Foodie Highlights from France

My previous posts have been negligent, I haven't mentioned a thing about the food and the wine in France.  My foodie friends will all be asking about the restaurants and wine we tried. That was the first thing my son Devin wanted to know, "what was your favorite restaurant"?  Not, "what were your favorite sights?", he could care less about that, food... now that's what's important.

So here is my overview of food and wine enjoyed by Bernie and Bobbi in France. Complete with links to Trip Advisor reviews.

LOIRE VALLEY

First, I must comment on the dinners we had at Chateau Villaine. Our hosts, Adriane and Joke are Dutch and have owned the Chateau for 10 years. They rent out four rooms of the 12 room chateau.  Adrian said that the way his wife convinced him to buy the Chateau and start the B&B was the chance to have his wife cook and entertain, and she proved her skills with us. Joke is the chef and Adrian is the entertainer and conversationalist.

No food photos just a review of dinners in this place.

We enjoyed two amazing dinners at Chateau Villaine with other guests from Canada, so there were six couples around the table in a large dining room furnished with period antiques. Adrian welcomed us with a glass of vin Blanc before dinner and got the conversations started.

We were seated to a wonderfully set table complete with candlelight. Then Joke came out of the kitchen starting to serve the first course, Garlic soup covered with pastry just like a French onion soup. WOW, what a dish, she said she used 56 cloves to make it but it was not overly garlicky in flavor. And Adrian, of course, poured a different vintage of vin Blanc.

The cheese course was next with three different cheeses. Then came the main course which was a small game hen with fresh veggies from their garden. Tasty. Of course, Adrian now moved on to a new variety of von rouge.

Finally a dessert, which a can't remember as a write this, a new vin Blanc and more conversations til about 10 pm when we all retired full and happy to our rooms.

We enjoyed two of these dinners, a high point of our visit.  The second night included an aperge quiche, more cheese, a beef dish and, of course, more of Adrian's wine selections.  Great food and sharing the stories of the day with our Canadian friends.

So if you ever have a chance to visit Loire, consider Chateau Villane or another similar experience.  An amazing way to experience France.

DORDOGNE RIVER VALLEY

Now for the Dordogne.  Here are some photos from a great meal in a tiny village, Vitrac.

The main course was great, roast duck breast or canard with fresh veggies and macaroni and cheese. I usually don't order duck but I ventured out of my comfort zone on this and was happy I did. The meal began with a cold gaspacho soup with goat cheese and ended with an awesome desert.

This restaurant, Le Treille, is a small restaurant in the town's only hotel where we ate in the dining room overlooking a small feeder river to the Dordogne, nice atmosphere, great food.  Vitrac is worth a visit just for this restaurant if you are in the area.  It was just just five minutes from Monfort where our B&B was located.

PROVENCE

Interestingly, Provence was not about the food for us, we were so busy touring all day and mostly did picnics for lunch in the countryside. A fresh baguette, Roquefort cheese, fresh fruits were all that we needed. 

We did find one restaurant we really liked in St Remy, our base, and that was La Cantina, an Italian restaurant on the street at the entry to the old town area.  Italian was a break from French food and this place got rave reviews on Trip Advisor.  I agree, the pizza and lasagne were awesome. Family run by a wonderful Israeli transplant, Dana, who waits the tables and her husband is the chef.

Here is the food high point of Provence, in Arles at Cafe Nuit, the same cafe where Vincent Van Gogh fought with Paul Cezane the night he cut off his ear, or so the story goes.  When I saw this we had to grab a table under the awning on the busy square. Fortunately, I did not read the Trip Advisor reviews before we ate there, the reviews are terrible, but we had a great meal and a great time.

Well, the paella was the best. And you can't beat having lunch in the same cafe that was a favorite of Vincent Van Gogh, it's even in one of his paintings.  But the funny thing at this restaurant was learning that when you order two large diet cokes (too hot for wine) we got two large pitchers, that's $24 of diet coke on the table next to my paella!!

ON TO PARIS

We were glad we left Paris for the end of our trip. By then we were experienced with French life and we could handle better the shock of the city and the crowds of tourists than if that was the first thing we had to see off the plane.

As I covered in earlier posts, we focused on Paris gardens, not museums and we got really good using the Metro to get around the city. I can't say enough about how great the metro is in Paris.

We did of course try a few restaurants.  I used trip advisor to find restaurants a bit off the main streets like Rue St Germaine. Also, I did not look for the best or expensive restaurants, we enjoy small and local.

Here are our two finds, both in the Latin Quarter near our hotel.

That menu board is from Le Bistro du Perigord.  This is a small restaurant on Rue St Jaques facing the Sorbone. It has just four tables on the sidewalk and we got one! As you can see from the menu, or you might not know, the cost was really cheap for a dinner in France, just 12.50 Euro.  Most restaurants for a dinner like this charge 19-24 euro.  This was a bargain and great food.

We were served by a very friendly waiter who told us his family owns the restaurant. They are from Algeria, his father is behind the bar, his brother was the chef and he waits the tables. His pride in his restaurant just bubbled and his smile added to our meal.

We had the Roquefort salde and Fracassee de volaille (chicken) and beouf bouguignon. All were excellent as you can see here.

On our last night we just stumbled upon Restaurant Polidor, no tables outside but when we looked in at 8:30 pm it was packed with locals at small tables with red checked table cloths. We knew this must be a local favorite so we ventured in.  Here are a few photos to give you the feeling enjoyed, a room filled with nothing but good food and the French language, we were the only ones speaking English.

I enjoyed a great tomato mozzarella salad and a chicken dish with a final bottle of Chardonay Classique. Bobbi had the boeuf bourguignon. An excellent end to the foods and wines of France.

So my food advice for travelers is simple.

  1.  Look for the small places off the main tourist streets

  2.  Enjoy family owned and operated restaurants, their care makes a difference in the experience and the food.

  3.  I love Trip Advisor, it's a great way to find special restaurants by seeing what other travelers like. But even without a review to guide you, if you see a small crowed restaurant filled with locals, try it!

BON APPÉTIT!