrapper, but this was a nice dish overall.

The Missus had all the confections for dessert.

And a nice stiff espresso got us back on our feet.

A nice lunch. If we'd stayed in Epernay, I'm sure we'd eat here again.

La Table de Kobus
3 Rue Dr Rousseau
51200 Épernay, France

From here we were taken on a short drive uphill to view the vineyards.

And then off to the village of Hautvillers.

And to the Abbey in the village.

Why, you may ask? Well, in this former Benedictine Monastery lived a monk named Dom Perignon. And while sparkling wine existed before Dom Perignon, it surely would not have been Champagne as we know it without his contributions.

You can see the relics (bones) of Saint Nivard who founded the Abbey. But what most people come to see is the burial site of Dom Perignon.

It was an interesting stop....so much history here.

As we were running late; we couldn't make our designated time at our last stop. Instead, arrangements were made to visit a small producer in Rilly La Montagne named Brugnon. It would turn out to be our favorite stop on the tour.

Phillippe Brugnon met us in front of his house; there were no signs that we could see. What followed was an amazing personal tour of his family's production facility.

It was a wonderful excursion. We also found that Monsieur Brugnon is an expert at Sabrage; opening a bottle of Champagne with a saber!

We enjoyed the personal touches and the stories....like how they managed to get all of the equipment and facilities underneath the house. He explained that the peeled away what is the parking lot to get everything in place; then rebuilt and repaved the parking lot above!

We also found out that Champagne Brugnon is not exported to the States......so we bought two bottles...which were delicious by the way. We'd drink one later on during the trip and the other back home on New Year's Eve.

We were dropped back at the hotel after quite a full day. I highly recommend the Champagne Tour Company if you'd like a private, custom tour in Champagne. It was worth every penny and we had a blast.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reims - The Significance of 10 Rue President Franklin Roosevelt, Cimetière du Nord, and Dinner at Anna-S - La Table Amoureuse

After having a nice drive around Champagne, we returned to Reims and dropped the rental car off at Gare de Reims. We took a roundabout way back to the hotel, mainly because there was once place I wanted see. Around the back of the train station is a street named Rue President Franklin Roosevelt. There is a red brick building that still functions as a schoolhouse to this day. You'll see the flags of the UK, US, France, and the Soviet Union flying out front.

Walk up to the doorway and you'll see this sign.....

The top sign basically says: “It is here that on 7 May 1945, was signed the act that ended the Second World War in Europe.” Yes, this is the spot where Germany surrendered. You can read Ralph Morse's first hand account here. This street was renamed for Franklin Roosevelt as was the school it houses which still operates.

Nearby is the War Memorial of Reims (Monument aux Morts de Reims).

And right across the way is the Cimetière du Nord, which had a quite haunting look to us as we walked through it.

From here we walked past some of the more important locales in the city like Place Royale.....

There was quite a bit of road and other work going on so I didn't take many photos.

And the sun seemed to set quite rapidly......

We returned to the hotel, freshened up, changed, and headed off to dinner. I'd made reservations at a contemporary bistro named Anna-S - La Table Amoureuse, which seemed quite low-keyed, had an interesting menu, and seemed just right for this evening.

Of course things started off some Champagne.

We weren't very hungry, so we decided to share an appetizer, the Missus ordered another appetizer as Her main and I got one of the entrees, to share with Her of course.

The service was wonderful and accommodating.

We started with, well, the Foie Gras of course, two ways, the terrine was wonderful, rich and creamy, the fig compote and the brioche proved to be a wonderful foil for the richness.

The Missus ordered the Noix de Petoncles dans son Mini Potirron.

Basically, sautéed scallops served in a pumpkin. The scallops were very sweet and tender, I was a bit leery about the fennel sauce, but the strong anise flavor had been decently tempered and the acidity lifted the dish as did the rather sweet flesh of the pumpkin.

I ordered the Magret de Canard, the Duck Breast.

I was concerned when this arrived as the duck seemed to be cooked a bit past where I prefer, but it was very tender, slightly gamey, the jus had a nice balance of richness, sweetness, and acidity. We both really loved the potato galette.

The dessert was a game-changer for the Missus. It was a cheese course. Over time we've really forgotten what we chose; but we won't forget this specific cheese course.

First off, all the cheese on the cart, which was sliced tableside were at the perfect serving temperature....the flavors were amazing. Second, the Missus had always avoided having the sweet compote with the cheese; but since this was served at room temperature, all the wonderful complex flavors came through and the compote just helped to elevate things. So thank you AnnaS, for setting the Missus off on the interesting "cheese ride" we're on.

The service was fantastic, professional, polished, but not stuffy. This was a very nice meal and we'd gladly eat here again!

