Travel – Page 22

Paris – Trois Croissants, Ernest & Valentin Reaumur, Boulangerie Pezeril, and Liberté Turbigo

September 24, 2023 mmm-yoso Bakery, Croissants, France, Paris, France, Travel

If you've been reading our little blog long enough, you know I've got a thing about croissants. A good croissant aux buerre is a thing of beauty to me; crisp, light, buttery….. And of course France, and especially Paris, home to over 30,000 bakeries would be the place to try them, right? Thru trying a bunch of croissants during our trips we've come up up with our favorite, which we've revisited several times. There is one interesting thing though. When I ask folks that own the apartments or work at the hotels we stay at about their favorite, they'll undoubtedly name a place within a block or two. When I mention our favorites, I'll often get an odd look. I've kinda figured things out; the French believe that a croissant, like the baguette is a birthright and with all those bakeries there's bound to be one in close proximity. I was once told that within the main arrondissements there will be one within a short walk and being a regular means that you develop a relationship with the folks in the boulangerie. The owner of our apartment told me that there were two boulangeries within a block of the flat. Well, he was wrong as there were three! One opened during our two week stay!

So, at least in terms of croissants, I decided to do the "live like a local" kinda things during our two week stay. So here goes…….

Ernest & Valentin Reaumur:

We saw this location of Ernest & Valentin, I believe there are six locations within the city limits of Paris, right when we arrived as it had a prime location on Rue Reaumur right by the stairs exiting the Arts et Métiers metro stop.

This shop was bustling, but the service was efficient and somewhat friendly.

This would be my favorite croissant aux buerre of the three I tried. It was decently crisp and flakey.

It was light and fluffy. While it could have used a bit more butter, in terms of a balance of butteriness to salt, this was the best of the three.

I would end up having this four times during my stay.

Ernest & Valentin
42 Rue Réaumur
75003 Paris, France

Boulangerie Pezeril:

A block to the East on Rue du Temple is Boulangerie Pezeril.

This was by far the busiest of the three boulangeries. There was always a line in the morning.

This place had a nice local vibe and the employees seemed to really know their regular customers.

Unfortunately, the croissant was quite over baked and hard.

While it had a decent butteriness, I didn't care for the texture. I also noticed that folks really didn't go for the croissants here. There was one good things about this visit. While paying for my croissants I noticed three police officers walk in. They knew exactly what they wanted. Each got Jambon Buerre – the ham and butter baguette sandwich. This was a great clue for me. I would end up stopping by for a sandwich to eat on the train when we did day trips. As it was pretty good.

Boulangerie Pezeril
183 Rue du Temple
75003 Paris, France

Liberté Turbigo:

One the third day of our stay I needed to head on over to the local Carrefour City and noticed that a Boulangerie was opening up.

This was to be the sixth location of the Liberté chain. A few days later they were open and I dropped by.

During my 2 visits, it seemed like the demographic skewed to the younger crowd. If I recall these were also the most expensive.

These were the largest croissants; quite substantial, but lacking in enough butter for my taste and a bit doughy as well. Still, not bad.

Liberté Turbigo
63 Rue de Turbigo
75003 Paris, France

Spending a couple of weeks in one location was fun, at least for me. And can you imagine having three bakeries all within a block of where you're staying? I was told that in Paris "there's a boulangerie on almost every corner". And, at least in this case, it seems that saying is true!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris – Dinner at Les Enfants Rouge (Again)

September 23, 2023 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Paris, France, Travel

After taking a break from a fun day, we decided to head on out before dinner. The destination? One that we consider a must visit during the holiday season in Paris. We are always interested to see the Christmas window displays at Galeries Lafayette. This would the third holiday season we'd be in Paris, so we couldn't miss that, right?

We walked on over from the 3rd Arrondissement to the bright lights of Galeries Lafayette in full Holiday mode. We strolled around and took in the holiday window display.

Every year the display tells a story. The last time we were in Paris during the holiday season (pre-Covid, 2019) the theme was bees and the hive.

This time, the theme….well, we couldn't quite figure it out.

Can you figure out what the story is about?

After making it around to all the windows; it looked like something to do with outer space and aliens?

Later we'd return to Galeries Lafayette and get the full scoop on the story…..

From here we decided to walk to our dinner destination. Of course, this is Paris, so it was a stroll full of landmarks….

