Les Repas Chez Nous

Although we have had some extraordinary meals in a variety of restaurants, bistros and cafés, we have eaten most of our meals at home in our apartment. I would have to say, many of them have rivalled our restaurant meals. Because fresh produce, fish, meat, cheese and bread are abundant and can be purchased nearby, we tend to shop daily and cook what is fresh and in season. From the fish that Greg cooked....

to the vegetarian dishes created by Mick...

....to the fabulous meals that Keith has prepared, we have dined like royalty. Keith is a bit like McGyvor (the guy on TV who could make a flashlight out of a piece of duct tape, a shoelace and a paper clip). We don't have a lot of basics in our kitchen, but he looks to see what we do have and then magically creates a gourmet dish - Coq au Vin, Boeuf Bourguignon, Duck confit, omelettes, bread pudding etc.

Keith's bread pudding - delicious.

I have made the pasta Patricia taught me how to make with Roquefort, crème fraîche and fresh walnuts. It is a big hit and I think I have made it three times. Otherwise, I have been relegated to making the nightly salad and preparing the vegetables. Our dinners often end with a square of chocolate or perhaps one of the pastries from a local patisserie. 

The displays in the windows of patisseries in France are nothing short of art. Everything looks good and it usually is. Of course, all of our meals are accompanied by a choice of white, rosé or red wine. Wine is very reasonably priced here and I think we will be in for a rude awakening when we go home. Brian has been the solid clean-up guy. Every night he loads the dishwasher and washes the pots and pans. It has really been a very successful system. 

One last quick anecdote. When we flew here, the last leg of our journey was on Swiss Air. The steward and stewardess were just lovely. I landed up chatting with the steward in French about our plans to study and live in France for seven weeks.  He had served us some Swiss chocolate that was so good and I told him that Patricia used to serve a square of chocolate very night after dinner when I was living in Montpellier. Next thing I knew, he produced a paper bag full of Swiss chocolate to take with us. He said it likely wouldn't last us the whole time, but it certainly gave us a good start. Once again, aren't most people kind and generous?