Tag: France
Good Bye South Of France!
It is 6 am, Marseille time and midnight New York time and we are getting ready to go to the airport to head home! I love going back home… no matter how exotic and fun the vacation destination has been..I think that is one of the reasons I love to travel- I get to come home!! One really appreciates ones home when one is away… for me, I am usually ready to come home after about 10 days.. after which, no matter how good the food is, I miss cooking in my kitchen… I miss just simple, home cooked food….
That being said, I really enjoyed this vacation. My husband works such long hours, we don’t really get to spend much time together as a family. A vacation is a great way to spend quality time together. I always love going to Paris- it is a great city to just walk around and look for interesting places to eat- so I will definitely be back! As for the rest, it was beautiful and the people were friendly and food was quite good- but I think next time I will do either the Burgundy or Bordeaux region- in face it may have to be an adult only trip… even though my daughter is a pretty good eater and not too picky.. eating around France was a bit of a challenge for her.. she wasn’t as open as she is normally to try different foods … but that will surely change as she gets older. I loved Nice, Monaco and Aix-en-Provence. I find myself having a soft corner for Marseille as it is the forgotten city in France and it reminds me of Rome.. well, kind of.. Speaking of which, my husband thinks I am biased but my heart remains in Italy… nothing like going to there and experiencing the most delicious food, wine and the friendly people. I love the way they speak and how the language sounds… In my head I am already planning next spring- Southern Italy!! I can’t wait. For me, the best part of a vacation is planning it way in advance and anticipating it… but for now I get to look forward to Greece in June, stay tuned!!
Bonjour, Aix-en-Provence!
After having another yummy breakfast of crusty bread, butter, jam, cheese, egg and sausage.. and two cups of Espresso, we were ready to make our way to Aix-en-Provence.. a charming town about half an hour from Marseille. Before we knew it, we were in the middle of this little town facing a big fountain and behind it a big market filled with clothes and shoes. We walked around and soon they were ready to close it up as it was lunch time and all the restaurants were setting up chairs outside as the weather was sunny and glorious. Aix is a very old, charming and lined with cafes and honestly the most number of bakeries I have ever seen- who has so much dessert?? Well, it was yummy to look at.. we stopped somewhere to have a quick macaroon as we didn’t want to spoil our appetite for lunch. Speaking of lunch, we started to look around.. there were so many choices.. a bit overwhelming, really… We finally decided we wanted something Italian- loads of Italian places here… we sat down and ordered a bottle of Rose- I would like to know why we can’t order half and three quarter bottles in the US?? They are so much more convenient to drink between two people than a whole, huge bottle!!.. although twist my arm and I will oblige!!
While I was in Rome last summer I had my fill of spaghetti with clams (my favorite) and have been looking for a yummy substitute in my area- have not been able to find any. I didn’t realize I would have to come to Provence to have something as good.
Spaghetti with Clams
I was so excited to see it on the menu.. I had to have it… and I was not disappointed! It was garlicky and yummy .. and the clams were delicious! Of course sipping the Rose helped my taste buds! My husband ordered a risotto marinara which was laced with all sorts of seafood and was yum!
Risotto Marinara
One thing is for certain- if one wants to enjoy the French way of living in Provence, one can not be in a rush. I think our food must have taken at least an hour to arrive- but it was okay… we were slowly sipping our wine and enjoying the glorious day….
Afterwards we walked on to other areas and looked for a highly rated cafe, called coffee to go AS opened by a young guy two years ago who trained in Australia. We had a delicious cappuccino as we chatted with him. He told us French people are not into coffee at all- just espresso… but they don’t like to sip and enjoy their coffee… that was new to me! I assumed, like the Italians, the French love their coffee… With the cappuccino we enjoyed a cronut. What is a cronut you ask?? It is a mix of a donut and a croissant and it is a craze in NYC where people apparently stand in line for hours to get this sweet delight- only a few hundred are made everyday and once they are sold out- thats it!
Well, this guy was selling them and we had one. It was good- not too sweet and it had the yummy layers of pastry like a croissant.
Cappuccino and Cronut
We walked around a bit more and made our way back to Marseilles. It was a lovely visit!
Hello To Marseille!
