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Post by frenchmystiquetour on Apr 24, 2011 8:54:39 GMT -5
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Post by cigalechanta on Apr 26, 2011 12:33:18 GMT -5
Ah, Trouville, home of one of my favorite bistros, Les Vapeurs.
We look the Calvados route. So far superior than what you buy in the states.
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Post by Darcy on Apr 26, 2011 14:49:08 GMT -5
I have my cheese board and knife at hand and I'm ready to dig into your reports. Thank you!!
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Post by Jody on Apr 26, 2011 16:45:26 GMT -5
We stayed in Normandy at Le Moulin de Vey, just outsie of Caern. It was an easy base to do the beaches...which kill me now, I did not find that interesting after having visited the WWI sites..much more evocative of the personal losses rather than the state losses!
LOvely little place and the driving was easy. One of the best things we did was go to the cidre festival and watch the French being silly with costumes, in Beuvron sur Auge. The cider and Calovados samples were a PLUS!
Will look up the picture links. Some old gy hit on me! Felt good at my advanced age!!
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Post by frenchmystiquetour on Apr 26, 2011 17:55:32 GMT -5
cigalechanta - We were going to eat at Les Vapeurs but it was so crowded and we didn't feel like being jammed in like sardines with 150 other diners. I know it comes with rave reviews so next time I'm there I'll brave the crowds and give it a go. We actually ate dinner a few doors down at Le 142 which was much smaller with good food. The next day we ate lunch across from the casino at a place called Café La Coupole, which was also good. We came home with Calvados, Pommeau and Cidre too, all bought from Saint-Hippolyte. Darcy - I can't recommend highly enough how wonderful the cheese and cidre/calvados/pommeau was. The places we visited were lovely and had many other local products for sale to make a great picnic lunch. Bring some bread and fruit as well as some cups and plastic knives/forks/spoons and you will be ready for foodie heaven. Saint-Hippolyte even had ice cream made from local products and also had the widest assortment of things to buy (make it your lunch stop). I had the calvados ice cream and in the words of Rachel Ray "IT WAS DELISH"! Jody - I couldn't agree with you more about the WWI vs. WWII sites. Those who lost their lives in WWII died doing heroic deeds whereas those who lost their lives in WWI were, for the most part, needlessly slaughtered due to the incompetence of those in upper command. The death toll for WWI is absolutely staggering and the manner in which most lost their lives was nothing short of savage. Some guy hit on you, huh? Despite your "advanced age" you must be one sexy mama!  |
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Post by cigalechanta on Apr 26, 2011 23:15:03 GMT -5
FMT, yes it'salways crowdwd but like Chez Denise in Paris, the tables are.... so close you can't help meeting those besides you . My first time yhere, a beautiful French woman sitting beside me, taufgr me how to eat my mussels, using the empty hinged shell as a oincher. Another twE i RECOGNIZED THE HOSTESS/MANAGER frpm an old book I have that pictyres her incredible building where her apartment is on the beach. She was so impressed that I recognixed her after all yhe years that the book was first published(Pierre Deux Vountry Living) She gave me the large poster of Les vapours that I had framed and is now on the wall in my dining room. Another year, I like Suze as an apert and not availlable in the states.
The waiter gave ne the two glasses with suze marked on them
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Post by Jody on Apr 27, 2011 4:36:21 GMT -5
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Post by geordy on Apr 27, 2011 5:57:18 GMT -5
If you were going to spend a night or two in Brittany....w/o a car...where would you stay/make a base?
We've been to Normandy , Bayeaux, landing Beaches, Caen, etc. but haven't made it to Brittany yet......
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Post by frenchmystiquetour on Apr 27, 2011 6:52:28 GMT -5
cigalechanta - Yeah, there is no way not to be able to meet your fellow diners there. Sometimes I enjoy that and other times I like quiet so the Mrs. and I can be alone. We felt like having the alone experience this time as we only had one night there. We usually go there once or twice a year so it will be on the list for a future visit.
geordy - That's a tough one as Brittany is a large region and there are more than a few options for a good base. I would suggest if you are going there from Paris that two nights is a minimum. In the east Saint-Malo would make a good base if you wanted to see Mont-Saint-Michel, Dinan and Saint-Malo itself. Of course, I am a big fan of the megaliths and always enjoy visiting Carnac. A lovely small medieval city near there is Vannes, which would make a good base for visiting Carnac and other places nearby. You could also stay in Carnac itself and use buses to get yourself around. Quimper would make a good base if you wanted to visit some of the spectacular coastline in Finistère. If you were interested in the Côte de Granit Rose you could base in Lannion or Tréguier. Using a place as a base in this area would require you to get familiar with the local bus networks.
Jody - I clicked on that link and it took me to a kodak page but then there were no pictures. I stopped using kodak gallery and switched to photobucket as I was always having problems linking to my kodak account, not to mention trying to take pictures from there and post them elsewhere. Never had much luck figuring out how to make that site work for me.
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Post by phread on Apr 28, 2011 2:21:05 GMT -5
Cigale - I LOVE Les Vapeurs. There is something about their butter that even my anorexic, super strict Parisienne friends let themselves go with pat of butter from Les Vapeurs.
I once took my total SNOB of a teen there and told her it was the chicest cafe in Paris (Deau/Trouville is the 21st arron). She rolled her eyes and was NOT impressed with the decor, or the reasonable prices, or the boring menu. Then in walked Johnny Hallyday's granddaughters (the insufferable teen's age and school mates) and a few minutes later a big movie producer and a few minutes later Daniel Auteuil. My teen loved it and actually deigned to speak to me for the remainder of the day!
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Post by Darcy on May 1, 2011 16:30:43 GMT -5
fmt, for some reason I can see only the thumbnails in the first link. When I try to enlarge one, I get "This content is currently unavailable." (or something like that). I've tried several times with the same results. No problem with the second link which I enjoyed so much! Even as thumbnails, the pics in the first link are excellent! What is that brown and white cow doing??
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Post by frenchmystiquetour on May 1, 2011 18:35:11 GMT -5
Darcy - I think this has something to do with Facebook as I've had the same issue on one day and then the next day the link works fine. I just clicked on both links and they are working right now and I'm able to enlarge them from thumbnail size. If you're referring to that cow kneeling on its front legs it appeared as though it had found a new and more relaxing way to graze. It was definitely not content to just follow the herd.
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Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha