I've been meaning to post a report about our trip to France, but
we've had so much to do since we got back, I procrastinated a lot.
(Most of these pictures were posted to alt.binaries.food, so if there's
any lurkers of that group, there isn't much new stuff to see here.)

As you might expect, food was wonderful in France. Expensive, but
wonderful. Erik and I stayed a week in Paris, then rented a car and drove
through Normandy to Honfleur and Mont St-Michel, then to the Loire Valley
region, to the Perigord region, and then Arles in Provence before catching
the TGV back to Paris. We did try to sample some regional fare in each
place we went, but shoot...there was just too much food, and too little
time! I did have foie gras a couple times and liked it, although it
wasn't my favorite food. We both liked escargot, and it was fun prying
them out of their shells.

We ate mostly in cafes and a few moderately priced restaurants, nothing
super fancy. I think food quality in general is higher over there, even
in relatively casual eateries. Great bread was readily available, and
cheaper than it is here, too. So was wine. I don't drink, but Erik
sometimes ordered a small carafe of it with lunch or dinner and he enjoyed
whatever he had. Grocery stores with their gigantic cheese sections
amazed us, and I've lost track of how many ripe rounds of camembert we
consumed while there. Our rental car was full of baguette crumbs and
smelled like cheese by the end of the trip. But it was worth it.

One of the best meals isn't pictured, because we forgot the camera. It
was an enormous platter of fruits de mer in Honfleur: piles of whelks,
periwinkles, shrimp, langostines, raw oysters and two big crabs on top,
served with homemade mayonnaise and shallot-vinegar sauce. We really miss
all the wonderful fresh seafood over there.

Here's the URL. I'm afraid there are a LOT of pictures (over 100) so
you'd have to be fairly patient to look at them all, but I thought I'd
post them in case anyone is curious. Also, some of them are
darker/blurrier than I'd like, but they seem to improve as I got more used
to photographing food and outdoor markets.


http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAMWrly4aOWjKog


These are just the food pictures. A full travelogue and the rest of the
pictures are available elsewhere. I did e-mail some people a trip report
if I thought they'd be interested, but I won't post it here since it's not
really on-topic. Drop me a line if you want a copy. All in all, we
enjoyed our trip very much, and will likely return to France someday for a
longer stay in the Perigord region, and to visit the eastern half of
France, maybe more of Normandy. France is a beautiful country, and I think it
has many sights everyone should try to see at least once in their lifetime.

Ariane
--
Individuality: Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody
else.
http://www.despair.com/individuality.html