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

"Ariane Jenkins" > wrote in message
...
>
> 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.)
>
The steak in Paris made my mouth water! (and it's only 8am!)
Sarah

Fabulous pix! I want to go back! We had 5 weeks in France in 2001 and
like you, loved the markets, the food, the store displays....practising
my schoolgirl french.....
I agree, a country to visit at least once in a lifetime.

Cheers
Bronwyn
Australia

Ariane Jenkins > wrote in
:

> I did have foie gras
> a couple times and liked it, although it wasn't my favorite food.

HERESY!!!!!!!

--

"Compassion is the chief law of human existence."

Dostoevski, The Idiot

On 9 Jun 2005 04:38:20 -0700, "Bronwyn" > wrote:

>Fabulous pix! I want to go back! We had 5 weeks in France in 2001
Geeze I don't have 5 weeks off after working 50 years. I get 2 weeks
and I can't take them back to back.

"Ariane Jenkins" > wrote in message

(snipped)

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

Fabulous pictures, Ariane. Made me crave to board the next flight! Did I
miss a second posting, of your "travelogue and pictures"? I'd love a copy of
your trip report - please send it to limey108 at verizon dot net.

We've been to France four or five times plus I was there as a teenager. I
could happily live there.

Dora

"Ariane Jenkins" > wrote in message
...
>
> 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

I would LOVE to read your full travelogue. The pictures are great, did you
stay at the Grand Hotel Levecque by any chance? The last few pictures
referred to a hotel on the Rue Cler which is where GHL is located, and
where we stayed last time we were there. Going again next April which
is why I'm so interested in your travelogue, am in the very beginning
planning
stages of the trip.

TammyM
Sacramento, California


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

Ha! Australia has always had generous vacation leave. When I first
started work in the '70's I got 4 weeks after the first year and that
was as a lowly draftswoman in a mining company!
Today is still 20 days entitlement per annum across the board. I think
that's how Aussies/NZ got the wonderlust for travelling the world. It
takes so long to get anyway from the end of the world! 24-27hrs elapsed
flying time Sydney - London - Paris.... Last year I flew Brisbane -
LAX - Austin and it was nearly 25 hours all up.

Cheers
Bronwyn

Ariane Jenkins > wrote:

> These are just the food pictures.

Very nice pictures they are, too! Thanks. Your food tastes seem to be
very similar to mine, sweets excepted. You've been in at least one of
my favourite haunts of yore, Fermette du Sud-Ouest, which I used to
visit many years ago, until the change of the owners and the chef - and
they changed a few more times after that... I notice that you've also
been at Pied-de-Cochon, a still nice but very touristy place. And you
stayed in the 7th arrondissement, my favourite corner of Paris.

Victor

Great pictures! Great food (judging from the pictures).

Sometimes I wonder if we (Canadians) have lower standard of living. All
I want is a fresh baked croissant and a fresh cup of coffee for
breakfast, baguette sandwich for lunch and good bread for dinner. All I
got now is stale donuts which is made in a factor somewhere hundreds
miles away for breakfast, greasy hurmberger for lunch, and supermarket
bread, which is baked from a frozen turd made in the same factory as
the donuts.

I hate where I live.

Ariane Jenkins wrote:
> 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.
>
>Details of wonderful trip snipped.

Oh, it sounds like you had a great time! How nice that you had the
time to see the countryside, and Paris, of course. .....I couldn't
see your pictures.

The French really have it right (in regards to food, I'm not about to
start a flame war about their other predilections). It is said they
keep all their A1 quality foodstuffs for domestic consumption not for
exporting unlike Australia for example. Here our A1 product goes
straight overseas e.g. lobsters, export quality beef etc. and we are
stuck with 2nd grade stuff. They also mostly vacation in their own
country (or French outposts).

But I still yearn for freshly caught salmon with maple syrup glaze and
wild rice in Canada!!

Bronwyn
Australia

On 9 Jun 2005 04:38:20 -0700, Bronwyn > wrote:
> Fabulous pix! I want to go back! We had 5 weeks in France in 2001 and
> like you, loved the markets, the food, the store displays....practising
> my schoolgirl french.....
> I agree, a country to visit at least once in a lifetime.
>
> Cheers
> Bronwyn
> Australia

Oh yeah, my high school French was pitifully inadequate, but we
managed to get by most of the time. Just about all the people we
encountered were patient and friendly, and very forgiving of my terrible
Yankee accent. My French did improve a bit while we were there--just being
forced to use it day in and day out does that, I suppose!

