Travel – Page 26

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!

Oaxaca – Dinner at Origen

January 4, 2023 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Memorable Meals, Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, Oaxaca, Travel

As I mentioned in my previous post on Oaxaca, our dinner at Casa Taviche marked a turning point with regards to dinners in Oaxaca. And our dinner at chef-driven Origen was our favorite of the trip.

We spent our time after exploring Monte Alban and lunch at Boulenc shopping. We found an adorable ceramic shop, but unfortunately the items the Missus wanted were waiting for pick-up by a restaurant. But, the wonderful young woman who worked here remembered the Missus and I and alerted us to some great items when we returned later on the trip.

While doing some planning for our trip, I came across mentions of Origen and the wonderful modern dishes with roots firmly planted in traditional Oaxacan cuisine. In fact, I read that the Chef's mom is regularly at the restaurant. Not as a customer, but actually working with the mole and doing quality control! So, I booked us a table. The restaurant is located in beautiful colonial style building right on the other side of the Zocalo from where we were staying.

We were seated upstairs with a nice view of the courtyard below and the wonderful decor above!

Our Server was amazing, so warm and friendly, professional, but with a great sense of humor. There was an item on the menu I didn't recognize and she didn't know the English translation, so she tucked her elbows in at her hips, brought her wrists up to her shoulders and with her hands started flapping her "wings"! It was perfect…..it was quail!

The amuse was wonderful! The corn flavor was so prominent, the mole rich but not overly sweet.

Things started off with the Ensalada con Gusanos de Maguey – A salad of wild greens with Maguey Worms.

The variety of flavors in the greens was amazing, peppery – anise – bitter – nutty as were the various textures. The hoya santa "pesto" had a nice peppery-minty tone.

The roasted maguey worms were crunchy, light, and nutty in flavor.

The Duck Confit Enchiladas were up next.

While the duck was a bit drier than we prefer, the mole was quite good, not overly sweet and complex in flavor. The tortillas for the enchiladas were really good, fantastic corn tones, which went so well with the local cheese and the gaminess of the duck.

The Missus had really enjoyed the Mole Sugueza we had at Casa Taviche, so when I saw Grilled Octopus with Mole Sugueza on the menu, I knew we had to order it.

Man, this was so good! The pulpo was so tender you could cut it with a fork, it had been simply seasoned and had a touch of briny-sweetness. The mole segueza was awesome; full of maize flavor, smoky, and quite complex in flavor! The black specks was Chicatana Ant Sauce, which had almost a smoky-milky flavor to it. An outstanding dish.

Last up was the Beef Tongue with Chichilo Mole Sauce.

This mole was a bit thinner than others we've had. It had a nice spice to it and went well with Beef Tongue. We loved all the veggies here, they were so full of flavor!

Our Tlayudas were provided in a fancy holder that I thought was an envelope at first!

The dessert; a corn spongecake with cacao ice cream wasn't overly sweet and was quite refreshing.

We loved this meal. As I mentioned earlier it was our favorite meal of the trip. The food was excellent, wonderful combinations of flavors and textures. Our Server was adorable, so warm, yet really on top of things. The pacing was perfect!

We can't wait to return! Soon, I hope!

Origen
Miguel Hidalgo 820
68000 Oaxaca, Mexico

Oaxaca – Casa Taviche

December 29, 2022 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Mexico, Oaxaca, Travel

We were dropped back at our hotel after our wonderful Mezcal Tour and took a short nap. Upon awakening, I peeked out the window from our little balcony to see what the weather was like. This was August and having traveled in Mexico during this time before we knew about the serious afternoon downpours that occur. And while we could see the clouds moving in; it didn't look like a major drenching was on the docket for this evening.

Having scheduled the Mezcal Experience, I hadn't made any dinner reservations for this evening. Which was probably for the better since the Missus wasn't too pleased with our previous two dinners. I chose a place that featured a small rotating menu, a bit farther away from the hustle and bustle of Centro named Casa Taviche.

The dining area is in a cute little courtyard.

We were handed the small menu and I could not believe the prices!

We basically shared our dishes.

Of course the Missus needed to start out with the Pozole Rojo.

This was slightly porky and much better than what we'd had previously. There was enough salt, though it really needed a good hit of oregano and the Missus was wishing for all the "sides" which was already in the soup. Still, not bad.

