Some of the prettiest and tastiest fusion pastries you’ll find in Paris by Sadaharu Aoki. His chocolates are good, too! (website)

How fun would it be to have a field trip at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris analyzing Matisse et al? Very.

After living in France for nine years, I just had a realization about the drinking glass sizes in a cafe. Better late than never, I suppose. Okay, what am I talking about? When I go to a cafe, I oftentimes order a Perrier with a syrup, for example, a “Perrier Cassis” (Perrier and black currant syrup). For the longest time, it annoyed me that they’d bring a glass with the syrup at the bottom along with a full bottle of Perrier. The entire contents of the Perrier would never fit in the glass so I’d have to drink it then when there was more space in the glass, I’d add more Perrier thus diluting the taste of cassis each time. I’d wonder why on earth they couldn’t give me a glass to fit everything at once. I now know why. They brought me the wrong glass. For nine years! So if it’s a bottle of Perrier, the glass has to be a Perrier glass. If it’s an Orangina, the glass has to be an Orangina glass. Same with other drinks. And so, if they match, everything fits perfectly. Thank you awesome cafe in Dijon. You’re the only cafe that does it right.

The French version of Big Brother is actually Small Brother…..seen in Paris today. LOL

Spotted this in a tabac and love the fun unabashed ad. What else can you say about Camel Balls, except that they’re liquid filled…and EXTRA sour!

Portions are undoubtedly getting bigger in France. This dessert is so huge you have to eat it with an ice cream scoop.

We’ve passed by a little village called Nolay dozens of times without stopping on our way from our house to Beaune. The place seemed unremarkable on the surface but we finally decided to visit it one day to check out the antiques stores on the main road.

As usual and luckily, we wandered around while we were there.

It turns out that Nolay is awesome.

Most people who’ve been here would cite the beautiful, arcaded central market place, which dates back to the 14th century.

The roof is made of limestone (weighing 800 kg/1800 lbs per square meter) and the frame holds everything together with chestnut wood beams.

But to me, the salon de thé right next to the central market place, La Thé dans la Vigne, is Nolay’s real gem.

With delicious home made desserts, light fare meals, fine wines,

an adorable, sweet and hospitable owner (Sylvie Blanchard),

eclectic quirky French decor,

antique books and newspapers in French and English. antique dishware and silverware and housed in a a building that dates back to 1810, you will only feel comfortable and happy in such a warm, cozy place.

Everything we ordered was tasty and since we couldn’t decide which dessert to have, our kind hostess prepared a plate with everything on it, including a bowl of her whisky infused fruit – the latter being delicious but crazy potent!

Le Thé dans la Vigne
8, place des Halles 21340 Nolay France
Télephone :+33 (0)3 80 26 87 31
Open 10:30am to 9:30pm during warm months Tuesday to Sunday. Closed November 30 to April 1. Reservations recommended.

I guess you would call that a melding of cultures.

This was waiting for us after an amazing meal at Loiseau des Vignes in Beaune, France (region: Bourgogne / Burgundy). We were stuffed already but don’t we always have room for macarons and financiers…and coffee?

Remember the Roast Chicken Flavored Potato Chips? That was five years ago, already! Anyway, we’ve been traveling recently and road trips mean coke bottle gummies, ice cream bars and even more unhealthy food alternatives like crazy-flavored potato chips. We couldn’t help but notice the usual suspects like BBQ, plain, Roasted Chicken Chips (Lays are good!) but there seemed to be a new kid in town: Cheeseburger Potato Chips! We couldn’t resist.

These are…perplexingly excellent. They taste EXACTLY like a McDonald’s cheeseburger, and while I haven’t eaten one of those in so many years I don’t even know how many, I liked these (I almost hate to admit it) and was happy they didn’t give me a stomach ache like the real cheeseburgers did. So, there you have it. It does make me wonder, though, why there aren’t typical French meal flavored chips. Wouldn’t it be fun to have Croque-Monsieur chips, Cassoulet chips, Steak-Frites (in pepper sauce) chips and Tete de Veau chips? Confit de canard chips, boudin noir chips, moule frites chips, rabbit terrine chips…

No wonder Van Gogh hung around Provence.

