Le Honeymoon: The Food and a Summary

OK, so I've made it through the summary of each day, but I'd like one more blog post to devote to the food, and to my general feelings about the trip. Let's get to the food first, shall we? (Duh) I don't have a boatload of things I'd like to say about the food, but there are a few key points that I'd like to make about American food culture versus French food culture in particular.

For example, I've already pointed out the absence of breakfast restaurants, as well as the later hour of dining. These are pretty big differences compared to here in the US, where we have all-day diners where you can get pancakes at 5:30 p.m., as well as "early-bird specials" that make it possible to eat dinner at 4:30 p.m.

Another big difference that I observed is their attitude towards "treat" food.

Looking at these pictures I'm curious about how much butter and sugar France consumes per year. Because they loooove their treats. We saw so many people eating pain au raisin, chocolate gateaus, and croissant--on the train, on the street, in restaurants, etc. The difference, I think, is the lack of obsessive guilt about these treats. (It's a cliché by now, but it's true.) Parents, after picking up their children from school, often give them chocolate or butter filled bread snacks. (Really, we saw this--they walk straight to the boulangerie after school for a treat to get them through to their late dinner.) This is just part of the everyday life and culture and thus kids (mostly) don't grow up feeling bad if they've eaten a mini-cake, or ashamed if they've consumed half a bar of chocolate. They also, as a result, (likely) don't _over consume_ these things the way we as Americans do.

After observing quite a few scenarios like this while in France I can also venture to say that they just enjoy the treats more. They savor them, take their time with them--generally just reveling in the pleasure of eating them. Indulgence, in France, is enjoyed, not regretted. These are generalizations, of course, based on one person's experience, but I'd say that these statements are, generally, true.

Another difference? The French have definitely not jumped on the gluten free train. For example, at the first cafe we visited in Paris, we witnessed several tables where the diners literally ordered a plate of different breads, accompanied by butter, for lunch. Seriously, like several huge hunks of baguette along with two croissant and perhaps another kind of pastry or bread. Since our return I've done some research and apparently there is at least one new restaurant in Paris that is gluten free, though I suspect gluten free in France will not become the craze that it is in the US.

Something else we noticed right away? The freshness and lightness of the salad dressings.

I'm not much of a salad dressing fan to begin with, but in the US the typical salad dressing is heavy and thick. In France, not so much. The dressing was either a simple vinegar/olive oil mixture--where you could taste that they just drizzled both on separately, without even mixing and fussing with them--or it was a very light dressing that tasted reminiscent of ranch dressing. I say reminiscent because it was worlds apart: much thinner, less heavy, and with more real flavor than a fatty thick taste. Does that make sense? The only downside to some of the salads? The use of lettuces that aren't always as nutritious, e.g. the iceberg lettuce above. I'm guessing they use whatever is most fresh, but as a psycho Boulder person I was always looking for the nutritious spinach rather than iceberg.

The final observation that I'll make about the food, especially the food in France, is it's general lack of variety. Yup. French food is lauded as the best and most delicious food in the world, and yet if you go into any cafe in Paris for a sandwich, you'll find only the same sandwiches, over and over, day in and day out. These might included caprese sandwiches like the one I had:

Or they'd include hard-boiled eggs and cheese, or some variation of meat (often ham or some kind of salami) and cheese. There are no hummus and sprouts sandwiches. There are no avocado sandwiches. And you will not find a sandwich with tuna salad on it. You may find a mini-quiche like the ones that we tried:

But you will not find a sandwiches like we have access to here in the US.

Though it is unrelated to food, another thing you'll find in France and Switzerland is a bunch of teenagers, all of whom smoke cigarettes. This was kind of kooky for us to see, but one day in Annecy we sat and had tea at an American-inspired restaurant and watched as thirty or so kids took their lunch break, a _large_ proportion of them taking cigarettes along with that lunch. And it's not because of a lack of advertising about the dangers of cigarettes: in the airport on the way home we were able to look at a package of cigarettes, and it says--in enormous letters--"SMOKING KILLS." Culturally, however, smoking is still too commonplace and acceptable, I'd guess.

