France's favorite village of the year - St Vaast La Hougue - Normandy

Every year viewers of the French TV show - Beautiful Villages vote for their favorite French Village. This year the tiny village on the stunning coastal area in Normandy known as the Cotentin Peninsula won the votes. This area is in fact one of my favorites in Normandy. 

Its described as a land  of sailors and at low tide, the oyster beds provide a link between the French mainland and another jewel: the island of Tatihou, a unique point of view for painters for more than 200 years. The harbor and the picturesque narrow street make this a wondrous place to visit. 
I love the many charming and 'knock-your-socks-off' villages on this peninsula. 
Here is a video ( sorry its in French) but you'l get the idea of the winner.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf_tN6GIDe0
Above is a click-on to a youtube better view of the video without advertising.

Remembering Anthony Bourdain..

Its been a year since we lovers of real food lost Anthony Bourdain..I can't believe it..
He expressed for me and my chef brother, so many things we thought true, but could not articulate in so many words.

Here is something he wrote, that I totally believe in..

" I knew already that the best meal in the world, the perfect meal, is very rarely the most sophisticated or expensive one.
I knew how important factors other than technique or rare ingredients can be in the real business of making magic happen at the dinner table.
Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one's life' "

Paris and France heat wave...

Yesterday it was 104 degrees ( 40 Celsius) in Paris...wow!!!!
The hottest since 1947 ... WOW!
Most French do NOT have AC, and those that do and upmarket hotels, it is not the US type that you can turn up to STUN! Electricity is very very expensive in France, so most AC is cool, but not freezing cold as here in the good ole USA.
This is what it looked like this morning in Paris ( very unusual cloud formation) 

This is sunrise, NOT sunset...

Monaco - France's tiny neighbor and one of my favorite places to indulgent in one of life great pleasures

It's Friday morning in sunny Beverly Hills and yet, my thoughts go to the second smallest country in the world - Monaco. Within its mere 200 hectares is to be found extravagant sights that allure and inspires me. Yes, there is certainly enough glitz and glamour at every turn, a country filled to the brim with luxurious places to stay and fabulous restaurants abound. and YET!!!

And yet For me, one of life's great pleasures is to stay at the Hotel Hermitage ( home of the most opulence place to have breakfast in its Gustave Eiffel dome restaurant), but also to spend the entire day in the Thermes Spa ( located next door and a private tunnel from the hotel to the spa) and then to have lunch atop the spa in the L'Hirondelle Spa restaurant. Life can get no better than this. 
It's magic, I can tell you.

Lunch, dressed up in your fluffy white Spa robe and eating and drinking the best of wine and food in the world, NO SPA SALADS HERE ( hurrah) , but food and drink as it should be. Its a dream...

French rules of dining etiquette - what another one?

"Where do I out my cell phone, the left or right side?"

Yes, Being in France, there is a strict code of rules on how to behave; it makes life here so much more pleasant..

Please remember, When you are offered something ( like a fill up of your wine glass, more bread, a minor treat) simply saying 'Merci' indicated a refusal, as in "No, thank you". This is quiet different from the American practice, were saying a simple 'Thank you; implies acceptance, as in 'Yes, thank you.'
SO - in France, if you want your wine glass filled or more bread, don't say 'Merci' 
    SAY - 'oui, s'il vous plait"

Tired of the overtouristed, overdone French Riviera? then...

...head to the Ile de Re, on the Atlantic coast..( one of my all-time favorite places in France) , its a haven for foodies (I hate that term), cyclists and beach lovers. 

Here you will find over 100 KM of bike paths, 10 beautifully preserved villages with boutique hotels and glorious food markets. While you may think it's a cross between the Hampton's and Martha's Vineyard, it's nothing of the sort. Zoning laws here are very very strict and the people who count in France ( movie and TV stars, government big wigs etc,  and your truly) come here to get away from it all. Easy to reach by car or train, but hard to leave.

France cooking - Silly food vs real food - guess which is which? Nuf said!

It's Over - The days of Metro individual tickets is going away after 119 years...

For nearly 119 years from the first opening of the Paris metro in 1900, the little rectangles of thick white paper with a black line on the back have been with Parisians. 

550 million single-trip tickets are sold every year. BUT..times must change ( I'm not happy...) and by this coming September ( 2019) a new digital systems will be set up with a plastic top-up card called Navigo Easy. Just add money to  it and tap the card at the station entrance. The fares will remain the same Euro 1.90 for a single-trip and Euro 14.90 for ten trips.

Gratitude - It comes in Two Kinds

First, there is the gratitude which we should all feel for what France has given the world.

