Beyond French Fries: Lunching in Paris
September 30, 2008 by Sheila Whittaker · 1 Comment
Although not French, Grimbergen beer is a delicious and refreshing way to whet your palate while deciding on what to order for lunch. First brewed by monks at an abbey in Belgium in 1128, this is a tried and tested blond brew.
Since discovering it at our first lunch in Paris, we noticed it on many a Parisian menu and in the shops too. Of course we picked up a six-pack to enjoy at the apartment.
Once you’ve conquered your thirst, it’s time to take on contestent number two: hunger. Although salad might not seem like a likely choice for the hungry, French salads are actaully quite hearty.
Salade niçoise, although a specialty of Nice in the south of France, is widely available in Paris. It seems to differ slightly from kitchen to kitchen, but you can generally expect a bed of lettuce topped with tuna, anchovies, tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, olives, and green beans. 
Sometimes you may also encounter shrimp, potatoes, onion, capers, cucumber, artichoke and the first one I tried even threw on some rice. Perhaps they were fresh out of spuds?
Anyway you pile it on, it is a filling meal. Especially when you liberally use fresh French bread (that is always supplied with your meal) to sop up the garlicky vinaigrette.
Another salad that was a tasty and filling lunch was the house specialty at GBertrand, a Café just beside our apartment. I can’t promise you’ll be likely to find this one, but the salade Bertrand was also quite a delight.
It had a lovely mustard-based dressing that complimented the slices of rare, roast beef presented on triangles of toast. There were cubes of steamed potatoes that also picked up the lovely mustard taste while adding some body to the dish. It was finished with a sprinkle of pine nuts, corn and grated carrots.
If the rare beef in this salad doesn’t take it quite far enough for you, perhaps steak tartar is a dish you’d like to try. If you’re going to eat raw, minced beef, France is probably the safest place to do it. 
The beef was prepared with mustard, onion and gherkin. The counter-play between the spiciness of the onion and mustard and the sweetness of the pickle made for a truly delightful lunch. The fresh, hot, crispy pomme-frites were also a side no one at the table could help but steal.
A traditional French salad, a house specialty or a plate of raw meat — when it comes to French cuisine don’t be afraid to trust the centuries old traditions of a French kitchen.
What a croque!
September 30, 2008 by Sheila Whittaker · 1 Comment
The croque-monsieur (pictured top) is one of those stereotypical things that you must try if you ever find yourself in France. You can pick up the fast-food, ready-made version at many an outlet, but they are much better when cooked fresh for you. Most brasserie will have it on the menu and bring it to your table piping hot.
It is basically a ham and cheese sandwich, except you’ll find most of the cheese baked onto the top of the bread, while the ham is between the two slices.
An addition to the croque family is the croque-madame (pictured middle). She’s the same as monsieur, except a fried egg is placed on top.
The croque-provençal takes it one step further than the madame: tomato is added between the two slices of bread along with the ham.
Any way you choose to crunch this one, it is a heavy, fairly oily, meal. But it still shouldn’t be missed. I like mine with a dab of french mustard.
De Bon Matin: How to order a coffee in Paris
September 30, 2008 by Sheila Whittaker · 1 Comment
In Paris, coffee is not something that is taken lightly. A noticeable difference is the staff in the Café. They are not disinterested, gum-chewing college students working through hangovers. The staff are noticeably older, more professional but often less sexy (although my mother informs me that, depending on your age and how sexy you find a hangover, the more mature allure of the Parisian staff might turn your crank).
If what you want is a big, strong, black coffee you should order a Grand Café Noir, aka double espresso (pictured front). For a single, just ask for Café Espresso (but they don’t really pronounce the final ‘o,’ making it sound more like Café Espress).
If bitter is not your thing, perhaps you’re more of a Grand Chocolat type. It is the richest, smoothest, thickest hot chocolate you can imagine, finished with some whip cream and chocolate dust (pictured left).
If you like your coffee with a lot of hot milk, you are after a Grand Lait (the one pictured top also has a touch of miel — honey).
Cappuccino (pictured right) in France is a shot of espresso with foamed milk on top, usually finished with a healthy shake of chocolate dust. Once the foam dies down or is consumed, you are mostly just left with strong coffee.
If you’re more of a coffee-with-hot-milk kind of person, you’re after a Café Crème. It is about a half/half mixture of espresso and warmed (not steamed or foamed) milk.
Filtered or drip coffee is not very common in France. And with all these delicious Cafés to try, why would you want drip? But in case you can’t do without, you can order an Americano. It will likely be a shot of espresso in a larger mug topped up with hot water.
Bonjour Paris!
September 30, 2008 by Sheila Whittaker · 1 Comment
Arriving in Paris after a flight from BC can be slightly exhausting considering we left Vancouver at 10am Sunday and arrived in Paris at 9:30am Monday — having missed an entire night’s sleep.
