Caffeine Fix – Page 5

Montpellier – Café Bun, Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier, and Brunch at Le Guru

January 6, 2023 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Croissants, France, Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Occitania, Travel

We'd had a wonderful afternoon and a amazing dinner the previous day. So we were excited to see what surprises Montpellier had in store for us on this day.

It was a bright and sunny morning as we headed out to do some exploring.

And so we headed out to get our caffeine fix from a place I had on my "list" heading thru Place de la Comédie (of course).

Remember I mentioned that there always seemed to be something going on in Montpellier. Well, we noticed part of the square was blocked off. Specifically the street we were headed down, Rue des Étuves. Soon enough it became clear what was happening. There was a Cancer Run going on.

The sign says "La Courstache", which I believe means "the course", but we also noticed some of the folks had drawn moustaches on themselves…..so I'm thinking there's some funny "pun" in the works here.

Meanwhile, the runners were being cheered on from the folks sitting at the cafes.

Right past the Opera House was our destination, Café Bun.

The place was buzzing! The Missus got some kind of special roast and I got an Americano, which was quite good.

The croissant though, was not. It lacked butter, wasn't flaky and crisp, and was too doughy.

And one interesting fellow kept trying to converse with us in several languages. I spoke back in English and he looked surprised, but we had a nice little chat. Then I noticed the gentleman in the business next door could not open his front gate. A bicycle had locked itself to the gate and in the process locked the two sliding pieces together. I walked over to help. Of course the gentleman thought it was my bike, but I made it clear it wasn't. I helped him get to the point where he could squeeze himself onto the street. He then went to the café, but it wasn't anyone from there. He then started ringing up all the apartments across the street. And guess what? He got his man and was able to open his shop. It was quite an interesting morning so far.

Café Bun
5 rue des Etuves
34000 Montpellier, France

When the Missus and I did have a few minutes to chat during our coffee, I opened up the map and we came up with an outline of where we'd be walking this morning.

So, we crossed back on Place de la Comédie and I took another photo of the interesting building we were staying in.

I sent a copy of it to Cathy who replied in what I think is the quintessential Californian response; "Earthquake"!

We veered left and headed North thru Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle a wonderful green space with restaurants, cafes, and lots of family friendly things to do.

After passing the park we took a left and went strolling thru the Ecusson (the old city).

And passed some lovely squares.

Winding our way until we came across the impressive Cathedral Saint-Pierre a massive structure.

We checked to see if the place was open, but it was not. I'd later do some checking and found the hours of operation and we'd return.

Right next to the Cathedral is the Faculty of Medicine. Montpellier is home to one of the oldest Medical Schools and there's a Museum of Anatomy we wanted to visit, but it has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic; so hopefully one day….

Right past all of this was the Jardin des Plants which was established by order of King Henry IV and is the oldest Botanical Garden in France; established in 1593. And even better; it's free!

It was winter so there wasn't a whole lot going on; but it was a nice escape from "the city".

We headed back to the apartment, thru the meandering old town, trying to decide on a place to have an early lunch. Just by sheer luck, we came across a place I had on my list, Le Guru. And though I mainly had this tiny corner restaurant on my list for the interesting Asian Fusion dishes, they served up a prix fixe brunch during weekends, so we thought, why not?

We got one of the tiny tables on the ground floor of the restaurant.

As part of the menu, one had to choose between two Oeuf Benedicte….hmmm, Eggs Benedict, not the Missus's favorite thing……She was having second thoughts, and this wasn't cheap at 23 Euroes a person. But we decided just to go for it.

Things started with a Smoothie and Boissons Chaude, hot chocolate.

The hot chocolate lacked flavor and was quite watery; but the passionfruit smoothie was tart and refreshing.

When the Viennoiseries arrived we started getting an understanding about the price. Holy smokes…..

The croissants were mediocre, but the sourdough bread was outstanding.

And then the Benedicts.

For the eggs, you could get either Smoked Salmon or Bacon, so we ordered one of each. The frites were nicely fried; hot and crisp, the small salad refreshing. As for the "Benedicte", well, to my surprise the Missus really liked the smoked salmon version. The Hollandaise sauce was creamy, but not overly assertive in that eggy-overly buttery manner. The smoked salmon was excellent; lightly briny and with a great smokiness, it reminded us of what we'd had in Scotland, The "bacon" was no slouch either; thick cut, but not tough, perfect salt, nicely smoked. The egg was a nice runny orb and "muffin" on the bottom was actually pretty light.

This meal turned out better than we thought and was well worth the price.

Le Guru
36 Rue de l'Argenterie
34000 Montpellier, France

And we enjoyed our "short escape" from French cuisine.

We had a nice stroll back to the apartment, which seemed quite close now. Montpellier was getting smaller by the hour it seems!