Be sure to visit Saint Remy de Provence on Wednesdays. That’s when they have a huge outdoor market until about 1pm. The streets are lined with vendors selling food, arts and crafts, linens, jewelry, leather goods, candy, junk, etc., and there are lots of street musicians. I loved this excellent duo, although I couldn’t understand what the guy was singing.

Please support street musicians!

My family and I decided to bring planking (à plat ventre) back to France…at least for a short while.

Voila. This is how you say “Google it” in French. I thought you’d like this tiny bit of trivia.

We were on our way to Lyon when we almost ran over this guy and his two Siberian huskies pulling him on his bike. Instead of running into him, we rode next to him to hand him a donation.

He’s Randolph Westphal and he’s been biking all over the world with his dogs for more than 14 years (around the world 4 times!) on a mission to share his experience as a cancer survivor visiting hospitals, hospices and clinics. More than two decades ago, his doctor’s told him he had about a year left to live because of his cancer but he’s still here 20 years later!

He’s been hit by an 18-wheeler, which put him in a coma, broke his leg, got attacked by a bear and more…and YET he continues.

Here’s more info on him to read about his trials, tribulations and successes. Riding for Cancer, Randolph Westphal (in German)

If you see him, give him some love!

Looking for elephants in France? There’s at least part of one at the Chateau de Prye.

Are you ready for Lesson 8 in L’anglais sans peine (English Without Pain)? If you missed my Lesson 1 blog post, see it here as well as read about what English Without Pain is.

Here’s lesson 8: I have a surprise for you in my pocket…

Am I the only one who thinks this is absolutely hilarious?!

Many of my experiences in France teeter on the insane if not singularly absurd, which is reason enough why I wouldn’t live anywhere else. I’m not sure if these events would happen in any other place than France – perhaps, but I like to imagine that it doesn’t.

The meeting I had last week was one of those strange but entertaining days where what would appear to be a boring hour or two, was instead, filled with some appeal. The actual content of the meeting was not interesting at all, but if not for the office’s medieval armor and weapon collection, which took up a good half of the office, I would’ve zoned out like I’d do in my high school history class. (Not history’s fault, the teacher’s!)

The medieval collection of armour, weapons and war paraphenalia was authentic, the real deal that a medieval soldier supposedly sported as he battled it out with medieval enemies. There’s a mace resting on the shelf of the radiator but I was hoping there’d be a different kind of mace; you know, the club with a spiked ball on a chain! (I know, I’m complaining!) In any case, the display was unexpected, weird and cool, just like my France.

Savon de Marseille

Palais des papes/Pope Palace – Avignon, France

It’s places like Château de Castelnaud (and the village Castelnaud-la-Chapelle) that make the Perigord one of my favorite regions to travel to in France. Alhough privately owned, it’s open to the public, and I highly recommend visiting the château and nearby countryside especially for the spectacular views from the castle/fortress of the surrounding area and the Dordogne River. From atop the fortress, you can see the châteaux of Beynac and Marqueyssac and the medieval village of La Roque-Gageac. NOTE: Like most smaller French villages I feature on this blog, you’ll need a car to get here and explore the vast Black Perigord.

Château de Castelnaud is a treasure trove filled with fascinating history and trivia as well as beautiful medieval architecture.

Château de Castelnaud (website)
Musée de la guerre au Moyen Âge
24250 Castelnaud-la-Chapelle France
Telephone: +33 (0)5 53 31 30 00
GPS :44°48’57.59’’ N
1°08’33.02’’E

Here’s a slideshow of photos I took of Château de Castelnaud:

Erasable Graffiti seen in Honfleur, France.