Ariane

On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 06:50:23 -0500, Michel Boucher > wrote:
> Ariane Jenkins > wrote in
> :
>
>> I did have foie gras
>> a couple times and liked it, although it wasn't my favorite food.
>
> HERESY!!!!!!!
>
*laughs* Sorry. I'm not really a big fan of liver in general, but
don't mind it if it's not really strong tasting. I have tried monkfish liver
(ankimo) at our local sushi bar. It's served with chopped scallions and ponzu
sauce and we liked it a lot...the texture/taste is somewhat similar to foie
gras.

But hey, look at it this way...it's expensive and difficult to obtain
here, so maybe it's just as well I didn't LOVE it.

Ariane

On Thu, 9 Jun 2005 14:14:32 -0400, limey > wrote:
>>
> Fabulous pictures, Ariane. Made me crave to board the next flight! Did I
> miss a second posting, of your "travelogue and pictures"? I'd love a copy of
> your trip report - please send it to limey108 at verizon dot net.

Nah, the full travelogue won't be posted here, it's not really on-topic and
it's really long. I'll e-mail you a copy, Dora!

> We've been to France four or five times plus I was there as a teenager. I
> could happily live there.

This was our first trip, but I'm sure it won't be the last. Erik isn't
quite certain he could live there.... I guess it would depend on where. As
much as we enjoyed Paris, I'm not a big city sort of person. There are
aspects of bigger cities that I like, but the noise, traffic and crowds get to
me after a while. And out in the country, there's a definite lack of sushi
bars. <g>

Ariane

On Thu, 9 Jun 2005 14:06:28 -0700, tammym > wrote:
>>
> I would LOVE to read your full travelogue. The pictures are great, did you
> stay at the Grand Hotel Levecque by any chance? The last few pictures
> referred to a hotel on the Rue Cler which is where GHL is located, and
> where we stayed last time we were there.

Yes, that's the one! Nice hotel, and prices are quite reasonable
for Paris. We also liked the neighborhood, there were so many things
conveniently nearby--grocery stores, nice cafes, post office, a great
bakery, etc. From our window, we could see the very top of the Eiffel Tower
peeking over the roof of the buildings across the street. ;D

The other place we stayed (the GHL was only for our last night, before
we flew home) was a rented apartment in ther 1st arr., a stone's throw from
the Louvre. That's a good option too, if you'll be there for longer periods
of time, and they often have small furnished kitchenettes as a bonus.

>Going again next April which
> is why I'm so interested in your travelogue, am in the very beginning
> planning
> stages of the trip.

Lucky you! I think spring was a good time to go, even though the
weather was sometimes a little cool/rainy in northern France. It was still
warmer than Ohio during that time of year, that's for sure. And Normandy was
lovely too...the apple trees were in bloom.

I took down your e-mail address, and I'll mail you a copy of the
travelogue, too.

Ariane

On Thu, 9 Jun 2005 23:49:37 +0200, Victor Sack > wrote:
>
> Very nice pictures they are, too! Thanks. Your food tastes seem to be
> very similar to mine, sweets excepted. You've been in at least one of
> my favourite haunts of yore, Fermette du Sud-Ouest, which I used to
> visit many years ago, until the change of the owners and the chef - and
> they changed a few more times after that... I notice that you've also
> been at Pied-de-Cochon, a still nice but very touristy place. And you
> stayed in the 7th arrondissement, my favourite corner of Paris.

Yep, the 7th and the 1st as well. Both were very nicely located to
see a lot of the usual tourist stuff, and we did a lot of walking/riding the
Metro. It helped to counteract all the rich dinners.

Fermette du Sud-Ouest was one of my favorite places we went to in
Paris, just an all-round good meal. The lamb was the best of the trip, too.
Pied de Cochon was interesting, but more gimmicky than most places. I'm not
sure I'd bother to go there again, it wasn't that special. Maybe if I'd
ordered something else besides the andouillette...but I was curious and wanted
to try it at least once. Now I know.

Ariane

On 9 Jun 2005 15:02:46 -0700, > wrote:
> Great pictures! Great food (judging from the pictures).
>
> Sometimes I wonder if we (Canadians) have lower standard of living. All
> I want is a fresh baked croissant and a fresh cup of coffee for
> breakfast, baguette sandwich for lunch and good bread for dinner. All I
> got now is stale donuts which is made in a factor somewhere hundreds
> miles away for breakfast, greasy hurmberger for lunch, and supermarket
> bread, which is baked from a frozen turd made in the same factory as
> the donuts.
>
> I hate where I live.

