French Food - Jun/Jul 2010

I ate nonstop for two weeks while I was in France. Its amazing that I'm not 20 pounds heavier, but luckily I also rode almost 200 miles on my cycling tour.


Here's a description of some of the great food I ate. My mouth is watering as I revisit these photos.





June 28,2010, the first night in Nantes, I had an amazing duck dish at La Cigale, an elaborately decorated 115 year old bistro in the heart of the city. I started with a dozen oysters on the half shell, which I hadn't had in years, and ended with a chocolate dessert.

June 29, 2010, on the first day of cycling I had an exquisite lunch at Relais du Gois in Beauvoir sur Mer. It started with soupe de poisson, a tasty fish soup served with croutons, rouille and cheese, then sole sautéed in lots of real butter and finally a chocolate soufflé for dessert. The sole is above and the souffle below.

For dinner I just wanted a salad, buy who could resist the soup, duck and chocolate torte.

June 30, 2010 - We hopped in the van to get to tonight’s restaurant. I started with langoustines and red snapper.

Followed by a tender veal chop served with bone marrow, which I didn't really like.

Then came the cheese course.

But I saved room for yet another chocolate soufflé. The wine at each meal was excellent. Am I on a cycling tour or French gastronomic tour?

July 1, 2010 - We had dinner at Le Vers de Vin, a small local bistro. The waitress and chef couldn't be any nicer, and the food as usual was fantastic. I had an asparagus langoustine soup,

followed by a turbot fillet with veggies

and a strawberry creme dessert.

July 2, 2010 - I had my second helping of oysters, and were they fantastic - cold and salty.

For my main course I had scallops - or couquelle St. Jaques.

And for dessert - whatever is pictured above.

July 3, 2010 - I opted for a light seafood salad for lunch, but the table next to me ordered this mountain of seafood.

For dinner I started with a seafood ceviche,

followed by roast duck breast.

For dessert I had three scoops of ice cream. I'm still waiting for my crepes Gran Marnier.

July 5, 2010

Oh my God. What can I say about my last dinner? I went to an Italian restaurant on the port. When I ordered moules and veal for dinner, the waiter told me the moules (muscles) were more then enough. I ate them like the French. I used the shell as a fork, scooping the tasty meat. There must have been 200+ in the order. No dessert tonight.

The muscles are all gone.

July 6, 2010 - My last lunch of the vacation was veal in cream sauce and noodles.

I finally had my crepe Grand Marnier – what a disappointment. Hardly any Grand Marnier and very doughy. I’ll just have to go back to Paris to get another one.

I hope you enjoyed watching and reading about me eating in France for two weeks. I'm home now, riding my bike every other day to shed the pounds I gained.