Jacques Chirac: Yo Bruno, what kind of animal is that over there?
Bruno Le Maire: Since when do you say, “yo,” Jacques?
Chirac: It’s always been a part of my vernacular. BTW, you can call me Monsieur Chirac, and don’t change the subject.
Le Maire: Just because I’m the Minister of Agriculture doesn’t mean I know anything about agriculture. I actually hate animals and nature. Didn’t you see me on Canal Plus yesterday? I don’t even know what a turkey sounds like. I just wanted to be Minister and agriculture was the only one available. I took it because I knew les grands surfaces (large supermarket chains) would give me huge bribes to not denounce them because they’re fleecing farmers and French consumers.
Chirac: You sort of suck, Bruno. Of course, bribes are kind of nice.

Click here to see more Dialogues.

This photo’s from an art exhibit (sculptures and paintings) we went to called, “Terre, Arbres & Forêts” (Earth, Trees & Forests) – artwork by artist/filmmaker Vincent Lajarige. This is one of the coolest venues for an exhibition held inside the Chapelle Sainte-Anne in Arles.

While we’re on the subject of feves, I thought I’d share a recent one I found in a tasty galette du roi from one of our favorite pastry chefs in our area, Jean-Marc Bernigaud, who was previously the pastry chef at Trois Gros, a three star Michelin restaurant in Roanne. Typically, the galettes are filled with frangipane but Jean-Marc told us he was bored and added a different flavor: a delicious apple and noisette filling, unusual but expectedly unique and refreshing, in any case. It had a non-traditional design on top, too.

While my feve isn’t as sexy as the Kamasutra feves, I thought it was cute, a teeny tiny Renault 4L, a super popular car in France from 1961 and beyond. It was Renault’s response to their competitor, the Citroen 2CV (what the French call the deux chevaux (two horses)), which is cuter and iconic of old France. (Read more about the 4L here.)

Back to the feve.

A couple of days after feasting on the galette, I saw the Renault 4L again but this time it was a real Renault 4L and the exact same color as the mini Renault 4L feve!

A baker in the Vaucluse area of France has discovered the secret ingredient to a successful Galette du Roi: the same ingredient as most popular products: sex. Specifically, the boulanger put feves featuring various Kamasutra positions. Needless to say, the lines at the bakery rival those of Apple’s new product launches. Sales have obviously skyrocketed. How do the galettes taste? Who cares!

L’Entrepain
699 Avenue Vidier Maurice Marguerite
84270 Vedène, France
Telephone: +33 (0)4 90 02 37 24

PHOTO/LE DAUPHINE/Manuel PASCUA

Related: La Galette du roi/King Cake for Epiphany, Galette des rois for Epiphany

It’s freezing cold for me and many people might say it’s miserable in their part of the world. What better thing to do than plan a vacation to Paris while you’re waiting for the weather to improve? If you’re coming to Paris for a week or more, how about short term rentals paris? It’s affordable, flexible and gives you the opportunity to live like a real Parisian, if that is what you so desire. Click here to start!

We saw this cheesecake in the market yesterday (in L.A.) and were pretty sure “Bakery de France” isn’t in France. So we checked: it’s in Rockville, Maryland! Not knocking it, though; we just thought it was sort of funny and that it looks pretty good.

I shot this video on a pedestian shopping street in Arles, France one day and just stood in one place with my camera while people watching. Sorry I ddin’t have a tripod so it’s a little wobbly! I really love how the video turned out with the live music (accordion, violin) in the background, the two guys shaking hands but not stopping to chat with each other (does that happen in the U.S.? I dunno.), every day flower buying in the foreground, but what I love especially here is that everyone ignored me completely. I love being ignored! Really. This is what I love about France haha. It sort of reminds me of New York (being ignored) except there’s prettier architecture.

I know what you’re thinking: these jellified halved pigs’ feet look scrumptious.

Related: What the French Say About Pigs

We recently stayed for a few days at au Chateau de Mont Dol, a charming bed and breakfast in a small village not far from Mont Saint Michel and Cancale in Brittany. Though not really a chateau (it’s a renovated farmhouse), the place is enormous with five rooms (two doubles, one triple, one suite, one family suite for 4) and attached to the main house are three gites (self catering apartments).

Au Chateau de Mont Dol is a comfortable, convenient and affordable base to use while you’re exploring Bretagne and it’ll be even more worth it to you when you return to your home sweet home after a tiring day’s worth of sightseeing.

