Chervil and chives! The garlic stuff worked just fine, not that I could really taste any difference from a normal recipe. Everything blended harmoniously.

We have not had mussels in France, but have eaten them several times in Brussels. In fact, we have been known to stop in Brussels just to eat mussels, tour a bit, spend the night, and go forward the next day. Had not thought of eating them in Paris. Now I will.

Mussels cooked in Brussels were cooked in beer, onions, bell peppers and mussels, with fried potatoes on the side. Tasted wonderful.

Start by trying them at Leon de Bruxelles jkbritt. They have a fantastic offer on one of their grilled mussell plates: Buy one get the next one for only 1euro! You'd better be hungry.....
I had their mussells in a cream /white wine sauce. All mussell dishes come with unending bowls of frites(chips).

On Sunday nights at Léon, they have "all-you-can-eat" mussels.

I have to admit that my fidelity card at Léon de Bruxelles is one of the best 2 minutes I ever spent filling out a form. Last time I went, I was given a free bottle of champagne, and next time I'm supposed to get a boxed set of a bottle of red and white wine free of charge. I also now have a book of coupons that give me 10€ off the bill (as long as I am not using a champagne or wine coupon) -- and which I can pass on to anybody I know so that they can benefit also. There are at least half a dozen coupons in the current booklet, valid until June, I think.

The mussels we had two weeks ago at the Leon in St. Germain were divine, but the frites were just dry and blah. Ours came with a waffle (w/ powdered sugar and a tiny pitcher of warm chocolates sauce) for dessert.

I have no interest in the french fries at Léon.

Well, what do you have with your mussels at Leon, if not fries, Kerouac? Inquiring minds want to know.

:-)

I would not want "dry & blah" fries anywhere.

I had soggy, mushy, & cold fries with my stinky moules in Nice about 9 years ago. Bad experience with both Moules & Frites.

Stu Dudley

Questions:

Are sea snails boulots? I love those. Can't find them in the USA anywhere. We used to eat them in France with Russian dressing (horrors! - but oh they are so good!)

kerouac, my French friends always taught me to use half a mussel shell to scoop out the flesh from the mussels. Is that uniquely a French (or European) thing? I've never seen anyone other than a fellow francophile do that here in the Sates.

Just don't order anything translated as sea snails in Spain. You will get whelks. I learned this the hard way.

If by sea snails one means periwinkles, for which one needs a pin to take them out of the shell, then they are called <i>bigorneau</i> in France. The <i>bulots</i> are much bigger; in the States they are available in Chinese fish stores.

I learned to eat my mussels using an empty hinged shell from a lovely Frenchwoman years ago who sat beside me at Les Vapeurs.

I use a hinged shell to eat mussels. I must confess that I have not looked around at surrounding tables to see what other people are going, because I've been too busy! But I'll try to remember to look next time.

<i>Well, what do you have with your mussels at Leon, if not fries, Kerouac?</i>

Of course I have fries, nukesafe. I just have no interest in them. They are not the purpose of my visit. I have never asked for more even though they are "unlimited."

... what other people are <b>doing</b>!

Just to answer Nukesafe (in my instance eating mussels at Leon), the waiter puts as much lovely french bread on the table as one could desire - this is the only thing I eat with my delicious moules! Great for dipping into the sauce.

I've been served bulots in France (in both the south and the north) that were small (less than an inch in biggest dimension) and eaten with a pin, so like most fish and shellfish names there's probably some variation. Served with mayonnaise.

One of these meals was in a private home, and the person who served them to me also served raw oysters. And that was it: raw oysters (very fresh, as this was the coast of Normandy) and bulots. And lots of them. No bread, no salad, no nothing. He was trying to ick me out (me being 'Murcan and all) but little did he know. He was the boyfriend of an old school friend/exchange partner, and she'd told him that I wasn't much like his impression of Americans (as he didn't actually know any) and he was testing her (and me).

She left him the next week.

:)) And you probably broke his seafood budget.

I don't have the patience for bigorneau....but mussels, that's a diifferent story! If you try Léon de Bruxelles, their crème brulée is one of the best I've ever had.

Kérouac, that looks great! (I was wonder why I hadn't seen you "pop up" here recently, et puis, vous-voilà!) Yum!

Not just his seafood budget, kerouac (although he's pretty wealthy, and shellfish aren't all that expensive in that area) but also his heart, as I gather that his snottiness towards me did not exactly endear him to his girlfriend. He did finally come around, but the damage had been done.

I'm seeing her next week, as it happens, but won't have time to make it to Normandy this time. Tant pis.

kerouac you reached all the way to Florida. I'm on my way home from work via fish market to pick up moules for supper.I do provencal style. The ones I get here are Prince Edward Island.............yummy