Pics posted.

Coming to you for the lovely Novotel in Amboise. Great view.
Restaurant area is lovely - lots of glass windows overlooking lots of
pretty green grass and a castle.

From my post to my website:
Dinner aboard Air France Flight Number 39 was served shortly after
takeoff:* Champagne, barley salad with cilantro and tuna, bread and
butter, chicken fricassee with mustard accompanied by mashed potatoes
with spinach folded in, red or white white wine, camembert, chocolate
pudding, and chocolate brownie with dehydrated banana chips on top, and
coffee or tea.* It was nice.* Metal flatware and glass wine glass
instead of plastic and plastic.* The pear liqueuer after dinner was very
nice, too. *

And

OK, I'm running out of steam here....
Just returned from dinner in our hotel.* It was very nice:* sliced pork
tenderloin, haricots verts, pommes with chunky cheese mixed in, and a
slice of eggplant with a tomato sauce on top.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Huffy and Bubbles Do France: http://www.jamlady.eboard.com

On Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:36:56 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>Dinner aboard Air France Flight Number 39 was served shortly after
>takeoff:* Champagne, barley salad with cilantro and tuna, bread and
>butter, chicken fricassee with mustard accompanied by mashed potatoes
>with spinach folded in, red or white white wine, camembert, chocolate
>pudding, and chocolate brownie with dehydrated banana chips on top, and
>coffee or tea.* It was nice.* Metal flatware and glass wine glass
>instead of plastic and plastic.* The pear liqueuer after dinner was very
>nice, too. *

Sounds first class, errr like you flew first class. In any case,
sounds nice. Did your napkin have a button hole in it?

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smile first

"Melba's Jammin'" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> Pics posted.
>
> Coming to you for the lovely Novotel in Amboise. Great view.
> Restaurant area is lovely - lots of glass windows overlooking lots of
> pretty green grass and a castle.
>
> From my post to my website:
> Dinner aboard Air France Flight Number 39 was served shortly after
> takeoff: Champagne, barley salad with cilantro and tuna, bread and
> butter, chicken fricassee with mustard accompanied by mashed potatoes
> with spinach folded in, red or white white wine, camembert, chocolate
> pudding, and chocolate brownie with dehydrated banana chips on top, and
> coffee or tea. It was nice. Metal flatware and glass wine glass
> instead of plastic and plastic. The pear liqueuer after dinner was very
> nice, too.
>
> And
> -Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ

If Paris is in your plans I have no hesitation in recommending "L'Ambassade
de'Auvergne" which is not very far from Place des Vosges on the Arts et
Metiers direction. The star dish I think is the warm lentil salad big
enough to serve the whole table and good enough to recreate and share with
the world. I did not liuke the famous mashed potatoes with cheese, nor the
pot au feu, but the rest of the food was terrific and it wasn't expensive
(for Paris.)

In article >,
"Giusi" > wrote:
>
> If Paris is in your plans I have no hesitation in recommending "L'Ambassade
> de'Auvergne" which is not very far from Place des Vosges on the Arts et
> Metiers direction. The star dish I think is the warm lentil salad big
> enough to serve the whole table and good enough to recreate and share with
> the world. I did not liuke the famous mashed potatoes with cheese, nor the
> pot au feu, but the rest of the food was terrific and it wasn't expensive
> (for Paris.)


Merci, madame. I will present the suggestion to my traveling companion.
:-)
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Huffy and Bubbles Do France: http://www.jamlady.eboard.com

Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> "Giusi" > wrote:
> >
> > If Paris is in your plans I have no hesitation in recommending "L'Ambassade
> > de'Auvergne"
>
> Merci, madame. I will present the suggestion to my traveling companion.
> :-)

I can also recommend Thoumieux in the 7th arrondissement on rue
Dominique (Métro: Invalides). Their confit de canard (duck confit),
served with garlicky potatoes, is one of the best anywhere.

Down the street, in the direction of the Eiffel Tower, there is another
restaurant specialising in southwestern dishes, La Fontaine de Mars.
They stock Madiran wines from Alain Brumont, probably the best winemaker
in the region. The top wine is Ch. Montus, but Ch. Bouscassé is almost
as good and much more affordable.

Another interesting place is is the recently restored Pharamond in the
1st arr. on rue de la Grande Truanderie (Métro: Les Halles). They
specialise in Normandy dishes, one of them tripes à l mode de Caen. The
Art Nouveau interior is spectacular.

L'AOC, in the 5th arr. on 14, rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard calls itself
"bistrot carnivore" and that is what it is. The meat, etc. is very
good. They serve roasted bone marrow on toast, among other things.