Anna-S - La Table Amoureuse
6 Rue Gambetta
51100 Reims, France

Like the previous evening, we took a pleasant little stroll after dinner, in the peace and quiet of Reims.

Thanks for stopping by!

Champagne - Driving to Bouzy and Epernay, Lunch at Café le Progrès

While the Missus was enjoying our stay in Reims, She was already itching to do some additional exploring the following morning. Even though we had a private tour of the area the next day (so I could actually sample some champagne), She convinced me to rent a car to do some impromptu exploring.

But first, we decided to walk around a bit, and grab some breakfast. I also wanted to find the location of the restaurant we had reservations for that evening. So we headed down Rue Chanzy and almost right next to AnnaS our dinner destination was a bakery named Le Four à Bois. And the Missus was really excited to see that in addition to our typical Croissant au Buerre, they sold gougeres!

So we got a croissant and a half dozen gougeres. The gougeres were too bready and dense, not light and airy like we enjoy them. The flavor was decent though.

The croissant was a bit too chewy, didn't have enough butteriness, and wasn't flakey enough for our taste.

Le Four à Bois
100 Rue Chanzy
51100 Reims, France

From here we walked across town to the train station and found that Enterprise Rent-A-Car had a nice compact available, which we rented for the day.

And so we headed off through the beautiful countryside.

We stopped at few towns on the way and eventually stopped and walked around the most appropriately named Bouzy. Where we stopped and stretched our legs a bit.

There were a few Champagne houses along the way, but I think many of them are by appointment only. And since I was driving anyway, we thought we'd just wander around a bit.

From Bouzy it was Bisseuil, Ay, and another wonderfully named town, Dizy, before we made our way to the city that is home to what is considered to be the "real" capital of Champange, Epernay. We decided to park at the southern side of town and walk in.

Basically across the street we passed a really nice looking church...

Turns out that this is the chapel of the Auban-Moet Hospital...….if you recognize the name; it's "that" Moet. Apparently, one of the conditions of financing the hospital was that a Catholic chapel would have to be built. Another being that the care was to be provided by Nuns.

We enjoyed the walk into town....the houses were wonderful; each different and original.

As we got to the first major roundabout before getting to the heart of the city we came across this very distinctive structure.

This is the Chateau de la Lune ("House of the Moon"), built in the Art Nouveau style, designed by Architect Henri Clouet.

Near the center of town is the Portail Saint-Martin which dates back to 1540 and is all that remains of the Abbey of Saint Martin.

We did a bit of window shopping, but since we'd be coming back the next day, decided to not visit Avenue de Champagne, where all the Champagne Houses are located.

After doing a bit of shopping we decided to stop for lunch. We just wanted something easy and not fancy and this place seemed to fit the bill.

We enjoyed the al fresco sitting arrangement; Le Progres is what I'd basically describe as a "diner". We just wanted something simple and got the charcuterie and an order of frites.

The baguette was pretty good, crusty and yeasty. The Pate de Campagne was pretty good; the rest rather routine, but really, not bad for the price.

The Missus enjoyed the frites which were nicely fried, crisp on the outside, moist and light inside.

And pretty much what we wanted....

Café le Progrès
5 Place de la République
51200 Épernay, France

What was kind of interesting about this place was that it is located on Place de la Republique, which is the roundabout that I would consider to be the center of the city is.

After resting for a bit, we headed back to the car. We took a different route back. This one along Avenue Paul Chandon. Which we really enjoyed.

The street ended at Église Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul.....

A soon enough we were back at the car. It was time to head back to Reims...…

We'd had a fun, yet relaxing time exploring Champagne on our own.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reims - Reims Cathedral and Dinner at Restaurant L’Alambic

The Missus and I mulled through several travel options during our last trip to France. As you might gather from our posts; I enjoy train travel in Europe and especially Japan. I find it low stress, minimal hassle (though trains in Europe aren't nearly as prompt as Japan), and basically a rather relaxing way to travel. The Missus shares the same thoughts....except....She gets really bored and really does not want to do more than 3 - 3 1/2 hours on a train. So, while doing some research for this trip; we had decided to just do France, I was rather surprised to find out that Reims, the Capital of Champagne was basically a 45 minute train ride from Paris! And so our plans started coming together.....

We arrived promptly at Gare de Reims and walked....it was a lot shorter than it looked on my map to our hotel; the Ibis Styles.

Our room was ready when we arrived; so we dropped our bags off and decided to explore a bit. Reims was very laid back in comparison to Paris. And the walk to the rather grand Reims Cathedral is a straight shot down Rue Libergier.