The Tostada de Guisado de Champigons was very good.

Man, this was so delici-yoso; the braised mushrooms were so earthy and tender; there was a hint of sweetness, spice from the salsa rojo. Great textural contrast from the tlayuda and sprouts. Crisp, peppery spice from the radishes. This was very good.

It was the season for Chilies en Nogada and I wanted to try one; so we ordered it.

This was quite good; the roasted chili poblano was stuffed with a pork filling that had mild spice and sweetness from fruit and pomegranate. The walnut cream sauce was very smooth; there seemed to be the essence of cinnamon floating in the air. The Missus cracked me up when She claimed that this must be a "Middle Eastern Dish"! I almost fell out of my seat! I told Her that most of the stories I've read about this dish is that it was created by Nuns in Puebla for a feast for General Agustín de Iturbide who had signed the Treaty of Cordoba granting Mexico independence from Spain. She didn't believe me until I told Her; "take a look, the dish is the colors of the Mexican flag"!

So far, the Missus hadn't found a version of Mole that She liked. There was a mole sugueza, which is a version that uses corn to thicken the sauce. The Missus loves Her maize, so I hoped She would enjoy this. Consider the Costillas de Mole Segueza as "mission accomplished".

The pork ribs, while on the chewier side were porky, nicely seasoned, and smoked! You could really taste the maize in the thick sauce, along with a hint of clove, hoja santa, cumin…..and best of all for the Missus? This wasn't overly sweet.

Service was kind of "relaxed" (slow) and a bit spacey – they forgot about our mole dish and we had to remind them, but it's hard to complain with these prices and how much we enjoyed this meal.

After two not so enjoyable dinners, this meal marked a turning point. It would get much better from here on out

Casa Taviche
Miguel Hidalgo 1111
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oax., Mexico

Oaxaca – Private Mezcal Experience at Palenque El Cornejo

December 28, 2022 mmm-yoso Distilleries, Mexico, Oaxaca, Travel

Over the last couple of years I've become a proponent of small group or private tours. I do a bunch of research ahead of time and really want to learn and experience things. Understanding your preferences is important and reading reviews imperative. Over the last few years we've become interested in Mezcal and we were finally in the Capital of Mezcal; Oaxaca, so why not try to find a guide to learn more about Mezcal. I found a company; Where Sidewalks End that featured a private Mezcal tour they call, the "Sacred Mezcal Experience". We would actually visit a Palenque and visit the agave fields, with not only a guide, but with the Mezcalero!

Our guide, Victor picked us up at our hotel and soon we were off. During the drive we were provided so much information; the difference between Artisan and Ancestral Mezcal. Ancestral Mezcal does not allow for the use of stainless steel, the agave must be hand or stone milled, and the distillation must be done in clay pots! Also, the saying "All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila." That is Tequila is made from agave; but only one type of agave is used.

Soon enough we arrived at Palenque el Cornejo in Santa Catarina Minas. The very rustic palenque and tasting room greeted us.

And while there were some folks in the tasting room; that's not where we were headed. Maestro Antonio Carlos Mendez, known as "Cornejo" greeted us. He is a third generation Mezcalero and his production, other than help from his young sons is a one man show.

Soon enough we were loaded into the back of a pick-up with Victor and two of the young boys to head out into the fields.

And after passing thru a gate the truck was parked and we headed up into the hills.

Along the way we were introduced to the various species of agave that were growing. There are almost 50 difference species of agave used to make Mezcal; though Espadin is the most common because it can be cultivated.

What makes other species of agave difficult is that the plant can propagate in two different ways; by seeds, which you can see in the photo to the right, Antonio waits until the right time to harvest the seeds and then they can be planted nearby; or pups, little "runners" from the mother plant which can left to grow around "mom" or carefully moved. According to Antonio, some species can take over 20 years to mature. So just think, if Antonio planted seeds from certain plants today, it might be his sons who harvest the plant!

As for the species, it was quite humorous, the various plants were named and we were tested on them. I actually got 5 of the 6 correct! Not that I can name them now. Though I distinctly remember that's a Tobala below; it's very distinctive.

Some of the agave were quite impressive….

And we loved that his sons were actively involved. In fact, Victor told us that the three boys rather work in the agave fields than go to school!

The oldest son was not able to attend on this day because of a school activity, we met him later and he was so clean cut and an amazing young man.

