Dinner at REED in Paris

The restaurant REED, in Paris,  became known to me through my blogger friend, Penny, at Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen.  I emailed the owner of REED, Catherine, asking for reservations.  We were arriving from Provence by train at approximately 3:30 p.m.  Catherine sent me our reservation confirmation for 7 p.m. that evening.  She asked if I would like to attend her cooking class that afternoon, but unfortunately the timing would not work for us, but we were anxious for our meal at her restaurant.

Since we were renting a studio on Rue Rivoli, we took the Metro to the restaurant at Rue Amélie.  This street runs parallel to Rue Cler which is always bustling, with shops, markets, restaurants and people. 

Catherine greeted us graciously and we just needed to mention that Penny had taken a cooking class from her, and we were immediately welcomed as family.  She jokingly mentioned that it turned out to be "English" night as all her guests seemed to be from the States.

Chatting to each other between the closely situated tables only reinforced the talk.

What to order....always difficult when you want to experience it all.  I opted for fresh pea soup with mint as my first course.  Certainly a very good choice as it was absolutely delicious.

The Trout had a terrine centered with foie gras.  Again, a very good choice.

My main coarse was osso buco which was perfectly done and very flavorful.  She reminded me to eat the marrow which I did and enjoyed.

The Trout had beef cheek daube which was very tasty, extremely tender and beef cheeks is something you do not find in the USA.  Both dishes excellent choices.

And yes, we were much too full for the desserts she offered.  We had indulged in her beautiful hard rolls a little too much.  There was also a nice bottle of red wine, very fairly priced for a restaurant.

Catherine's cooking at REED would be described as slow French country cooking.  Definitely worth a visit while in Paris.  The atmosphere itself is very inviting.  Her kitchen is open to the dining room, beautifully organized and yes, I wish I could have taken a class from her.  Perhaps next trip.

Seillans lunch in Provence

While in Provence this last October, we found a very nice restaurant for lunch recommended by a British shop owner.  Chez Hugo in the village of Seillans was just the cutest little spot.  The door was open to the outside as the weather was very nice.  The waiter told us they had only opened two months prior, but they had a nice crowd for lunch.  A much needed good restaurant in this village.

You see our appetizer above.  Oh my!!!  Oh my!!  I don't think I have ever tasted anything so good.  I know, I have said that so many times before while dining in France.  But this....sigh

The chef named it Gratin de Moules de Bouch ot Safranees Tombeé.  Yes, my love for mussels (moules) has just been expanded.  In these little cast iron pots were onions, garlic which were slightly thickened.  Then mussels and spinach and saffron were added to the pot and then into the oven to bake to perfection.  These are the flavors I made out.  So delicious, the rest of the meal was almost not that important.

There was also entertainment at this restaurant.  As I said before, the door was open.  Pretty soon after we were seated, a cat strolled in and looked around.  There was a chalkboard on an easel sitting on the floor with the days menu written on it.  Well, the visiting cat started rubbing against the legs as cats do.  All of a sudden, the easel collapses to the floor and the cat goes flying out the door.  Quickly, the waiter runs over to see what the noise was.  I told him the cat knocked it over.  He goes to the door and yells for "Romeo".  Seems Romeo lives in the restaurant.  It took quite a while before Romeo strolled back in as if nothing happened.  Cats are like that, aren't they?  If you know me really well, I simply tolerate cats but do not have a great love for them; not like for dogs.  But when a cat can be this entertaining, you gotta love it.  If only you could have seen the fast run out of the restaurant and then the nonchalant stroll back in as if nothing happen.  

Our 2006 Loire Trip Revisited!!

The Trout here, posting again about Chateaus and the wine of the Loire.

We chose the Loire region  for out first week of touring in France with a second week in Normandy for 2006.  I have loved  castles way back when we were stationed in Heidelberg in 1968, when we would tour 1-2 castles a weekend it seemed, for most of the year.  France certainly has its share of great chateaus like Chateau Chenonceau above that seem to be used more for a King's residence rather than for taking shelter from marauding pillagers!

The Loire is also the home of Joan of Arc who supposedly performed miracles as a 13-year-old warrior way back when she led battles to drive the British  out of France.  She is memorialized  throughout France for her heroics in battle!

We chose this dovecote gîte near Chinon for our Loire stay.  It was once home to hundreds of pigeons who were kept for food and fertilizer.  The gîte was well restored for humans and very comfortable.

