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I'm cheating. It's actually the morning of day seven as I write this and Emmelle and I are safe and sound in the comforts of our rented one bedroom condo in Nice. I am sure I am the first American to ever say this: Nice is nice!
We hopped on a 7:45am train from the Gare de Lyon station in Paris and arrived here at just past 1:20pm yesterday. The ride down was fairly quick and in some instances, wonderfully idyllic. We passed through rural farmlands, wine vineyards and picturesque beach towns with apartment complexes (or rich people's homes?!) constructed on cliff sides right along the water. Just like you see in photos of towns near the Mediterranean say to yourself, "I want to go to there" (trademark Liz Lemon from 30 Rock).
We took very few pictures yesterday because we did so little, but promise to put together some choice cuts tonight. I promise! The sun was out and air warm yesterday, providing a perfect beach lounging day that we were unfortunately too tired to take advantage of. But, we did muster enough energy to relax by an outdoor bar on the sand (rocks) and grocery shop for our modern design home for the week.
It's the type of home that you see in Dwell magazine, white walls, high ceilings, rustic wood flooring, compact but full of character in its ability to creatively shove in as many home appliances as possible. The washer is in the kitchen (no dryer), the fridge is a pull-out cupboard, etc. I'm sure it's nothing innovative to what already exists in billions of large European cities, and maybe some NYC modern homes for that matter.
And thereafter, I took a nap around 5pm and slept until 4am this morning. These deleterious naps have been eye opening (pun intended) to say the least. I don't think I'm jet lagged anymore; I just think that given the option to choose leisurely traveler as a profession, I would surely spend a quarter of the daytime on a bed/couch/body lying apparatus completely unconscious.
Speaking of leisurely travel, I feel great to have reached a life stage in which (1) I've found the perfect travel (and life) partner to complement my quirky characteristics and "elementary" needs (Emmelle's description); (2) I've reached a point in my career that monetarily affords me easy travel abroad. These are great things. What's not so great is a nagging back pain that has substantially worsened during our time here. I am popping Advil multiple times a day just to keep up with Emmelle, and I know that a condition like this can only be alleviated temporarily, and most likely can never be permanently healed. This is life I suppose; as soon as we are of a sound mind and healthy, supportive environment, our physical abilities betray us. It's like an aging athlete, especially Magic Johnson.
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Last full day in Paris (we'll be trekking to Nice tomorrow morning pretty much all day and head back up on Saturday in time for one last hotel check-in and dinner). Our last full day turned out to be a lazy Sunday, consisting of (finally) a later start to the day, lunch at Le Comtpoir du Relais and a disappointing visit to the Soucre Cour Basilica on Monmartre. Many of the shops were closed today (Sunday) and rather than try to sniff out some shopping opportunities, we felt it best to spend the evening in our panda cave and detox from the week's mighty consumption.
Thus, today, all I really am interested in sharing is our Le Comptoir lunch experience. To freshen your memory, I'm providing a link to the third part of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations 100th episode in Paris. The show features Le Comptoir starting at 0:53, a restaurant Bourdain calls "the hardest reservation in Paris" and a place that Eric Ripert refers to as "the perfect bistro". Of all the recommendations made during the episode, this was by far, the one place I had to dine at before the end of our trip. True to the show, dinner reservations, when the constantly changing prix fixe menu is available, are nearly impossible. The restaurant holds several reservations for guests of the adjacent hotel (owned by the chef) and non-hotel guests have been famously known to make reservations six months in advance. Let me add to the legend; I've heard it takes in upwards of 16 months to get a dinner reservation. My goodness!
Fortunately, there a la carte lunch menu doesn't require reservations, and we made it a point to arrive early to make sure we were a part of the first seating at noon. Success! After multiple views of the episode above and read-through of dozens of reviews, I found myself a bit giddy and nervous all at once. The French-only menu exacerbated my nervousness. I needed Emmelle and a carafe of Rose to calm me down and remind me that it's just food. It's just food. But man, the cuisine evokes long-lasting smiles, even the "lesser" lunch menu. The highlights:
1. Nicoise salad. We wanted to wait on nicoise salads until we arrived in Nice. But, we really needed something fresh and green; it turned out to be a fortuitous decision. Notice the pickled garlic.