After our tour of the hills we headed back to the work shed. Going downhill we got a chance to appreciate the view.

Back at the work shed we were fed lunch; a nice hearty meal of tamales.

And before leaving, there was one more thing to be done. There was another reason I booked this tour. We would each get one "baby" agave to plant! So, you now what our "pups" were named, right? Also, notice the stones next to the shoots? During our walk, I noticed that the boys were placing stones next to plants and asked Victor about this. He told me this was the way to "mark" that the plants are accounted for. So, of course I got our "boys" some stones, right?

I'm hoping we can return someday to see how our "pups" are doing.

After which things were closed up and we headed back to the palenque.

We arrived back at the palenque for the next part of the tour……the production and distillation of mezcal. The heart of the agave plant is called the piña. Once harvested, these are roasted in a stone lined pit.

This is what the agave looks like when it's done. We were even given tastes of the piña.

The agave is then milled, then water is added to the fiber and juice to begin fermentation.

Then the fermented agave juice is distilled twice.

And Antonio even described the process for Mezcal Pechuga to us.

After this, we got a private tasting.

And even though we basically only do carry-on sized luggage, even bought a couple of bottles.

This was an amazing day; we learned so much, met some wonderful, warm and hard working folks, got a taste of history and culture, which was even more than we could ask for. It was such a wonderful, humbling experience that exceeded our expectations.

This is why we travel!

Montpellier – Reflet d’Obione

December 26, 2022 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, France, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Occitania, Travel

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

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

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

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

The oysters were nicely presented and prepared.

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

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

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

The scallop dish was outstanding.

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

The Missus loved the Guinea Fowl Quenelle.

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

The Langoustine was sweet and tender.

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

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

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

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

The entrements were good, refreshing, and very restorative.

The Missus enjoyed dessert.

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

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

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

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

Well, Montpellier who knew…..

Montpellier – Green Lab and Place de Peyrou

December 23, 2022 mmm-yoso France, Lebanese Restaurants, Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Occitania, Travel, Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants

When planning our most recent trip to France, we knew we'd be spending our final two weeks in Paris, but where to go before then? The Missus wanted to visit places She had never been before and Brittany, Normandy, and the Loire was high on Her list. But I just didn't think visiting those locales at the end of November, beginning of December would be the best time. Nice and Marseille was high on that list, but in the end we thought visiting Carcassonne would be interesting and I'd always wanted to visit Toulouse, but we needed one more "leg" of the trip. We'd already been to the main cities in Provence….those posts never got done because like I mentioned in this post; after Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, we spent a night in Paris before heading to Provence, we planned 5 nights there, but got stranded because of a rail strike and ended up flying from Marseille to CDG and staying at the airport. This was at the end of 2019. So, while I started doing posts on that trip….well, you know what happened, right? Those posts on Provence never got done. Maybe one day I'll just to a COMC thing. Anyway, while I love train travel, the Missus has a "no more than 4 – 4 1/2 hour" rule when it comes to travelling by rail, which is why I have to plan on stays in places like Stuttgart, which is perfectly fine with me as I get to explore. After doing a bit of research, I developed an interest in Montpellier. Now you really won't find much about Montpellier in those guidebooks, but the city looked interesting; from the meandering old town, to having one of the oldest Universities in the world. And I'd read that fully one-fourth of the city's population is composed of students! That contrast would make for quite an interesting visit!

In fact, we could see the contrasts from the time we arrived. The apartment we were staying in was a mere ten minute walk from the train station. We went thru a tunnel that connected the tram line to quite a modern area with a mall. The apartment was in the interesting looking building connected to the Ibis Hotel.

We had a very nice view of the city.

Just steps away to the east was a large shopping mall named Le Polygone. Just to the west is the main square of the city, Place de la Comédie. This lively and lovely square features restaurants, fast food joints ("McDo" does great business with the students), cafe's, a movie theatre, and the lovely National Opera. Because we didn't have a map of the city, we stopped by the Tourist Information center and got the "detailed" map (,50 €) which we used along with Google Maps to get around.

At the heart of the square is the Fountain of the Three Graces.

The square is nicknamed L'Oeuf ("egg") because of its oval shape. From here there are arteries heading in all directions. We decided to take one of the side streets, away from the Ecusson (the old city), down Rue de Verdun for a light lunch at a place I had on my list; Green Lab.