I had made reservations at a place we'd enjoyed previously. Les Enfants Rouge, located right around the corner from Marché des Enfants Rouges was a favorite of our from our previous trip. Yes, we'd been to several places of what we call the "Nikkei revolution" in Paris. Chefs from Japan who worked in the highest levels of French restaurants and eventually opened places of their own. We'd been honored and blessed to sample the dishes at places like ERH, Pertinence, and Alliance among others. But what we had enjoyed at Les Enfants Rouge was the unfussy dishes which leaned more toward Japanese cuisine in our opinion.

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As before we strolled down the quiet side street and entered the neat and rather austere restaurant and was greeted by the very kind and professional hostess who led us to our table. As before we went with the three course menu for 75€ and one wine pairing.

And like before, we basically shared everything family style and the great service picked up on this and placed dishes in the middle with separate plates for us!

The Lamb Terrine was so very tasty, mildly gamey, and might I say, almost refreshing in a way?

Loved the purple cabbage slaw and the shallot and parsley sauce, all of which went well with the terrine and the bread! The terrine was also perfectly seasoned with an soft texture which belied the look of a farmhouse style terrine.

The Duck Hearts were not as metallic-iron-ny as expected.

In terms of flavor, it was definitely savory and very "ducky" to the tenth power. The foam had a nice sweetness to it, helping to temper the flavor of the duck. We didn't care for the Roquefort Risotto which had some hard pieces and detracted from the overall flavor of the dish.

The Roasted Scallops were fabulous, perfectly cooked, still rare in the center, sweet, with a briny finish.

The seafood based "sauce" was very creamy, hints of savory shellfish, the mushrooms were earthy, with a mild sweetness to them.

And then the dish we were waiting for, the Tempura Fish. On our previous visit, it was the highlight of the meal. Make that "meals" as this again was amazing!

This time the fish was maigre, which I understand is croaker. The fish was coated in a light and crisp batter and was very moist. For us, it's that deeply savory, nori based "dashi" that is so deeply umami and really takes the mild flavored fish to a different level.

There was one dessert that sounded interesting, the Baba with Toki Whiskey, a 10€ upcharge.

The typical looking Baba arrived at the table and then, no kidding, they brought a bottle of Toki out and proceeded to pour around two ounces of it over the Baba. We cracked up! Liked the whiskey, not quite sure about the "Rum Baba".

We both enjoyed the Lychee Mousse which wasn't overly sweet. And surprisingly the grapefruit supreme paired well with this!

This was another wonderful meal at Les Enfants Rouge. Great unpretentious service, great food, we can't wait to return.

Les Enfants Rouges
9 Rue de Beauce
75003 Paris, France

Of course, this in itself presents another interesting issue of sorts. Over time, we've come up with some favorite places to eat. And it seems that it may be hard to try other places without sacrificing a visit to one of our favorites!

Though looking at it another way, if that's the biggest issue we have with Paris; well that's a nice "problem" to have, right?

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Paris – Ten Belles ( Canal Saint-Martin), Breizh Cafe (Marais) and Revisiting Edwart Chocolatier

September 16, 2023 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Chocolate, France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

Since we were spending two weeks in Paris, the Missus decided that She wanted to get Her hair done. So, after doing a bit of research She found a place in 10th Arrondissement. So, we headed off, up Rue du Temple past Place de la République.

Crossing over to the 10th, which we were not familiar with. There seemed to be a real "local" vibe to the area.

I've seen dog walkers, but this woman carted pooches around…..not sure what this is called? Kinda cute though.

We found the salon without much of a problem. While the Missus was having Her hair done, I decided to take a walk around the area and find a place to grab a cup of coffee.

There was quite a bit of interesting street art in the area. There was a place named Holybelly that was the subject of one of the Earful Tower's Podcasts and since it was in the 10th, I thought I'd walk over to check the place out. Hole smokes was the place busy, with a line waiting to get in.

I had done a bit of research the night before and did have a coffee shop on my list of places to check out.

This one was on the other side of Canal Saint Martin.

Which by the way, I had never visited in all our trips to Paris. Go figure.

It was a nice, mild, winter day, so the walk was quite pleasant.

Right across Canal Saint-Martin, down Rue de la Grange aux Belles is a location of specialty roaster Ten Belles, which I believe has three shops in Paris.

The folks working were quite friendly. I tried to order an Americano in French, but the girl laughed and started talking to me in English and told me "good try"!