2. Deviled eggs. Bourdain's companion at the restaurant during the episode above mentions that he frequents Le Comptoir regularly during lunch service specifically for the oeuf mayonnaise. I'm sure the servers at the restaurant mentally roll their eyes any time American tourists order this dish now, but I couldn't pass it up. This dish is actually very stellar. It's really all about the homemade mayonnaise - rich but not heavy, tangy and bright, even some mustard quality to it. We've eaten nothing quite like it.
3. Lobster ravioli from today's specials. If you go back to the Le Comptoir bit in the No Reservations episode, you'll see Bourdain rave about a blood sausage ravioli dish that was part of his prix fixe dinner. The ravioli pasta we ate today is similar but with a lobster filling and wonderful lobster bisque foam. Not at all cheap, but probably my favorite dish of the day.
Not pictured: Toasted sandwich of smoked salmon and caviar with oozing white cheese, dessert that we regrettable did not order. Shame.
More to come from Nice.
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We haven't rhythmically acclimated ourselves to the Parisian day as of yet, and I'm beginning to think we won't through the duration of our trip. Beside the jet lag, the amount of daylight France receives at this time of year has confused our unsuspecting bodies. Darkness doesn't descend until 10pm or so, and while we've enjoyed it immensely, we physically haven't been able to handle so much daytime. I'm curious to see if this light pattern changes even in the slightest when we trek five hours towards the equator to Nice.
0. We started our day at the Musee d'Orsay to immerse ourselves in the state's modern art collection. The collection is impressive. And not to be outdone, the actual building (a converted train station) is beautiful as well. You would think that the combination of the two would have made for some terrific photo opportunities. But no, nobody informed us that photos are not allowed to be taken inside the Museum. Where were you on that one, Rick Steves (I'm sure his book actually says something about this; who has time to read)?
I was highly disappointed throughout our visit, even while going through some memorable paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet, et al. I've never really paid attention to Monet's work (which has always saddened him), but his paintings this time around really caught my attention. I am a fan. I would show you specifically which paintings struck me the deepest, but again, I took no pictures, and you can't find any images of the paintings online - after all, no pictures are allowed to be taken at the Musee d'Orsay. I would be shocked to find anything on the internets, as this would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the rules.
1. We waited until the fourth day to visit the Eiffel Tower. As suggested by many friends, we stocked our backpack with some goodies to picnic at the park across the Seine River from the tower. We enjoyed the scenic view with a couple of tasty cheeses, salami, smoked salmon, warm baguette and a not-so-great rose wine. It made me think why we don't picnic like this at home. It's so easily replicated and perhaps more enjoyable without sad-looking Senegalese vendors hocking their Eiffel Tower trinkets nearby. Besides the baguette, similar and comparable product can be easily procured at our local grocer. I love San Francisco, and really, I need to appreciate it a bit more.
2. After our picnic, we stormed the famed Champ de Elysees for one specific purpose: Laduree Macarons. After exhaustive research, Emmelle concluded that this would be the spot for us to experience a Parisian Macaron. While my macaron consumption has been limited only to Paulette's and Miette's in San Francisco, I didn't think the French-made confectionery would be so much better than its San Francisco counterpart. We quickly made our way through a box of 16 or 17 of the sweet sandwiches, and I've now concluded I need to conduct a side-by-side taste comparison to Paulette's.
Actually, I don't. Laduree is superior, and that is no knock on the delicious Paulette sandwich. Laduree excels in offering a multitude of textures and fillings. You can't really predict what a new piece will taste like based on the one you just finished off. I was particularly pleased the orange macaron which reminded me of an orange creme soda. The interplay between the chewy coated shell and the velvety filling are executed masterfully in each of their offerings.
3. For the fourth day in a row, we took a 3 - 4 hour nap. As a result, we barely made our 10:30pm dinner reservation at La Fontaine de Mars near the Eiffel Tower. The location of the restaurant was ideal as it afforded us an opportunity to check out the Eiffel Tower in the dark, it's iron-clad magnificence illuminated by seemingly a thousand lights. It's quite a different crowd at nighttime (at least on this night). Tourists were still definitely identifiable by their cameras, but the lawn area was overtaken for the most part by young Parisians drinking and passing the time, barely aware of the dominant edifice that stood right above them. While the city barricades the lawn (not sure if this is temporary) by way of some low-level fencing, the obstacle is easily overcome, and young people dominated the grounds until police officers arrived to ruin the night time frivolity. I can't tell if this is a recurring interaction between civilian and state, but it didn't seem like a foreign concept to anyone involved.