The dovecote is part of the Chateau de la Vauguyon which was build way back in 1340-50!  It has been owned by the same family since the '30's.   The chateau has seen better days, but is being slowly repaired to its past glory with a second gîte now available in the main building.

The current owner is the son Celian Duthu who is a wonderful host and tour guide for enjoying our week in the Loire.  One day, he wanted to take us to visit his favorite wine producers for white and red wines.

This is Celian and Susan in the vineyards of Domaine de la Noblaie, home of his favorite Chenin Blanc white wine.  Chenin Blanc is not my favorite white as I find it a bit flabby and soft vs. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc like a Sancerre.  We did buy a couple of bottles for our later evening repasts at the Chateau.

While at the Domaine, we were introduced to a lovely lady who owned and ran the Auberge du Val de Vienne.  She was selecting wines for her cellar to offer to her guests.  We later had lunch there which was  supurb and what a wonderful dining room.

Our next stop was at the Chateau de la Grille, Celian's favorite red wine producer.  It has been sold to the Baudry-Dutour group of 3 wineries in the Loire.  Reds are made from the Cabernet France grape which is pretty much isolated to the Loire for making wines solely from this varietal.  It is used a lot for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux and in the Napa.  It is softer than its big brother and it adds finesse and perfume to the blend.  By itself, we found a wide range of like (nice, soft with lovely fruit and flower notes) to dislike (harsh green vegetal flavors and leaves to green bell peppers).

We tasted the 1996  and 2000 vintages of their offering which we liked enough to buy and bring home for the cellar.  We practically had to take an oath that we hold these wines for at least 6-8 years to allow them to soften and bring out their best finish.  Their wines were pretty tannic early in life and needed to lay down for several years.

We have faithfully let them age until I took both out of storage.  After finding a beautiful bone-in rib eye, I decided it was time to try the 2000 bottle.  After decanting for 3 hours, we were delighted to find this wine had indeed aged to a very nice wine of berry notes with a nice long finish perfect with the steak.

Thanks Celian for helping us enjoy the Loire region which continues today with the lovely wines we brought home 6 years ago!!  We look forward to trying the 1996 soon as well.

La Salle à Manger in Provence

It was October 31.  Provence was having a cool spell with rain.  The Trout and I were looking for a wonderful place for lunch.  We came upon the village of Flayosc.  A few restaurants were open, but we liked what we saw through the window and the menu which was posted outside this little restaurant.   We closed our umbrellas and entered a very charming room.

We were immediately greeted by the host of Restaurant "La Salle à Manger," Ronald Abbink.  In perfect English, he welcomed us and seated us by the window.  Robert and his wife, the chef, Liesbeth,  came from Holland and today was the 11th anniversary of opening this restaurant.

We were served amuse buche which was a warm strip of beef wrapped around a sage leave.  Outstanding.  Eaten so quickly, no photo.

Ordering was difficult because we wanted it all.  But, I have to say, the first course was the most outstanding we have ever experience.

What you see above is an absolutely delicious mushroom soup.  First he brought out a hot bowl with hot sauteed mushrooms, a slice of foie gras and a spoonful of marscapone cheese.  Then the magic.  He brought out a clear glass teapot with boiling hot beef broth which he poured over the bowl contents.  Absolutely delicious!  As the foie gras and marscapone melted, it added a delicious "fat" to the soup.  This, by far, has been one of the most outstanding presentations ever.

In the foreground you see The Trout's duck breast with confit in a red wine, grape and fig sauce.  This was accompanied with potatoes baked with a cheese, perhaps like Comte.  Absolutely delicious!

My main course was monk fish on a bed of lentils with a mushroom cream sauce.  Absolutely delicious!  Love French lentils and brought some home with me on this trip.

Now you are thinking, how could these people possibly eat dessert.  Well, when in France, it is really possible.

The Trout had a beautiful slate plate of different cheese from France.  Quite often you will have a choice; cheese or dessert.  Well, if you know me at all, it has to be dessert!

Oh yes, a most perfect poached pear partially wrapped in baked pastry along with a dipper of pear sorbet.  Absolutely delicious, but I think I have said this once or twice before on this post.

We enjoyed a glass of red wine each with this meal as we had miles to go before we got back "home."  This was such a outstanding meal with the most wonderful and friendly people who own this restaurant.  Since the day was rainy and we were the only guests this day, even the chef came out of the kitchen to welcome us and we were able to thank her personally for a perfect meal.