Nah, I don't think it's a country-wide thing, even though there's many
places in the U.S. where the above description would apply. I know I've had
great food in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver, haven't been that many other
places in Canada unfortunately) and there's great food to be found in the
U.S., too...it just might be a bit more of a challenge.

I already know that finding fresh croissants and a decent baguette in
this area might be beyond our resources. People just don't eat those things
often here, and there's no huge demand for the high quality baked goods the
way there is in France. I might have to learn to bake in self-defense.

Ariane

On 9 Jun 2005 15:46:19 -0700, karen > wrote:
>
> Oh, it sounds like you had a great time! How nice that you had the
> time to see the countryside, and Paris, of course. .....I couldn't
> see your pictures.

Awwww, sorry Karen. I don't remember if I sent you the full
travelogues, but I'll forward you a copy just in case. We did have a great
time. While even 3 weeks isn't enough to see all of France, I think we got a
nice sampling in, and now we have more ideas for where we'd like to go next
time.

Ariane

Ariane Jenkins wrote:

> This was our first trip, but I'm sure it won't be the last. Erik isn't
> quite certain he could live there.... I guess it would depend on where. As
> much as we enjoyed Paris, I'm not a big city sort of person. There are
> aspects of bigger cities that I like, but the noise, traffic and crowds get to
> me after a while. And out in the country, there's a definite lack of sushi
> bars. <g>
>

And why would you want sushi bars when their is so much good food?

The first two times I went to Paris I found restaurants very expensive, but I was a
typical tourist and sticking to the main tourist areas. The last time I was there
we went a little further afield and found much better food for about half what we
had been paying.

The countryside over there is beautiful at this time of year. My last two trips
there were in May, and on the last one we rented a car and wandered aimlessly
around France after Denmark, Germany, Holland and Belgium. We came in near Lille,
visited Vimy Ridge and, because it was raining, got in the car and drove until we
found the sun. That was in Reims. The fields were yellow with blooms. We found that
hotels and meals in that area were about half what they were in Paris.

On a previous trip we had a rail pass, came into France from Italy and stayed in
Nice for a few days, then back up to Paris on the TGV. The south had some
magnificent scenery and I would like to get back an explore that region some time.

Ariane Jenkins > wrote in
:

> On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 06:50:23 -0500, Michel Boucher
> > wrote:
>> Ariane Jenkins > wrote in
>> :
>>
>>> I did have foie gras
>>> a couple times and liked it, although it wasn't my favorite
>>> food.
>>
>> HERESY!!!!!!!
>>
> *laughs* Sorry. I'm not really a big fan of liver in
> general, but
> don't mind it if it's not really strong tasting. I have tried
> monkfish liver (ankimo) at our local sushi bar. It's served with
> chopped scallions and ponzu sauce and we liked it a lot...the
> texture/taste is somewhat similar to foie gras.
>
> But hey, look at it this way...it's expensive and difficult
> to obtain
> here, so maybe it's just as well I didn't LOVE it.

Ximenes: Heresy with an explanation...sheesh...what next? Pleading
for mercy? Biggles! Get the comfy chair and the...gasp...soft
pillow!

Biggles: Not the...gak...soft pillow!!

Ximenes: Yes. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

--

"Compassion is the chief law of human existence."

Dostoevski, The Idiot

On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 19:58:35 -0400, Dave Smith >
wrote:
>
> And why would you want sushi bars when their is so much good food?

Hey now!! ;p

> The first two times I went to Paris I found restaurants very expensive, but I was a
> typical tourist and sticking to the main tourist areas. The last time I was there
> we went a little further afield and found much better food for about half what we
> had been paying.

Yeah, it helps to go off the beaten path a bit. But in general, prices
were still higher than what we're used to paying and considering the exchange
rate... Well, we learned to not look so carefully at the bill, that's all. A
heart attack isn't the best way to finish off a good meal!

> The countryside over there is beautiful at this time of year. My last two trips
> there were in May, and on the last one we rented a car and wandered aimlessly
> around France after Denmark, Germany, Holland and Belgium. We came in near Lille,
> visited Vimy Ridge and, because it was raining, got in the car and drove until we
> found the sun. That was in Reims. The fields were yellow with blooms. We found that
> hotels and meals in that area were about half what they were in Paris.
>
> On a previous trip we had a rail pass, came into France from Italy and stayed in
> Nice for a few days, then back up to Paris on the TGV. The south had some
> magnificent scenery and I would like to get back an explore that region some time.