Le Grand Colbert in the 2nd arr. on rue Vivienne is a good-value (for
Paris) southwestern bistro with a beautiful decor.

If you want to splurge, go to the famous L'Ami Louis in the 3rd arr. on
rue du Vertbois. Everything is prepared as simply as possible, mostly
by roasting or grilling ingredients of the best quality. A single
portion of anything, particularly of foie gras, will easily feed three
or four. They serve great snails, great frog legs, great roast chicken
(maybe the best anywhere), etc. You will pay at least 130 euros a
person, maybe more.

For good food at not so high prices, also consider one of the great
brasseries. Julien, in the out-of-the-way 10th arr. on rue du Faubourg
Saint Denis (Métro: Strasbourg Saint Denis) has a spectacular decor and
good food. Consider also the famous La Coupole in the 14th on
Montparnasse, Bofinger in the 4th near Bastille, Brasserie Flo in the
10th, or Terminus Nord in the 1th.

BTW, reservations are usually needed at all of the above restaurants.

If you want to buy food, go to Lafayette Gourmet, a food hall of
Galeries Lafayette, in the 9th, on blvd. Haussmann, near Opéra Garnier.

For getting around Paris, walk or take métro trains. Purchase a carnet
(pronounced car-neh) of ten tickets for 11.10 euros. A single ticket
costs 1.50 euros.

Bubba

"Victor Sack" > ha scritto nel messaggio

> For getting around Paris, walk or take métro trains. Purchase a carnet
> (pronounced car-neh) of ten tickets for 11.10 euros. A single ticket
> costs 1.50 euros.
>
> Bubba

While you are being so generous, Bubba, can you name a Basque restaurant
that is a block or so away from Bon Marche on the street which divides the
two buildings? For spicy lovers, Basque was a surprising but happy choice,
but neither of us remembers the name.


--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

Giusi > wrote:

> While you are being so generous, Bubba, can you name a Basque restaurant
> that is a block or so away from Bon Marche on the street which divides the
> two buildings? For spicy lovers, Basque was a surprising but happy choice,
> but neither of us remembers the name.

Let's see... must be M° Sèvres-Babylone... so maybe it was La Taverne
Basque at 45, rue du Cherche-Midi? The location is about right. I have
never eaten there, though.

BTW, I forgot to mention another place I like, the little Vieux Bistro.
In view of its ultra-touristic location, just by the side of Notre Dame,
it may appear an unlikely choice, yet, surprisingly, it is a genuine
article, frequented mostly by the locals. Their civet de canard, duck
stew, is one of the best dishes I have eaten anywhere. It is made in a
traditional way, with duck blood, so the sauce is almost black. It is
an embodiment of savoury succulence. Their wine list is great, too.

Bubba

On Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:54:28 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> fired up random neurons and synapses to
opine:

>In article >,
> "Giusi" > wrote:
>>
>> If Paris is in your plans I have no hesitation in recommending "L'Ambassade
>> de'Auvergne" which is not very far from Place des Vosges on the Arts et
>> Metiers direction. The star dish I think is the warm lentil salad big
>> enough to serve the whole table and good enough to recreate and share with
>> the world. I did not liuke the famous mashed potatoes with cheese, nor the
>> pot au feu, but the rest of the food was terrific and it wasn't expensive
>> (for Paris.)
>
>
>Merci, madame. I will present the suggestion to my traveling companion.
>:-)

Erk! "Traveling companion"? Rob? I mean, inquiring minds want to
know...

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
--
"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

-- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "meatloaf" with "cox"

In article >,
Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:

> On Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:54:28 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > fired up random neurons and synapses to
> opine:
>
> >In article >,
> > "Giusi" > wrote:
> >>
> >> If Paris is in your plans I have no hesitation in recommending
> >> "L'Ambassade de'Auvergne" which is not very far from Place des
> >> Vosges on the Arts et Metiers direction. The star dish I think is
> >> the warm lentil salad big enough to serve the whole table and good
> >> enough to recreate and share with the world. I did not liuke the
> >> famous mashed potatoes with cheese, nor the pot au feu, but the
> >> rest of the food was terrific and it wasn't expensive (for Paris.)
> >

> >
> >Merci, madame. I will present the suggestion to my traveling companion.
> >:-)
>
> Erk! "Traveling companion"? Rob? I mean, inquiring minds want to
> know...
>
> Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

Yeah, him. Huffy/Grumpy. After my $5 euro 20 capuccino after dinner
tonight, I'm not sure where I'll get him to go. We're doing okay
together and we're already 5 days into 9. That's different.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Huffy and Bubbles Do France: http://www.jamlady.eboard.com