Quite honestly, this is the main reason we love France so much.  The food and the wonderful people we meet.  This will forever remain as a most memorable meal.  I do hope, in your travels to France, you will look for the village of Flayosc in Provence and Restaurant "La Salle à Manger" at 9 Place de la République.

Planning our 2012 Trip to France

THE BAOUS OF ST. JEANNET

Trout is writing today about our travels this fall to France.

Schnitzel's knee problems precluded our usual spring trip to France, but once she gave me the go-ahead for a fall trip, I hit the computer to start planning.

First of all, finding flights.  We have been able to use frequent flyer miles for many of our trips thanks to credit card offers and earned points.  Many airlines offer 40,000 miles to take out their card with Chase, etc., and even up to 100,000 by British Air.  This sounded good but I did not realize that BA charges for a fuel charge on top of fees and taxes so a free flight with them costs close to $800+.  Still a savings over the usual $1000 ticket price.  I usually start looking as soon as I can, like a year in advance, I think, for the best selections.  What is nice about using miles is that you can cancel and redeposit the miles for a pretty cheap fee of $40+ a ticket.

I had close to 80,000 miles on AA, so that is where I went for flights which offered a good selection out of Tampa to JFK and then to CDG at 40,000 miles a ticket, a good price.  I had to buy a few miles but we still saved over $1,200 for two tickets.

Once we had our dates for mid October for 2 1/2 weeks, next was "gîte" (apartment) hunting.  We have rented over 14 gîtes over our trips to Italy and France and only twice (once really) were we disappointed in what we found.  What is nice about  a gîte is that you have your own space with a kitchen, bath, LR and BR, laundry, and privacy.  We go out for a fresh baguette in the morning for breakfast and usually eat in at night so this is handy.


I generally use Gîtes de France to search for a gîte.  They have 1000's that they have reviewed and rated (1-5 ears from low to high amenities) before listing on their pretty good web sites.  It is easy to confirm a gîte, get answers to questions, get contract copies by email, make payments via a PayPal like system with no fees and hassles like getting a bank wire or draft.  I have also used VRBO with success, French Connections, Chez Nous, etc.  I like to rent at least 3 star gîtes and/or those with good references from previous renters as found on their web pages or in SlowTrav where I have reviewed many of the gîtes we have rented and found those other travelers have liked.

It was pretty easy to find gîtes near Nice for our first week and Les Arcs for our second week, since it was the low season.  For a high season rental, I would book as early as possible for a good selection.  These are 7245 and g1915 in the Gîtes de France search system.  Check out www.les-trois-baous.com for 7245.  This means three pinnacles like that as shown above. It was about the nicest we have even rented.   We had 3 days at the end of trip in Paris and I found a studio (meaning tiny) in a great location through www.paris-rent.fr.  We paid $529 and $364 for the gîtes for a full week each (low season) and $307 for 3 nights in Paris.

The living room of the first gîte.

Our little home for the second week.

Now that we have our flights and housing, we needed a car.  I have pretty much always used Auto Europe as a broker for a rental with no problems and good prices.   Again, start early and check often for price changes and get on their e mail list for offers.  We paid $286 for a compact for 12 days, I believe.  $80 for gas for the 2 weeks, $25 for extended damage insurance  and $60 for an emergency medical policy through American Express was in addition to the car rental.

When we did our first trip to France, I rented the car at CDG and did the nerve wracking drive out of Paris to Burgundy/Provence.  I got smart and found out about the great train service in France so we took the bullet TGV train from Avignon straight into CDG and our flight home.

Now we look for train connections out of CDG to wherever we want to end up and then back for our time in Paris or flight home.  Look into a great article at Parisbytrain.com/tgv-tickets/ for great advise on how to book tickets for the trains and also for the Paris Metro, RER trains from CDG downtown, etc.

You can only book a train no more than 90 days out, so on the 89th day at 4pm (remember France is 8 hours ahead of mountain time making it 12am there), I was at the Anaconda, Montana library to use their computers to bring up the reservation site.  Bingo, great prices of 30E per ticket going.  Two weeks later, I did it again for the train back to Paris and paid 40E each.  A month later or more, I would have paid 3-4 times those prices.  You may have to pay a bit more for a train out of CDG, but it is worth I think rather than taking an RER train downtown to Gare de Lyon.

