I think you'll be fine. I am not a picky eater, but my BF is and he would not have trouble in Paris. There is only one thing I would caution you against and that is 'andouillette'. DO NOT make the mistake of thinking it is 'sausage' - it is prepared like sausage but lord knows what they put in them. I am a very adventurous eater - but the taste of andouillettes I had in Paris was sick making to say the least! Have fun!!

Andouillette is one of my favorite dishes, but yes, it is indeed made of chopped strips of pig intestine (i.e. pork tripe) and those who are not members of the fan club can even think that they can smell a whiff of vomit.

Not to worry: more andouillettes for the rest of us.

kerouac, "vomit"? too funny. I can't say I've detected that but despite my being very adventurous and loving most organ meats, including tripe, there is an odor (and therefore a taste) in andouillette that really turns me off. I can't figure out what it is, but it's one of the very few things I really don't and won't eat. Even all the best mustard in the world doesn't seem to drown that out for me.

Not sure that I could eat the andouillette. Thanks for the heads up!

I really appreciate the tips on ordering wine. Sounds like vin de table is similar to cheap box wine here in the States. Ick!

Glad to know I ate the baby octopus correctly.

Unfortunately, I do not live in or near a good sized city. My town is about 100 people, and remote. The nearest "big" town is about 70 miles away, about 60,000 people. One "French" restaurant that we already tried, but nothing on the menu seemed much different than any other nice restaurant. I don't know if it was truly authentic.

I like the idea of finding a French menu and practicing with it. I think I'll give that a try.

I'm actually looking forward to eating my way through France!

<vin de table is similar to cheap box wine here in the States. Ick!>

nbbrown~ If that's what you summarized... you missed the point entirely!!

The "house wines" in France are usually a good value and decent quality, nothing at all like cheap box wine in the U.S. They're most often just the local every day table wines, which are often quite fine.

The last time I went to the antiques market in Ile-sur-la-Sorgue, you would not have believed how many French vendors were eating lunch with their friends/families and drinking wine out of cartons....I couldn't believe my eyes.

Suze - from what I gathered from reading all the posts, the "table wine" is the lowest quality, with "house wine" being good quality.

I thought the TABLE wine was similar to box wine, in that it is apparently made with the cheapest bulk wines.

I thought that HOUSE wine is of good quality, because it reflects on the restaurant itself.

Did I not surmise this correctly? Either way, I think we won't order table wine when there are so many good wines out there to be had!

;)

Whatever... I'm no expert, but I have never had any trouble ordering and receiving good wine with a meal anywhere in Europe, with extremely limited French and no Italian skills.

I'm talking about the 'open' wine that a restaurant pours into a clay pitcher or glass carafe, sized based on the amount your order. And it can be very good and very inexpensive both.

As for box wines in France, some of the better quality AOC wines are now sold in boxes. More and more of us have boxes at home from which to fill our carafes.

StCirq - reminds me of Ellen Degeneres giving a tour of her home with a gorgeous "wine cellar" (with huge window from kitchen area. It was empty "because those boxes won't fit".

On the subject of "boxed wines"...

I have a feeling that in the US, just this packaging implies lowest quality, ie plonk, pinard, etc.

But here in Europe, there are plenty of decent local and regional wines offered in the "bag-in-box" packaging. We usually have some around, as well as a good selection of bottles in the cave.

The "bag-in-box" allows you to store a fair quantity of open wine without allowing air in, preventing oxidation and diminished flavor. Keeps for much longer.

However, at dinners etc. you would never see the box...usually it would be served decanted in carafes at the table...(as there probably is some stigma here too for the box package).

Our local vignerons offer their better lines in 5L and 10L boxes. I think it is cheaper packaging than bottles and corks, and is well accepted. They even call it "bag-in-box" in French, although the pronunciation is amusing.

Hi NP,

> there is an odor (and therefore a taste) in andouillette that really turns me off. I can't figure out what it is.

Have you ever walked through a barn yard on a warm day?
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Hi SC,

>French vendors... drinking wine out of cartons....I couldn't believe my eyes.

Sometimes, we Americans can be so far behind the times. :)

I have had inexpensive, decent wines in plastic bottles, cartons and plastic bags.

If the wine is meant to be drunk when young, it doesn't need to be stored in a glass bottle of a certain shape with a cork closure.

Look ahead to more twist-off caps.
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Hi S,

"Vin de table" is the lowest appellation. It is often made from grape juice of undetermined origin, which can come from any of the EU countries. It can range from terrible to decent.

My friends in the business tell me that the "vin de maison" in a decent resto will usually be a "vin de pays", ie, from a specific region, where one knows (more or less) what went into the wine.

The next step up is "AOVDQS", which is a long phrase for "not quite AOC".

The top grades are AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée).

However, once you get into AOC, you have to know your wines.

((I))

And here's to lunch in France. We got into the habit very quickly of buying a baguette filled with all sorts of lovely things, a pastry (yum) and a drink. Head to park, find a seat (don't sit on the grass!) relax and rest your weary feet for a while!! The baguette is easy, we found that most were ready made and labelled, but you can just point if you really can't work out the translation. You'll be fine, as the others have said, don't worry until it happens!!

A few posters have referred to the AOC (appellation controlee) classification as being 'one step up' from Vin de Pays (VdeP). Maybe this should be true, but -- it ain't necessarily so. There are plenty of Vin de Pays that are as good as or better than some AOCs -- unfortunately, there are plenty of crummy AOCs. The AOC classification defines the wine [geographical origin, type of grape]. This is taken to define the quality, but it often doesn't.

I don't think it is worth getting hung up on distinctions between AOC, vin de pays, and vin de table.

For me, it's much simpler: excluding contamination or mishap, there are no good wines or bad wines: there is wine that I like, and wine that I don't like (with some gradation in between). Happily, Herself and I largely agree on what we like. Even more happily, many of the wines we like are relatively inexpensive.

If you do not drink wine very often, it might not be worth the trouble (and expense) of researching what most suits your palate. Restaurants that serve reasonably good food usually provide a reasonably good house wine. Or you can ask your waiter to recommend something "pas trop cher" (not too expensive) to go with your chosen food. You can leave out the "pas trop cher" if you like, but if you are not really interested in wine, you might not feel that the premium for a superior wine is worth it.

Absolutely true, Padraig. I just hope that nobody here scorns box wines for the simple reason that they are box wines.

It is the wave of the future. The wine keeps much better in those vacuum bags. You can have 3 or 4 boxes of different wines available at all times without 'wasting' a bottle. And since some wines are indeed better chilled, I don't mind taking the bag out of the box and putting it in the refrigerator, as many French people do (but don't tell anybody!).

same with the screw top instead of a traditional cork (wave of the future and no indication of quality of the wine)

Kerouac - what a great idea to take the bag out of the box to chill it - takes up much less room in the fridge!

I wanted to clarify that when I mentioned icky box wine, I did clarify that it was "cheap" box wine that was icky. We live in Washington State and there are several good wineries that offer box wines (and a few with screw-top wines), all that are very good. So I'm not adverse to box wine, just cheap icky box wine! (or cheap icky table wine, or just cheap icky wine, period.) ;)

Whatever happened to the vraq (vrac?)? That's all I've ever seen in the Dordogne in the way of large quantities of cheap wine. You buy one and then go to market and have them fill it up again...kind of like a gasoline can;)

Vrac (bulk) wines still exist, but the bag-in-box system is superior, since the wine does not oxidize if the container is half empty. Unless you rebottle all of the vrac wine immediately, you have to worry about oxidation unless you drink it really fast.