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

December 22, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Croissants, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

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

December 17, 2022 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

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 – Chez Alain Miam Miam and Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris

December 16, 2022 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, France, Paris, France, Sandwiches, Travel

After returning from our last trip to Paris, we contemplated a longer trip, which ended up being a whole month in France. As usual, we started in Paris, flying out on BA thru LHR. Like I mentioned in my previous post; while the Business Class meals on BA has to us seem better when returning to San Diego from LHR, overall, the food had improved from our last post-Covid travels.

These days we have a routine when flying into Paris in the evening. We catch the RER Blue Line from CDG to Les Halles and stay in the area. This time, since we'd be staying at AirBnbs and VRBOs for most of the trip, we did a hotel right outside Les Halles. One benefit of flying Business Class are the lay flat beds, where we can (usually) get a decent amount of sleep and work on getting our internal clocks adjusted. By the time we got to our hotel it was after 9pm, so it was right off to bed.

The next morning; well we slipped right into our routine.

We strolled over to Rue Montorgueil and had our Café Allonge at Café du Centre just like we usually do.

And just enjoy people watching……

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

This was a pretty quiet Thursday morning.

And we felt so relaxed and at home at our corner seats.

As for our plans; well, we went to the Marais and did our due diligence lèche-vitrine ("window licking" – the French term for window shopping). We spent a good amount of time licking 'dem windows and when it was time for lunch, well, we decided on a place I'd had on my list for a while. A rather small shop on Rue Charlot right around the corner from Marche Les Enfants Rouge, named Chez Alain Miam Miam. In fact, this was our original destination during a previous visit to the area, but both shops (they have a shop and a stand in the marche) were packed, so we ended up eating at Chez Taeko. I had read so many superlatives about the place; Food & Wine says it's one of the best sandwich shops in Paris and this YouTube video calls it the "Best Sandwich in the World"that I wanted to check the place out. We decided on having an early lunch to avoid the crowds and got there at 10am. The shop is tiny; the owner, Alain Roussel was manning the counter and we ordered our sandwich and went to one of the shared tables.

Eventually, the beast was brought to us.

The bread was wonderfully toasted and a textural treat; the tomatoes had a wonderful sweet acidity, there's avocados, wonderful caramelized onions, a huge amount of milky-earthy Comte cheese, and ham. The only thing we thought was there wasn't enough of a salt component. But this was quite good and one sandwich was enough for both of us.

In Paris, there are processes. Here, after watching other folks, I noticed that once folks finished their sandwiches, the plates were returned (by non-tourists) to a window and so I took our now empty plate there and got a huge "thumbs up" from the crew!

As we were leaving at around 11 there was a line already forming outside the shop. Not a cheap sandwich at 17 Euros, but it was lunch for the both of us.

Chez Alain Miam Miam
26 Rue Charlot
75003 Paris, France

On Rue de Bretagne, we stopped at Jean-Paul Hevin for some confections and Comptoirs Richard for some tea for later in the trip and took our time walking back to the hotel. On Rue Saint-Denis, right across from Raviolis Chinois Nord Est is a church named Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris which was built in 1235! On Rue Saint-Denis? I had wanted to check the place out on our last trip but it was closed the entire time. It must have been my lucky day because it was open!

There was one main reason for my visit. I'd read that the relics of Saint Helena were kept in the church. According to Atlas Obscura:

"As history tells it, in 840 a monk from Hautvillers, France returned from a trip to Rome with a surprising souvenir. He admitted he had broken into St. Helena’s tomb and stolen part of her body while he was there. Instead of ordering its return, the pope allowed the relic to stay in France since the item itself hadn’t protested the theft by miraculously stopping it (as other relics reportedly had)."

And in 1819 the relics were moved here. We found the stairs to the crypt were closed and only opened during certain hours. But again, fate intervened as a woman came by with the keys and went down the stairs and waved us down.

I'm guessing she is a regular worshipper here so they gave her the keys. She lit some candles, said a prayer, then left.

Apparently, parts of Saint Helena's body is wrapped and kept here.

It was an interesting stop.

From here we decided to extend our walk and visit some other familiar places before dinner.

It was a lovely day in Paris and we wanted to make the best of it.

Paris (2022) – Matamata Coffee Bar, What’s Going with Notre Dame, Le Saint-Regis, and Still Our Favorite Croissant from La Maison d’Isabelle

November 12, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Croissants, France, Paris, France, Travel

On the morning after our previous evening's "carb-fest", we arose nice and refreshed. I had just planned for one place to visit during the day, so we could just kind of make things up as the day went by. The Missus wanted to try someplace different for this morning's coffee, so we headed over to Rue d'Argout right off of Rue Montmartre to Matamata Coffee Bar.

Man, all these boutique coffee places seemed to have popped up over the last couple of years. Anyway, the Missus ordered a pour over and I got a coffee and a scone to start my day.

