Another city, another meal

I figured whilst we were on the subject of food I would share the final meal of the holiday. The restaurant was Atelier Joel Robuchon in Paris. Two little problems with that meal - firstly I was in the midst of the head cold from hell that day so my taste buds were fast asleep and secondly, the restaurant was FULL of Australians. The guest list had all the diversity of a Vegemite appreciation day.

Rather than sitting at tables, every seat in the restaurant is at a bar facing the kitchen that wraps around the entire room.  Every diner in the place (by my count the place only sat about 40-50 people) had a front row seat to watch the chefs at work.

We opted for the tasting menu (who wouldn't?), and it was all kicked off with an amuse bouche of...something. We never did find out what exactly was in this dish. Whilst tasty, the best part by far was it gave me the opportunity to say "amuse bouche" over and over again on an endless loop.

How pretty are the plates? Next up was a cold gazpacho with a sorbet made from mustard (wonder if it came from nearby Dijon...). The bonus of this was that the mustard sorbet was strong enough to cut through the cold and flu germs.

Then there was a ceviche. Again, this had enough bite that I could actually taste something. It is making me realise that with this cold an Indian restaurant would have been a smarter choice than French...

I am racking my brain trying to recall what this next dish was. From memory I think it was supposed to be a play on mac and cheese. Just supersized. Clearly didn't have anything with heat in it because I don't really recall what it tasted like. The picture however reminds me that there were mushrooms...

This next dish was essentially really tasty bacon in a really tasty sauce. I suspect it had a fancy name, and more ingredients than those I recall, but I do remember that my cold let me taste the bacon, which was a much appreciated concession. And foam, because it's not really a French restaurant without foam... (p.s. I find foam the wankiest ingredient in the food world).

Now the next dish comes with a warning - vegetarians might want to look away. It is just what you come to France for - grilled foie gras with roasted cherries. The white bits were raw almonds, which have a very difference flavour and texture to the kind you normally get.

Next up was the fish course, complete with a few little clams. 

This was quickly followed by a meat course. I opted for the baby lamb. Yes, I know lambs are babies, but the menu actually said "baby lamb". There is nothing in the picture for scale unfortunately but these lamb cutlets were about the size of an (Australian) 50 cent piece. The best part was the mash - it was basically pure butter. Thankfully we were not limited to the little bit on the plate, they provided a whole bowl of it (each) as a "side". 

The end of the savory dishes was followed by a palette cleanser. It was rhubarb, a citrisy sorbet and gold flakes. Actual gold. That might have been why the bill was so high. 

The it was time for dessert, and by this point I was as stuffed as the liver of the goose who provided the foie gras course. Dessert was basically death by chocolate. The waiter described it as being chocolate of many textures, and that sums it up well. It was essentially layers of chocolate (like a trifle) with each layer giving a different texture. It was incredibly rich. I am not ashamed to say I wasn't able to eat the whole thing. 

All in all a much nicer meal than the 15th best restaurant in the world back in Vienna (I say 15th and not 16th because to my surprise it got promoted when the new list was released a few days back). 

More Paris to come in the next post.

Lost in translation

My poor little brain is having issues with languages. Spanish on Friday, French on Saturday, Italian today. Add in the weird mix of English and Tok Pisin that Riin and I are speaking to each other and the words are all getting jumbled. When a German couple asked me a question yesterday I answered "ingles tasol". Because everyone understands a bit of a Spanish/Tok Pisin mashup, right?

So what have we been up to (besides the bastardisation of a few languages)? 

Well the first full day of the cruise started with what I can only describe as the single worst eggs benedict I have ever eaten. Everything about it was wrong. The toast was rock hard, the eggs cold, the sauce tasteless and sparse. This is a crime against eggs bennies everywhere. It belongs on a wanted poster.

Yesterday's port of call was Marseille, France.

We started the day with some wandering around. The most impressive structure in town is the church, which has one of the largest unsupported domes in Europe.

One of the things that struck us though was all the awesome street art. Every alley you walked down there was another piece of art. 

There was also the drunken fish mural (complete with a rather surprised octopus).

Marseille was for us defined by an epic search for a public toilet. Who would have thought in the city center of  a town swarmed by tourists on a daily basis that it would be so damn hard to find a loo?!?! It took roughly half an hour, but relief was finally achieved.

We were only interested in one delicacy for lunch. The crepe. I am not sure we could ever face one from Duffys again for quite sometime after this tasty treat. Smoked salmon for me, ham for Riin. Because we hadn't had nearly enough ham in Barcelona.

So after a day of sightseeing it was back to the ship for the all important safety briefing we missed the evening before. Not sure I could call it a full safety briefing, it was more a how to guide to putting on a life jacket. Unfortunately, should the ship encounter trouble, Riin will need to find an alternate method to attract attention after the discovery of a missing whistle from the life jacket in her cabin. When she complained she was told by crew she "wouldn't need it" and now she won't stop muttering about "that's what they told people on the Titanic"...

