I can't begin to recount all of the beautiful meals, tasteful dining venues, fabulous wine, gracious service and true pride in culinary expertise.
I will write on the examples of eating that were truly delectable experiences. Many of our friends who visited were forced to share in this adventure with us. There wasn't much objection. We made a point to search the Michelin star restaurants in France that were close to the areas where we were seeking sites. I must comment that these meals were very reasonably priced for their high level of culinary ratings. With few exceptions, most of our meals were at the lunch hour. All of the sites,shopping, and churches would close between noon and two during the day, so naturally this suited our dining schedule. We were surprised at how reasonable the mid-day meal was priced. Normally the meals were listed as 3 courses, but actually there were 5. The chef always served an amuse-bouche. This practice was developed in the 1980's during the Nouvelle Cuisine movement. Literally translated "mouth amuser". It is meant to be a single bite-sized hors d'oeuvre that expresses big ideas of the chef into small bites. Simply - divine!! Secondly, there was the "ordered" hors d'oeuvre, then the "main" course, followed by the desert selection. Of course, with the cafe, or the check (l'addition), there is served hand made candy,truffles or pasteries. Many times between the desert and the main, a selection from the cheese cart would be offered. As I mentioned, most of these meals were very reasonably priced - €19-€30. It was very easy to order a superb bottle of French wine for the same price range as well. Most of our wines were priced in the €16-€25 range.
NORMANDY MICHELIN STARS
GILL -Michelin 2 stars - Rouen - Chef Gilles Tournadre. Modern French. Ravioli stuffed with foie gras and served in a bouillon sprinkled with fresh truffles. Pan-fried foie gras of duckling served with caramelized turnips and a turnip-green salad. Rouen-style pigeon was a hit.
LA FERME ST-SIMEON - Michelin 1 star- Honfleur - Chef Jean-Marie Boelen. Located on a glass enclosed terrrace overlooking the sea over the Port of Honfleur. Exquisite setting. Traditional French. Crayfish with sauteed vermicelli and truffles, lobster omelet, and braised scalloops with a puree of Brussels sprouts.
The local Calvados (apple liquour with Blanchette - the first champagne.LE MANOIR DU LYS - Michelin 2 stars - Bagnoles de'l'orne - Chef Frank Quinton. Located in a "spa town" in the country. The local Andouille de Vire is featured. Scallops, rabbit and foie gras always on the menu.
LE MASCARET - Michelin 1 star - Blanville sur Mer - Chef Phillippe Hardy. Located near the sea - the English Channel near Glanville, the chef serves precise creative dishes. Most of them use the local fish, mussels, from the sea.
Lamb with pureed turnips
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON MICHELIN STARS
RESTAURANT M de LAUZAN - Michelin 1 star - Gignac - Chef Matthieu de Lauzan. Speciality was duck served two ways. Beetroot and puree of carrot with cumin.
ALEXANDRE -- Michelin 2 stars - Garons - Chef Michel Kayser. Zucchini flower filled with a truffle mousseline; lobster,squid and prawn tartlet; banana cooked in a citrus and vanilla syrup, meringue and coconut milk ice cream.
LA TABLE ST-CRESCENT- Michelin 1 star - Narbonne - Chef Lionel Giraud. Sea bass marinated with olives, tuna tartare with roasted almonds, and crepe served with a truffle sauce.
LA RESERVE RIMBAUD - Michelin 2 stars - Montpellier - Chef Charles Fontes. Duck confits, with vegetables; oinion crepe; Daurado from the Mediterran with ham; beef with lard de Colonnata. Fabulous chocolate desert.
LA GALINETTE - Michelin 1 star - Perpignan - Chef Christophe Comes. Buys fish from the local fisherman. He has his own 3 acre vegetable garden. He serves Daurado fish with fresh mushrooms from his garden. The ravioli is stuffed with his own home grown mushrooms - "de cepe".
L'AUBERGE DU VIEUX PUITS - Michelin 3 stars - Fontjoncouse - Chef Gilles Goujon. Incredible theatrical experience. We chose this restaurant to eat our "Thanksgiving meal". It was fabulous. The wine cellar was extensive, the cheese board was the best. The local oysters and mussels were used. We were given an oyster on the half shell with a small round salt transparent shell. We were given a silver hammer to break the shell, so that the smell from the sea would escape into the air. The entire meal was fabulous. Very much worth the 3 stars. We chose the wine flight with the meal, and they were superb. Great experience in a small village tucked up in the mountains in the Aude section of France.
That's a selection of cheese
And of course, I had to have an "American Classic" the hamburger...at "Memphis".....
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