The language, the hardest by far of the Romance languages to learn ( at least for me) and yet!, and yet what a beautiful language.  The writers, then the painters; here again the debt is immense, especially the Impressionists. Going onto the world of music, my own personal list would include Ravel, Debussy. Ibert and Legrand, OH! the architecture; The Vaux-le-Vicomte and the chateaux of the Loire are my favorites. The vast formal gardens that dot the landscape, the cuisine ( don't get me started), the great fashion houses and don't forget the larger than life personalities like Jacques Tati, Maurice Chevalier and Stephen Grappelli and to the  host of hoteliers who have made all my stays so memorable, I have not the words to thank them for all their generosity and kindness..

I could go on and on...

The essence of France, however is a thousand times more than all of this, it seems sometimes to be the very air I breathe. And that brings me to the second kind of gratitude - MY OWN.

For the France that I have known for more than 70 years, looking back, the memories come crowding in. For all these memories, I am grateful and for many thousands more. And that sort of gratitude is more than gratitude:
                      IT IS...... LOVE.

The Megaliths of Carnac - The largest gathering of standing Stones in the world

In Brittany ( my favorite part of France) stands 7000 years old megalithic alignments and one of the most important European prehistory centers in existence. 
The two main sites, Menec and Kermario)  ( out of many more in the wide area) alone account for almost 3000 menhirs ( stones) and run well over 4 miles.

The stones are to this day surrounded by mystery, to what they were actually used for.  

St Tropez – nothing succeeds like excess

St Tropez is quiet simply, the most famous resort in Europe – and it has attracted the artistic and dissolute long before BB ( Brigitte Barbot).  

But it was BB who transformed this village into a worldwide reputation for illicit pleasures and the place has never looked back.

The great, the rich and the A-listers still come in by the Yachtful, as do any amount of flotsam and jetsam, whose obsession with air-headed extravagance can get on anyones nerves ( especial y mine, if you must know) 

Yes, the  wooded, rocky peninsula is spectacular, the views across the sea to the Maures mountain s are outstanding, but beyond that, unless you fancy paying ( in summer July and August) 15 euros for a  coke,  and being   with some other 30,000 people a day ( just getting in is like driving on the 405 freeway during rush hour) and pay constantly queuing and paying for over prices food and drink I say, forget it, unless you have a private yacht and can call Pop stars by their first name.

For those you don’t know, the famous beach is NOT in town, but 15 minutes away and then its basically private clubs that charge a fortune for you to sit in the sand.

It’s all about BLINGE on steroids.

I can’t tell you how many clients who begged to go and then once there called and said 'get me out'.

OK, should you still go, the months of May, June, September and October would be fine, but be aware many of the bling places are closed and once again, this charming village returns to a little Med port 

The British tourist is always happy abroad as long as the natives are waiters. – Robert Morely

 Some reasons why American’s think French waiters are rude and why they are wrong

Q: My waiter wouldn’t help me understand the menu

A: Today in larger cities in France, more and more menus are offered in English. Why a waiter might not help you is not a matter of rudeness. It may be because he simply doesn’t know the technical words in English to describe a dish. Or as in the countryside, they may not even speak English.

Q: my waiter never cracked a smile the entire time was there.

A: Waiters in France are viewed as professionals. Unlike here in the USA where it’s a temp job until their real job comes along. One reason you might not get a smile is your waiter here is paid a fixed wage and they don’t reply on tips to live. They are NOT personal servants, but more as food servers with panache.

American’s are used to making demands and asking for substitutes on the menu to have their food prepared in a way to meet their standards. WELL, not in France, so when trying to order off the menu, forget it and take it for what it is and embrace it.

Q: My waiter never came back after bringing us our food.

A: It may seem like your waiter is ignoring you after he puts down your plates, but he is actually showing you respect by giving you your space. Once the food has been delivered to the table, the meal becomes about eating and enjoying your company. Waiters want you to enjoy your meal, relax with friends and family and linger over good wine and food. They unlike American waiters leave you alone and they will not fawn over you (thank goodness)

Q: My waiter never brought me the check

A: Just as your waiters leave you alone during your meal, they don’t want to rush you by putting the check on the table. (something that American waiters and restaurants do). French waiters expect that you’ll ask for the check when you’re ready to leave. In France, it isn’t the waiters goal to turn over as many tables as he can, like in America.

Capucins market– The ‘belly’ of Bordeaux.

Shopping in the Capucin market  is a weekend ritual in Bordeaux 

 Around since the 18^th century, this Baltard-style market, with atrium windows and cast-iron pillars (and glass roof) houses 80 retailers and a number of refreshment stalls and restaurants, is a place that has never lost it’s friendly, human warmth, cheerful racket and mouth watering bouquet of flavors, featuring cheese, seafood fruit and vegetables.