Oh by the way, I probably ate the best cooked fish dish of my life at the restaurant - a sea bass on the daily special menu (Emmelle's keen order). I keep watching TV shows describe the importance of a crispy fish skin, and we finally had it. I've thrown around a lot of hyperbole with the food we've had here thus far, but really, I mean it.
Last full day in Paris tomorrow before we train down to Nice early Monday morning. We'll have to make it a memorable one.
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Bonjour! Here's a quick synopsis of our third day in Paris, highlighted by our day trip to Versailles and the ridiculously gaudy Palace.
1. Today, Versailles is a suburb of Paris but it's mainly known for the Palace. It was roughly a 30 minute train ride from the RER train station near the Eiffel Tower. The walking tour consists of pretty much the entire grounds - the castle itself and an eight mile stretch of beauty for sure, but obscene decadence as well. So much of the history learned in Paris revolves around the French Revolution in the late eighteenth century, which eventually led to the complete dismantling of the French monarchy. One look through this place, and it's clear to see why poorer than poor peasants and working class would revolt against the nobility. Don't get me wrong; the Palace is mesmerizing - just take a look at the Hall of Mirrors below:
What was even more entertaining than the walking tour was watching Emmelle's reactions throughout. Her daydreaming eyes revealed all; she was imagining living on these grounds, holding court over her loyal subjects. My wife, she reads too many books. For some reason, if she were to indeed be a queen, I feel as though I would only be elevated to prince status. Hhmm.
2. Rick Steves, you are everywhere in this city, and I'm sure that's the case throughout all parts of Europe with American visitors. There's always a brief, awkward moment when Rick Steves disciples make eye contact with each other and try to slightly adjust the book into a more inconspicuous position. I believe this is a wasted opportunity to connect with like-minded travelers to knowledge share. C'mon Rick, you should write a chapter in an upcoming edition on how one should introduce and engage with others traveling the Rick Steves way.
Tangent: notice the beautiful French press on Emmelle's fingertips, a remaining vestige from our near-one week old wedding. Ah, those were the days.
3. Unfortunately, there are no memorable food experiences to discuss from our just completed third day. We did attempt to walk into a small, highly regarded mom and pop bistro near the Louvre but were denied as the chef told us they were full for the night. Whatever that means. Racists.
But this would be the perfect time to share our dear affection for the ubiquitous jambon buerre sandwich. It's a very common Parisian snack consisting of thinly sliced ham (nothing special) and butter in a thin baguette. You can really go crazy by adding cheese, maybe even lettuce and tomatoes if you like to live on the wilder side. Again, it is another simple food that is perfectly delicious. And it can be so easily replicated elsewhere; I am dumbfounded why more US lunch spots don't serve this. Oh yeah, we have Subway. Yum.
We've dabbled in a couple of variations, but my preference is for the classic version with a few slices of cheese.
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Second day completed in this beautiful city, and I've got a few pictures to share before I close my eyes for the night. We've already gotten into a comfortable routine of waking very early in the morning to visit sites, coming back to our hotel room for three to four hour naps and heading back out for dinner around nine. It feels very European, and I can't help but question the work ethic of this country (Europe in general sans Germany). We might try to break our established routine tomorrow by heading outside of the city, but no complaints - this schedule has been very accommodating to us thus far...
1. I don't really have anything to say about this pic. I just liked the seat colors (coated in French patriotism) of this particular Metro station. Paris' public transportation system is efficient like every other international city that I've been in, and begs questions, as always, about San Francisco's embarrassing MUNI system.
2. The day's tourist activities were concentrated around Notre Dame Cathedral and Sainte Chapelle. Emmelle tells me that Notre Dame is the largest Catholic church in the world. It is indeed very majestic when you walk into the church, but I can't help but wonder, how much would we (the world) care if Victor Hugo hadn't written Hunchback? The views of the city from the tower are terrific.
As for Sainte Chapelle - wow. Pretty stunning.
