French food!

This post is extremely overdue, but we have been having a wonderful time . . .

While in France, we felt that while of course there are many important cultural experiences, French food was high on our list.

We started our experience at a small bistro near the Pompidou museum, and thought we start out with a traditional crepe with a side of herb butter snails, washed down with a glass of Chardonnay. After working out how to use the instrument to eat the snails we were rewarded with a very tasting experience.

To help combat the high prices in Paris we had a couple of picnic (under the Eiffel Tower as I mention in my other post) and dinners at home. However, these were usually just a fancy as meal we had out with French Bordeaux, toasted baguettes, raspberry macaroons and chocolate mousse.

After purchasing our little esky our lunches generally consisted of fresh bread, with fresh market produce. We indulged in terrine, Dijon mustard, ash covered salami, roquefort, Edam cheese and goats cheese. We very much enjoyed taking advantage of all the fresh produce available to us!

And of course this post wouldn't be complete without a section on the decadent deserts that we enjoyed on our travels. The first morning I was quick to hop along to a bakery to try a chocolate elair which Ryan enjoyed, a chocolate brioche, perhaps not the healthiest breakfast but it was immensely enjoyable! We also indulged in a crepe from a small stand in the gardens in front of the Louvre and of course macaroons, irresistible flavors like salted caramel, garna chocolate and coffee.

After arriving in Reims, in the Champange region we were quick to discover a small medieval festival on our way through the town, as it was lunch time, we enjoyed a medieval style potato and bacon stew, followed by a fried dough with slice of apple pressed into it and cinnamon cookies topped with chocolate. All eaten while watching an interesting medieval parade put on by the locals.

Also while we were in Reims we decide to head out for a fancy meal at a local bistro. After a long hard day of Champagne tasting Ryan was quick to order a range of beers to taste. Although he didn't quite read the menu properly and was not so pleasently surprise when we recived a round of beer cocktails, with a ginger and mint, blackberry and orange, nevertheless, after readjusting his expectations we enjoyed the selection before our meal arrived. Not yet having a steak tartare we thought this was a great opportunity and also found bone marrow on the menu, a favorite of mine!

Loving the increase in quality of food from South America, we are looking forward to returning to the south of France to enjoy our tour of fine food.

- Louise -