Month: September 2011

… la France.

Wow, I’ve really loved my time in France. I’ve been all over in the last month: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Lyon, Medoc, Nantes, Mont Saint-Michel, Paris, Tours, Dijon, (back to) Lyon, Grenoble, Gap, Digne-les-Bains, Aix-en-Provence. Currently I’m in Cassis for a couple of days, then on to Nice for a week.

Such a diverse country in terms of landscape, regional interests and cultures, culinary styles … of course, love of food and wine are seemingly universal here.

And I’ve met great people all over (particularly in the last ten days or so, as I’ve mostly been CouchSurfing since Tours).

I like it so much. I’ll be sad to leave, and though I don’t yet know when, I’m definitely coming back.

Dining in France is truly delightful, as many of you probably know – and others surely suspect. In the last several days I have had two fantastic lunches, detailed below. It is not my intention to torment my readers, yet I suspect that despite this, that will be the effect for some. For this, I apologize in advance.

While in the Loire Valley late last week, I took a break from touring the famed chateaux of the region and stopped in Vouvray for lunch. I had no specific goal in mind, had done no research on places to eat – I simply stopped at a pleasant-seeming brasserie, which turned out to be a favorite among the local workers who started streaming in a few minutes after I sat down.

The menu du midi was as follows:

– Assiette Charcuterie: pate, a smoked porc terrine, lardons and a delightfully crisp little gherkin, served with typically good baguette

– Boeuf Bourgoignon with rice – simple and delicious

– a small cheese plate, one sheep and one goat – both with firm yet creamy interior and that wonderful almost chalky exterior common in short-aged cheeses
– a delicious gateau – light cake with a rich, not too sweet cream filling and creme anglaise

Accompanying these were a glass of Vouvray petillant (lightly sparkling), a Chinon rouge, with a petit cafe to finish.

This cost 16€10 in total, about $23. For four courses, two wines and coffee.

Yesterday, while torturing myself riding through Burgundy’s Route du Grand Crus (torture because as a solo motorcyclist, I am by definition my own designated driver, so extended wine-tasting is right out, despite the wines of Burgundy being some of my favorites in the world), I stopped in the lovely medieval center of Beaune. Again, no particular goal in mind – I walked around for a few minutes perusing menus before settling in for the midday feast:

– a complexly layered amuse bouche with jambon and poached vegetables, topped with a savory aspic

– a half-dozen escargot, perfect in their salty-buttery-garlicky bath, served with possibly the best bread I’ve had since arriving in France – a little whole wheat flour for a bit more rustic flavor, with a crust that blurred the line between flaky and chewy in a nigh-unto-impossible fashion

– Coq au Vin, superb, with pommes de terre gratinee Dauphinoise (potatoes au gratin)

– red wine poached pears with a sorbet that I think was cassis, and a little salad of fruits topped with chopped almonds and pistachios

Accompaniments: Cremant de Bourgogne, a light but elegant Cote du Beaune rouge, and the obligatory cafe.

This meal was more expensive, understandably, but still well worth it (particularly considering that it was my only major expense of the day other than fuel).

In short, one could not say that I’m suffering a dearth of gustatory pleasures here in France. But then, those of you who know me well would probably bet against me suffering in that fashion, here or anywhere else.

Addendum: additional apologies to those of you who speak French for any egregious errors in the post. Je ne parle pas bien Français.

I like potato chips and other crunchy-salty-savory snacks. Back home, I don’t eat them often, but I do indeed like them. A little ways into my trip, I started noticing that each country has their own peculiar twist when in comes to flavoring potato chips.

On this trip to date, my favorite flavors have been:

• Ham, in Budapest (Yes, they tasted like ham. And it was good.)
• Chevre, in Paris (Of course, this almost goes without saying.)
• Paprika, also Budapest (Another obvious one).

Since a few people have asked what wine I’ve been drinking in France …

When I go out to a brasserie, I usually just have whatever house rosé or rouge they have, depending on what I’m eating. Generally I don’t bother asking what it is, I just cheerfully accept it.

When I was staying with family in Moulis-en-Médoc, we ate dinner one night at Quittignan Brillette, the bed and breakfast where we were staying. Dinner itself was fabulous: the entree was duck four ways (slices of smoked duck breast, pate & brioche toasts, poached gizzards and livers), and the plat was an excellent duck confit.

We started with Chateau Jouvente Blanc (less than 7€), then moved to a red for the plat: Chateau Biston Brillette (around 13€, I believe). Both were quite delicious – not surprising, given that one of the proprietors of the B&B works as a wine negociant during the day, and seeks out sub-20€ wines for the house. There was a third wine, another red, but I don’t recall the name at the moment (perhaps because it was our third bottle, *after* a day touring several chateaux).