The Missus thought the pour over here was a bit weaker than Motors. I enjoyed the scone. Service was quite nice.

Matamata Coffee Bar
58 Rue d'Argout
75002 Paris, France

It was a bright, sunny day and our destination for the day did not open until 2pm, so we could just do our Flânerie thing.

We stopped while crossing Pont au Change when we saw what looked like the police dive team either doing an exercise or perhaps actually searching for something?

We decided to swing by Notre Dame to see what was going on in terms of restoration and construction. Like so many, we were horrified to see and read about the fire at Notre Dame back in April of 2019.

I had read that Notre Dame is scheduled to reopen in 2024 and we were curious to see what work was going on.

Illustrations and photographs of the fire, damage, and restoration are posted on the boards surrounding the church.

And it's really difficult to determine what work is going on from where we stood.

We do hope that Notre Dame returns better than ever.

We walked the length of Île de la Cité and crossed over to Île Saint-Louis via Pont Saint-Louis. We were just here the previous day, but things seemed even more serene on the Wednesday.

IMG_3091 (2)

Check out this outdoor dining set-up! It's basically taking up a parking stall!
IMG_3091 (2)

We decided to take a break and grab one of the outside tables at Le Saint-Regis, which seemed to be a very popular café.

It was a great place to people and pooch watch as it was just steps from Pont Saint-Louis.

We could watch folks as they crossed back and forth, going about their daily business and routines.

The Cafe Allonge was quite good as well.

As was the service. I'm sure we'll be back to relax and people watch, possibly getting a breakfast as well. This café seemed quite popular.

Le Saint-Regis
6 Rue Jean du Bellay
75004 Paris, France

Bolstered by our caffeine fix, we crossed over to the 5th Arrondissement. We were still a bit early for our visit….so we decided to see how busy our favorite boulangerie for croissants was.

Must have been our lucky day, the line wasn't very long and unlike our previous visit, they weren't out of Croissant aux Buerre,

Things moved quickly and we were in and out in a flash.

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

Well, we decided to find a place to have our croissant. Close to our destination was a little park; Square Samuel-Paty.

This used to be named Square Paul Painlevé, but was renamed for teacher Samuel Paty who was murdered by an Islamic Terrorist in October of 2020.

It's a tiny park, but a nice peaceful green space, full of sculptures. We were surprised to see a copy of the Capitoline Wolf, which we had seen in Rome.

We had a seat on wall in the shade and opened up the croissant….it was every bit as good as we remembered.

Light and crisp exterior; fluffy interior, slightly moist, perfect amount of butter and salt for our taste. It's still our favorite here in Paris.

After our last disappointing visit to a old favorite of ours, we were glad that La Maison d’Isabelle still delivered. We smiled as we headed off to our destination for the day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris (2022) – Raviolis Chinois Nord-Est, Motors Coffee (again), and Chez Taeko

November 10, 2022 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, France, Japanese Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

We arrived in Paris from Edinburgh just before 8pm. We had some decent food in the Air France Lounge in Edinburgh and also on the flight.

We arrived at CDG close to 8pm, then caught the RER to Les Halles. We made good time and since we'd be staying for five nights, I managed to get us a VRBO I'd been wanting to stay at that had a 5 night minimum. Granted, Les Halles may not be the most glamorous of areas, but our flat was on the 6th floor (since this is Europe, it's the 7th floor by US standards), but it had a lift. And while you may not think this view of Les Halles is anything to write home about.

Just raise your eyes a bit.

Yep, that's the Eiffel Tower to the left and Saint Eustache to the right. We would never tire of this view.

The Missus and I weren't quite ready to call it a night, so we headed over to our favorite street in Paris, Rue Montorgueil. Man, it was super busy, even on a Monday night.

Like I mentioned in one of my posts on the first leg of this trip, it was super busy, like Covid never happened. Well, at least this was outdoors.

We made our "rounds" then headed back down St Denis when we decided to grab a "small bite" to eat. The place we chose? Ravioli Chinois Nord-Est. To translate, "ravioli Chinois" = Jiaozi! We had enjoyed out time in Scotland, don't get me wrong, but the Missus was missing Asian food and some late evening Jiaozi sounded like fun.

The place was fairly busy, though there were a couple of empty tables. The customers were mostly Parisians with a few Chinese sprinkled in. I started to appreciate the varied tastes of Parisians on this trip as it seems they were quite open to trying and enjoying various cuisines. The Missus got to use Her Mandarin and we got the house beer….the namesake of Her hometown. Having come from Scotland where the weather was fairly cool, it just seemed so hot in Paris. So this helped pave the way to getting us adjusted.

We started with some Liang Cai – cold dishes, the stir fried potato strings and five spiced beef.

The beef had a nice five spice flavor, but was really dry and tough. The potato strings were fine, nothing special, but the vinegar helped cool us off.

As for the Jiaozi…..