And it was a decent Americano to boot.

I took a seat at an empty table and just had a nice relaxing moment. A few minutes later, I saw the gentleman on a small single table next to me greet a woman. Unfortunately, he had no room, so I scooted over and made the hand signs to trade tables with him and we switched. He made sure to walk over after and shake my hand, giving me a nice, warm "merci beaucoup"! As I left the couple both waved goodbye to me. Such nice folks….

Ten Belles – Paris 10
10 Rue de la Grange aux Belles
75010 Paris, France

As I strolled back down along the canal, who should I see but the Missus walking up to meet me!

It was still fairly early, we decided to grab a bite to eat. Both the Missus and I had heard and read about the chain of Crepe shops in Paris that were highly recommended; Breizh Cafe. So many folks mentioned this place and they have several shops in Paris, Lyon, and even one in Tokyo if I recall. The Marias location on Rue Vieille-du-Temple is very popular, but we easily got a table.

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So Breizh Cafe specializes in crepes from Brittany, that would be buckwheat "galettes". We aren't into overly sweet main sweet dishes for breakfast-lunch-brunch, so we both went with savory galettes.

The Missus got the Complete Champignons, which included jambon, Comté, and a sunny side up egg.

I got the Complete, which is jambon, egg, and comté.

Both the Missus and I were quite underwhelmed. The food lacked seasoning, the galettes were bland and this just wasn't too our taste. Perhaps galettes aren't our thing?

At least the people watching was fun.

Breizh Café
109 Rue Vieille-du-Temple
75003 Paris, France

We've run into folks who've been to Briezh and they echo our opinion. And the owner of Hola Paris told me that buckwheat galettes can tend to be on the bland-dry side as well. So, like I said, perhaps galettes aren't our kind of thing. But we're glad we tried them and will again if we're in Brittany.

We had a nice walk to our last stop before heading back to the apartment.

During a previous visit to Paris, we dropped by Edwart Chocolatier. And even though we had a good amount of chocolate on hand from other places we visited earlier during the trip, the Missus wanted to add to Her collection.

And after a few samples, the Missus added to Her ever growing chocolate collection.

Edwart Chocolatier
17 Rue Vieille-du-Temple
75004 Paris

I'm guessing Edwart is now a regular stop on our visits.

We'd headed back to the apartment for a break before doing a bit more exploring and heading to one of favorite restaurants in Paris for dinner.

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip – A Morning Walk in Prescott, Wild Iris Coffee, Montezuma Castle National Monument, and Lunch at the Turquoise Room (Winslow) Again

September 10, 2023 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Caffeine Fix, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ, Road Trip, Travel

**** Not a whole lot of food in this one. But if you'd like to see more of Prescott and Montezuma Castle National Monument read on…..

After a really nice night of sleep at the Motor Lodge, I woke early and decided to take a stroll to get the Missus some coffee. Prescott is located at 5,400 feet altitude and it was quite cool on a bright May morning.

Prescott is also known for it's Victorian style homes. Like this one.

Which brought a smile to my face as I recalled the wonderful self guided Architectural walking tour we took in Pacific Grove.

I headed up South Montezuma Street and the Yavapai County Courthouse.

Though this time I didn't have to make a turn down West Goodwin. Instead, I kept walking North……

And past the area known as Whiskey Row, a wild-west looking collection of bars and restaurants.

Established in the 1870's this row of saloons suffered thru three fires in 1877, 1883, and a devastating fire 1900. Each time it was was rebuilt, with more businesses than before.

None of which is more famous than The Palace Saloon.

You might recognize the names of some of the "toughest" customers of the saloon.

Shades of the Iron Door Saloon! Too bad we didn't have a chance to visit, perhaps next time?

I took a turn and then made another left and found the coffee spot I was looking for.

Really friendly folks, a nice selection. I got the Missus a French Press and I got an Americano before we hit the road.

Wild Iris Coffee House
124 South Granite St. Suite E
Prescott, AZ 86303

As I walked back to the Motor Lodge I stopped at the restaurant I'd tried to get reservations at but was unable to. And found out the reason why.

Ouch!

I also started noticing other signs and art along the way.

And after quickly packing and checking out we were off. I had picked Prescott over Sedona and Flagstaff on this road trip to make a stop at Montezuma Castle National Monument. We arrived at around 930 and was surprised to see the place was quite busy…on a weekday!

