La Vida Lista: The Art of French Eating

When Dan and I were planning our France trip, we both listed several "must do's".

Mine kinda went like:

* Eiffel Tower

* Mona Lisa

* Eat crepes...

* and chocolate eclairs..

* and pommme tart...

* and profiteroles with chocolate sauce

Nailed it.

We're serious about eating well while on a budget when we travel. I found a kick ass website about the best bakeries in France that I printed and carried everywhere, and Dan humored me by gorging alongside. One thing to note for this food post: since I was trying to be as non-annoying as humanly possible (seeing that not speaking the language already set me waaay back), I kept my nicer camera put away. It just seemed too touristy and tacky to whip it out. I did covertly snap a handful of blurry pictures with my smaller camera, sans any flash, when the waiter was away, but I'll use borrowed pictures from the interweb to depict the dishes I couldn't capture.

Anyway, on to the food!

Ten Best Indulgences in France,

in no particular order

1. Drink-off tie: This Parisian bellini that was all ready to go to a rave, glow stick and all. Techno music time: Mmmmm.... ssssss... mmmmm....sssss!

Tied with...

2. The homemade cider in Brittany was no joke since it went down like apple juice and they served it in teacups that were decievingly bigger than one might think. I'm a little loopy in the below picture after only two:

3. Escargot- I had never had this dish before, but I loved, loved, loved it, ordering it in three different restaurants. If you've never had it before, it tastes a tiny bit like soft calamari with a glorious garlicky, buttery sauce that you can use sop up with bread. Plus, you can have your Pretty Woman moment when using the tongs.

Via here

4. French onion soup- I mean, look at that bubbling cheese. No, that's not my picture (see above: photos in restaurants = justifiably pissed off waiters), but it looks like every bowl I had.

via here

5. Beef Bourguignon- I had always been intrigued about this after seeing Julie and Julia. Dan and I both had it one really cold night in Dinan, and they brought out little cast iron pots of this pot roast. Coziest meal ever.

6. Crepes and galettes- This was actually one meal that skeeved me out when they first placed it down because the egg yolk almost looked raw. I guess us Americans are hyper vigilant about cooking temperatures and such. Then, I finally started thinking "Mmm.. salmon" instead of "Uh-oh, salmonella", I resolved to eat around the center, and it was damn tasty.

When the waitress came back, she rolled her eyes at the sight of the lone yolk, though.

7. Profiteroles- This was probably my favorite of all the desserts. Nothing could beat decadent ice cream/mousse inside a puffed pastry with hot chocolate drizzed on top and fresh grated coconut. Just... wow.

Via here since mine didn't come out

8. Creme Brulee- Excuse the blurriness, but Mr. Fire Marshall was so funny about letting it burn out on his own. Safety first!

9. Pastries from Lauderee:

I already told you about these, but it bears repeating. If you go to Paris, go to a store, close your eyes, and point.

10. Jacques Genin Bakery: Dan and I spent about an hour trying to find this place because I heard they are the best. It was time well spent. We ordered super soft salted caramels, bittersweet eclairs, and the most amazing lemon tart I've ever had.

The best part though was that we went the day before Easter, so the owner had an art gallery of chocolate figurines set up. I was too shy to take pictures inside, but I should have. The bear in the display window was cute and all, but the inside ones, hand painted with colored sugar, were completely edible modern pieces of art. It was the candy equivalent of the Louvre.