Travelfood

My first visit to Paris was a disappointment. With great enthusiasm I tried to cope with my modest school French, but still the locals looked at me with despise when trying to talk to them. Trying with bad French, they answered in English and if trying to speak in English to them, they would not answer at all. During my last visit everything had changed. It felt as a personal victory being able to talk in French and the locals actually wanting discussions with me. And all this in a friendly manner!

Despite the disappointments from my first visits I still admired the beauty of Paris with all her bombastic buildings and flavors that make the city the most romantic of them all. But as with so many other European capitals: the real gems are found outside the big cities. St Malo on Normandy coast is beautiful and the people are not as stiff as in Paris. If you want to see huge cathedrals, Rouen is an excellent day-trip destination. Alsatian Strasbourg near the German border has beautiful half-timbered houses set by the Rhine.

French food is at least as famous as the Italian kitchen. Ordinary rustic food such as quiche lorraine (onion and ham pie), tarte flambé (mushrooms and cheese on a thin bread), crêpes pancakes with salty or sweet fillings and coq au vin (cock in wine) are all world famous. Tarte tatin, or cake turned up and down, with apple-, plum- or pear filling is fabulous for a coffee break. For gourmet enthusiasts there are for example vol-au-vent (small mushroom pies) and confit de canard (duck legs preserved in its own fat) to choose from. If you want to try the morally debatable goose liver, you need to look for foie gras on the menu.

Last, a small hint in case the flight to Paris arrives late enough to miss the last airport train from Charles de Gaulle airport. Do not try the combination of going by bus to the nearest local train station and from there to the city center, since the train station does not sell tickets although you need them when arriving to the city center, when exiting through the train gates. The fines for ticketless travel are so high that the expensive airport taxi is nevertheless cheaper and faster.

Europe, food, France, Paris, travel, travel experiences