Head for the market ( as with any farmers market in France) in the early morning to beat the crowds. 

Treat yourself to a ‘dune blanche; a rich puff pastry filled with mousseline cream and have a coffee at Poulettes. Surrounding the market are cafes and fine food shops.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday form 6am to 1pm, Saturday and Sunday from 5:30am to 2:30pm.

A traditional USA diet vs a Howard E Lewis French Diet - do I need to ask?

The traditional healthy Mediterranean Diet.

Monthly – Red meat

Weekly – Sweets, eggs, poultry and fish

Daily – Cheese and yogurt, olive oil, fruits, beans, legume and nuts, Veggies

Bread, pasta, rice and couscous

Daily beverage recommendations - 6 Glasses of water a day and daily physical activity

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Howard E Lewis Lifestyle diet

Monthly – Fruits and Veggies

Weekly – Beans or legumes topped with Gruyere

Daily – Any type of French cheese, preferable Saint-Nectaire or Cantal , Caviar and shrimp on a toasted Brioche, any kind of red Meat( beef or better yet pork)  , Foie Gras in any form , salami ( preferably Black Pig) Duck, Duck and more duck, and cooking with duck or goose fat

Long daily naps (between meals)

Daily recommendations - 1 bottle of Red wine – preferably Madiran or St Joseph French wine or 3 Martini’s

Bordeaux - a new way to discover the city

The city of Bordeaux is certainly now the hot destination within France and yet, it is still often overlooked by visitors intent on the Paris-Provence circuit. 
Nestled in verdant wine country and on the edge of leading oyster-producing area, this elegant city on the Garonne River melds history and arts and infrastructure to make it a very captivating destination. One of the best ways to see and experience the city is by boat. 
A 90 minute cruise on the 74 passenger steel-hull Sardane provides an expansive view of this city.

But the best way is to take their Aperitif and Wine tasting cruise; 3 different selected wines going with fresh regional products - tapas, breads, cheese and coked meats.  

Can Life get any better?

When two ambassadors of the black brotherhood of bigorre come together! It's talking good products, madiran, treats, fat and sausages! 

Chef Guillaume GOMEZ ( the chef of the Elysee Palace/Residence) and friend

Two of most favorite food items to me

The hardy, intense , chewy wine of the southwest - 

Madiran and Bigorre Porc

As George and Ira Gershwin once wrote

"Who could ask for anything more'

La Chassagnette - A wonderful garden that happens to have a wonderful restaurant, outside of Arles

Many restaurants within France have a garden, but here just outside the historic city of Arles ( some 15 miles away) is a wondrous organic vegetable garden that happens to have a Michelin star restaurant.  

The vegetable garden is a hymn to organic products, the vegetables are astounding and never to be forgotten. I mean; where you you found in one garden, over 30 different kinds of tomatoes for one. This is the place to have lunch within a beautiful garden. Dishes such as sea-bream, crayfish, pigeon, grill meats all are served with the vegetables just picked that morning. 
(Closed Tuesday and Wednesday) 

In the Marais area of Paris - Waffles out of this world..I mean it

Yummy and Guilt Free is what we call in French a Bar a Gaffers ( a waffle bar) and its located in the beautiful Marais area in Paris.
I must tel you, I hate waffles, but that was until I ate here. They are gluten free and lactose free also(  no big deal for me) and are sweet but also savory.

Besides tasting wonderful, the bonus here is that they contain twice less calories than traditional waffles. 

I know it ain't France, but oh!!! The German Black Forest...

As you may know, I love the city of Strasbourg, France. Its mixture of France/German cultures is just wonderful and exciting.

Just across the border from the city is the most picturesque part of Germany, the Black Forest region, that has some of the most beautiful and dramatic landscapes in Europe.

Here in the small towns and villages along the Romantic Road , you’ll find the fairy-Tale nature of this region.

The highlight here is Baden-Baden ‘ the belle Epoque meets the age of Instagram. This picturesque spa town has drawn visitors/Kings and Queens/European royalty for hundreds of years.

The only place to stay ( as far as I’m concerned) is the 150 year old grand hotel ( and I mean GRAND!) Brenners Park. The city and the hotel is on my top list of the top places I have ever visited and stayed. It’s a WOW!!!

Chantilly - I've said it before and I'll say it again, You haven't seen France if you have not visited Chantilly

Forget Versailles, the real jewel in France is the Castle/chateaux at Chantilly ( just 30 minutes north of Paris)
Besides a 'knock-your-socks off' chateaux, it houses the greatest collection of art in France outside of the Louvre.
So what are you waiting for?