We stayed in the family suite, which sleeps a total of four. Two downstairs and 2 up in a loft. This is perfect for a couple and two kids. Very comfy and inside the rooms you’ll discover mini meringues for guests to much on!

Another reason for choosing this charming B&B is that one of the owners, Yannick Goulvestre, is a chef, having worked at Alain Senderens (Lucas Carton previously), a three star Michelin restaurant. That means the meals are excellent.

Clams definitely win against snails.

and we were particularly impressed with his orange dessert souffle!

Served with chocolate gelato and buttery biscuit, it was one of the best desserts I’ve had in France. I wished we had started the meal with dessert. If we’d only had that for the entire meal, I would’ve been very happy!

Another gorgeous dessert served on a different night:

Herb tea and chocolates after dinner:

In the morning, wake up to steaming French coffee and a yummy breakfast of home baked goods, crepes, fruit, cereals, yogurts.

You know, a typical European offering. Make sure to try the amazing salty Breton butter!

Au Chateau de Mont Dol
1, rue de la Mairie
35120 Mont Dol, France
Telephone: +33 (0)2 99 80 74 24
Email: yannick.goulvestre@wanadoo.fr

Not knocking this but does this tarte aux escargots /snail pie (really more like a quiche) entice anybody? I didn’t get it and opted for a yummy apple tart, but maybe if I stay longer in Burgundy, snails will eventually seem like a treat.

Ici, c’est comme ça! / This is what we do here!

Maybe I’ve been in France too long, but am I wrong to think this is funny and even cute?

Piggy banks seen in Vezelay. Were they made in France? Don’t answer that.

We were in Paris a little while ago and headed over to Breizh Cafe, a creperie that focuses on quality and organic ingredients, crepes, galettes, other goodies from Brittany and some twists on these traditional dishes. They turned us away because we didn’t have reservations. Pffff! So, we went to the first Breizh Cafe in France, located in Cancale (Brittany), which is, I think, is better. So there!

Like its Parisian sister, Bertrand Larcher’s Breizh Café offers tradional and original dishes. but unlike in Paris, the Breizh Café in Cancale is right on the beach.

And because the seafood is caught just a few yards away and is delivered the same day, it couldn’t be fresher.

Definitely order oysters! They were the best I’ve ever had.

Have local cidre with your galettes and crepes. A must.

If you’re looking for the freshest, tastiest sashimi ever, go upstairs to La Table de Breizh Café, which just opened last February. It specializes in Japanese-Breton cuisine created by Chef Rafael-Fumio Kudaka.

For dessert, crepes of course! I can never resist a crepe with salted caramel.

This one wasn’t too bad, either.

Lastly, you can purchase organic buckwheat fllour and buttermilk, among other products at Breizh Cafe.

Breizh Café/La Table de Breizh Café – Cancale
7 quai Thomas
35260 Cancale, France
Telephone: +33 (0) 2 99 89 56 46 / +33 (0) 2 99 89 61 76

Breizh Café – Paris
109, rue Vieille du Temple (Le Marais)
75003 Paris, France
Telephone: +33 (0)1 42 72 13 77

Breizh Cafe Creperie – Tokyo
Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Telephone: +81 3-3289-3531
There are also locations in Yokohama, Kawasaki, Akasaka and HIbiya.

On our way to Vezelay, we decided to take a slight detour to peek at this tiny village just to check it out.

It turns out it’s beautiful

with picnic areas

and three bridges

and hiking trails.

Looks Roman.

Moral of the story: Always wander off the beaten path!

Sometimes a croque monsieur (a ham, melted cheese and bechamel sauce sandwich) and fries hit the spot.

I thought some people might be interested to see what you can order to eat on the TGV, so I grabbed this brochure and did a quick scan. Click on the images below to see the summer TGV menu and prices in detail. I can’t comment on how the meals taste; I haven’t ordered food yet on the TGV but I think it looks edible, and the prices are fairly reasonable.

They even offer some organic items. Only a couple of things but that’s a good start. We were actually surprised.

