The Cigale flies to France and returns wingless
Oct 4th, 2007, 12:09 PM
#41
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cigalechanta: Yes a crying baby would not be so enjoyable while dining.
Please tell me, do you have a favorite Joel Durand chocolate? The sample I tried in the store was something like an earl grey tea with mint. I am dwindling down on my assortment I bought, and have yet to find the sample from the store, not that I am complaining, but that one was exceptional.
Please tell me, do you have a favorite Joel Durand chocolate? The sample I tried in the store was something like an earl grey tea with mint. I am dwindling down on my assortment I bought, and have yet to find the sample from the store, not that I am complaining, but that one was exceptional.
Oct 4th, 2007, 12:21 PM
#42
Original Poster
She had us taste the newest one but can't remember what it was and had them added to the guest box but I like the Black chocolate, vinegar honey and estrogon which is sold only april through october. Always try to get the older lady, she gives excellant service and gives you tastings. The younger one doesn't.
Oct 4th, 2007, 03:00 PM
#43
Original Poster
Along the road to Albi, we stop in Sommieres which is in Languedoc. The writer Lawrence Durrell lived here from 1957 until his death in 1990. We had lunch behind the walled central quarter. Jerry must take medication with three meals so stopping to eat is must. It was a lovely day and all the outdoor cafés were filled but lucky we found one to seat us.
It was cold when we drove into Albi and we both needed sweaters. We found a heavy blue cardigan for him at a men's boutique and at the Comptoir des Cotonniers, a hip length black one snap closing sweater. We spent the night at the Villa Mandarine. In the morning after breakfast, I played with Corine's dogs. We went to the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum and then to the St Cecile Cathedral to hear a concert by a visiting Russion group of 6 but soundd like so many more due to the incredible acoustics.
Lunch was special at the L'Espirit du Vin but again the atmosphere was very formal though it is in in kind of a brick cave.
We left Albi with no idea where would stay next. We came upon hotel in Grolejac (Dordogne). Simple rooms but a nice terrace.
We checked in and sat at the bar for a pastis and chatted with the chef/owner/bartender. He asked if I liked fish and when I said yes he said he would cook fritures for me that he caught across the road in the Dordogne. Soon a British couple sat at the bar and joined in our conversation. They moved from England in November and bought a house up the road in a hamlet. They asked if we'd like to share a table with them, so dinner and long night of drinking, Man, could this man, Robin, drink beers!!!! They gave us their address and tel. number should we return there. One amusing incident, besides Robin. This couple walked in carrying a small white poodle.
They stopped to say hello to Bruno, the owner and she asked me if I'd like to hear her dog talk. Of Course I said yes. She asked the dog to say hello and the dog said almost like hello how are you. The couple then sat down at a table. Jerry was in the toilette when this happened. When he returned to the bar, I walkd over to the table and asked the lady to have her dog say hello to Jerry. It was a very funny moment.
It was cold when we drove into Albi and we both needed sweaters. We found a heavy blue cardigan for him at a men's boutique and at the Comptoir des Cotonniers, a hip length black one snap closing sweater. We spent the night at the Villa Mandarine. In the morning after breakfast, I played with Corine's dogs. We went to the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum and then to the St Cecile Cathedral to hear a concert by a visiting Russion group of 6 but soundd like so many more due to the incredible acoustics.
Lunch was special at the L'Espirit du Vin but again the atmosphere was very formal though it is in in kind of a brick cave.
We left Albi with no idea where would stay next. We came upon hotel in Grolejac (Dordogne). Simple rooms but a nice terrace.
We checked in and sat at the bar for a pastis and chatted with the chef/owner/bartender. He asked if I liked fish and when I said yes he said he would cook fritures for me that he caught across the road in the Dordogne. Soon a British couple sat at the bar and joined in our conversation. They moved from England in November and bought a house up the road in a hamlet. They asked if we'd like to share a table with them, so dinner and long night of drinking, Man, could this man, Robin, drink beers!!!! They gave us their address and tel. number should we return there. One amusing incident, besides Robin. This couple walked in carrying a small white poodle.
They stopped to say hello to Bruno, the owner and she asked me if I'd like to hear her dog talk. Of Course I said yes. She asked the dog to say hello and the dog said almost like hello how are you. The couple then sat down at a table. Jerry was in the toilette when this happened. When he returned to the bar, I walkd over to the table and asked the lady to have her dog say hello to Jerry. It was a very funny moment.