Sounds wonderful, Dave. I'd love to take more time and explore
more of France and Europe by car. And having the car definitely helped.
While I did enjoy our train trip, there's many little villages that aren't
really very accessible without a car. We would've missed out on a great deal.
Accomodations/meal prices were also lower in the country vs. big cities, but
that's not surprising. I think next time, I'd be more inclined to stay put
and make lots of daytrips. The Perigord was our favorite region, I
think...so many beautiful villages tucked into hillsides!

Ariane

Ariane laughs:

> > *laughs* Sorry. I'm not really a big fan of liver in
> > general, but
> > don't mind it if it's not really strong tasting. I have tried
> > monkfish liver (ankimo) at our local sushi bar. It's served with
> > chopped scallions and ponzu sauce and we liked it a lot...the
> > texture/taste is somewhat similar to foie gras.
> >
> > But hey, look at it this way...it's expensive and difficult
> > obtain
> > here, so maybe it's just as well I didn't LOVE it.

Michel says:

> Ximenes: Heresy with an explanation...sheesh...what next? Pleading
> for mercy? Biggles! Get the comfy chair and the...gasp...soft
> pillow!
>
> Biggles: Not the...gak...soft pillow!!
>
> Ximenes: Yes. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
>
I would love to try foie gras one time. I haven't eaten much liver
after my mother's dry liver and onions, but chicken and beef liver
terrines go over well here. The problem is, they make too much for two
people.

So! Where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday?
And where were all the sportsmen who always pulled you through?
They're all resting down in Cornwall --
writing up their memoirs for a paperback edition of the Boyscout
manual.

Ian Anderson

>
> "Compassion is the chief law of human existence."
>
> Dostoevski, The Idiot

It's been years since I read The Idiot but I loved it.

"karen" > wrote in
oups.com:

> I would love to try foie gras one time. I haven't eaten much
> liver after my mother's dry liver and onions, but chicken and beef
> liver terrines go over well here.

Foie gras is nothing like liver. For one thing, the fat content
changes the texture immensely and cognac and truffles add to the taste.

Don't think of foie gras as liver. Think of it as ambrosia.

Of course, I say that and will not touch any other type of organ meat
:-)

--

"Compassion is the chief law of human existence."

Dostoevski, The Idiot

Ariane Jenkins wrote:

> Yeah, it helps to go off the beaten path a bit. But in general, prices
> were still higher than what we're used to paying and considering the exchange
> rate... Well, we learned to not look so carefully at the bill, that's all. A
> heart attack isn't the best way to finish off a good meal!

I have heard that prices were considerably higher after switching to the Euro, apparently
the vendors looking for those magic figures that make their prices appealing or
unappealing. The last time I was in Paris we found a place 3-4 blocks north of Champs
Elysee where we got a fantastic 3 course menu for 140FF each, which would have been
about $25US at the time, and you wouldn't get a meal like that in a restaurant like that
around here for that price. In Reims the 3 course meals were around 110FF, but the best
prices we found were in Verdun, where the best menu deal was 90 FF. We were stuffed by
the time we finished out appetizers. My wife's shrimp and avocado had more shrimp on top
as garnish that we would get here for a serving. I made it about half way through my huge
steak.

One real find was at a little town a few miles north of Verdun where we had a fantastic
lunch, a carrot salad, a pasta dish, baguettes heated by an open fire, flan for dessert,
carafe of wine and coffee for 55 FF.



>
> Sounds wonderful, Dave. I'd love to take more time and explore
> more of France and Europe by car. And having the car definitely helped.
> While I did enjoy our train trip, there's many little villages that aren't
> really very accessible without a car. We would've missed out on a great deal.
> Accomodations/meal prices were also lower in the country vs. big cities, but
> that's not surprising. I think next time, I'd be more inclined to stay put
> and make lots of daytrips. The Perigord was our favorite region, I
> think...so many beautiful villages tucked into hillsides!
>

There are definite advantages to using a car. You can get into smaller towns. Rail was a
terrific way to tour Europe the first time because their rails system is so good. You can
go from anywhere to anywhere, perhaps needing an occasional taxi/ Train stations are
usually close to nice and reasonably priced hotels. On the second trip I was part of a
party of five, one who wanted every minute of the trip planned out ahead of time. I won't
bother with the details, but just say that was the last group trip I will ever go on.