There are muffins and wraps offered, which is particularly un-French but oh well.

Me: WHY can’t we find corn on the cob in France? I want to bbq some during the summers!
Him: We can find it, cherie. Didn’t you see them in all the fields around? I’ll just go pick some for you.
Me: What??! No, dude. They might be the GMO, pesticide ladened, industrial, poisonous varieties.
Him: Anyway, corn on the cob is pig food.
Me: Yet. French people eat canned corn.
Him: Yeah, so?
Me: Canned corn comes from CORN. ON. THE. COB.
Him: Corn on the cob is for pigs.

~~~

…and people wonder why I have to make fun of France. Back to corn. Did anyone notice that canned corn is labeled differently? I remember when canned corn always had instructions to rinse the corn before consuming it. I always did that, never realizing that it was probably because of the Bisphenol A (BPA) inside the can (or dirt). These cans still have BPA but the labels to rinse them first have disappeared! Weird, but I guess it alerts consumers that there’s something wrong with the corn. And, as most evil industrial minds reason, the solution is to remove consumer information so they don’t know there are risks. Yea, keep them in the dark! It’s like the law that was just passed in the U.S. where salmon does NOT need to be labeled that it’s genetically modified so people won’t know that the salmon they’re eating is not only bad for them, it’s also potentially dangerous to their health. écoeurant.

How much more adorable and well-made can this animation of French clichés get? Not much.

Patisserie Wagner
18 Rue Monge
21200 Beaune, France
Telephone: +33 (0)9 50 26 24 69

After you finish your walking tour of the Palais des papes (Popes Palace) in Avignon, and take the exit just outside the gift shop, you will be facing La Mirande, a luxury hotel with a Michelin star restaurant, cooking school and salon de thé. If you time it right, which is what we always try to do, arrive during tea time for absolutely delicious pastries and tea, coffee or unrivaled hot chocolate.

La Mirande is an elegant, beautiful, 700+ year old converted mansion, previously inhabited by generations of aristocracy. Now, it’s a little more casual. Afternoon tea is served in an bright, comfortable and protected atrium, a perfect place to rest your feet from hours of walking around Avignon.

The afternoon tea at La Mirande is offered for a flat fee of 11 euros, a steal. Just go help yourself to whatever you want. Drinks are ordered and served at the table. When we were there last, we actually didn’t eat much (not like us, normally!) so the waiter charged us less. Sweet!

Mikael Aupert is the dedicated pastry chef at La Mirande.

La Mirande
4, place de la Mirande
84000 Avignon France
Telephone: +33 4 90 14 20 20

These panda shoes would look cute on one of my little nieces. FYI: Seen in Macon, France.

Seen on the TGV. Why not J’♥ Frites? Because English is so much cooler in France. Soon, we’ll all be speaking English here. No need to learn French!

Shouldn’t you go to the little shops BEFORE you buy all your groceries? Nevermind, these “lockers” for shopping carts are still a great idea. Just leave a deposit and get it back when you return the locker key.

A quick note to let you know that I’m on Twitter, especially for the people reading RSS feeds. Please look for me there because I definitely tweet more about France than I blog, for what it’s worth. You can find me here: PT Ford on Twitter (ptinfrance).

Fashion designer, Issey Miyake, has created the fourth annual limited edition designer bottle for Evian. The bright, simple flower aims to be the embodiment of Evian’s message and tagline: “Live young.” There have been other editions by designers Christian Lacroix and Jean Paul Gaultier but I especially liked last year’s design from Paul Smith. The Issey Miyake Limited Edition Evian bottle is now available for pre-sale at the Evian store.

Video for this year’s designer Evian bottle is above.

via

Tasty appetizer from a hidden place in Burgundy. (I’ll try to write about it later.)

Because pastries rule in France.