The time and dollar savings but less chance of a nervous breakdown by not driving is substantial.   From Paris to Nice would have taken 9 hours (933K) and we would have paid and estimated 106E for gas and 72E in tolls each way.  Close to 400E vs 140E for the train.

If you plan on spending any time in Paris, you must learn the metro system.  There is a metro stop within 20 minutes of any place in Paris, I was told, and it is easy and fun to get from A to B and back.

All of this takes a fair amount of computer time to research and book ( I love the Fodor's site for posing questions of other travelers and finding ideas for touring,) but highly satisfying when we look back on the sites we saw, wonderful meals, getting around safely and finding nice lodging  as cheaply as I  make it and meeting the great people of France and fellow travelers.  We would not give back a second of the great times we have experienced in Europe.  Next year we are taking a break but look out 2014!!!

Our first meal in France

Our first great meal in France was in the village of Fayence.  We had made reservations at La Table d'Yves.  The weather was just about perfect, so we ate outdoors on October 20.  After a long flight, one night in a B and B that was nice but unremarkable, we picked up our rented car and drove to this lovely village.  The restaurant sits outside of town and from where we sat outside, we had a beautiful view.

The amuse buche, which means to tickle the palate, was beautiful.  Parmesan sablets, palmatiers with tapanade and tomato confit.   Tickle it did, indeed!!

I did not take a picture of the cauliflower soup with truffles and truffle oil because....well, it was so good, my spoon never rested.

My first course was pear and blue cheese in fillo dough.  It was very good, though the blue cheese was quite strong.  Never fear, it was eaten.

We both had guinea hen breast with a mushroom and chestnut stuffing.  It was very good.  Note the unusual way of cutting and serving the guinea.  The gravy was delightful.  For me, the stuffing was a little too sweet, but loved the chestnut crunch.

What could possibly pass for dessert?  You see, quite often when you order the plat du jour, it comes with an appetizer, main course and then dessert.  This restaurant added a lot of other little treats.  So what you see above is not really just your traditional creme brulee.  You see, it has a pink cast to it because it is flavored with violets.  And yes, I really, really enjoyed it.

When you order coffee in a nice restaurant, which is only served after the meal is complete, you usually get a treat with it.  What you see above is what I would describe as vanilla pudding with cherry jello in the glass, rose-flavored marshmallows (handmade) and an small almond cake with a cherry.  It was quite the topper to a great meal.

Since this was the noon hour and we had much more driving to do, we each had only one glass of wine.  Here, The Trout, is sending cheers to all.  We arrived safely in a country we love and are ready to eat and drink our way through almost 3 weeks of fun.  

An American Cemetery in France

Perfectly pristine and cared for.  We came across this American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.  The weather was not good this day.  It was slightly misting, but would not stop us from a quiet walk through an American Cemetery in France.  

"The site of the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial in France was selected because of its historic location along the route of the U.S. Seventh Army's drive up the Rhone Valley. It was established on August 19, 1944 after the Seventh Army's surprise landing in southern France. 

On 12.5 acres at the foot of a hill clad with the characteristic cypresses, olive trees, and oleanders of southern France, rest 860 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the liberation of southern France in August 1944. Their headstones are arranged in straight lines, divided into four plots, and grouped about an oval pool. At each end of the cemetery is a small garden. On the hillside overlooking the cemetery is the chapel with its wealth of decorative mosaic and large sculptured figures. Between the chapel and the burial area, a bronze relief map recalls military operations in the region. On the retaining wall of the terrace, 294 names of the missing are inscribed. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified." 

Not only Veteran's Day, but let us remember every day and never forget.

Just wine, cheese and bread

The year was 2006, early May, and we were searching in France for wineries.  What a pleasant surprise to arrive at this sight; the winery of Henri Bourgeois.  We were in the Loire Valley and traveled to the village of Chavignol. Henri Bourgeois largely produces Sauvignon Blanc wines under the Sancerre appellation and has many single vineyard bottlings which are generally rated 90 or above by Wine Spectator.  

Not only is this a beautiful modern building with a fantastic tasting room, but the people who work here are so friendly and welcoming and....they speak perfect English.  That always helps, a lot!!  We bought two bottles of Sancerre for 10.60 Euro each, after sampling a lot of wine.  The kind gentleman guiding us also gave us a corkscrew with the winery name on it.  Always handy while traveling.  (sigh)

This last week we found a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc by this vintner and enjoyed it so much last night with a repeat of the "Vietnamese Caramelized Shrimp".