We got the Pork and Cabbage dumplings….they used napa cabbage in this (whew). The wrapper was too brittle and lacked a decent "pull", the fillings though were quite tasty, well seasoned and moist and tender. This is pretty much on scale with the higher level jiaozi in San Diego.

While the food didn't blow us away, this was a fun stop, and the Missus and I had a nice time reminiscing about a trip that seems oh so long ago now. And man, the place seemed to be a popular late evening stop.

Raviolis Chinois Nord Est
115 Rue Saint-Denis
75001 Paris, France

We headed back to the apartment and enjoyed our view for a few minutes before heading off into dreamland.

The next morning we woke and just lounged around for a while. I had a baguette making class scheduled in the afternoon so we decided to do some shopping.

But first we headed over to Motors Coffee and this time we had a seat outside on the sidewalk.

The Missus thought Her Geisha "drip", what they call a pour over here was decent. I had an Americano which was quite good. We'd end up visiting one more time during our stay.

Motors Coffee
7 Rue des Halles
75001 Paris, France

From here we headed over to the Marais and just did our lèche-vitrine (window shopping) thing. We stopped into a location of Signorini Tartufi, we had first come across this shop in Avignon….yes, never got those posts done because Covid just kinda waylaid my travel posts. Perhaps I'll do a summary one day because we had a fabulous time. Anyway Signorini Tartufi is a favorite for gifts and stuff for ourselves as well.

Signorini Tartufi Paris Bretagne (Locations all over France)
3 Rue de Bretagne
75003 Paris, France

We also "finally" (we'd walked past this shop several times in the past) took some time to check out Comptoirs Richard, a tea & coffee shop on Rue Bretagne.

The Missus spent a good amount of time here and even sampled some of the teas available. She ended up buying several bags as gifts and for Herself.

Comptoirs Richard
45 Rue de Bretagne
75003 Paris, France

She also bought some treats from La Maison du Chocolate as well.

La Maison du Chocolat Bretagne
14 Rue de Bretagne
75003 Paris, France

By now it was time for lunch. There was a place in Marché des Enfants-Rouges that I wanted to check out. Marché des Enfants-Rouges is the oldest food market in Paris, established in 1615! These days, as much as folks are shopping for groceries, the market is known for their food stalls. There was one in particular I was interested in.

This food stall is called Chez Taeko and serves up bentos, combinations, donburi, and the like. If you're eating at one of the counters or tables, you have a seat and they'll take your order. I got the Chicken Karaage and the Missus a Chirashi. Even though there's some hustle and bustle, this is Paris, so folks aren't talking loudly, so we enjoyed the vibe.

We ate at the counter.

I enjoyed my chicken karaage, the batter was more on the crunchy side, but it was good. The sauce had a nice sweet-soy flavor and the chicken was moist. The tempura broccoli was nice, light and crisp as were the tsukemono. The rice however was terrible, hard and chewy.

That rice situation made the Missus's Chirashi not as enjoyable as my bento.

The salmon was quite good, nice and fresh, the maguro was just passable, not the highest quality; the ebi was fine as well. That rice however….man, a whole bowl of it!

We did enjoy the service, which in spite of all the customers was really efficient and the staff, all Japanese were so pleasant. So, when I walked up to pay our bill, the woman spoke to me in Japanese, I understood some of it. But when I submitted my credit card she switched to English. This was when it hit me….they knew I was American as soon as the chip on my card didn't work by tapping it on the device! I started noticing this at other businesses as well. Interesting, huh?

Chez Taeko
Marché des Enfants-Rouges
37 Rue Charlot
75003 Paris, France

We headed back to the apartment to drop off our packages.

Before we headed back out.

I would be taking a baguette class for the rest of the afternoon and the Missus would be exploring Paris solo. This was going to be interesting.

Edinburgh (2022) – Surgeons’ Hall Museums, National Museum of Scotland, Union Brew Lab, and Greyfriars Bobby

November 5, 2022 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Edinburgh, Scotland, Travel

**** Not much food in this one; but it has some of my favorite sights/stops from this trip!

Our last full day in Edinburgh would be a busy one. There were several places I had on my "list"; things I just had to see. We headed out from our apartment on Blackfriars Street away from the Royal mile. We enjoyed this change of pace, less tourists, less crowds. And, you never know what you'll come across in Edinburgh. I saw this and decided we just had to turn down Niddry Street South.

You just never know what you'll see……

"He Who Is Without Mathematics Shall Not Enter". I guess they'll never let me in here, eh?

Our destination was the Surgeons' Hall Museums.

Which consists of an amazing Pathology Museum and a Museum of the History of Surgery and Dentistry (ouch).

We were blown away by the collection, if you're interested in Medicine (looking at you RD!) and especially surgery and pathology this is a must visit.

Sadly, photos aren't allowed, but this photo somehow jumped into the Missus' phone.