On the last trip we had some things we had to do in Denmark, a place to see in Germany,
find the house where my wife's grandfather was born in Holland, visit a friend in
Holland. Then we had time to wander aimlessly. That was the best one of all. We ended up
following the battle lines of WW I, seeing some of the battlefields and visiting a number
of war cemeteries. The best one was the American war cemetery in the Argonne where my
father in law had seen action with the US army in WW I. That cemetery was beautiful.

"Ariane Jenkins" > wrote in message
...
>
> 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.)
>
> <snip>

Wow, wow, wow, wow!!! Oh my gosh! Great photos Ariane. Looks like you
guys had a fabulous time! I may need to plan a trip in a couple of years.

Thank you so much for sharing.

Cyndi FeelingFullFromFotos

"Michel Boucher" > wrote in message
...
> "karen" > wrote in
> oups.com:
>
>> I would love to try foie gras one time. I haven't eaten much
>> liver after my mother's dry liver and onions, but chicken and beef
>> liver terrines go over well here.
>
> Foie gras is nothing like liver. For one thing, the fat content
> changes the texture immensely and cognac and truffles add to the taste.
>
> Don't think of foie gras as liver. Think of it as ambrosia.
>
> Of course, I say that and will not touch any other type of organ meat
> :-)
> --------

If that's truly the case - I *may* try it someday... I totally dispise
other liver(s) but can tolerate liverwurst (braunsweiger - sp?).

Cyndi

On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 23:46:00 -0400, Dave Smith >
wrote:
>
> I have heard that prices were considerably higher after switching to the Euro, apparently
> the vendors looking for those magic figures that make their prices appealing or
> unappealing. The last time I was in Paris we found a place 3-4 blocks north of Champs
> Elysee where we got a fantastic 3 course menu for 140FF each, which would have been
> about $25US at the time, and you wouldn't get a meal like that in a restaurant like that
> around here for that price. In Reims the 3 course meals were around 110FF, but the best
> prices we found were in Verdun, where the best menu deal was 90 FF. We were stuffed by
> the time we finished out appetizers. My wife's shrimp and avocado had more shrimp on top
> as garnish that we would get here for a serving. I made it about half way through my huge
> steak.
>
> One real find was at a little town a few miles north of Verdun where we had a fantastic
> lunch, a carrot salad, a pasta dish, baguettes heated by an open fire, flan for dessert,
> carafe of wine and coffee for 55 FF.

We heard the same complaints rising prices from other tourists in
France. Our restaurant meals in Paris averaged at least $65 USD for two
people with wine (and nothing expensive, either). Cheaper for cafes and
picnics, of course. We ate breakfasts in the apartment, which helped.
Neither of us are big breakfast eaters anyway, and usually don't drink coffee.

> There are definite advantages to using a car. You can get into smaller towns. Rail was a
> terrific way to tour Europe the first time because their rails system is so good. You can
> go from anywhere to anywhere, perhaps needing an occasional taxi/ Train stations are
> usually close to nice and reasonably priced hotels. On the second trip I was part of a
> party of five, one who wanted every minute of the trip planned out ahead of time. I won't
> bother with the details, but just say that was the last group trip I will ever go on.

LOL... I did plan out most things and had our hotel reservations,
car rental and train tickets set. Everything else was left open according to
what we felt like doing that day.

> On the last trip we had some things we had to do in Denmark, a place to see in Germany,
> find the house where my wife's grandfather was born in Holland, visit a friend in
> Holland. Then we had time to wander aimlessly. That was the best one of all. We ended up
> following the battle lines of WW I, seeing some of the battlefields and visiting a number
> of war cemeteries. The best one was the American war cemetery in the Argonne where my
> father in law had seen action with the US army in WW I. That cemetery was beautiful.

I regret we didn't get to stop there. it took us unusually long to
get from Honfleur to Mont St-Michel, and we did a lot of wandering around on a
lot of (admittedly pretty) back roads. Maybe next time...

Ariane

"Rick & Cyndi" > wrote in
news:7epqe.44$1q5.3@trnddc02:

>> Foie gras is nothing like liver. For one thing, the fat content
>> changes the texture immensely and cognac and truffles add to the
>> taste.
>
> If that's truly the case - I *may* try it someday... I totally
> dispise other liver(s) but can tolerate liverwurst (braunsweiger -
> sp?).

If you can tolerate liverwurst, you should do fine with foie gras, at
least to taste it. And get good foie gras, not pretend pork liver
stuff they sometimes sell in tins.

--

"Compassion is the chief law of human existence."

Dostoevski, The Idiot