Just a quick note about the Airbus 380. We flew it to New York during the summer and I have to say, it’s awesome. The photo doesn’t really convey how absolutely ENORMOUS this plane is (It’s the biggest plane in the world). The double-decker plane from Paris to New York accommodated 538 people but other airbuses like this to other destinations can hold up to 900 people! The ride is more spacious and extremely quiet, too, which helps to feel less tired upon arrival. I was surprised to feel good when we arrived. Normally, I feel pretty crappy. Other notables: you have your own screen and hard drive so you can watch films and other media at any given moment in time, and even put a movie on pause if you need to get up, then resume when you get back. No more waiting for the round of movies to end! The downside of this experience is when you have to retrieve your luggage, although they did a great job at JFK pulling the bags onto the baggage claim carousels. It can take a while, but it’s totally worth it. NOTE: Sadly, it doesn’t fly to the west coast. WHY??!

French people over the age of 45 or so, who’ve tried to study English, will all be able to say “My tailor is rich.” Some might not be able to say much more than that, but by God they can at least say that and that might come in handy…some day! I’ve met many people who’ve proudly recited this line to me. I never know how to respond.

This most absurd and utterly useless phrase is the very first lesson from a book called, L’anglais sans peine (English Without Pain). It’s a book that a lot of French people owned, and I recently found it at my in-laws! My dad in law can’t say too much more than “my tailor is rich.” How many more times will we all laugh when he says that to me? I don’t know.

The book is pure gold in its datedness, silliness and just plain wrongness and it’s something I must share here, albeit in little blog posts.

Here’s the cartoon that goes with lesson Number 1: My Tailor is Rich. From where the author pulled this out of, I can’t say.

More to follow I hope.

Could banks make it even easier to loath them? Not only do they rip you off with their fees for this, that, and the other, and interest rates here and there making you, the customer, pay to use your OWN money – but then comes this advertising spot for French bank, Caisse d’Epargne.

Should they be able to get away with this kind of flagrant insult? They’ve recently come out with a series of spots featuring a new campaign with the tagline “Avec Caisse d’Epargne vous avez de la chance d’etre jeune” (With Caisse d’Epargne, you’re lucky to be young). And like practically all French pubs (adverts/spots) people are making out. (Don’t argue with me about this point, even the French hedgehog makes out with a sponge.)

Back to the commercial for Caisse d’Epargne: I don’t care if people are making out in these spots nor do I care that they are specifically for young adults. That isn’t the point. Did you notice that the people have dog heads!!? I wonder, do I have to even tell you what is wrong here?

Ok, Ready? Caisse d’Epargne treats their customers like . . . DOGS. ba dum chhh!

Going back to Rue Mouffetard after a long while, reminded me of one of the very first times I was there. I was visiting a film student friend who lived on the street. We were hanging out the 3rd story window of his apartment watching people, and he suddenly jumps and screams, “THAT’S Wim Wenders!” I’m like, “Are you sure? You can only see the top of his head. How can you tell?” He says, “I just know the top of Wim Wender’s head! It’s him sitting outside at that cafe, I swear.” He started running down the stairs. “Let’s go meet him!” I ran down with him. And, it turned out to actually be him; it was the man who made one of my all time favorite movies right before my very eyes. We chatted for a minute or two about nothing in particular. My buddy got his autograph. I wished I had my camera with me but that was when I rarely took any photos. I totally regret that. Anyway, I didn’t see Wim Wenders this time but here are some photos I took on Rue Mouffetard a couple of weeks ago.

Legay Choc has named itself France’s first gay boulangerie (bakery). The business is best known for its baguettes, brioches, meringues and chocolates in phallic forms.

I just found out about them but they’ve been around for years. They also have a sandwicherie but I’m not sure what shape those come in.

Legay Choc
45 rue Ste Croix de la Bretonnerie
75004 Paris France
Telephone: +33 (0)1 48 87 24 61
Email : info@legaychoc.fr
Metro: Hôtel de Ville
Open: Mon-Sat 9am-6pm

Grab a yummy pizza at the Pink Flamingo in Le Marais and if there’s no more seating inside, have a seat in the V Dub bus outside. You should see it near the restaurant!