Good lord! There are some "interesting" items in the collection including William Burke's (Remember Burke and Hare) death mask and a pocket book made from his skin!

We'd go to the Musée d'Histoire de la Médecine in Paris on this trip as well, but it doesn't even come close to this Museum!

Surgeons' Hall Museums
Nicolson Street
Edinburgh, Scotland

Well, after the Surgeons' Hall Museums we were feeling a bit peckish……you know what I mean?

Right around the corner on the way to our next stop was a coffee shop that served light dishes named Union Brew Lab. This craft coffee shop was just down the Missus's coffee nerd alley.

The location, right around the corner from Edinburgh University was perfect for this shop as we saw students, remote workers, and such.

I got a cold brew (of course).

The Missus got something or other that came in it's own pot and a sand timer!

But what really caught the Missus's attention was the Avocado Toast with Smoked Salmon and Dill.

Like almost all the smoked seafood we had in Scotland, the smoked salmon was so good. Perfectly smoky, great meaty texture, wonderful with mashed avocado, on a nicely toasted sourdough. So basically, this is where the Missus first enjoyed avocado toast, and Boulenc made it an obsession.

Union Brew Lab
6-8 S College St.
Edinburgh, Scotland

After our light "brunch" our next stop was just a short walk away.

The huge National Museum of Scotland. Admission is free!

The museum's collection spans 5 floors with areas that cover history, technology, science, world cultures, and so on. We decided to pare down our visit and find the areas we were really interested in.

For me, it was finding Dolly the Sheep, the world first cloned sheep. Before Dolly, it was thought that cloning a mammal was impossible from an adult cell. Did you know that "Dolly" was named after this Dolly?

Dolly advanced our knowledge and in her own way was a pioneer. And as is often the case with pioneers there is risk. Dolly was euthanized at the age of six because of progressive lung disease. But she contributed much to mankind.

We were also visited the Kingdom of Scots Gallery in the museum, where there were some interesting items on display.

That beastly item above is called "the Maiden" and you know what it was used for right?

There was a lot to see. We were easily confused by the all the Roberts, Duncans, and James in the lineage of Scottish Royalty. I can't say we've got things straight now, but the displays in the museum helped…..a bit…I hope I don't get tested on it.

National Museum of Scotland
Chambers St.
Edinburgh, Scotland

I was really looking forward to our next stop. It was basically just a minute or two away from the museum. The statue of Greyfriars Bobby.

Much like Hachikō in Tokyo and our own Bum the Dog, the story of Greyfriars Bobby is the stuff of legends. Much like the story of Hachikō, the story of "Bobby" is one of true loyalty. In abbreviated form it goes as follows. In 1850, John Gray, a gardener, and his family moved to Edinburgh. He was unable to find work as a gardener, so he became a night watchman. Bobby became his companion for those long nights. John Gray caught tuberculosis and died of the disease on February 15th, 1858 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Bobby being the loyal companion, refused to leave the side of "partner" and would stay at John Gray's gravesite. Even though the keepers of Greyfriars Kirkyard tried to remove Bobby on many occasions, but to no avail. Eventually, they built Bobby a shelter and he remained loyal to his companion until his death in 1872.

Baroness Angelia Georgina Burdett-Coutts was so moved by Bobby's story that she asked the City Council for permission to erect a granite fountain with a statue of Bobby placed on top. And that's that you see above. The inscription on the stature reads:

"A tribute to the affectionate fidelity of Greyfriars Bobby. In 1858, this faithful dog followed the remains of his master to Greyfriars Churchyard and lingered near the spot until his death in 1872."

Of course, there's a tavern called Greyfriars Bobby's Bar right across the street. And of course there's the Disney movie as well. And if you check out the statue of Bum the Dog at the Horton-Davis House you'll find a statue of Greyfriars Bobby there too. Remember, Edinburgh and San Diego are sister cities.

Greyfriars Bobby is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard which is right down the lane, so we decided to take a look. Greyfriars Kirkyard is also supposedly the most haunted graveyard in the world as well. So of course we had to check it out.

Greyfriars Bobby is buried just inside the gates of the Kirkyard. Instead of flowers people leave sticks for the little fella'.

His master John Gray is buried nearby.

I know, it would make sense for Bobby to be buried next to his master….but dogs (or any animal for that manner) cannot be buried in consecrated ground. So Bobby actually got prime territory right at the entrance to the cemetery!

We took a stroll around the cemetery and had the good fortune of not running into anything "strange".

And I think many folks would be interested to know that there's a Harry Potter connection with Greyfriars Kirkland as well.

From here we strolled back to the Royal Mile.

We had one more stop before taking a short break.

Thanks for stopping by!