3. I recently wrote on the blog that whenever we dine at a high end French or Japanese restaurant, I feel as though I may possibly be encountering my "best meal ever". It's always in play with these two specific cuisines, and I think it makes sense because they share common characteristics unlike any other type of cuisine - precision, delicacy, balance, the utmost care in quality. These similar qualities may have provoked my subconscious to specifically search for a Parisian dining experience that would merge Japanese/French flavor profiles with French/Japanese techniques into one cohesive epicurean adventure. I think we succeeded with Concert de Cuisine (I would hyperlink to the website if only I could actually find it).
I've listed our tasting menu below (5 courses), so let me just say that the foie gras is one of the best dishes I've ever had in my life. The mastermind behind this restaurant decided that foie gras would pair nicely with unagi. I'm not sure I'll ever get to try something like this again, but...wow. It was unbelievable, and even now, reminiscing on our culinary adventure from just hours ago, I am a bit overwhelmed (and emotional). I read online that the uni at times is layered into the foie gras. I hyperventilate just thinking about that.
Additional highlights included a breaded and fried veal dish (Emmelle pointed out possible play on a katsu dish) in a rich miso and cheese sauce, a firm white cheese served during the cheese course that distinctly featured a fermented miso flavor (or perhaps the courses prior drew out those particular flavor components in the cheese?), the cod in yuzu dish during the fish course, both of our desserts. Simply exceptional and a definite recommendation for anyone that asks me where to go in Paris.
I came to France with the expectation that we wouldn't necessarily be trying anything new; French techniques and flavors have inspired pretty much every fine dining experience in the States. Thus, I thought we would really be experiencing a perfect execution of those familiar flavors and dishes. But Concert de Cuisine was a departure into something new and exciting - and I'm really looking forward to the harmonious convergence of French and Japanese fare in San Francisco at some point soon.
Here's all of the things we had (I'm just copying them verbatim from the menu):
Entree (first course)
* Steak de thon mi-cuit au wasabi, salade croquante shisho
* Terrine de foie gras et anguille teriyaki aux epices sansho
Poisson (Fish course)
* Encornet grille teppan-yaki aux legumes saisons
* Cabillaud grille et crevette au yuzu pimente, asperge blanche
Viande (Meat course)
* Entrecote grillee, choux verts, asperge, oignons rouges confits
* Gratine de carre de veau au miso de kyoto (saikyo-miso)
Fromage (Cheese course)
Dessert (um, dessert)
* Fraises en gelee de umeshu, glace miel lavande
* Paris-Kyoto (pate a choux, glace sesame noire, kinako)
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There's some content on the inside as well.
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We're in the home stretch. Years from now, in a completely unrelated argument, Emmelle will remind me about how I spent the week prior to our wedding week in New York, physically displaced from our last minute preparatory needs. Even now, I regret not being available for this critical stretch.
There are still a few items that need tidying up, but we fortunately completed one key task yesterday - our reception drink and food menus. I actually created these in PowerPoint, and Emmelle purchased a special card stock (approved after testing paper softness by rubbing on our chests and cheeks) for home printing. It makes me wonder if we could have gone this route for our invitations and saved a little coin. But at this late stage in the game, those completed details aren't an issue; I just might make the suggestion for future husband-wives to be.
Anyway, our menu consists of Asian-inspired dishes to complement the Japanese Tea Garden where the reception will take place. The small bites served during the cocktail hour are consistent with the yellow peoples' theme as well (But our theme is purple, so it's actually quite confusing). Many of the dishes have been replaced since our tasting from several months ago, so I'm a little curious how everything will turn out. I've personally never had a memorable dining experience at a wedding so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the food is forgettable - in the best way possible.
I'm still keen on the idea of serving kimchee and sriracha sauce in some way. Emmelle is vehemently opposed to this idea. I speculate that it has nothing to do with tackiness, but mostly because these essential food items are red and not in line with our purple (and yellow) color scheme. I'll have to put in a special request for radicchio kimchee; the cock sauce can't be salvaged in this situation.
I'll leave this post with some menu ideas that the bride vetoed on the draft table. I thought it would be great if we could elevate the Asian cuisine theme by giving each dish a suitable Asian-inspired name. The names in parentheses, as you can see, did not make it to print:
pork & chive dumplings (dragon droppings preserved in small intestine casing)
shaking beef (panda loin, cubed)
vietnamese style garlic prawns (tiger cub penis)
thai eggplant (jellied thai elephant bone marrow)
asparagus (green-dyed crane legs)
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