Some of the best preserved dwellings of the Sinagua people are to be found here.

There's an easy paved loop walkway around the park.

You'll see many ruins of dwellings. Though unlike, say Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde, you can't walk among the ruins. The largest complex, called "Castle A" is an impressive and large structure of over 40 rooms.

Just to imagine what life was like.

And as we were leaving we saw this. Which made us smile wistfully….

Bark Ranger 2

Sammy would have loved being a "Bark Ranger"…..

I had planned things so that we could make a lunch stop at a favorite of ours.

Yep, we were back at the La Posada, at the Turquoise Room for lunch.

We had the same things as on our previous lunch visit and it was just as good, so I'm not going to bore you with that. If you're interested, you can read my post on that visit.

Turquoise Room (in the La Posada Hotel)
303 E 2nd St.
Winslow, AZ 86047

A nice light lunch and we were off to our next stop. Albuquerque!

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip – El Gato Azul, Prescott, Arizona

September 9, 2023 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ, Road Trip, Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, Travel

Right after our last trips to France, "Home", Taiwan, and before out latest trip to CDMX and Guadalajara…..whew, am I behind on my travel posts or what? We decided to revisit Santa Fe and a couple of other places. One of the towns I always wanted to visit is Prescott. You know me a oddball history, right? Turns out that Prescott was twice the Capital of Arizona; first between 1864 to 1867 and then from 1877 to 1899. Much of the reason was due to the prosperous mining of gold and silver in the area. Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and Virgil Earp were residents of Prescott (though Wyatt Earp was also a San Diego resident for a while). Anyway, I thought a stop in Prescott on the way to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos might be a fun stop.

I got our accommodations set at the Motor Lodge which was a few blocks from the main square of Prescott and I'm glad we stayed here. Each unit was sort of a vintage "boutique" motel unit.

We loved the patio area and it was a one bedroom unit with a small kitchen; which we didn't use, but appreciated. The place was very comfortable!

And one of my favorite posters ever!

The staff was really friendly and nice as well.

The Motor Lodge
503 South Montezuma St.
Prescott, AZ 86303

After taking a nice break, we headed off to our dinner destination. The main street in Prescott is South Montezuma Street and it heads past the main square, Courthouse Plaza where the impressive Yavapai County Courthouse is located.

We took a turn on West Goodwin Street, right at the beginning of Prescott's Whiskey Row, which I would quickly check out the next morning. A couple of blocks down was our destination. El Gato Azul. We were about 15 minutes early for our 530 reservation and there was a line outside the restaurant! We got a table outside on the patio area. Man, the place was packed! It seems like folks eat early in Prescott. The hostess seemed a bit stressed and was short with folks but the rest of the staff was very friendly and we started with some cocktails.

The menu was an "interesting" fusion of Spanish-Mexican-European-you name it, fusion-tapas like dishes.

We placed our order and the first to arrive was the "Mediterranean Nachos" ($10).

This would end up being our favorite dish of the night. The combination of briney Kalamata Olives, pungent pickled Garlic, Milky Mozzarella, meaty artichoke hearts, and pickled onions on crisp tortilla chips was quite refreshing. The Chimichurri was mild, but that was probably for the best as it let all the ingredients "sing".

Next up was the Chorizo Hash ($9).

The Yukon Gold potatoes were nice and sweet, but the chorizo was very mild in flavor, lacking spice and herbaceous smokiness that we enjoy in a good chorizo. Not sure about the overly chewy baguette either and the so called "pico de gallo" didn't add much to the dish. In fact, we asked if there was hot sauce available and two bottles were provided.

Both were quite tasty; but for us the habanero hot sauce was spicy-acidic, with a nice smoky-fruitiness we enjoyed. This was our "crutch" for the rest of the meal.

Interesting thing to note. The place was packed with folks waiting in line when we arrive at 515. By 6pm it was starting to empty out!

Next up were Green Chili Carnitas ($9). Which were basically pseudo carnitas tacos.

The flour tortillas were too thick, almost like a pseudo pita of sorts. The carnitas were slightly porky, but needed more salt and seasoning. Plus the meat to cabbage/tortilla ratio was skewed in favor of the latter. We must have used half the bottle of hot sauce on this.

The last item to arrive was the "Guacamole Pizza" ($11), which should probably be called a overly-cheesed pita.

The pita was decently crisp, though it said cumin fried pita on the menu, it could have used a larger dose of cumin. Not enough guacamole for our taste and this definitely needed more salt as well.

