Tag: La Rochelle

Printemps en Normandie

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France6 Comments

Springtime in Normandie – food, a bit of sprucing of chez nous, and kicking-up our French.

Auberge de la Source in Sainte-Cyr-du-Bailleul remains our favorite place to eat in our area. We are regular enough that we share bisous (the French kiss on each cheek greeting) when we arrive and au bientôt when we depart. So it is always a treat to chat with the owners, she handles the front of the house, he, the classically trained chef, does the magic in the kitchen. Back from our trip to La Rochelle where we were spoiled with good food we headed to la Source for a local fix.

During the week the only offering is the menu du jour. Friday’s was of course perfect. It was bar, a common menu fish here, not so common in the US.

Tricia usually does not order the dessert, but she most always steals a bite or two of mine, you can see why.

It is Tuesday 9 May 2023 as I am writing this, we have been busy getting ready for tomorrow, when our dear friend Tim arrives to spend almost three weeks with us, on Friday his wife Lisa, another dear friend, who is conveniently married to Tim, it works out so well, will also arrive. Part of our preparation was redoing our gallery wall to accommodate an original painting we got from the artist named Canard in Ars-en-Ré while on our trip to La Rochelle. Here is his gallery and studio, he has been painting for years and I am sure some of the brushes and such are as old as I am.

He paints boats and people of the sea. We bought this painting as it reminds us of our trip and we also commented that it made us think of La Conner in Washington.

Here is the finished gallery wall, well as it is for now. We find that these walls are never finished and that is part of the pleasure of it all.

One of the reasons we came to France was to enjoy France more as residents than as tourists. Part of that has been the French languasge which we both have studied for years. Our Neighbors however all speak English, well the UK version of said language, so we don’t get to speak as much French as we would like. So we found a tutor. She is a delightful lady with a delightful chien, they all live in a house older than ours. AND … She said Tricia was the most advanced student she has, me, I get to play catch-up.

We so like France, the food, the art, well even the language though it is a challenge. It makes the expat challenges all worth it. Hope wherever you are reading this you take some time to appreciate the beauty around you and the joy of good food and friends.

La Rochelle, Not New Rochelle

On By Terry ChristophersonIn France, Trips and travel4 Comments

La Rochelle is located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine on the Atlantic coast, about a four hour drive southwest of us. Though rich in history and reputation, thanks to the Dick van Dyke Show, my enthusiasm did not match Tricia’s though I never said anything. Every time she would mention going there, reminding me of the city’s frequent mentions in the book “A Bite Size History of France,” which we had both read, the first image that came to my mind was Dick van Dyke who lived in New Rochelle on his old TV show.

Well, we went to La Rochelle and I am so glad we did. It is one of my favorite places in France, hard to make a list of better places, and of course one of the criteria for a great place is the food, La Rochelle has some of the best we have had.

The Pont de I’le de Ré takes you to I’le de Ré. It is 19 miles long and 3 miles wide, with a number of small communities. We ate lunch at La Marine in the village of Saint-Martin-de-Ré. We ate outside next to the harbour and of course had seafood. Tricia had hake, which she said was great, I stole a bite and do agree. I had Cocotte de la Mer, a seafood stew of mussels, shrimp, langoustines, and shellfish, in a cream sauce all baked with a puff pastry crust. (You get just a peek of Tricia’s hake in the distance.)

A wonderful meal for sure, the sauce was so rich and the seafood perfect.

The next day we ate near the old harbour in La Rochelle. We had heard that Andre’s restaurant was the best in the area, but we passed by it as a bit touristy. Just a few yards down the street we stopped in front of Le Bistrot d’la Chaîne, greeted by the delightful owner we took a table, and we are so glad we did. Other bistrots around us and the crêperie across from us had more people, but I know none of them, including the patrons at Andre’s, had a better experience than we did.

We both had one of the best meals ever, the kind that makes it difficult to recall any other meal that was ever more enjoyable. The service was perfect, she helped us with our French, we watched a parade of people walking by, and spent a pleasant couple of hours on a warm but not hot day.

After an entrée of raw oysters our mains came. Tricia had scallops, I had grilled shrimp and risotto.

Thanks to Tricia for the photo

Travel is about learning and of course food. Two lessons from this trip. First off don’t let old blurry mental images prevent you from visiting a place you really have no sharp image of. The second lesson, which I have mentioned before, is to not rely too much on guide books or other bloggers, yep that includes me, for your decisions. You might go to Andre’s and have the meal of your life, or you might go to d’la Chaîne and wonder why we raved. All I know is we loved La Rochelle, and really loved the two meals we had there – we are pretty sure we will return.

So keep trying new places and tastes, you will discover the wonder of the world along the way.