It was mid-November and we could see all the booths being set-up for the upcoming Christmas Market as we approached the Cathedral.

The Cathedral itself is very impressive; built in the Gothic style.

And from the time the first stone was laid in 1211; it has had quite a history; Clovis I, who united the Franks, was baptized at Reims Cathedral in 496. From 1027 to 1825, a total of 30 Kings of France were coronated at Reims Cathedral!

Being such an important symbol made the cathedral a major target during World War I where it sustained major damage. Several of the 13th century stained glass windows were saved however, as glass makers removed the stained glass piece by piece and stored them. And many of those destroyed were replaced by works of Marc Chagall.

There's a lot to see here; in fact we'd return one more time before leaving Reims.

That's the Chapelle du Rosaire (Chapel of the Rosary) above.

On this visit; I was fascinated by first this statue.....

And then this one outside the Cathedral.

Yes, it's Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc). So what's the story of Joan of Arc and Reims Cathedral? Well, in 1415 Henry V and his English Army defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt and Northern France fell into the hands of the English. In January of 1429, a 17 year old girl from Domrémy who saw visions and received divine orders to liberate the French. Joan of Arc. She managed to convince Charles VII of her divine mission and over the course of 5 months the French fought it's way to Reims. After Reims decided to ally itself with Charles VII and Charles was crowned in the Cathedral where 16 kings were coronated before him; sealing his claim as the rightful King.

And the rest, like they say....is history.

We walked out of the Cathedral and down Cours Jean-Baptiste Langlet. We needed to buy some gift for folks and I knew just the thing. Biscuit Roses de Reims is the classic snack of Reims, in fact it is said that the origin of the word "biscuit" ("bis-cuit" - "twice cooked") originated here. And the classic place to get these are at Fossier.

Which is what we did.

Maison Fossier
25 Cours Jean-Baptiste Langlet
51100 Reims, France

From here we explored a bit more.

And then headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner.

I had made dinner reservations at a place a few blocks away named L'Alambic, a place that serves regional cuisine and booked a table in the "caveau" (the cellar)downstairs.

The customers were a combination of locals and visitors. A group of Spanish ladies in a nearby table were having a great time. The atmosphere seemed celebratory and festive....and this was Champagne, so of course we had our Server recommend and get us a bottle of bubbly.

We started with two appetizers; the escargot....in trendy "foam" was fine.

Decent richness and pungency, with a touch of decent acidity. The snails were a bit tough though and nothing like our favorites in Burgundy. This was not bad though.

The Portefeuille de Magret de Canard au Foie Gras, in spite of the temperature being a bit too cold for our tastes was quite good.

The rich, smooth foie gras, folded into a duck breast. I could have used a tad more sweetness to balance out the richness, but the duck, in spite of looks was pleasantly toothsome, and the dressing had the requisite acidity.

The Missus ordered the Filet d'Agneau, a filet of lamb.

Man, that lamb was wonderfully gamey and it went so well with the romarin gastrique; rosemary sauce, not too much rosemary, just enough red wine in the sauce. The herb topping had just enough pungency and chlorophyllic flavors to balance things out. The potatoes were wonderfully flavored, but the tops were a bit too hard for us. The vegetables were so delicious.

And, for some reason, it's the wonderful veggies I remember the most about my Pave de Cerf, basically venison. I believe a cut from the rear thigh.

Very tender, pleasantly gamey; the sweetness balanced things out nicely. But those seasonal vegetables....man, it was good!

Overall a nice meal. The service was warm and friendly.

L'Alambic
63 B rue de Chativesle
51100, Reims, France

After dinner we took a nice walk around the quiet streets of Reims. It drizzled a bit; which just added to the atmosphere.

It was a nice change of pace from Paris.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris - Cafe Constant, Bar du Central, and Le Moulin de la Vierge

On our last evening before heading to Champagne, we decided to take it easy. We'd had a fun and busy trip so far and thought just heading down Rue Saint-Dominique to revisit Cafe Constant would just be low stress and relaxing - remember when they created a sitting space for the Missus under the stairway? Anyway, we hadn't made any reservations for dinner and thought revisiting this casual, affordable, low-stress might be just the thing. We had a plan B, but they had a table open.

Instead of the typical three course meal, we wanted to try some of the other items on the menu. Plus, we knew that 2 apps and one main course would be more than enough for us.

We each started with some wine and then the Terrine of "Kakos", foie gras, pork shin, and lentil salad.

This was delicious; it was also quite a large portion. Definitely rich, porky, with the lentils adding a nice nutty-acidity. This was really good.

The Salmon Marinated like Herrings and boiled potatoes was not.