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >,
> Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:54:28 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>> > fired up random neurons and synapses to
>> opine:
>>
>>> In article >,
>>> "Giusi" > wrote:
>>>> If Paris is in your plans I have no hesitation in recommending
>>>> "L'Ambassade de'Auvergne" which is not very far from Place des
>>>> Vosges on the Arts et Metiers direction. The star dish I think is
>>>> the warm lentil salad big enough to serve the whole table and good
>>>> enough to recreate and share with the world. I did not liuke the
>>>> famous mashed potatoes with cheese, nor the pot au feu, but the
>>>> rest of the food was terrific and it wasn't expensive (for Paris.)
>
>>> Merci, madame. I will present the suggestion to my traveling companion.
>>> :-)
>> Erk! "Traveling companion"? Rob? I mean, inquiring minds want to
>> know...
>>
>> Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
>
> Yeah, him. Huffy/Grumpy. After my $5 euro 20 capuccino after dinner
> tonight, I'm not sure where I'll get him to go. We're doing okay
> together and we're already 5 days into 9. That's different.
Well, if your marriage can withstand the trials and tribulations of
traveling in foreign climes together it can withstand anything.

Miz Anne and I nearly divorced several times when we lived overseas for
five years. She wanted to go to every museum and art gallery on every
continent and I maintained that once we had looked at all the pictures
and statues of naked people there was nothing left worth seeing.

All the pictures taken on our last trip to France all show me sitting in
some sidewalk cafe smoking and drinking good coffee. All except the one
showing me flashing the statue of Eve in the Rodin garden. <BSEG>

Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> Yeah, him. Huffy/Grumpy. After my $5 euro 20 capuccino after dinner
> tonight, I'm not sure where I'll get him to go.

He ought to divorce you at once!. Cappuccino is a breakfast beverage!

Bubba

On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:24:29 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> fired up random neurons and synapses to
opine:

>Yeah, him. Huffy/Grumpy. After my $5 euro 20 capuccino after dinner
>tonight, I'm not sure where I'll get him to go. We're doing okay
>together and we're already 5 days into 9. That's different.

Uh, Barb...no matter what happens, I'll swear you were with me at the
time.

--

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

"Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch!"

-- W.C. Fields

Giusi > wrote:

> If Paris is in your plans I have no hesitation in recommending "L'Ambassade
> de'Auvergne"

Yes, now that the daughter of the house has taken over the reins, the
restaurant has been improving again.

> which is not very far from Place des Vosges on the Arts et
> Metiers direction. The star dish I think is the warm lentil salad big
> enough to serve the whole table and good enough to recreate and share with
> the world.

Salade tiède de lentilles vertes du Puy. Yes, it is very good.

> I did not liuke the famous mashed potatoes with cheese,

With garlic, too. It is called aligot and I like it.

> nor the
> pot au feu,

You've been there on a Monday, then. It is when they serve pot-au-feu.
It is not really the dish to order there. One should stick to their
regional specialties. Stuffed cabbage, cabbage salad, cabbage soup with
roquefort, saucisses d'Auvergne with aligot, or beef from Salers are
better bets.

> but the rest of the food was terrific and it wasn't expensive
> (for Paris.)

And there are some wines which are hard to find elsewhere, such as the
white Saint-Pourçain and the red Chanturgue.

Victor

"Victor Sack" > ha scritto nel messaggio
. ..
> Giusi > wrote:
>
>> If Paris is in your plans I have no hesitation in recommending
>> "L'Ambassade
>> de'Auvergne"
>Salade tiède de lentilles vertes du Puy. Yes, it is very good.

How nice to find someone who knows it!
I came home and over time developed the recipe for it, which I have been
serving ever since. Italians usually don't like powerful flavors and most
think mustard is strange, but they all love that salad.
>
>> I did not liuke the famous mashed potatoes with cheese,
>
> With garlic, too. It is called aligot and I like it.

I disliked the runny texture which reminds me of paste, and the dramatic
sheeting off the beating spoon makes it look even more like paste.
>
>> nor the
>> pot au feu,
>
> You've been there on a Monday, then. It is when they serve pot-au-feu.

Perhaps. I probably would not like any restaurant pot au feu, because the
many days in a row cooking that I learned as a child is not really practical
in restaurants, and perhaps in some places not ieven legal. I make it once
a year and invite as many diners as I have chairs. Mine is Bretagne style
with the bag of stuffing, and even though some of the parts look seriously
strange to modern diners, even kids end up eating all the parts. I do try
to do cosmetics to certain meats once cooked before reheating. Their pot au
feu was just like a meat stew unthickened or a particularly chunky soup.