Because of the large student population, I thought that there would be some nice casual eateries with diverse cuisines and with just one notable "fail", these places delivered. Green Lab features Lebanese and Middle Eastern influenced vegetarian and vegan dishes in a "fast-casual" type set-up. You order at the counter and they'll bring out your food to you. The plates looked pretty large so we just ordered the Falafel and Hummus (9,99 €) which ended up being enough for the both of us.

While we didn't care much for the pita, which was too dense, hard, and "bready" for us, we thought the falafel were quite good. Crisp outside, mildy creamy interior, nice nutty herbaceousness, this was actually better than what we'd had at L'As du Fallafel in Paris! The hummus was quite rustic, the nutty – savory tones came thru quite well.

This was actually better than we expected and enough to hold us until our Michelin Starred dinner.

Green Lab Comédie
12 Rue de Verdun
34000 Montpellier, France

We headed back to the square and decided to do some exploring. We headed up Rue de la Loge, one of the main shopping/downtown streets in Montpellier. We had arrived on a Saturday and I had thought that things might be a bit crazy….but we found that Montpellier had a relaxed, fun, community loving vibe to it. We got a kick out of this band with an interesting "cast" of characters playing on Place Jean Jaurès.

And as we headed further up the street, the Missus quickly noticed these tags on the ground.

Well, I didn't know that Montpellier is on the Camino de Santiago!

We enjoyed wandering up the streets of the Ecusson.

And we arrived at this.

Yep, Montpellier has it's version of the Arc de Triomphe, the Porte du Peyrou which was completed in 1693 and is actually modeled after Porte Saint-Denis, which I mentioned in this post. Right past the Porte is Place Royale de Peyrou.

Which has a striking Water Tower designed to look like a Greek Monument.

Which actually used to store water!

With an aqueduct.

That used to route water to the cistern in the tower.

There are gardens and a promenade.

And on this day it looked like a large meeting of motorcycle clubs was going on.

As we walked back toward the Arc we heard chanting and drums…….it was a protest.

Which made its way into Place de Peyrou.

It was interesting, anti hate protest meets biker clubs…….with no incidents. You gotta love it!

On a lively Saturday in Montpellier.

On the way back to the apartment, we started taking notice of the public art along the side streets.

Along with churches and other grand structures down alleyways and side streets. This is the Église Saint-Roch.

Montpellier was turning out to be quite an interesting stop.

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.

We’re Back! Dinner on BA and our First Meal Back from Sizzling Pot King

December 15, 2022 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Chinese Restaurants, Travel

Whoa…well, after spending a month in France I’m having a bit of a time of it getting adjusted to San Diego time again. And that journey home; we stayed at CDG overnight with a 7am flight to LHR, which helps as we don’t have to get up early. But then there’s the 5 1/2 layover at Heathrow and then the 11 hour flight home. Which is why we fly business class. Though we didn’t account for the fussy baby in the seat behind us, these things happen….so even with the lie flat seats…well, I got maybe an hours sleep?

On the positive side; I’d say that the meals on BA have returned to pre-Covid quality. And it’s always been much better flying back to San Diego, than flying from SD to LHR. This was pretty good.

One of the things with leaving for a month is…well, the fridge and pantry were cleaned out before we left. We arrived home at around 6pm; it was already dark. In need of something convenient with a little zip, I did a takeout order from Sizzling Pot King. Funny thing; it was in the high 20’s when we left Paris, so weather here in the 40’s didn’t bother me much, it was basically short sleeve weather, so I got some looks when I waltzed into Sizzling Pot King; seeing all those folks bundled up looking at me like I’m some nut wearing a t-shirt. Even the young man who knows my order looked at me strangely.

Anyway, we had the usual for dinner.

It was nice and decently spicy; with a mild “numbing” from the Sichuan Peppercorns…but I’m not sure if it was all the Sichuan we had in Paris; but this seemed to be missing something. Oh well, at the least it did the job.

*** Sizzling Pot King is now Zhang Liang Malatang

Sizzling Pot King
8058 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

And I quickly reverted back to my wimpy “San Diego weather” self……though for some strange reason, I feel somewhat out of sorts with regards to manners, pacing, and such.

I’m working on getting my act together and will have posts done.

Meanwhile…..even after a month….this is still on my mind!

Thanks for stopping by!