Oaxaca (2022) – We Arrive, Cafe Brujula, and Dinner at Los Danzantes

October 13, 2022 mmm-yoso Caffeine Fix, Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, Oaxaca, Travel

Our flight and transfer from Mexico City went quite smoothly. Our good friend "Alle" had mentioned that Benito Juárez Airport was a hot mess these days; but we didn't encounter any problems. Our transfer was waiting when we arrived and we made it to our hotel; the Hotel Casona Oaxaca with no problems right past check-in time. The hotel's location was great for a first time visit to Oaxaca as it was centrally located, just a block from the Zocalo, basically the heart of the city. The courtyard was quite beautiful and though the room was a bit dated and there was a bit of noise, we had a small balcony of sorts with good natural light.

After freshening up, we headed out to take a quick look at the city. The city was quite vibrant and full of energy. I had read that 60% of the population of Oaxaca is under the age of 30. We decided to just take a stroll and familiarize ourselves with the area a bit.

Like I mentioned above, the Zocalo, officially named Plaza de la Constitución is pretty much the heart of the city. It's a nice public space, with shaded areas, restaurants and shops in the potico lined buildings, and vendor stalls….and of course, there's always something going on.

To the North of the Zocalo is the Cathedral.

It was a pretty warm day, so we decided to duck in for a quick look.

Construction of the Cathedral commenced in 1535 and was reconstructed several times because of earthquakes.

There's some nice stained glass windows in the cathedral and it was a good place to cool off a bit.

After a short break we headed up Calle Macedonio Alcalá, which eventually turns into a pedestrian only street.

We decided to take a caffeine break at Cafe Brujula, which I believe has six locations in the city.

There was nice courtyard seating…many tables were taken up with folks working on laptops and such. But the Missus enjoyed Her Iced Matcha and I thought the cold brew was decent.

Café Brújula Alcalá
C. Macedonio Alcalá 104
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

Once Calle Macedonio Alcalá becomes a pedestrian only street, things really pick up.

And this is where we first really started noticing all the amazing street art.

Yes, there are quite a few tourists; but it's very lively and there seemed to be many locals as well.

We got up to the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán. We had a food tour the following day and we just wanted to make sure we could find the meeting place which was right in front of the church.

From here we headed back to the hotel and relaxed sort of like this fella'.

After a short break we headed out to dinner. We again walked thru the Zocalo and stopped when we saw this.

The police were actually teaching kids how to ride bicycles!

And were also doing a puppet show on bicycle safety.

And a couple of the officers were singing and playing music. It was quite a scene and for some reason I found it so sweet and heartwarming.

I had made dinner reservations at a highly regarded restaurant right on Macedonio Alcalá named Los Danzantes which is named for the famous Bas Reliefs of "Dancers" at Monte Alban which we would see later during the trip.

The main dining area was in a lovely courtyard area.

The menu used a QR code something that we found everywhere in Mexico. The food seemed a bit of a modern, lighter affair. The service was a bit of hit and miss. As you can see, the customer base seemed to be more tourists/ex-pats though nothing wrong with that if the food is outstanding.

The cocktails seemed to be a bit short in terms of alcohol.

I enjoyed the different versions of Oaxacan style tortillas, but the Missus didn't care for the crisp, cracker like texture.

The Missus loves Hoja Santa, so we started with the Hoja Santa with Local Queso, and Tomatillo ($155/MX – $7.75/US).

When having Hoja Santa, I expect anise-minty-pungent-grassy tones, but this was on the milder side. The cheese was like mozzarella and not quite milky enough for our taste. The tomatillo salsa ruled the dish; tangy with a pleasant sourness.

We also ordered the Pulpo Dobladas ($275/MX – $13.75/US).

The octopus was on the tough side, again the Missus doesn't care for Oaxacan style tortillas; though the blue corn version is mighty tasty to me. Loved the avocado, but this was served with a "matcha sauce" that was really mild in the flavor.

It was pretty warm during our visit in Oaxaca and the Watermelon Salad ($125/MX – $6.25/US) sounded quite good.

For some reason I thought this would be compressed watermelon, which intensifies the flavor and gives it textural "heft", but it just cubed watermelon, seeds and all. Since it was just cubed watermelon, the ponzu style sauce and orange "gel" overpowered the dish. Spherification was used to create ikura looking strawberry spheres. The best part of the dish were the tomatoes which were sweet and acidic.

The last item we ordered was the Ancho Chile Relleno with Huitlacoche and Tamala Pumpkin Puree ($ 245/MX – $12.25/US)

The roasted ancho chile was delicious, smoky with just a tad of heat, but there wasn't enough earthy-mushroomy huitlacoche in the filling. The pumpkin puree was too sweet for our taste.

Not the best meal to start off our stay in Oaxaca for us. Just a bit too much going on, which did not bring out the best in the ingredients.

Los Danzantes
C. Macedonio Alcalá 403
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

Oh well…….