Last night I cooked dinner (pan seared duck breasts and butter-braised radishes, turnips and carrots – both heavily influenced by recipes from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home cookbook). With dinner, we had a lovely bottle of Chateau Gruaud Larose, followed by Sauternes from Chateau Roumieu (apologies in advance, it’s a Flash-based website, but not too terribly egregious).

If you haven’t been able to tell from the above, I’m continuing to live well – and in order to ensure the trend continues, tonight we’re dining at Allard, a highly-reviewed Paris staple since the 1930s (though, interestingly, reviews on TripAdvisor and the like are exceptionally polarized!). And, yes, it’s two doors down from where we’re staying.

I’ve enjoyed a much more leisurely pace for most of August, spending a week each in Budapest, Prague and Vienna. These cities have many similarities, architecturally, culturally and otherwise, but each has its own unique feel and flair.

This period has been my most relaxed and tourist-oriented of my trip thus far, and while it felt strange at times to not be on the road every few days, it was most enjoyable.

FYI, this post is a little more laundry-list – and less reflective / observational – than most of my posts thus far, due to the more traditional tourist-oriented focus of these three weeks.

Budapest was the first stop on the leisure circuit. I was joined there by Amy, my girlfriend from Seattle. This was her first time traveling abroad (I know: what?!), so early on I encouraged her to figure out what it would take for her to be comfortable. To that end, she arranged a lovely apartment on Bakats Ter, in the Pest side of the city, across from a beautiful cathedral and within walking distance of lots of the attractions of the city. We took our time getting to know the city, on the first day venturing out only far enough to acquire food and other vital concerns. Example: a representative sample of local beers, light and dark. :)

During our stay, we struck a fine balance between relaxation and sightseeing. Some of the tourist highlights we took in were:

• The Central Market, a vast building filled with meat and produce vendors (and cheesy tourist trinkets on the upper floor, which we visited only long enough to beat a hasty exit)
• Buda Castle grounds, where we wandered around enjoying the views, toured a Hungarian wine museum (historical and current) and enjoyed a great tasting tour of Hungarian wines, and got to watch a young guy practicing some parkour on the castle grounds, which we both enjoyed.
• Széchenyi Baths, one of the most famous spas in Budapest – and the only medicinal spa facility in the Pest side of the city. Historical note: the 1st century Roman settlement Aquincum, in modern northwest Budapest, was a regional capitol of the Roman Empire and was settled in large part due to the many thermal springs.
• A visit to several of the famous “ruin bars” (Romkocsma). First we went to Lokal, a simple and low-key spot, just some tables in a gravel-covered courtyard and a limited menu of beer and cocktails. From there, we walked a few blocks to Szimpla Kert, which was fantastic. A big, sprawling space with about eight different spaces from little nooks filled with people smoking shisha to a big, crowded open-air courtyard with really varied seating options (included an old Trabant that had been modified to hold a table and seating for four). Oh, and many people who looked like they weren’t even out of high school yet.

Given who I am, there was a quest to eat and drink some of the local specialties. These included goulash (of course), Unicum (a traditional Hungarian herbal digestif / aperitif – think Jägermeister only less cloyingly sweet, with more bitter herbs), and Pálinka (fruit brandy native to the Carpathian basin). It seems that plums are one of the most common fruits used to make Pálinka, but my favorite was an elderflower variety at Szimpla Kert. Truly amazing! I was also delighted to discover that foie gras – one of my guilty hedonistic pleasures – is a traditional Hungarian food.

Budapest is a lovely city – split by Danube river, with hilly Buda on the west bank and mostly flat Pest to the east. I look forward to returning there one day to see more. If / when I return, I definitely plan to allot more time to the ruin bars. ;)

Prague made up the second half of my two-week hiatus with Amy. We took a very early morning (what were we thinking?) train that got us into Prague around 1pm. We found our way to our second lovely apartment (in Praha 2 about 6 blocks south of Vinohrady and close to trams and Metro – Amy did a great job in choosing locations for our lodging!) where we proceeded to collapse from exhaustion. The next morning, I wandered a bit in order to stock up on basic foods, and discovered a very pleasant little coffee shop with quite good espresso and an offering of about a dozen whole-bean varieties. After enjoying a nice double espresso, I stocked up for the apartment and wandered home. (I like aimlessly wandering through a city quite a bit more than going to destinations.)