  If you have French wine, you need French cheese.  Stopped at this fromagerie (cheese store) and bought crottins of cheve.  A crottin is a small round, possibly 2 inches in diameter.  You can buy very fresh and very, very aged.  We picked up a sampler of 6 different aged cheeses.  So delicious.  So now, we have the wine and the cheese....you guessed it.....

BREAD!!  Isn't that the most beautiful bread and pastry window?  Picked up a baguette and a couple of pastries for our evening dessert.

We have never taken a tour in France.  The Trout is the researcher and finds an area to visit and then plots out the places we want to see.  We rent a small apartment or house and eat breakfast in our own kitchen, tour during the morning, eat out lunch at a spectacular restaurant, tour in the afternoon and then head to our rental and have dinner and a bottle of wine at home.  It has worked out so well for us.  The last few years we have used our GPS that has international capacities and it works every time.  What we did realize after the first time, you really need to know the zip codes of the villages you want to visit.  Much easier putting in a zip code than trying to type in the village names.

The Pigeonnier in the Loire

This year it will only be "France dreaming" as my bothersome knee...like for the last year...is still bothersome.  I cannot guarantee that I can do a lot of walking, so with regret, we have opted to stay stateside this year.  But, that does not mean I cannot dream about our past trips...especially one six years ago, to the Loire Valley of France.

We have slept in a castle before..many years ago in Germany, so I was all for doing this again.  The Trout is such a fantastic researcher, so I let him do it all.  I enter the picture when it is time to choose between this or that.

This chateau sounded so perfect, but the topper was that there was a dovecote on the property available for rent.  A dovecote is a round, tall structure intended for pigeons or doves.  The inside is a mass of pigeon holes for the birds to nest.  An important food source in Western Europe, they were kept for eggs, flesh and dung.  In Scotland, the tradition is continued in urban areas.

The dovecote was called a colombier or fuie from the 13th century on and pigeonnier until the 19th century.  I have a few photos of where we stayed and this remarkable chateau.

We arrived in early May, for a week, and our cordial host has a fire going in the living room fireplace.  Flowers on the table.  Bottle of wine and glasses waiting.  We immediately were comfortable and felt at home.

The kitchen was small, as is typical in Europe, but everything we needed for a week was available including the washer under the kitchen counter.

There were two bedrooms in this amazing rental and we had the most beautiful one.  A King-sized bed and a balcony overlooking the back yard.

Welcome to Chateau La Vauguyon near Chinon, France, in the Loire Valley.

Our host, Celain, was a delight.  One afternoon, he drove us to two of his favorite wineries and introduced us to the owners.  He also gave us a tour of the grounds of the Chateau, caves and wells going back hundreds of years.

If you look at the above picture, in the foreground, you see some stakes.  Yes, oh yes, this is where a farmer grows white asparagus and many times during the week we would walk down there and buy the fresh, white asparagus for our dinner.  Very inexpensive and so very, very good.  I have often thought that one of the reasons we like to travel to Europe in the early spring is because of the white asparagus.

This was the view out of our upstairs bedroom.  Our host had imported many small deer for Russia and we enjoyed watching them early in the morning.

The big cities are lovely, but we have always loved the countryside and small villages.  Chinon is only a short distance from this lovely gite, and of course, the history of Joan of Arc is all over that city.

We did combine this week in the Loire Valley with a week in Normandy.  I hope you enjoyed my reliving our trip.  I think I feel better now.

Eiffel Tower

Words are not important here.  I would think most anyone in the world recognizes this structure.  I took this picture from a different viewing point and I think it is my very favorite picture of the Eiffel Tower.  

Be it early morning, afternoon or in the evening when the Eiffel is lit with bright lights, you have to admit it is magnificent!!  I was also able to capture this picture without any tourists in the photo.  That is a real accomplishment.

Be sure to come visit me on Sunday when I am having my first giveaway and an anniversary of sorts!!

The village of Caromb

Near the gite' where we spent a week, was a lovely little town called Caromb.  Quiet and colorful with many fountains.

To think that this was the only means of getting water to the people years ago, ...it just seems so beautiful.
Imagine the conversations around this fountain.

Beautifully constructed walls and bell towers.

And, of course, the colors and beauty of Provence.