On last confession

(Brian)

I got totally addicted to Macaroons in Paris and Lyon, you would walk down the street and there in the window would be an unbelievable display of them begging you to come in and have one, which we did repeatedly. We tried to make these in culinary school and there are not easy so I was totally blown away by all of the different types and flavors. The crust is crisp and the inside is soft and chewy with this sublime filling, salted caramel and raspberry were our favorites, of course the chocolate ones didn't suck either.

Dinner at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

(Brian)

Our last night and final celebration of our 35th anniversary;

 

The dining room is arrange with seats at a bar that wraps the kitchen so you can watch the show, Oui' Chef, was the reply to every order called out!

 

A French thing, real knives to cut your steak with.

 

 

How can you have an anniversary celebration with out champagne! You can't !!

 

Two Fat Cats in Paris, wrapping up a very special trip

 

 

Langostine ravioli's

 

Cape's canolli's

 

 

Veal liver with crispy onion strings

The legendary Robuchon potatoes, one (1#) of butter for every two (2#) of potatoes, silky smooth, Yvonne almost licked the bowl.

 

Black angus steak

 

 

Le' sphere, chocolate caramel over frozen passion fruit glace, the manager comes over and pours hot caramel over the frozen sphere, it melts and exposes the frozen glace and when it hits the plate smoke from dry ice comes out from under the plate and covers the dish, it was awesome..

Paris, our last night, Hotel D'Aubusson Five Stars

(Brian)

For our last night in Paris Celia set us up in style, a five star hotel; Hotel D'Aubusson near the river, it was beautiful, we would definitely stay here again, they had a three (3) piece live jazz band playing in the bar when we got back from dinner, reminded us of the Fountain room at the Four Season's in Philly that we used to love to go to;

Last random thoughts on France

1) Eat the bread. Eat the cheese. Drink the wine.
2) I miscalculated on the 1 in 4 cab drivers are trying to kill you or shorten your life. It's really 1 in 3.
3) The French have it figured out. Yes, they have problems. They just don't care about them. I like that.
4) I can never, never have enough room in my closet for all of the scarves I now know I need.
5) The whole bathroom issue in France is pretty ridiculous. You can spend your whole day in a state of anxiety looking for the next pit stop.
6) These are wonderful, straightforward, honest and caring people who function with a minimum of bullshit. They actually don't tolerate it very well. I'm glad that my heritage links me to them. It actually explains some things about my personality very nicely.
7) I realize that while I THOUGHT I paid attention in world history, I'm a rookie. My eyes have been opened to a whole world of history I never knew.
8) This place is great!
9) Food. Good food. Enough said.
10) Come. Visit. Stay. Drink the wine. Eat the cheese and bread. And don't forget to leave time for café and coffee every afternoon.

Thanks for reading- Au Revoir!

Aux Ateliers, Chez Franck & Flo's

Aux Ateliers, Chez Franck & Flo's, our last dinner in Provence;

We kept it real simple tonight in anticipation of our meal tomorrow night at Joel Rubicon's in Paris, we had a place recommended to us by the concierge, small, intimate and all locals it was amazing;

Baux in Provence- hotel, medieval town and meals

Here's a few pictures of our hotel in Province, meals we've had  and the medieval town.

The entrance to our hotel- charming!

 

 

the outdoor bar and breakfast area.

 

The bar and sitting area

 

 

olives on the olive tree out front. Ignore the large pink lady.

 

Roof tiles from our bedroom window.

 The restaurant first night here.

Lunch in the medieval town. That's a very nice rabbit Provencal.

 My salad and cheese with tapenade.

 

Dinner at the restaurant.

 

The medieval town of Baux de Province.

 

 

Arles and a bathroom that will haunt my dreams into eternity

(Yvonne)
We went to Arles today to see some more medieval ruins and just walk around the town- it was another gorgeous day (finally!). Arles has the ruins of an amphitheater (coliseum) from Roman times and also is famous for Vincent Van Gogh doing many of his famous paintings here. However, this is not what will stick in my mind into eternity.

The bathroom from hell will stick in my mind for all eternity.

Let me explain and give a little background information on bathrooms in France. Public  bathrooms are almost non-existent. If you can find one, it is guaranteed that it will be shady, at best. Your best bet is to find a café, grab a seat and a coffee and use the facilities while you are there. This seems counterproductive to me, as the more coffee you drink, the more you need to find a bathroom. I think this is an evil shopkeeper plot that they're all in on.

But I digress.

So, after walking around Arles (it's a lovely town, they seem to be famous for their tablecloths and napkins in Provencal patterns- I saw literally thousands of them) I decided that it was indeed time for a stop in a café and a visit to the toilette of the local establishment. So we grabbed a table and I asked to be directed to the facilities. The shopkeeper graciously pointed me to the back of the shop.
I opened the door. There, facing me, was a hole in the floor. Literally, a hole in the floor. Even more horrifying were the two porcelain tiles with ridges in them shaped like feet on either side of the hole. For those of you with bad aim (or whatever) there was a flushing aide- a garden hose hooked to the sink!!! I mean COME ON PEOPLE!!!! THIS IS NOT A 3RD WORLD COUNRTY!! This is a café in France!!!!
So I made the best of it- after all I like to think I can roll with the punches. I went outside and Brian saw my face and said "what??" I said- "Go to the bathroom. Bring your camera.
Pictures are attached. For those of you with a delicate stomach, skip the pictures. For the rest of you, this is travel outside the US. Travel at your own risk. :)

 

First, the pretty pictures. It really is a lovely town.

 

Check out the ruins of the coliseum. They still have bullfights there (but they don't kill the bulls. The really good ones are as famous as the matadors).

 

Another good view of the town.

 

This pretty fresco was on one of the churches we saw. 

 

 

And now, the bathroom. Seriously. Check out those foot tiles. I'm getting hives just looking at these.

 

                                               A garden hose. FOR REAL.