Well, I think I've covered it all. The food, the sights, the fun. Tomorrow I'll be back with regular programming, which--I'll just give it away--includes a lot less butter and sugar and cheese:-(

My pants don't fit after all that butter and sugar and cheese, but wow, I would so do it all over again. Going to France and Switzerland was truly a dream vacation, and I didn't realize beforehand how much David and I needed the time to get away, be alone, and just be close with each other. I guess all I can say to sum up is to state the obvious: I'm a very lucky girl:-)

*What are your thoughts about salad dressing? Have I missed anything or gotten something wrong in my representations of the French?

Le Honeymoon, Day 9

On our last full day in Europe David and I got up early to take a train from Montreux to Zurich, Switzerland.

On the walk to the station we saw this:

Is it just me, or is the presence of bright and fresh fruits and vegetables on a city sidewalk just adorable and precious?!!

Ahem. The train ride to Zurich was a few hours, during which time we 1) listened to two women gossiping in French, and 2) stared at an older Italian gentleman while he read the newspaper. Once we got to Zurich we did the usual: check into our hotel, relax and check email, and then set out on the town to check things out.

Zurich did not disappoint, and it didn't hurt that we toured around while the sun was just about to set.

I think I posted these pictures already, but because of the dying light I don't have any other shots of the city itself:-( But let me just say that Zurich is beautiful. The Limmat River runs right through the city, and on either side of the river there are beautiful church spires and relatively short buildings, which makes for a more picturesque scene, as you can see.

Zurich is also pleasant because on each side of the river there are networks of streets just filled with shops. Apparently they like to shop in Zurich, because we walked on both sides of the river through a great deal of streets and shops.

Culturally, Zurich is also interesting because they speak Swiss-German and German more than French. In addition, David and I found the people generally more friendly, and also more willing to speak English if we asked. By contrast, in France they were clearly reluctant to speak English. We asked a girl at the airport the next day about this and she said that the French are notoriously unwilling to speak anything other than French. According to her they are also supposed to learn German in school but "they don't do it," she says.

After walking around town for awhile we happened upon _another_ Christmas festival! What are the odds?!! This one wasn't too big, but it was a chance for us to witness how much they love their sausages in Zurich and, I'd guess, in Germany.

People were walking along the river with friends, just munching on sausages plain, with a side of baguette. I'd like to see what kind of looks I'd get in Boulder, CO if I did this. People would probably stage some kind of intervention and assume I'd gone crazy--wheat and sausage??!! OMG.

For dinner in Zurich we had done some research and headed to Hiltl, which claims to be the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe. After a week of bread, cheese, and chocolate this was definitely calling us, and once we got there we saw why it was so popular. Hiltl is actually three different establishments: one is a fine dining veg restaurant, another is a bar/nightclub replete with a disco ball and after-hours dancing, and the other is a kind of deluxe hot bar for people to take from and eat there or takeaway.

The ambiance:

The food:

We opted for the hot bar option in the hopes that it would be less expensive, but unfortunately, not so much. That plate above, with a single glass of sparkling water, cost about $30. I know. I nearly cried too.

But, it _was_ really good. Not good enough for $30, but still really good (definitely better than Whole Foods hot bar). Clockwise from the top is tofu cutlets, some kind of vinegar cabbage/sauerkraut, a bit of spaetzle, a really good pretend caprese salad with flavorful tofu instead of mozzarella, some Indian-inspired rice, and a hunk of wheat bread. Also, there are quite a few brussels sprouts in the middle. Yum. We could never afford to eat here if we lived in Zurich, but as a treat--and a fun shock at the cash register--it was good. It was also totally packed with people at six-thirty, which goes to show the extreme difference between Zurich and the French cities that we visited. Vegetarian food? Eating at six-thirty? Crazy!