But we were determined to make the most of our two days in Paris and set out to see the city. From the apartment that my sister arranged, we could walk to the Hotel des Invalides. It was an accommodation for disabled war veterans founded by Louis XIV in 1681. The extravagant spirit of Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, still shines from the golden Dome des Invalides.
(Pictured left: the Dome des Invalides where military leaders are entombed)
Now there are several museums in the complex, but we did not have patience or time for war museums. We had spotted la Tour Eiffel and wanted to see it tout de suite.
After a short walk we arrived at the Eiffel Tower. Engineer Gustave Eiffel, who designed the tallest building in Paris and lent his name to the finished tower, built the structure for the 1889 Exposition Universalle. It was a world fair to celebrate 100 years after the French Revolution. The tower still sits on a fair bit of ground and the grassy park is a popular place to picnic or roll in the grass with your lover.
In my opinion, the tower is much more magnificent from the ground. A trip to the top (which I did on a prior visit to Paris) is a bit of a let down. The highest of the three levels was encased in a chicken-wire fence which thoroughly obstructed the view and any photos which one might wish to take.
We enjoyed the view from the park, then made our way down to the Seine where we boarded the Batobus: a hop-on, hop-off, river-boat shuttle service. It is a great way to see the city and a nice rest between points of interest.
We hopped off at Cathedrale Notre-Dame (pictured bottom), then walked through the Latin Quarter and quickly realized why the neighbourhood is known for its bistros and atmosphere. There were loads of little shops, pubs, restaurants and people walking the narrow, cobble-stone streets. We bookmarked this place to return to for lunch the next day.
Having done about all we had the energy for after a sleepless night, we headed back to the apartment for a rest and some Grimbergen.
Mission to Paris: Stage 1 Complete
September 28, 2008 by Sheila Whittaker · 2 Comments
AKA I’m in Toronto
I left Vancouver this morning with my parents – a family reunion would not be complete without the Ma and Pa. Travelling with my Dad, who frequently flies for business which has earned him an ’Elite’ status with Air Canada, is a pleasure unknown to a backpacker like myself. I write to you from the business centre of the Toronto Pearson Maple Leaf Lounge, where I sip a caesar that I made for myself at the well-stocked self-serve bar. My belly is full of complimentary soup, bread and salad. I like the way Dad rolls.
Next it’s on to Paris where we will meet up with my sister and her boyfriend Tony. Then the adventure really begins! Until then, I think I need a refill on my caesar …
The excitement builds…
September 26, 2008 by Sheila Whittaker · 1 Comment
When my sister wrote to me from Sydney, where she’s been living for the last six years, and suggested a family reunion of sorts in France, I was on board.
Travelling to Canada at Christmas has fallen out of favour with my sister, a lover of warm weather. Since Christmas is summertime in Australia and snowy in Canada, it didn’t take her long to stick around Sydney for the holidays. It’s been almost three years since my family has spent time with her.
My sister set about making some accommodation bookings and I couldn’t help but squeal with delight when I read the message from Pascal, our host in Bordeaux.
“It will be the end of the harvest and, if you are interested in, it will be possible to taste the new wine and to understand very well the process of making red wine! (My cellars are always open for my guests).”
Our itinerary takes us from Paris south to Toulouse where we’ll stay in the Cathar country of Languedoc-Roussillon, the most productive wine region in the world. After a week of wine, oysters and cassoulet we’ll be off to meet Pascal in Bordeaux.
This will be my third trip to France and this time my priorities are set: wine, food and culture!
Double take: Airlines *drop* charges
September 18, 2008 by Sheila Whittaker · Leave a Comment
That’s right, no fuel surcharge is the lastest news from low-fares airline WestJet. When it added the charge it promised its passengers it would remove the charge if and when the price of fuel subsided. Fuel prices dropped. It dropped the fee.
Earlier today, Air Canada threw out their fee for a second piece of luggage. Although they won’t get rid of the fuel surcharge, they’re including it in the advertised fare for flights within Canada and the U.S.
The summer of 2008 was a hard one for many travellers. The price of fuel reaped havoc on airlines which trickled down to travellers. Fuel surcharges, added baggage fees and even some airline failures. Zoom Airlines was a sad example.
“The collapse of Zoom is a result of matter beyond our control. Only last year Zoom Airlines made profit, but that turned into a loss in the last year due to the unprecedented increase in the price of aviation fuel and the economic climate. The price of oil resulted in our fuel bill jumping by nearly $50 million in one year and we could not recover that from passengers who had already booked their flights,” Hugh and John Boyle, the founders of Zoom, said in an email to out-of-luck ticket holders.
The price of fuel dropping is good news, but the news didn’t come fast enough for flyers with Zoom. They are left trying to apply to credit card companies for a refund — if they were lucky enough to have paid that way. Those who paid by cash, cheque or debit have a far dimmer chance of recovering their money. Travel insurance rarely protects against airline insolvency, either.
Perhaps more airlines will follow this lead and give a break to tired, battered and broke travellers. I think it’s long overdue.