Oct 4th, 2007, 04:19 PM
#46
Original Poster
au bleu - The French term for the method of preparing fish the instant after it is killed. Used especially for trout, as in "truite au blue," when the freshly killed fish is plunged into a boiling court-bouillon, which turns the skin a metallic blue color.
Oct 5th, 2007, 08:45 AM
#48
Original Poster
We had no reservation this last day in France and thought we would stay near Giverny. What a surprise to see the village overrun with tourists in the pouring rain. We had to honk to make them leave the road just like those geese 
as we headed to the Hotel Baudy for a Suze. The restaurant was crowded, mostly Brits. Now to find a place to stay.
Everyplace we liked was booked and overrun with tourists but we found a room at Les Damiers in La Roche-Guyon. We had lunch in Gasny was wonderful at the Auberge du Prieuré Normond. Dinner was at the Bord de Seine and a big disappointment compared to previous visit. Before it was simply prepared food now they serve the it that "stacked" style and that dripping design along the edge of the plates. Nearby sat a woman who looked so much like Daisy in Keeping Up Appearences.
The next morning I awoke with laryngitis and sounded like Tululah Bankhead. I had a running nose and rear. We arrived at CDG turned in the car. Customs was a breeze, nothing searched. By this time I am feeling not so great. My nose has been running like crazy and I'm in the toilettes alot and a cough has started. At CDG, Jerry asked me for 10€ as he had none left to buy a can on beer and a plastic glass of rosé at a stand. It turned out not to be enough cash and he asked for another 5, I walked around from where I ws sitting and gave him the 5. That's the last I remember seeing my wallet. The new terminal is confusing for me. I couldn't find the Galleries Lafayette and the Hermés shop where I liked to Browse.
Boarding time. It's only the second time I remember sitting on a second level on an airplane. The first time many years ago.
the top level was half filled so as I watched French films and made runs to the toilet, Jerry moved to the back to sleep across seats where the chair arms could be lifted. Several others did the same. Across from me was seated an extremely handsome young man. He wore his hair slicked back with no path, a look I usually don't like that look but it suited him.
He wore a thin black knit cashmere sweater that skimmed his body and wore beautiful black side
buckelled shoes. Yes, I checked him out! I was amused at all the flight attendants who stopped to chat with him and all the young woman who walked to the toilette again and again hoping to catch his eye. When we landed I saw him take his LV weekend bag down from the bin and don a matching jacket to his pants. A flight attendant looked disappointed he paid no attention to her. He was too busy exchanging cards with his French male seat mate.
It was raining (again!!) when we landed near midnight. The cab driver said it was the first rain in weeks. The next day I could see all the wilting in my small garden. We slept late and the nxt day Jerry went to our friends to bring home our darling Pastis. My cough grew worse and the nose ran for days, so much I felt my nose would drop off but the toilette visits became less and less,
Tululah stayed few days. Now I felt well enough to tackle the wash and ironing, and the hundreds of emails, mostly spam and friends and posters who send jokes or something but still here with a cough and runnung nose and sitting close to my bathroom.
as we headed to the Hotel Baudy for a Suze. The restaurant was crowded, mostly Brits. Now to find a place to stay.Everyplace we liked was booked and overrun with tourists but we found a room at Les Damiers in La Roche-Guyon. We had lunch in Gasny was wonderful at the Auberge du Prieuré Normond. Dinner was at the Bord de Seine and a big disappointment compared to previous visit. Before it was simply prepared food now they serve the it that "stacked" style and that dripping design along the edge of the plates. Nearby sat a woman who looked so much like Daisy in Keeping Up Appearences.
The next morning I awoke with laryngitis and sounded like Tululah Bankhead. I had a running nose and rear. We arrived at CDG turned in the car. Customs was a breeze, nothing searched. By this time I am feeling not so great. My nose has been running like crazy and I'm in the toilettes alot and a cough has started. At CDG, Jerry asked me for 10€ as he had none left to buy a can on beer and a plastic glass of rosé at a stand. It turned out not to be enough cash and he asked for another 5, I walked around from where I ws sitting and gave him the 5. That's the last I remember seeing my wallet. The new terminal is confusing for me. I couldn't find the Galleries Lafayette and the Hermés shop where I liked to Browse.