The salmon was a bit too fishy for us and it didn't have enough of the wonderful savory-acidity and clean finish of the stuff we really like.

The main we shared was more than enough for the both of us; Tete de Veau (Veal head), Langue et Cervelle (Tongue and Brain) Snackees, Pommes Vapeur, et Sauce Gribiche.

The veal head had been rolled and roasted perfectly. The out layer of fat was rich and crisp, the flavor deep and yet without offal tones. It was nicely seasoned as well. Same for the tongue, which seemed to have such a deep beefy flavor and was much more tender than it looked. The brain was a hard sell for the Missus; I think the iodine-metallic tones and almost fishy flavor freaked Her out a bit. And of course, the Missus had discovered how much She loved Sauce Gribiche the night before at Arnaud Nicolas. The potatoes were fine; firm, but cooked through....and that sauce really helped to cut any overly rich and oily tones the dish might have had. Perhaps we'll have the pigeon or the Oursins (uni) with Eggs next time.

Café Constant
139 rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris, France

On the way back to the apartment we stopped for a drink to end the evening at one of the many bars that line the street.

The Missus had a nice glass of  Red and I had the "El Burro".

It looked like there were quite a few ex-pats here. The staff was super friendly.

Bar du Central
99 rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris, France

While the Missus was getting ready and packing the next morning, I headed on up the street to the other bakery on the block.

And I got a croissant and two expressos to go.

The verdict; well this croissant was crisp, but not flakey, and could have used more butter and salt flavor as it was rather bland overall. We're still looking for that "perfect croissant" for us.

Le Moulin de la Vierge
64 rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris, France

A few minutes later, we were ready to go. The La Tour-Maubourg metro station was basically a half block away. From there it was off to Gare L'est, which we had been to before. So we were familiar with the lay-out. Having a bit of time before our train, we walked to the café across the street and did the "Parisian thing".

Next stop - Reims!

Paris - Arnaud Nicolas Revisited

This was our fourth visit to Paris. By this point in time we had developed a couple of rituals; places that we really enjoyed and Arnaud Nicolas was one of them.

We just love the charcuterie here. As I mentioned in my first post on the place. Arnaud Nicolas achieved the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) at the age of 24!

The place just feels comfortable and relaxed to us.

We had early reservations and there was just one other table occupied. As is the tradition here; we were given a small aperitif as we were seated. This time around; it was a nice clean and crisp Sauvignon from Thauvenay in the Loire Valley. The Missus enjoyed it, so we bought a bottle.

We placed our orders; sadly, the wonderful boudin blanc with truffle is a seasonal item and wasn't available so we ordered a risotto to go with our charcuterie.

As always the "Volailles et Foie gras de Canard", foie gras, duck, chicken and the "Caille, Poire et Pistache", quail and foie gras with pear and pistachio were excellent.

And of course our favorite is the Foie Gras mi-cuit. Wonderful balanced flavors, slightly livery balanced with a mild sweetness. The smooth creaminess makes you really feel you're having something oh-so decadent.

On this visit, I noticed that there was a traditional Fromage de Tete on the menu; head cheese. It was served with the traditional accompaniment of Sauce Gribiche, a wonderfully pungent and refreshingly sour sauce made of egg, cornichons, capers, tarragon, and the like. The Missus just loved the stuff! The texture of the head cheese was perfect, a bit of jellied toothsomeness, wonderful deep and complex beefy flavors, with a hint of tangy-sourness. This wasn't too salty and was just delici-yoso!

What wasn't delici-yoso was the risotto. I've often mentioned the "issues" I have with par cooked risotto and this one was another "strike".

Hard centers of the rice and a lack of enough "earthy" mushroom flavors made this somewhat disappointing.

Of course, the Missus had Her Rum Baba.

But I got the real award winner. I'd noticed a Whiskey on the digestif list. It was from Taiwan, from a label named Kavalan. It was also 24 Euros a pour....which, I've come to find is really not expensive.....I've seen it here for over $45 a pour!

This was wonderful; the flavors so complex, the nose full of vanilla tones.

I came to find out that this was the Gold Medal winning Kavalan Sherry Cask "Solist"!

Man was it good. It was this drink that got us started on Kavalan.

Even though we'd been to Arnaud Nicolas three times.....there always seems to be some new wrinkle, a new taste that we experience.

I guess that's why we keep coming back.

Arnaud Nicolas
46 Avenue de la Bourdonnais
75007 Paris, France

We headed back to our apartment and had a wonderful night's sleep and headed out the next morning well rested.

And while the skies were overcast, with intermittent drizzles....it was still Paris!

And a revisit to the Louvre was on the docket for the morning.

Thanks for stopping by!