The evening entertainment included a Michael Jackon tribute concert in the theater and a game of bingo (because when in Rome and all that...).

I also hit up the chocolate shop on board where I discovered this confusing little gem.

Today, we headed for Genova, Italy. 

This is a strange town. The whole place has a vibe of being run down and forgotten. There are lovely UNESCO sites that look like they would be better looked after if they were a McDonalds. There is also an overwhelming number of North Africans hawking fake handbags and sunglasses - which serves to remind you of the vast numbers of people who cross the Mediterranean in search of a better life each week. 

This street name kinda summed the place up...

Riin was determined to do the harbor cruise (I am currently being berated that "determined" is too strong a word - but she did go back three times seeking a ticket - I call that determined). I just asked Riin to review her harbor cruise and she has described the experience as "uninspiring". We had a short trip only as far as our own cruise ships wharf (hardly worth the effort) complete with a screaming toddler sitting behind us. Riin offered me both lunch and dinner at her expense if I was willing to throw said small child overboard. I didn't (just to be clear, because I suspect some of you think I'd take that deal). 

On return to dry land, we hit up Eataly for lunch. I had pizza.

After the toilet debacle of the day before we hit up the loo before leaving. I was standing out in the store when I heard alarms ring and staff run from everywhere to the bathrooms. A few minutes later, out walks Riin. I inquired if she happened by chance to be the customer who pulled the red cord in the bathroom. Turns out the answer to that question was yes. In reviewing the incident this evening Riin informed me that "I have a curious mind, there was a cord, I had to pull it". When I pointed out you never push red buttons or pull red cords she argued that "red means it needs my attention, so I gave it my attention". I'd say she is a lost cause but she is insisting on reading and clearing this before I post it so I guess I should cease comment on this incident...

We decided to go and check out the Orto Botanico gardens after lunch. They were up a hill. A big hill. So we started walking upstairs.

Then turned a corner to see...more stairs.

Then another corner to see...even more stairs.

Another corner, another staircase.

At this point I am hoping to see the greatest gardens ever tendered for the effort to get up there. Just one problem. We never found them. We walked and walked. We checked the paper map. Google maps. We asked an Italian man in the street. No gardens. Had this been an Amazing Race pit stop Phil would still be waiting for us to check in.

Genova also had some interesting statues depicting both the male form

And the female 

Eventually we gave up and retired back to the ship for a nap (Riin) and a few rounds of Settlers of Catan on the iPad (me).

Naples tomorrow!

Gastronomic Gascony - Part un (aka 1)

So, I have decided to skip over the three days in the UK. Mostly because the weather was fantastic and all I did was wander around, shop and go to the theater. All in all a good few days. Worth a mention though is the new M&M World in London.

Following that little interlude, I headed to Toulouse in southern France with Miss Cleo. We are currently residing in a tiny village of 15 permanent residences on top of a hill, named Gramont. So small it took us about a minute to walk to the end of town.

This part of France is famous for foie gras. Which made me rather happy. Gotta love having three types of foie gras each day as a standard course at lunch and/or dinner.

We have a charming chateau next to us that dates back to the 1400s. That pretty much sums up the highlights in town.

Oh, and they have a new disabled parking space (required by law). Just not sure where the car occupants are headed...

We have gone for little field trip to the farmers market, and another to a local town. Named Condom (nope, actual name and not auto correct!).

In Condom there is a statue for the three musketeers. Haven't worked that one out just yet...maybe a Trojan horse might have been more appropriate...

On Saturday night was the village annual festival. We got to listen to people from all around the village telling a story in a theme. A man with an accordion then led us around the village to the next story. There were ogres, postmen, ghosts and even ponies...Given it was all in French that pretty much sums up how much of it I understood!

This was followed by a massive dinner. Only problem was dinner started with us all in paper hats, rubber gloves and aprons, all concerned we had to cook our own dinner. Turns out it was just a little bit of fun in the restaurant. Though this was a sight that frightened a few...

We also went to a small village that basically worship cats. See there was a cat lady who hundreds of years ago refused to let the villagers eat her cats. They were the only cats left in the village. When the plague came they were one of the few villages left with cats and they were able to run the rats out of town and all subsequently survived. The cat lady saved them all. There is even a statue in her honour.

You can also go on a little scavenger hunt through town looking for all the cats hidden on the buildings. Like this one.

We have also done some cooking. Everything from apple tart (yes, this is mine!)

to potatoes that look like swans.

Have spent the day making creme brûlée, chicken ballottine and duck fat roasted potatoes. Off to muster the crepe suzette before dinner tonight!

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