Rouen follow up: A must tea room to have tea and homemade cakes and a fantastic view of its over- the- top cathedral

During you day trip from Paris to Rouen, a must ( right across from the famous Gothic cathedral) is a lovely tea shop - Dame Cakes
Have your tea on the second floor that overlooks thew magnificent cathedral. 

Is fashion a true art form? I think so and Paris fashion museums prove it.

I think fashion is an art form - because the same amount of artistic expression that goes into clothes, goes into a piece of pottery or a painting.

Fashion can tell you what people wore at a certain period just as pottery can tell you what their tea parties were like. Fine art at the  moment (in my humble  opinion) is no longer particularly concerned with beauty, so you could say that fashion - which is always about a concept of beauty, wherever or not everyone agrees on the concept - is more relevant, more artistic, than the garbage they put out these days and that includes today's music.

Well, that said (I'll get off my soap box) and say that when you are in Paris next, you must check out 5 of the most beautiful Paris fashion museums whether you are passionate or simple curious.

Two that really a must are:
~ The Museum of Decorative Arts - Inaugurated in 1905 in a wing of thew Louvre museum, it houses an astonishing collection of decorative arts ans design. A collection of more than 150,000 pieces of fashion, man. woman and child. In 2017, their Dior collection attracted more than 700,000 visitors. 

~ The Yves Saint Laurent Museum - This brand new space hosts a retrospective of over 50 models accompanied by accessories, sketches, photographs and videos as well as the actual dresses of this fabulous designer. The highlight of course is to visit the studio of YSL that plunges one back into the origins of the Parisian house founded in 1961. 
Pre booking tickets is a must and you can do that online.

Traveling with a 'time machine' is no fantasy, it is now possible when visiting France ...

One of the great things ( among so many others) about France is their high speed rail system all throughout the country.












Based in Paris, you can take the train ( the TGV) and speed back in time to whatever century you prefer in less than 2 hours. Yes, its possible.

If you love history, France and lots of culture, then I recommend for a day taking the train to Normandy, more specific, to Rouen. Just 1 hr and 30 minutes.

Its here you'll find Joan of Arc, Richard the Lionhearted, Monet, and hundreds of timber-framed houses. great cafes and restaurants and shopping, oh! wow!

Its an easy walk from the train station ( 10 minutes) and its a walkable city with many streets closed to cars.

GIRAFE, A TERRACE FACING THE EIFFEL TOUR

Paris is alive with new, hot, restaurants and one of the best is GIRAFE. 

Inside ( with views of views Eiffel Tower) , its a cozy decor, cream banquettes, marble bar, tropical plants and the kitchen turns out an array of great seafood dishes. 

But, BUT the real treat here is the devastating terrace, one-on-one with the Eiffel Tower.
Book early, its hard to get...

Paris for a Sunday lunch – Where is the life that late I led? Totally gone. Totally dead, but its not...

Sunday ( or for that matter) Saturday in Paris  looking for an old fashioned typical French bistro  meal is hard to find.  So I can report, that my always go to place is still alive and well (it’s been around since 1908). The vintage bistro (lots and lots of regulars you’ll find here) La Fontaine de Mars (7e) with its happy red-and-white checkered tablecloths, its cozy neighborhood atmosphere, agreeable and funny waitstaff and just the best old time, French grandmas typing of cooking makes this a very happy place to spend 2 to 3 hours eating.

I love their oeufs au Madiran (two poached eggs in a sauce of reduced Madiran wine with onions and bacon chunks). Or I also love their leeks Vinaigrette, oh! oh! I'm dying here!!

Then if it’s a Saturday, you must order the special baby lamb. But oh! So many things on the menu and so good.

I can eat here every day of the week, it’s the France of old and its owners Jacques and Christiane BOUDON are consummate pros.

Below is the click on menu

https://www.fontainedemars.com/nos-menus-et-boissons/

Is this heaven? , No its France, the Domaine des Etangs to be exact.

Just three hours south of Paris, lies the lavish and unconventional five star resort encompassing 2000 acres of forest, lakes and rolling farmland, an 11th Century chateau , a Michelin starred restaurant, an contemporary  art collection ( a Picasso among them) , and a fantastic spa located in an old water mill, all this an just 11 fantastic suite rooms. Oh yes, located in the forest area are 7 lovely farm cottages to rent. 

The resort is a WOW and every facility of the highest standard.
For one would think this opulent French resort is formal and that would be the  furthest from the truth, its informal ( the  waiters in the Michelin restaurant wear jeans..save not your writer, who always dresses up)

In a word the resort is a triumph of good taste, eclecticism and whimsy.
A word of warning, if you are an 'A' type personality and need to have things to do every minute ( no golf here, no villages to visit etc)  then this is not the place for you., You are here to relax, eat well, nap, row a boat on one of the lakes, take a nap, do a massage, eat well and so forth.