We headed back to our room. We walked thru the Zocalo and by now they were taking down the puppet stage and cleaning up. But there were several officers still singing to entertain….hmmm….maybe themselves?

Things seemed so festive on this Thursday night.

And we were looking forward to our food tour the following day!

Mexico City (2022) – It’s Tout Chocolate and Pasillo de Humo Yet Again, Fonda Garufa, and a Private Tour of Museo Nacional de Antropologia

October 8, 2022 mmm-yoso Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Chocolate, Croissants, Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, Mexico City, Travel

**** I though I'd give you all a break from those really long Islay posts and do a couple on our recent trip to CDMX. I've posted on two of the places several times; so perhaps skipping down to our tour of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia might be worthwhile?

Yes, I know we'd already been to Mexico and CDMX earlier in the year. But the Missus had enjoyed that trip so much, San Miguel de Allende and especially Guanajuato was so much fun, that the Missus wanted to do another trip. This time to Oaxaca. However while Volaris, has 2 direct flights from TIJ, well, we really don't like flying Volaris. So, we decided that a layover would be fine one way and we'd go ahead and spend two nights in Mexico City. As a plus, I knew the Missus loved our visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, though it was quite overwhelming, so I booked us a private tour. She was excited about that!

Getting in was the same 'ol routine. We stayed at the same place as on the last three trips. It was quite simple and easy. Like I said, we now had kind of a routine if you will. After checking in, we headed to Tout Chocolate so the Missus could get Her chocolates and some gifts.

Choosing Her chocolates was one of Her most difficult decisions of the trip.

Tout Chocolat
Amsterdam 154
6100 Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

In keeping with the routine, we had dinner at a place I've posted on three times already, Pasillo de Humo. So, I'll spare you all the gory details. I will say, that unlike our last visit we weren't misted by vinegar to prevent Covid this time around.

We have an approach that works for us at Pasillo de Humo. We've learned to stay away from the entrees and go for smaller plates.

And we enjoy the cocktails as well.

Two of our favorite dishes, the Memelitas de Cerdo and the Hoya Santa Relleno, were good as always.

But this time we found something we enjoyed even more; the Tripas Tacos!

The pork intestines were fried perfectly; crisp and light……the texture was amazing!

One other reason that I purposely chose to revisit Pasillo de Humo was that we were headed to Oaxaca and I was interested in seeing how the food at our favorite restaurant in CDMX lined up.

Pasillo de Humo
Av Nuevo León 107
06100 Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

It was a nice and relaxing start to things. Though I did notice many more "tourists/ex-pats" here then I recalled. And then I started reading articles like this one.

The next morning, before heading to the Museum, we decided to get a croissant from our favorite bakery in the area, but changed our mind when we noticed this place sold croissants and thought we'd try it out.

We then headed on over to Cafe Toscano, our usual morning coffee stop.

Unfortunately, the croissant was overly doughy and lacked the butteriness we like in our croissants.

Fonda Garufa
Avenida Michoacán 93
06140 Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

Creatures of habit that we are; we had our typical morning coffee at Cafe Toscano.

Nothing amazing mind you, but a nice way to start the day.

Cafe Toscano
Calle Michoacan sn Mercado Condesa
Hipódromo Condesa, Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico

After our caffeine fix we headed out to the Museum. As always, it was a fine walk.

We had really enjoyed our previous visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, so I went ahead and booked a private tour with Mexico a Pie Walking Tours.

Our guide was Andres and he was amazing. The tour was so full of info!

We met Andres at the Tlaloc Statue that sits outside the museum on the corner of Reforma.

IMG_0582 (2) Andres met us and after introductions and an overview of what was going to be covered in the tour today, he went over Tlaloc, the Aztec god of water and rain. He noted the key features, the round eyes, the fangs and said that we'd be seeing several different status of Tlaloc during our visit and that many folks think it's of a different go, but keep in mind the key features and it's easy to identify.

Andres covered exactly what we were interested in; the Archaic to the Contact Period. It was so much info; I'm just going to go over a couple of things that really stuck with us.

Andres quizzed us as we moved along the museum.

IMG_0615 (2) And yep, if you're thinking that's Tlaloc above, you'd be right. Check out the eyes and the fangs!

Another interesting story was that of King Pakal of Palenque (K'inich Janaab' Pakal). It is claimed that Pakal ruled for nearly 70 years and in 1952 a tomb was opened in the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque. In it was found a skeleton with an intricate jade mask and clothed as you see to the right. The actual jade mask can be found close by in a replica of the tomb.

We got to another interesting topic was when I asked Andres if Jade was actually found in Mexico and he told us that items like Jade, Turquoise, and Cacao which are not endemic to Mexico. We were then brought to this map which detailed how trade occurred between different peoples!

Turquoise actually came from what is now the American Southwest! Cacao and Jade from what is now Guatemala.

Andres went over the amazing Aztec Codex with us.