Several funky, modern, manga-inspired sculptures by notable Japanese artist Takashi Murakami (also responsible for these Louis Vuitton designs) are now rubbing elbows with the relics of Versailles. The show stopper, supposedly, is “Miss ko2,” a racy piece gracing the entrance to the Hall of Mirrors. The exhibition runs until December 12, 2010.

Exhibition by Takashi Murakami in the Chateau de Versailles
14 September to 12 December 2010
Château de Versailles
Grand Apartment and Hall of mirrors, included in the tour of the Grand Apartment
Place d’Armes – 78000 Versailles

I grabbed this camembert in the market the other day to try and found that it was pretty tasty, so I thought I’d recommend it to you. It’s an AOC cheese from Normandy’s E. Graindorge, made with raw milk (lait cru), and hand ladled, if that makes a difference (I’m not sure). To me, camembert is not camembert without being made with raw milk. It tastes so much better. A warning: it can, however, emit a funky smell in the fridge but don’t be afraid, it’s all good.

Although the government is about to reduce the subvention amount for environmentally smart home energy, it began offering a different incentive for electric bikes. Receive 25% off (up to 400 euros) if you purchase an electric bike in Paris. For the moment this offer is restricted to Paris and Paris residents only, which means you’re supposed to have a Parisian address to qualify. We were lucky to receive this offer when we purchased our first vélo électrique, which is awesome. We bought this bike here.

I’m not sure if this offer will apply to other French cities.

For more information: see velo electrique (French)

Chef Bernard Loiseau, known for his world class fine cuisine, is no longer with us but his Three Michelin starred restaurant, La Côte d’Or and hotel, Le Relais Bernard Loiseau in Saulieu continue his legacy largely due to his family’s dedication and current chef Patrick Bertron. His attention to detail, focus on exceptional dining and overall perfectionism is felt everywhere here, and if anything, Bernard Loiseau should be remembered for what he was able to achieve during his lifetime and the hallmark he leaves behind. Nothing else.

We loved staying at Le Relais and eating La Côte d’Or. If you come to France and don’t make it to one of Bernard Loiseau’s establishments, you’ll be missing out on what would be one of the most memorable trips and meals you’ve ever had.

Some photos from our trip!

Le Relais Bernard Loiseau
21210 Saulieu – Bourgogne, (Côte d’Or, Burgundy) France
Tel. : + 33 (0)3 80 90 53 53
E-mail : contact@bernard-loiseau.com
CLOSED Tuesday-Wednesday from November 2 to December 22, 2010

Other Bernard Loiseau locations:

Restaurant Loiseau des vignes
31, rue Maufoux – 21200 Beaune, Bourgogne, France
Tel. : + 33 (0)3 80 24 12 06
E-mail : loiseaudesvignes@bernard-loiseau.com
CLOSED every Sunday and Monday

Restaurant Tante Louise
41, rue Boissy d’Anglas – 75008 Paris, France
Tel. : + 33 (0)1 42 65 06 85
E-mail : tante.louise@bernard-loiseau.com
CLOSED every Saturday and Sunday

Restaurant Tante Marguerite
5, rue de Bourgogne – 75007 Paris, France
Tel. : + 33 (0)1 45 51 79 42
E-mail : tante.marguerite@bernard-loiseau.com
CLOSED every Saturday and Sunday

Breaking News!

French scientists have figured out the best way to pour champagne…Oui oui, a whole study (lab tests and all) was dedicated to the pouring of bubbly. I wonder how long they spent on this so-called study? *sigh*

From newsvine:

“The scientists at the University of Reims say pouring bubbly at a slant, as you would a beer, preserves more of the tiny gas bubbles that improve the drink’s flavor and aromas…They say the study matters not just to Champagne drinkers but to glassmakers. They note that the industry is researching a “new generation” of Champagne glasses specially designed to control the release of carbon dioxide, the gas that gives the drink its sparkle.”

[source]

As long as the dollar remains relatively weak against the euro, it’s more difficult to keep the option of staying in a hotel but why even do that when it’s much more fun to stay in an apartment in Paris? Book your Appartement Paris vacances,
then live like a local while saving a significant amount of euros. Use that extra cash while out exploring the most visited cities in the world. 2 Be Apart offers a variety of reasonably priced accommodations in Paris (and Lyon) and one good thing thing about it is if you’re staying only a few days, an apartment rental will still be an option. (Normally, apartment rentals require a week minimum but that’s not the case here.)