The meal started quite well, and the staff, other than the surly hostess were so nice. We loved the vibe and the meal started well. Good thing we had those bottles of hot sauce as they saved the meal.

Here's a photo of the very pretty front of the restaurant I took the next morning.

El Gato Azul
316 West Goodwin St.
Prescott, AZ 86301

There was a silver lining to this visit though. From our seats on the patio, we noticed this stream and a little path along it.

As we left the restaurant, we noticed stairs headed down to the trail along the creek.

Apparently this is Granite Creek. And according to the City's website, the area along what is called the Granite Creek Corridor is being "protected and enhanced" to ensure its sustainability.

We strolled Northward. It was a pleasant walk.

Until the point the creek was emerging from under West Willis Street. We then got back to street level and strolled back to our accommodations.

While we didn't see too many folks out and about; those we saw would greet us with a smile and "hello".

And there seemed to be a sense of humor present as well.

Yes, Prescott, Arizona!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris – Aux Crus de Bourgogne

September 3, 2023 mmm-yoso France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

We had a nice little break after our visit to the Louvre and having some ramen. Checking email, taking a short nap, and heading to the corner Carrefour for some coffee pods. This being winter, the night came on like a curtain being dropped and there was a chill in the air. We don't get this in San Diego, and especially not in Hawaii, so it was kind of fun to experience. We decided to head on over to an area we don't really go to a lot, in the 8th Arrondissement, Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It had been a while since we'd been in this area, but thought that visiting during the Christmas season would be fun and it was!

And with all the famous brands and shops along the street, you knew there had to be some rather flamboyantly decorations, right? Like the one on the Dior shop.

Visiting Europe during the Christmas season always puts us in "the mood".

And before you knew it, we were at Place de la Concorde.

When we had first arrived in Paris, before heading off to Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Toulouse, I had mentioned that the Tuileries Christmas Market was being set-up. Well, by now things were in full swing and we stopped on by.

We'd by stopping by a couple more times during our stay.

And of course, I couldn't resist getting a shot of the Louvre Pyramid at night.

As for dinner? Well, there's an interesting story about that. While looking thru various boards and such….it seems like all the Parisian Chowhounders had found a home on the Hungry Onion's France Page. And there was a familiar name mentioned. A place we've passed many times during our stays near Rue Montorgueil, Aux Crus de Bourgogne.

This Bistro, like the name mentions specializes in the cuisine of Bourgogne…..Burgundy. We really enjoyed our time in Burgundy and of course one of the reasons was the hearty cuisine! As for Aux Crus de Bourgogne, well, due to the location and looking over the menu, I thought it to be somewhat of a tourist restaurant.

Looking over the menu posted outside of the restaurant, we saw dishes we were interested in…….so we walked in and got a table on the second floor

Service was professional and quite "Paris" if you know what I mean. We decided to order mostly entrées and specials which really appealed to us.

The baguette came with rillette, which was quite good.

First up was the Mushroom Cream with Poached Egg.

Rich and creamy, quite woodsy-earthy, with a hint of sweetness. The egg was poached beautifully. We almost finished all the baguette with this one dish!

Of course, we had to have some escargot.

The Missus had never enjoyed escargot until that first dinner in Dijon. From that point on She was sold! But of course you had to choose your spots for this. The version here was solid, firm but not hard, could have used perhaps more garlic, but it had a sufficient amount of olive oil and such that it paired well with (even more) bread.

The final two dishes came arrived together. The special of mushroom with Vol-au-vent and another specialty of Burgundy, Oeufs en Meurette, eggs poached in red wine.

The Oeufs en Meurette were solid, if not great. The sauce was quite rich, though it had a tinge of bitterness. The eggs, like the other dish was poached perfectly, so rich and creamy. We missed the lardons that were no included in this version.

The Vol-au-vent was probably our favorite dish on the evening.

The rich, earthy mushroom sauce combined with the buttery-crisp "case" of puff pastry, which held up well throughout the meal. We could even make out garlic tones in this.

We were surprised at how much we enjoyed this meal and I ended up making reservations for later during our stay.

Aux Crus de Bourgogne
3 Rue Bachaumont
75002 Paris, France

This was such a pleasant surprise. And based on my walking for the day, I think I earned it, right?