Boarding time. It's only the second time I remember sitting on a second level on an airplane. The first time many years ago.
the top level was half filled so as I watched French films and made runs to the toilet, Jerry moved to the back to sleep across seats where the chair arms could be lifted. Several others did the same. Across from me was seated an extremely handsome young man. He wore his hair slicked back with no path, a look I usually don't like that look but it suited him.
He wore a thin black knit cashmere sweater that skimmed his body and wore beautiful black side
buckelled shoes. Yes, I checked him out! I was amused at all the flight attendants who stopped to chat with him and all the young woman who walked to the toilette again and again hoping to catch his eye. When we landed I saw him take his LV weekend bag down from the bin and don a matching jacket to his pants. A flight attendant looked disappointed he paid no attention to her. He was too busy exchanging cards with his French male seat mate.
It was raining (again!!) when we landed near midnight. The cab driver said it was the first rain in weeks. The next day I could see all the wilting in my small garden. We slept late and the nxt day Jerry went to our friends to bring home our darling Pastis. My cough grew worse and the nose ran for days, so much I felt my nose would drop off but the toilette visits became less and less,
Tululah stayed few days. Now I felt well enough to tackle the wash and ironing, and the hundreds of emails, mostly spam and friends and posters who send jokes or something but still here with a cough and runnung nose and sitting close to my bathroom.
Oct 5th, 2007, 08:51 AM
#49
Original Poster
After thoughts: The many restaurants who follow the trend of foam including the Moulin de Lourmarin who served it with my dorade. Loubet's name is still there on everything but he's let the main terrace get seedy. Four adorable kittens belonging to a neighbor frolicked around us but the server asked us to ignore them because they would try to use the huge Provençal pots for sandboxes. It was amusing to see the host and other help trying to capture them or shoo them out.
The trend of salads with tomatoes combined with other fruits like melon and apples.
Strawberries, though white in the center, the main part is so sweet. Here, it is usually a bitter strawberry.
Fashion observation: sea of jeans all over France,
and yes, Virginia, the French do wear whité sneakers or trainers, but the white are a trim style like the Bensimon that has shops in Paris and St. Remy. These things are worn at casual cafés, brocantes, shopping, hanging around but almost never for dinner in a restaurant.
Grey was the main color in all the fall/winter collections.
Lots of heavy sweaters with interesting sleeves,
Big buttons seen everywhere.
Why are some restaurants closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays? Baffled Jerry.
"In France everything speaks of long familiar intercourse
between the earth and its inhabitants; every field has name, a history, a distinct place of its own in the village polity;
every blade of grass is there by an old feudal right which has long since dispossed the worthless aboriginal weed."
Edith Wharton
The trend of salads with tomatoes combined with other fruits like melon and apples.
Strawberries, though white in the center, the main part is so sweet. Here, it is usually a bitter strawberry.
Fashion observation: sea of jeans all over France,
and yes, Virginia, the French do wear whité sneakers or trainers, but the white are a trim style like the Bensimon that has shops in Paris and St. Remy. These things are worn at casual cafés, brocantes, shopping, hanging around but almost never for dinner in a restaurant.
Grey was the main color in all the fall/winter collections.
Lots of heavy sweaters with interesting sleeves,
Big buttons seen everywhere.
Why are some restaurants closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays? Baffled Jerry.
"In France everything speaks of long familiar intercourse
between the earth and its inhabitants; every field has name, a history, a distinct place of its own in the village polity;
every blade of grass is there by an old feudal right which has long since dispossed the worthless aboriginal weed."
Edith Wharton
Oct 5th, 2007, 10:45 AM
#50
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Hi Mimi,
Glad to see you back safe and sound. That was a truly impressive rain that evening !
Tell Jerry lots of restaurants in France are closed Wednesdays because kids don't have school on Wednesday. So restaurant owners with kids find it a good day to take off as well. As for Tuesdays, no clue...
A la prochaine,
Kevin
Glad to see you back safe and sound. That was a truly impressive rain that evening !
Tell Jerry lots of restaurants in France are closed Wednesdays because kids don't have school on Wednesday. So restaurant owners with kids find it a good day to take off as well. As for Tuesdays, no clue...