And even dispelled a couple of things we thought were true; like this famous object; the Aztec Sun Stone, which many people believe is a just a calendar.

It is now believed that the stone is actually a sacrificial altar! Here's something I read after returning from our trip.

It was an amazing nearly four hour experience, with so much information that I've forgotten more than I remember; but those few items stick with me. And we just covered half the museum! I guess we'll have to get the other half done the next time we're in CDMX!

Museo Nacional de Antropologia
Avenida Paseo de la Reforma y Calzada Gandhi s/n
Chapultepec, Mexico City 11560, Mexico

After the tour we took a short break and then we were off. It was time for a taco crawl!

Stay Tuned!

Scotland (2022) – Ardbeg, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig Distilleries. Dinner at Port Charlotte Hotel (Islay)

October 1, 2022 mmm-yoso British/Irish/Scottish Restaurants/Pubs, Caffeine Fix, Distilleries, Scotland, Seafood, Travel

After a nice day in Oban, we headed off early the next morning to catch the ferry to Port Ellen on Islay. It was a bit of a drive and I was quite fascinated with the whole thing as I hadn't ever been on a ferry this large before. I mean the ferry could hold buses and semi's, heavy construction equipment. It let cars in first, then had the cars lifted to the ceiling. I'd ridden the Washington State Ferry several times; but this was much larger.

We were entertained by this pup while waiting to get our van onto the ferry.

It was drizzling a bit and the pooch just wasn't into going to do his business or even a walk. He refused to move until finally; his "Dad" let him back into the car! It was pretty funny. We knew who ran things in this family!

The ferry was quite spacious and well equipped and had several designated areas.

Sean our driver told me to meet him back at the van a few minutes before docking; so we headed out to relax.

We saw the pooch sitting with Dad and eventually napping away in the pet friendly area. It must have been a pretty tough morning! The seats and sofas there were quite comfortable.

After a while, we headed off to the coffee kiosk for a caffeine fix.

There was some pretty comfortable seating here as well.

And the coffee decent as well.

Soon enough we had arrived at Port Askaig…..

Sean had arranged for three distillery visits and we'd be hitting them right in a row.

But first, we stopped here…..

What in god's name is this you might ask? Well, this is what gives Islay Scotch Whiskey its unique character. It's peat, basically an accumulation of decayed organic matter.

The peat is dried, then slowly burnt to give Islay Scotch it's smoky flavor.

And then it was time for our stops. Like many of the tours we do these days…most private or small group, there's just so much information…..I'll just do quick recaps of our visits.

First stop Ardbeg Distillery.

Most of the distilleries we visited had a similar look; the white washed buildings and some had wonderful views as well.

We loved Ardbeg's "mascot"!

We did a tour of the grounds and got a nice history; Ardbeg was established in 1815! We then got a tasting.

Quite peaty; though a good amount of sweetness came thru.

Lagavulin was next. The setting was amazing as there are ruins of a castle right in the bay in back of the distillery. This is Dunyvaig Castle.

We got a nice rundown of the machinery here; some of it unique and almost one of a kind.

The tasting here was quite diverse; everything from really strong with a "bite" to quite peaty. We were told that the pot stills are filled to the maximum at Lagavulin; thus the contact with copper is lower than most other brands creating a unique flavor profile.

The Missus's favorite Scotch is from Laphroaig, so She was looking forward to our visit. And overall, the Laphroaig tour was the most comprehensive as well.

We actually got to go into a malting room.

Saw peat being "burned"…..

And was basically walked thru much of the process.

As for the tastings….well, the Missus still likes Her Laphroaig 10! And perhaps the Quarter Cask. I'm more of a Sherry Oak kind of guy and I had a taste of the 16…oh my!

Looks like some other folk like Laphroaig too!

Perhaps our favorite part of the tour were the "opinion tiles" which detail the love-hate polarizing opinions of the Laphroaig. These are at the entrance of the distillery.

It details at the bottom of the tile details what the person tasted.

My favorite one was…..

There were a group of Frenchmen….wearing kilts and all the gear on a Scotch pilgrimage! Sean went and took photos of them.

You gotta love this place!

Islay was indeed beautiful; the folks warm and welcoming. And the scenery……

But man, we were bushed. Sean dropped us off at out accommodation, the very comfortable Port Charlotte Hotel.

And after doing a bit of research before our trip; I figured that the most suitable meals for us would be in the hotel.

And it would turn out to be a good choice.

We started with 6 Loch Gruinart (local) Oysters.

My goodness; these were so good! Not overly briny; with a sweet-cucumbery aftertaste. We ended up ordering another half-dozen.

The Wild Mushroom Salad was also quite good.

Good earthy flavors; loved the addition of pine nuts added that unique, almost sweet flavor. The truffle oil dressing didn't hurt things at all either.

The Seafood Chowder was interesting; tomato based.