Month: November 2023

Eating back in Normandie

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Food and drink4 Comments

When traveling we seek out good food, it is one of the most important things for us. I would rather find a good restaurant than visit most museums. Back home food continues to be a priority. We focus on vegetarian meals and seafood. Thankfully we can eat quite well here at La Thebauderie and our surrounding area. Here are a few of our meals since we returned from Norway.

Three dishes stand out as the best over the last couple of weeks. Tricia and I like to cook just as much as we like to eat, so two of the best meals were here at chez nous.

Le meilleur was the scallops that Tricia made last Sunday. Her scallops are alway très délicieux, but this time she outdid herself by creating a lemon butter sauce that is easily one of the best sauces I have ever had. She served them along with sautéed cauliflower and green beans.

Last Monday, I made a lunch of grilled anchovies and vegetables – I would have shared it with Tricia but she is not a fan of some of my grilled fish. Here in Europe canned fish are gourmet quality and considered a delight, unlike the reception they often receive in the US. These anchovies came from Brittany, don’t confuse them with the wonderful salty kind you find on a pizza, these are small whole fish.

We went to Le-Bistrot-Saint-Julien, the first restaurant we went to when we moved here in 2022, and it is still one of our favorites. It is located just a block a way from the chateau in the medieval part of Domfront. The menu-du-jour is usually my choice, this day we both chose it.

The entrée was goat cheese wrapped in a crispy thin dough and a salad.

The main was black cod and risotto, it was so good. Thankfully in France using a bit a bread to sop up the sauce on the plate is c’est normal.

We do like to eat, some of our best memories include food and friends. Tricia had a sign when we lived in Mukilteo, “If you love people cook them good food” – I think that was it. And if you don’t do the cooking then find good places to eat together.

Servers and other candid views

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Europe, Trips and travel4 Comments

As we walk the streets of European towns we often pass servers and clerks taking their breaks, often it is a pause fumeurs, a smoking break. While we were in Basel, Switzerland I started capturing some candid shots. My interest has expanded to other folks just doing life.

On our fjord cruise in Bergen.
Basel, Switzerland
Basel, Switzerland
Paris, France
Montsoreau, France
Honfleur, France
Arles, France
Honfleur, France
Honfleur, France
Carcassonne, France
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France
The signs can be confusing. Basel, Switzerland.

What better way to end this post than with a candid photo of my travel and life partner, The Accidental Photographer.

Tricia at Pont-du-Gard in Provence, France.

Tartar, grilled fish, and oysters, oh my!

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Food and drink, France4 Comments

In the movie The Big Chill, Jeff Goldblum’s character says: “Don’t knock rationalization. Where would we be without it? I don’t know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations.” Thankfully when it comes to food I excel at rationalization.

Beef would be far easier for me to give up than fish and seafood. Well of course “meat in tube form” (a nod to Anthony Bourdain) and steak tartar are completely rational exceptions.

Steak tartar is one of the foods that I eat more frequently than I did in pre-France days. Steak tartar is made of finely chopped raw beef, often seasoned with herbs, or in France mustard. Apparently Brits are not big fans of steak tartar since I have often had servers, assuming I am a Brit, ask me if I know what steak tartar is, but this expat does like steak tartar.

One of the best steak tartars I have ever had was at Restaurant le Cerasus in Saint Savin in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France. It had a lot of mustard, which in France is always Dijon, and it was served with frites, bien sûr.

Thanks Tricia for the photo.

Here are a few others, some better than others.

Another best – Basel, Switzerland
OK, not great
Good one, can’t remember where
Not great

Grilled fish, often whole, are another of my new favorites. This Flounder in Bergen was the first time I had flounder, I am now watching for it on menues.

A waiter in Quarteira, Portugal gave me some lessons on using the fish knives they provide and showed me the technique of separating the flesh from the bones after I ordered these grilled sardines. For those in the US who only think of canned sardines, these will make you reconsider. Grilled sardines are another of my favorites.

There are plenty of other options when it comes to grilled seafood.

Octopus in Honfleur
Trout in Bergen
In Alta, Norway

Coming from Puget Sound we are of course familiar with oysters, but for some reason since moving to France, and all of the traveling we do, oysters are on our table far more often, and they are far more affordable here.

I have heard the term “pescatarian” used to describe someone who eats seafood and an otherwise vegetarian diet. It describes me pretty well as long as you can accept my occasional rationalizations. Let’s not talk about shortbread cookies and Scotch, OK.

Some different sights of Norway

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Trips and travel6 Comments

Every trip and every travel destination have their iconic places and views, yet it is the surprises that add the seasonings that make it memorable. Here are a few from our visits to Norway this year.

I did this sketch of the Troll King at The Troll Museum in Tromsø last June. The Norse troll stories are such fun. Once you learn that trolls love the darkness, because they know that they will turn to stone if they see the sun, you begin to find stone trolls everywhere you look. If you are ever in Tromsø be sure to visit The Troll Museum, it is well worth the time.

We left Tromsø on a cruise headed north. The terrain soon became barren and rocky. The weather got colder and more windy. Our first stop was Hammersmith. It was blustery and bleak looking so we decided to stay onboard. After a bit I got restless, so, leaving Tricia to the comfort of the cabin, I headed for shore and the town. Walking along the road into town I came to a gardening and flower shop. The thought of plants and gardens just seemed out of place, though the colors were nice. I am sure the growing season that far north is quite short.

A couple of weeks ago we visited the Fram Museum in Oslo. The Fram was one of the ships that Amundsen used on his arctic explorations, and the whole ship is restored and inside the museum.

Thanks Tricia for the photo.

The ship was well equipped, complete with indoor, sort of, plumbing.

The train ride from Oslo to Bergen had plenty of beautiful sites, but to some of us this was quite a delightful view.

AND, it was one of the best hot dogs ever – apologies to my friend Dave who bought me many Husky Dogs at the University of Washington football games we went to.

On our first day in Bergen we rode the Fløibanen funicular up to the viewpoint – great views and mountain goats.

If you want to spend the night in the company of the goats there is an accommodation for rent.

That evening we went out for one of our favorite meals, Spanish tapas. Even in far away Bergen the realities of the world were brought near. I took this photo through the window of the restaurant. There was a protest going on regarding the Israel Gaza war. A bit chilling to have it this close, but thankfully it was peaceful.

On Thursday we took a cruise up the fjord. Tricia took a photo of another rare site.

Thankfully I bought a stocking cap from a shop the day before; it was really cold. I rarely wear them, but the delightful economics major working at the shop explained to me some different ways to wear them – I guess living in Norway you know such things. So me wearing that cap and drinking hot chocolate on a boat in a fjord qualifies as a strange site.

That afternoon we did some shopping. We stepped out of a shop and saw fire trucks just a block or so away. A bit more excitement in Bergen. BTW, on the left is the tour boat we were on.

As Tricia so frequently reminds us in her weekly postings of travel quotes, travel broadens our minds and brings surprises we would never imagine, I can’t agree more.