2beapart
Book online or call:
+33 (0)1 55 30 04 31

I know you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to, so I thought I’d pop in and tell you: I’ve been eating these potato chips!
Nevermind that the French don’t have pepperoni pizza here, at least with the same name. When I first came to France I simply didn’t think they had pepperoni pizza as a choice. What a fool I was. They call it “chorizo” here but since I’m from California, I imagined the Mexican chorizo, which is a spicy ground sausage but it’s more like the Spanish chorizo, which is actually pretty close to pepperoni. So. Will the French realize what this is? I guess the picture helps. But oh the mysteries of life continue en France. Oh well. Anyway, these chips are good but it’s only the first chip that tastes like pepperoni pizza. After that one, the rest tastes like bbq (aka paprika in France) potato chips. (NOT knocking those, of course.)

Vive La France!

To open the festival dedicated to Impressionism in Rouen, 1,250 people held large fragments of a reproduction of a Claude Monet masterpiece (La Cathédrale de Rouen, effet de soleil, fin de journée) above their heads yesterday in an attempt to create the world’s biggest live Impressionist painting. Neat! Watch the video by clicking on the image.

Discovering adorable inhabitants didn’t stop in the old town of Vitré. We ate lunch at L’Iroise, a bistro specializing in seafood, which is just at the entrance of the old town in Vitré. The restaurant is run by a sweet Breton couple (photo below) that focuses on uncomplicated, flavorful and beautiful dishes. Between the three of us, here’s what we had. Everything was excellent, including the home-made pâte de fruit served with coffee!

L’iroise
1, place Saint-Yves
35500 Vitre France
Telephone: 02.23.55.29.10

See all of the photos by click “more.”







L’iroise
1, place Saint-Yves
35500 Vitre France
Telephone: 02.23.55.29.10

The brasserie, La Rotonde, is one of our regular stops when we’re in Paris. It’s been around since 1910 and is known to have been frequented by famous painters like Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Federico Cantú, Henri Matisse and Tsuguharu Fujita (most of them depicted La Rotonde in their paintings) and writers/artists from the “Lost Generation” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Matisse, T.S. Eliot, Sartre, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas and others). That has all faded into history but it’s still one of our favorite places. There’s nothing fancy, really, but it basically offers your consistently yummy traditional French brasserie fare at reasonable prices: all kinds of steaks (with frites, of course), seafood and more. Get a steak here with pepper sauce, though! It’s your best bet. The atmosphere is notable with its red-velvet and brass, famous paintings and energetic crowd. The service is friendly and excellent.

Lastly, save room for dessert! It’s hard to do here because the meals servings are big. Get their Mille Feuille! It’s sooo gooooood.

La Rotonde
105, Boulevard Montparnasse (at the corner of Boulevard du Montparnasse and Boulevard Raspail)
75006 Paris France
Telephone: +33 1 43 26 48 26
Email: infos@rotondemontparnasse.com
Metro: Vavin

I couldn’t resist posting this hilarious video. (Click on the image to watch the video.)

From gawker:

Carla Bruni Asks for a Finger Up Her Butt, in Seven Different Languages

France’s first lady is tres embarrassed that an old, raunchy episode of a talk show called Eurotrash has surfaced online. Now the French government is scrambling to get it yanked from YouTube. Here’s what they don’t want you to see.

Apparently the French government fought to remove a longer version of this video—in which Carla showcases a pair of “hot international sex guides” that teach international tramps how to say phrases like “Do you like my titties?” and “Put your finger in my bottom” in seven European languages—from YouTube. Eurotrash hosts Antoine de Caunes and designer Jean-Paul Gaultier (in the hot pink sailor suit, obviously) ooh and aah at the multilingual promiscuity of “Italy’s most elegant export.”

The yanked version apparently showed Carla discussing celebrity affairs with Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. The Daily Mail reports Carla is “shocked and dismayed” at the video’s “sudden reappearance.”