Paris – Revisits to the Louvre and Hakata Choten (Les Halles)

September 2, 2023 mmm-yoso France, Japanese Restaurants, Paris, France, Ramen, Travel

Ah yes, the Louvre, the largest museum in the world at 652,300 square feet with over 35,000 pieces of art on display. It can be is quite intimidating. There's just no way to see "everything" in one visit and if you even tried this, would you even remember what you saw? We had been to the Louvre twice over the years and really wanted to visit yet again. We always get our tickets online, which makes things much easier and do either an early or late visit. On this visit, I was purchasing our tickets and noticed that there was a "Visitor's Trail" of the Louvre's Masterpieces on the website. Why hadn't I noticed that before?

I bookmarked the page in my phone. And since we had pocket wifi, I just followed the trail.

It all started with which entrance to take with turn by turn instructions and details of the masterpiece.

As well as some other historical tidbits. For instance the Salle des Cariatides which was both used as a ballroom and court of justice. There's also this tidbit on the website:

"And it was here, in 1572, that Marguerite de Valois, the famous ‘Queen Margot’, married Henri de Navarre, the future King Henri IV. Only a few days later, on 24 August, Protestant nobles who had attended the wedding were assassinated in the Louvre in the notorious Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre."

Of course, there are some works need no introduction…..

That's Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman by Boticelli below.

And of course, the Grand Gallerie.

I was a bit concerned about our next stop expecting a long line…..

But the line for "you know who"……wasn't very long at all. I guess one of the benefits of getting in right when things open.

Here's Michelangelo's the Rebellious Slave and the Dying Slave.

Doing this walk made me take a closer look at the pieces. For instance, I always wondered why this was called Nymph with a Scorpion.

I'd just take a look at the sculpture from the angle above.

This time, I took a walk around the work and it became very clear…..

After finishing off the walk, we headed on over to look at the Egyptian Collection.

There's a trail for that as well. I think we'll do that next time!

We had enjoyed the Louvre a lot more this time around and I think perhaps we may even do a private tour one of these days.

We strolled around the area near to the Bourse and window shopped along Galerie Vero Dodat one of the 21 covered passages in Paris, some of which I've posted on before.

Then we had to figure out what we wanted for lunch.

This was in December of last year and it was pretty chilly. We thought ramen would fit the bill and decided on a familiar spot that was on the way back to the apartment; Hakata Choten.

We got our usual, the Tonkotsu with Black Garlic and a Pork and Rice bowl.

The broth was a bit richer than what we had on our previous visit here which was nice. The tamago a bit over-cooked but nicely flavored. For some reason, I like the savory-sweet flavor that the black garlic oil adds to this bowl. The noodles were perfectly cooked on this visit as well.

The pork bowl was fine, there was quite a bit of rice in this. The rice was decently cooked, but there wasn't enough of a sauce nor pork to really balance out things.

Funny thing, on one of our previous visits to the Louvre we ended up at Hakata Choten as well, though it was the Opera location.

This was enough to warm us up for the rest of the walk back to our accommodations.

Hakata Choten Les Halles
16 Rue de la Grande Truanderie
75001 Paris, France

Where it was time for a nap!

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip – Revisiting the Torrance Farmers’ Market and Canton Restaurant – Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ (Westminster)

August 29, 2023 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Road Trip, Travel, Vietnamese Restaurants

We slept well after our dinner at Mountain House, we thought our room at the renovated Best Western wasn't bad, except for the terrible WiFi, but heck, we were here to relax, right?

We got up rather early (for a Saturday) since we had three stops in mind. The first being Porto's in West Covina, we used to go to the Buena Park location when I was doing work in OC and you can read all about Cathy's visits in her Rose Parade float posts. We just basically stop for two things the Missus wants, the dulce de leche cookies.

RT Portos

Next stop was a place we used to drive the 90 mile round trip to almost every Saturday when we lived in LA, the Torrance Farmers Market, which I've posted on several times already. Though it had been over ten years since our last visit! Sheesh, time sure does fly! We found parking where we've always have and was surprised to see that the Farmer's Market has grown a bit since the last time we were here!

Rt Torrance FM 01

We ended up buying quite a bit of produce and stuffs! Which was great since I was missing my usual Saturday shopping.

Rt Torrance FM 03

Torrance Certified Farmers' Market
2200 Crenshaw Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501
Saturday 8am – 1pm RT Canton 01

As for our last stop?