A la prochaine,
Kevin
Oct 5th, 2007, 11:41 AM
#51
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"Along the road to Albi, we stop in Sommieres which is in Languedoc. The writer Lawrence Durrell lived here from 1957 until his death in 1990. We had lunch behind the walled central quarter. "
Happy to read the report, but where did you eat in Sommieres ? (!)
Peter
Happy to read the report, but where did you eat in Sommieres ? (!)
Peter
Oct 5th, 2007, 12:27 PM
#52
Original Poster
Thanks Kevin, hopfully we can meet again in June.
Peter, it was nothing fancy, as soon as you went inside the walls was a very nice men's shop where Jerry bought a sweater and in the place with all the cafés was this café de thé and glacier where we encountered one of the nicest waitresses in all of France. When she told us they don't serve lunch and I looked crushed, she said to wait she'd check with her boss if he would serve us something. Well, we had each a huge salad that included parma ham, radiccio, melon, tomaotes, apples, cheese, more of an antipasto and with a bottle of our favorite local Pic Poul de Pinot that we first tasted in Uzés. The tariff slip only reads Mr. Capelli Gilles, not bad at 26€ for alot of food.
I originally was looking for the Bar Patopi that I had read was great but when I stopped some locals to ask directions, they said it was closed.
Anyway, it was a great spot to watch the passing parade of locals, tourists, dogs.
Peter, it was nothing fancy, as soon as you went inside the walls was a very nice men's shop where Jerry bought a sweater and in the place with all the cafés was this café de thé and glacier where we encountered one of the nicest waitresses in all of France. When she told us they don't serve lunch and I looked crushed, she said to wait she'd check with her boss if he would serve us something. Well, we had each a huge salad that included parma ham, radiccio, melon, tomaotes, apples, cheese, more of an antipasto and with a bottle of our favorite local Pic Poul de Pinot that we first tasted in Uzés. The tariff slip only reads Mr. Capelli Gilles, not bad at 26€ for alot of food.
I originally was looking for the Bar Patopi that I had read was great but when I stopped some locals to ask directions, they said it was closed.
Anyway, it was a great spot to watch the passing parade of locals, tourists, dogs.
Oct 5th, 2007, 12:37 PM
#53
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Hi
Bar Patropi is now Les Delices du Liban Lebanese restaurant during the summer.
Out of season it is the expat watering hole for the Saturday market. They serve drinks, provide plates, knives, etc and we have a picnic using the market produce. Luckily it is near the best cheese stall, and an oyster stall who opens them for you. Add bread, a lemon, some saucisson, pate etc and all are happy.
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/images/oysters2.jpg
Next time ?
Regards
Peter
Bar Patropi is now Les Delices du Liban Lebanese restaurant during the summer.
Out of season it is the expat watering hole for the Saturday market. They serve drinks, provide plates, knives, etc and we have a picnic using the market produce. Luckily it is near the best cheese stall, and an oyster stall who opens them for you. Add bread, a lemon, some saucisson, pate etc and all are happy.
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/images/oysters2.jpg
Next time ?
Regards
Peter
Oct 5th, 2007, 01:06 PM
#55
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I loved this report! So you had some rain, I think it does everyone good to see the places they love in all different weather. Thank you and Jerry for taking me to France via your report!
Kiss-Kiss,
BC
Kiss-Kiss,
BC
Oct 5th, 2007, 03:46 PM
#56
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Hi Cig, thanks very much. I always enjoy your beautiful writing and am happy you two could travel this year. It sounds wonderfully romantic in the rain.
I am struggling to understand the Foam: Essence of Food?
I am struggling to understand the Foam: Essence of Food?
Oct 5th, 2007, 04:25 PM
#57
Original Poster
fidel, her's a bit about where it all started:
http://www.juneauempire.com/entertai...00621001.shtml
http://www.juneauempire.com/entertai...00621001.shtml
Oct 5th, 2007, 04:50 PM
#59
Original Poster
thanks Nikki, I want to make that GG so hope I will be able.
Coco, I didn't know your last name. I would have called to say hello.
and Scarlett, I'd have sent a card if I knew your new address.
Coco, I didn't know your last name. I would have called to say hello.
and Scarlett, I'd have sent a card if I knew your new address.
