Category — Travel Tips

Last week we exchanged our usual view for the one above.  We stayed in an apartment right around the corner from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  We went sightseeing and we shopped, but that was just to have something to do in between meals.  As always, the city lived up to its reputation for great food.  Just about everything was delicious, from the superlative bread (and amazing butter!) to the luscious slow cooked meats, and the incredible pastries and chocolate.

Pumpkin Soup with Foie Gras

For our first dinner, we ate at La Fontaine de Mars, a classic bistro, where the Obamas ate on their visit to Paris.  I started with pumpkin soup topped with sauteed foie gras.  The buttery meat juices added another dimension to the smooth creamy soup.  A rich stew of duck legs in red wine was the main course.  For dessert, I opted for an old favorite, Floating Island, poached meringue on a sweet creamy pool of vanilla sauce.

The next day we had dinner at a favorite bistro, La Regalade.  It is always crowded, but I it is one place I have to go when I am in Paris.  Their coarse country pate was as good as I remember it, and I loved the crackling crisp pork belly with lentils and celeriac puree that followed.   For dessert it was a perfect Grand Marnier Souffle.  On Sunday we explored the stands at the outdoor market on Avenue Woodrow Wilson.  The vegetables and fruits were hard to resist…

Avenue Woodrow Wilson Market

…and so was the seafood.  There were stands selling shrimp, scallops and many varieties of oysters.  These oursins, or sea urchins, were tempting.

Sea Urchins

If you think all butter tastes alike, I wish you could try this kind from the Normandy region that I tasted at  Drouant, a classic old restaurant that has recently been done over.  I liked the butter so much, I took it’s picture.   BTW, our lunch was excellent.  I started with 4 little vegetable appetizers, including a tiny cup of jerusalem artichoke soup and 3 fresh salads: beets, curried carrots, and fresh coco beans.  The main course was perfect roast chicken, thick cut French fries, and a green salad.

One day, we had an all-chocolate lunch at Jacques Genin, an elegant tea room and chocolate shop in the Marais District.  The mille feuille is a specialty and each one is filled to order so that the buttery puff  pastry layers stay crisp when sandwiched with the creamy filling.  We ordered one filled with chocolate caramel ganache along with a pot of hot dark chocolate as thick as melted ice cream to drink.  Was it too much chocolate?  Yes! And it was soooo good.

Chocolate Caramel Mille Feuille

Last week Charles and I taught cooking and wine classes aboard the Crystal Serenity on a 12 day cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean.  This magnificent cruise ship, which has often been named the best in the world, has everything you could want — great accommodations,  activities, classes, entertainment, a spa, restaurants, bars and amazing food. I say the food was amazing because I read somewhere that during the course of one voyage, as many as 10,000 meals are served!  

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Tuesday morning in Vaison, Sunday at L’Isle sur La Sorgue, the farmer’s market every evening at Vallerons — each day in Provence is a market day where you can buy anything from tapenade and olives, to fresh fruits and vegetables, to roast chickens, ribs and quail.  It was hard to resist buying too much.

Fortunately our rented house had a well equipped kitchen and with so many good ingredients available, it was easy to put together great meals.  In fact, we all agreed that our home cooked or assembled meals were the best we ate.  Every evening, we drank an apero poolside and watched the sunset.