We left Nice this morning after a yummy breakfast and a nice stroll on the promenade by the ocean. The sun was shining and the water was a perfect aqua- it was a beautiful day and we were sad to leave beautiful Nice. We walked to the train station and two and a half hours later we were in the second largest city in Paris. Marseilles is typically ignored by more visitors coming to the Provence and Southern France- it is actually the capital of Provence.. but because of its gritty persona, most people don’t come here. For the last few years Marseilles had been showing up in ‘up and coming’ places to visit- that is where I got the idea to visit this old city. It is old, a bit dirty.. it is a poor city but it is very charming indeed. People have described it as a ‘Naples’ or ‘Athens’.. I guess it kind of has that same feeling… we walked around in the old area- small windy streets, kids playing on the streets- it kind of reminded me of India… it actually felt like a grungier Rome..As we walked around, I found myself really liking this old charming city.
As we walked around, we found this little tapas place and decided to sit down for drink and some muchies….
Tapas
It was a combination of white anchovies with olives, potato and hummus… it was all delicious, especially with a yummy glass of Rose. We finished and continued walking and came to the newer part of the city where we encountered a very beautiful square with lots of restaurants and people walking around.. it was near by where we found a tiny little restaurant serving pizza- turns out Marseilles in known for its pizza. The restaurant opened at 8, so we walked around some more and finally sat down for some more Rose and some pizza. I had one with anchovies and olives- it was an anchovy kind of day!!!
Anchovy Pizza
Creme Caramel
I was super full after the pizza and some salad but when I saw the creme caramel on the menu, I had to have it!! Well, it was worth it… the dessert was yummy… so glad I had it…
We walked back, really tired from the long day and started planning the what we will do tomorrow….
Monaco and Nice
Today was our day to visit Monaco. After yesterday I wasn’t too sure what to expect.. I thought Cannes was okay, nothing special.. like I mentioned, it looked it a bunch of rich people walking around with fancy clothes and bags- definitely not my scene. So this morning I was not too excited as Monaco is known for the very very rich and famous. We caught an early train from Nice and were there within half an hour. The first images of the country were absolutely stunning! The ocean and the mountains against the beautiful buildings was breathtaking.. I also like how the modern buildings kind of just blended in with the old palace, etc. It looked like a very well kept little country- I guess if you have loads of money and there are about 37,000 people- it is quite easy to keep the country in good shape. Also, it seems there is a cop for every 6 people! I can see why people with money come here- it truly looks and feels like the play ground for the rich and famous.
We walked up the palace and witnessed the changing of the guards, which was not as elaborate as in London but still nice…We then made our way to the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, which was great fun. We went up to the top floor to check out the cafe that had great views of the water… but the food seemed average and we didn’t want to get stuck with subpar food.. so even though we were hungry, we decided to leave and walk into the old part of Monaco and find a place. Most places were a mix of French and Italian. Obviously Monaco is known for its fancy Michelin starred restaurants but that is not what we had in mind.. 🙂
We chose a corner restaurant with outdoor seating… I ordered the three course meal and started with a warm goat cheese salad- it was delicious! There was a toasted slice of baguette topped with melted goat cheese placed over a mixture of fresh lettuce, tomato and mushrooms with a yummy dressing.
Goat Cheese Salad
Filet of Salmon
Nougat Ice Cream
Did I mention what I was sipping? Well, it was a glass of delicious Rose!! Next came my entree, which was a filet of salmon topped with a white sauce served with mixed vegetables and rice. The salmon was tender and delicious.. the veggies were crunchy and fresh tasting. I was very happy, sipping my delicious wine and people watching. I was looking forward to my dessert which I had already decided on- creme caramel- one of my all time favorites! I grew up with it and love the combination of custard and caramel. Well, it turned out, they were out of it so I ordered the nougat ice cream served with a drizzle of caramel and loads of whipped cream- my favorite… It was soon time to head back to Nice and walk around and go back to the ice cream place!!!
We came back, went to the pool and headed for dinner. Today I had the good sense to make reservations at Chez Acchiardo, a small restaurant in the old part of Nice. We headed there and immediately got a great sense as we walked into the cozy restaurant. We ordered a delicious bottle of Merlot and started the dinner with some yummy foie gras with some yummy condiments.
Foie Gras
It was just the right thing to start the evening off. Next, I ordered a steak with parsley garlic and anchovies and my husband ordered a seabreem fish with a red, puttanesca kind of sauce. Both the dishes were sublime. My steak was out of this world- I guess maybe because I love the combination of parsley, garlic and anchovies… I thought, why haven’t I made this at home before??? Will have to do so very soon….
SeaBreem
Steak with Parsley Garlic & Anchovies
Overall it was a fantastic evening- very good food and great atmosphere. The service was wonderful and we came out very happy and walked over to the ice cream place from last evening- I was looking forward to it all day!! I had the caramel again but this time I paired it with passion fruit and of course topped with my favorite- whipped cream…. tomorrow we are off to Marseilles….