I mentioned that I had another place for Cha Ca Thang Long in my last post on Song Long. I had done a bit of research and the name Canton Restaurant – Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ kept appearing.

The restaurant is located in a strip mall on Westminster Boulevard along with Stater Brothers, Seafood Paradise, a Shabu Shabu place, a Pho Shop, and a score of other businesses and homeless folk.

The place is known for their Cha Ca Thang Long and Chao (rice porridge).

It opens at 930am. We arrived at 945 and there was already a large party seated in the place.

RT Canton 02

An older couple run the place, the gentleman the front of house and the woman swings between the kitchen and the dining room.

We placed our orders and soon enough a large plate of herbs and veggies to accompany our Cha Ca arrived. The gentleman placed the plate on our table and I took a look noticing that there was a lot of brown and wilted produce on the plate.

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This didn't seem like a good start. But a minute later, the woman came out of the kitchen and did her "rounds", quickly noticing the state of our plate, swooping in, and replacing it immediately. We didn't have to say a word! Good save!

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Soon enough, all the other accoutrements made their way to our table.

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And good lord, that mam nem was serious business…..whoa was did it smell potent.

The Cha Ca was quite lovely……

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The portion sizes are quite generous, the fish very moist and tender. The seasoning is on point and that mam nem takes it to another level. Wish the onions were a bit more caramelized, but I didn't order this for the onions. The dill just helps to restore the palate while adding a citrusy-anise flavor to things.

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We had seen another table order the Cha Gio, so we ordered that as well.

RT Canton 09 RT Canton 10 Man, these were super stuffed, full of porky goodness, hint of sweet- savory tones, and wrapped with rice paper. It was slightly more chewy than I prefer, but man, the overall package was much better than anything here is San Diego. This also heated up well in the air fryer!

As we walked out the Missus said to me, "looks like we have a new place for Cha Ca, huh? I think I want to come back here next week!" Whoa……

Canton Restaurant – Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ (Cash only)
8550 Westminster Blvd.
Westminster, CA 92683

Well, we were two for two on this overnighter. As for returning the following week….well, we'd have to wait an additional week for returning!

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Thanks for stopping by!

Paris – Le Bouledogue

August 27, 2023 mmm-yoso France, French Restaurants, Paris, France, Travel

After spending our first full day in Paris, we had reservations for dinner at a place recommended by an acquaintance of mine. They often stay in the Marais and enjoy a brasserie named Le Bouledogue. We were staying just a few blocks away so the nice walk down to Rue Rambuteau was quite easy for us.

The interior of the restaurant is quite charming and the brasserie's namesake is "Elliot" who was owned by the previous owner of this establishment. Service was interesting, the gentleman running things seemed almost irritated and angry at something. The woman who was our Server was very nice and friendly.

I'm sure this place is quite popular. It was 7pm on a Tuesday night and every table was reserved!

The menu is full of "classics" which made us quite happy. We placed our order and soon enough dishes started arriving.

Of course we had to get the Bone Marrow (11,5€). We were quite astounded at the portion size!

The bread provided was wonderful. The nice Server told us it was from the famous boulangerie Poilâne. So, another place to add to our list to check out. We found the bone marrow to be under roasted. In fact, the last of it was on the bloody side and metallic in flavor.

Another standard for me; Beef Tartare (27€), I was a bit concerned about the price, but like the bone marrow, the portion size was quite large.

Goodness, this was indeed a "plat principal"! The frites were on the soggy side, but as with potatoes outside the states, the interior was creamy and yielded a nice, almost sweet flavor. The greens were bitter, yet quite refreshing. The tartare was quite mild in flavor, I like a bit more Dijon, capers, and cornichons in mine, to add pungency and contrast. The cut was also more coarse than I prefer, thus making this a bit more chewy than I prefer.

The Missus is a fan of Andouillette, having enjoyed the versions we've had in Lyon and other places in France. So She ordered that (25€) as Her main.

Again the greens and frites were quite good. That Andouillette was quite, well, rotund, literally bursting at the seams. This was quite funky, shades of lampredotto! The tripe was quite thick and chewy, but this was not bad overall.

As we were dining, the tables filled up; about a 50-50 non-French to French speakers. Folks were being turned away at the doors. Seems like Le Bouledogue is quite a popular place indeed! For us, well, it seemed more about the portion sizes here.

Still, who wouldn't love Elliot?