We managed to see a lot of the standard tourist highlights of Prague, including:

• The incredible grounds of Prague Castle (largest extant castle in the world), including the very impressive St. Vitus Cathedral, one of the most impressive Gothic cathedrals I’ve seen. Many of the gorgeous windows were designed and painted by Alfons Mucha, the famed Czech Art Nouveau painter.
• Karlovy Most (Charles Bridge): Probably the most well-known of the many bridges across the Vltava river, this pedestrian-only bridge is famed for the many baroque statues lining its sides. Sadly, today it is equally known for the many vendors stationed along the way, selling photographs and paintings, jewelry, portraits and caricatures. At some point I hope to see this location at dawn, before the day’s crush of people.
• Josefov (the historic Jewish quarter), where we visited the Pinkas Synagogue, now a museum dedicated to Holocaust victims; the Old Jewish Cemetery with its headstones crowded against each other (see my slideshow); and the Spanish Synagogue, its fantastic Moorish interior housing a museum to Jewish culture and history in Prague and the Czech Republic.
• Historic Old Town Square and the famed Prague Orloj (Astronomical Clock), the only functional astronomical clock in the world. Amy and I found a strategic seat to enjoy a nice dinner and watch “The Walk of the Apostles”, the march of statuary figures that marks each hour (finding a seat was great – we had a great view and didn’t have to deal with the stockhouse crush of people crowded into the plaza to watch the Walk).
• A tour group day trip to historic Sedlec and Kutna Hora. Our first stop was the renowned Sedlec Ossuary, one of the most well-known bone churches in the world. From there we proceeded to Kutna Hora, an historic silver mining center with its impressive St. Barbara’s Church and UNESCO-recognized medieval town square. This was a very enjoyable day trip, despite getting completely drenched by rain walking from St. Barbara to the city center to visit the Italian Court with its museum dedicated to the history of coin minting in Kutna Hora.
• A visit to the Alfons Mucha Museum – as mentioned before, Mucha is well-known as a Art Nouveau painter. He spent a number of years in Paris, and is well-known block-print posters advertising theatrical productions featuring Sandra Bernhardt.
• And, of course, we drank Absinthe (well, I did – Amy tried it and then let me finish hers). When in Prague … :)

Prague also has a river running through its center (as do many big cities in Europe; waterways were great highways for commerce prior to trains and roadways) – in this case the Vltava (known in Germany as the Moldau). There are numerous bridges spanning the river as it winds its way through the city, offering many scenic views of both sides of the river, well worth a leisurely stroll across one or more.

The architecture in Prague is really impressive. Compared to other European capitals, Prague was only minimally bombed (this bombing was claimed to be a mistake due to weather conditions and radar failures; the pilots and bombers believed they were part of the bombing of Dresden going on the same day). As a result, there’s a greater architectural record there, particularly of the Art Nouveau architecture style popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. After two wonderful weeks, the time came for me and Amy to part ways – she headed home to Seattle, and I returned to Budapest on a sleeper train in order to retrieve my motorcycle and head onward.

Vienna was my next destination, where I visited with Tünde, a lovely woman who is a cousin to Istvan, the groom in the wedding I attended in Romania. I briefly visited Vienna on my way to Romania and liked it, so when Tünde invited me to visit her there, I happily accepted.

I don’t have as specific recollection of the places we saw, but enjoyed walking through the city with her as personal tour guide. Vienna also has numerous examples of Art Nouveau architecture (there known by the German name Jugendstil, or ‘youth style’). One highlight of the visit was the lovely Museumsquartier, a square that is home to four museums and several bars and cafes, encouraging a hearty nightlife.

Again, a river runs through it, this time being the Donau (Danube), the second-longest river in Europe. There are fewer scenic vistas of the river in the heart of the city, though, as its main waterway runs to the east of the central area of the city.

I ended up staying in Vienna several days longer than I originally intended, for two reasons:

First, Tünde’s sister Emöke invited us to join her and her family for dinner – the night of the day I’d originally planned to depart. I enjoyed interacting with Emöke, her husband Tibor and their kids at the wedding, so was pleased to have a chance to spend an evening with them all.

Then the next day as I was about to depart, I realized that my license plate was missing from my motorcycle. I don’t know whether someone decided they’d like to have a US motorcycle plate for their very own, or if it came off of its own accord somehow. No matter, really – I needed to work on getting a replacement, which required a couple days of work to get all the necessary paperwork taken care of and sent off to the US, and to get a temporary Austrian plate so that I could continue legally riding in the EU until my new plate arrived. All in all, an expensive and time-consuming process. I strongly encourage anyone traveling outside the US with your own vehicle learn from my tribulations and take extra precaution to ensure that your license plate remains attached to your vehicle.

Tünde and I had a great time together, enjoying lots of good conversation, food and drink, exploring the city, and more. I even managed to get her to try sushi for the first time, which I consider a great accomplishment – especially given that she enjoyed it!

I had a great time in each of these lovely cities, and encourage anyone who has considered visiting any of them but not yet acted on such considerations: do it! Eat local food, drink local refreshments, see the sights, wander around with no goal in mind and let each city deliver unto you some unexpected delights. I find that many of my best experiences in a city – any city – come from just seeing what’s around the next corner or across that bridge over there. It is possible – nay, even likely (for Americans particularly, with their limited vacation time) – to over-plan so much that one ends up harried and exhausted rather than enjoying the joy of travel at a leisurely and serendipitous pace.

PS: I’ll be working on posting photos of these cities (and other locations visited since) soon.