> And there are some wines which are hard to find elsewhere, such as the
> white Saint-Pourçain and the red Chanturgue.
>
> Victor

In this case we let the waiter decide but told him our price limit. We ate
at the big communal table at the rear and ended up sharing tastes of
everything with the other diners at that table, who were all French and all
friendly. AAMOF, I have never experienced the snobbishness and rudeness
people complain of, and I cannot figure out where it comes from. Perhaps
when they break one of the unwritten rules of politeness they take the
severe looks too seriously?

Giusi > wrote:

> "Victor Sack" > ha scritto
> > Giusi > wrote:
> >
> >> "L'Ambassade de'Auvergne"
> >Salade tiède de lentilles vertes du Puy. Yes, it is very good.
>
> How nice to find someone who knows it!
> I came home and over time developed the recipe for it, which I have been
> serving ever since. Italians usually don't like powerful flavors and most
> think mustard is strange, but they all love that salad.

Care to post your recipe?

> Perhaps. I probably would not like any restaurant pot au feu, because the
> many days in a row cooking that I learned as a child is not really practical
> in restaurants, and perhaps in some places not ieven legal.

Why many days? Do you contrive an "eternal kettle", as described by
Dumas in his Dictionary?

> In this case we let the waiter decide but told him our price limit. We ate
> at the big communal table at the rear and ended up sharing tastes of
> everything with the other diners at that table, who were all French and all
> friendly. AAMOF, I have never experienced the snobbishness and rudeness
> people complain of, and I cannot figure out where it comes from. Perhaps
> when they break one of the unwritten rules of politeness they take the
> severe looks too seriously?

I have never seen any snobbishness or rudeness, either. The "rude
French waiter" is a myth, too, as far as my experience goes.

Victor

"Victor Sack" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> Giusi > wrote:
>
>> "Victor Sack" > ha scritto
>> > Giusi > wrote:
>> >
>> >> "L'Ambassade de'Auvergne"
>> >Salade tiède de lentilles vertes du Puy. Yes, it is very good.
>>
>> How nice to find someone who knows it!
>> I came home and over time developed the recipe for it, which I have been
>> serving ever since. Italians usually don't like powerful flavors and
>> most
>> think mustard is strange, but they all love that salad.
>
> Care to post your recipe?

Salade de Lenteilles Auvergnaise

About a pound of large green lentils- or other
1 carrot chopped very fine
1 1/2 small onion chopped fine
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cubes or spoons of vegetable broth beads or Better than Bouillon
about 2 ounces of country style ham cut into batons of about 1/3 inch by 2?
about 1/4 cup good strong French style mustard
about 2 Tbsp of dry mustard powder mixed with water to form a creamy paste
and left to develop flavor

Warm a large heavy pot, and put in the oil, the carrots, onion and ham.
Sauté' until the onion is clear. Add the lentils, stirring them into the
mixture, then cover with hot water to about an inch over them. Simmer until
the lentils are almost done, adding water as needed, then add salt but keep
it just a little less salty than if you were eating them alone.
Take about 1/3 of the lentils out of the pot and stir in the prepared
mustard. Start stirring in the homemade mustard and tasting. It should go
right up your nose without burning your tongue very badly. Take it all the
way to hot, stirring and tasting, because you have the other lentils to draw
back with if you go too far.
This should jump right on your tongue, make your nose run, and the lentils
should remain firmish. If they break up a bit, add more mustard and then add
back some of the whole ones.
Served warm as a first course, like soup.

It's published on my blog and is very popular. It's also good without the
ham.
>
>> Perhaps. I probably would not like any restaurant pot au feu, because
>> the
>> many days in a row cooking that I learned as a child is not really
>> practical
>> in restaurants, and perhaps in some places not even legal.
>
> Why many days? Do you contrive an "eternal kettle", as described by
> Dumas in his Dictionary?
>
I think that started it, but for me it also is because I cannot lift a huge
stock pot, so I have to cook in a normal sized one and that means one meat
each day, veal, pork, chicken at minimum, reserving and starting the next
day's meat with yesterday's stock. Over time it has evolved to also allow
trimming, removing excess fat, prettifying the meats before they all go into
the now very enriched stock for a final warming.

>>I have never experienced the snobbishness and rudeness
>> people complain of, and I cannot figure out where it comes from. Perhaps
>> when they break one of the unwritten rules of politeness they take the
>> severe looks too seriously?
>
> I have never seen any snobbishness or rudeness, either. The "rude
> French waiter" is a myth, too, as far as my experience goes.
>
> Victor

I think it would make me laugh. There is a cosmetic counter in Florence
famous for rude and dismissive clerks. I keep waiting for one of them to
ignore me so I can give them the service lecture, but they never do!
--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com