Le Bouledogue
20 rue Rambuteau
75003 Paris France

Paris – Cimetière des Chiens and Chez Ajia

August 26, 2023 mmm-yoso France, Paris, France, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

One of the great things about spending 2 whole weeks in Paris is that it gives us time to do a bit more exploring outside of the center of the city. We'd always been fascinated by cemeteries and had already visited Pere Lachaise twice on previous trips. On that subject, did you know that the oldest pet cemetery in Europe (it's often claimed to be the oldest in the world) Cimetière des Chiens, established in 1899, is located in the suburbs of Paris, right across the Seine from the 10th Arrondissement in Asnières-sur-Seine? I took a look at this web page, saw a familiar name, and convinced the Missus it would worth a morning visit.

So, there we were catching the metro after our morning croissant and coffee, ending up at the Mairie de Clichy metro station and then taking the 20 minute walk, crossing the Seine, and ending up at these gates.

Talk about a rather grand entrance! We arrived at just past the opening time of 10am, paid our €3.50 entrance fee and walked on in.

Right at the entrance is a statue of the famous rescue dog Barry (who is actually in the Natural History Museum of Bern).

The inscription on the plaque reads:

"He saved the lives of forty people. He was killed by the forty-first"

Though according to several sources Barry was retired to Bern, Switzerland to live out the rest of his years.

Lest you think it's just pooches interred here…..

There's even a cat mausoleum in the cemetery.

Some of the graves date back to when the cemetery was established. This one goes back to 1900!

This one is for the two pooches of a Princess.

And this one is for the one and only Rin Tin Tin….yes that Rin Tin Tin.

Still, it was the other tombstones that caught our attention. There were several folks in the cemetery tending graves of their beloved.

You can tell they were loved.

They give so much to us……..

I know we still talk about Sammy and Frankie everyday.

Sometimes when we travel, we're rushing from place to place, from event to event. Having some time to just stroll and think about how lucky we are and how blessed we are does one good and puts things into perspective.

Cimetière des Chiens et Autres Animaux Domestiques
4 Pont de Clichy
92600 Asnières-sur-Seine, France

We crossed the Seine and headed on back to out apartment. After a short break, we decided to head on out to do some "lèche-vitrine" ("window licking") the French term for window shopping. This took us down to the area around Rue de Rivoli. When it came time for lunch; the Missus, knowing we had dinner reservations at a Brasserie was craving some Asian food. I had an interesting place on my "list" named Chez Ajia, run by a husband and wife team, she is the chef and hails from Taiwan and her husband who is French runs the front of house.

We arrived just past 1pm and easily found a table. We found out that the nice gentleman taking our order is one of the owners; he was really friendly, spoke perfect English, and turned out to be quite entertaining; more on that later. The restaurant is what I would call "coffeehouse – cozy". What was interesting is that you are given a device with three buttons on it, like we have at many Korean restaurants here; to call for service or your check. The menu was full of basic Taiwanese "standards".

The Missus is always up for eggs, so we started with a basic Basil Omelette (10€).

This was like something you'd make at home, it could have used more salty – savory tones, the eggs were adequately fluffy.

We ordered the "Loh Bih" (16€) which had some of favorite side dishes.

The eggs were very tasty and the bean curd skin knots were nicely marinated. The pig ears were not seasoned enough and the smoked tofu and seaweed tasted like it came out of a package from 99 Ranch Market.

Meanwhile, the owner, I believe his name is Geoffrey came on over and started chatting with us. And frankly, this was the most memorable part of the meal. He asked us where we were from and we said San Diego…he then asked us where in San Diego and we said "Bay Park". He knew exactly where it was! You see, he spent a year in college at SDSU! And then for some reason we mentioned Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights. And he said he spent almost year nearby when going to the University. He asked us where about and we mentioned being near Colima Road at HK Plaza. He then said something that made us totally crack up – "so, you could smell the chou doufu then….." Yes, I guess the "scent of Shau Mei" extends all the way to Paris!

The last item of the meal was our favorite, the Guo Bao (11€).

The bao was on the gummy side; but the pork belly was nicely balanced in flavor, just enough sweet to even out the soy sauce, the meat was very tender with a nice savory porkiness to it.

It was a good way to end an interesting meal.

Yes, our first two meals back in Paris was Sichuan and now Taiwanese. Heck, we were spending two weeks here, why not eat like we live here, right?

Chez Ajia
4 Rue du Roi de Sicile
75004 Paris, France

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