Dinner was followed by a long walk, after which we decided to get to bed early since we had to be up for the airport at four a.m. I would've liked to spend more time in Zurich, if only to go visit another cemetery, this once with James Joyce's body. Perhaps we'll go again after Popsockets makes us rich, right?

In the meantime, I won't forget how pretty it was:

This view from my iPhone camera was even better the next morning, when we flew along the Alps and I could see how far they stretched and how high they are. It was impressive, people.

And with that, our vacation was over. Aside from a ten-hour flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Denver, CO, during which I was squished between two gentlemen in a middle seat. Yah. And one of them had the worst breath I've ever smelled.

It was probably still worth it, though:-)

*Do you ever eat sausage plain, on a stick-like?

Le Honeymoon, Day 7

Yah, that's right. We went from Day 5 to 7. But that's because I'm a doofus and included both Annecy days in one blog post. But that's because there wasn't as much to see in Annecy, and thus it didn't warrant two blog days.

The same goes for our next honeymoon stop, which was Montreux, Switzerland. We left Annecy by bus because that was the easiest way to get to Geneva, Switzerland, which is where we took a direct train to Montreux. The bus was a nice change from the train because we drove through a number of small towns rather than just buzzing past them at the train station.

We got to Montreux mid-day and immediately set out exploring. Montreux is on Lake Geneva with a backdrop of, yup, you guessed it, the Alps. The city is set right onto the side of a cliff and against the lake, and reminded me of a city that would be in a James Bond movie. (There were casinos in the town too.)

Sadly, we didn't see Daniel Craig. But, we did see all this:

And this was our view from the complimentary breakfast buffet at our hotel:

I mean, really??!! This view really drove home the whole honeymoon feeling. I pretended I was like Elizabeth Bennet, in Switzerland on my European honeymoon tour, eating croissants and thinking about where I'd get my freaking trousseau.

In all seriousness, though, Montreux is absolutely beautiful. There is a path that winds along the lake on the edge of town, and even the shrubs along the path are beautiful:

Yup, that's a bush. Shaved down and cropped to look like a fox. A fox that was staring up at a bush that looked like a bird with cheese in its mouth. Swanky.

We walked along this path for about forty minutes to get to Chillon Castle, or Château de Chillon, which is one of Montreux's big tourism draws.

That's the castle to the left of the lake.

Chillon Castle is famous for a number of reasons, primary among them being that it dates to the medieval period, around the twelfth century. That's old, peeps. And, unlike a lot of old stuff in Europe, this hasn't been changed so much and you can still feel what it felt like to be in the castle when it was, well, not so old.

A view from the area that was used as a prison, most famously for a monk named François Bonivard, who was kept there for six years--four of them in chains!!

Apparently the English poet Lord Byron was also moved by Bonivard's story, since he wrote a poem about it after visiting the castle.

Byron's actual engraving during his visit:

More shots of the castle rooms and views:

My takeaway from this? Don't live in a medieval castle--they _are_ actually quite cold and dank. I can't imagine the aches and pains and chills that Mr. Bonivard probably endured.

As far as the food in Montreux, we found it pretty good. We had free breakfast for both days, which included more really good bread, some tastes of mini-pastries, fresh fruit, hardboiled eggs, prunes (yes, I know most Americans find them gross. But I don't, and neither do the French or the Swiss; in addition to seeing them on the breakfast bar we saw them a lot in the markets in Paris), and NUTELLA! Yes, in Switzerland they assume that you want Nutella on your toast. I missed my almond/peanut butter, but I got over it pretty quickly.

Another nice thing about Switzerland was that they opened restaurants before seven-thirty p.m.! I'm not sure if this offsets the extremely expensive prices that we found in Montreux, but I guess it helps.

On Thanksgiving we had actually just arrived in Montreux, so despite my best efforts to find somewhere that seemed Thanksgiving-y, we were tired and hungry and ended up having Chinese at a restaurant that, from the outside, did not look appealing. Actually, it looked a lot like a chain restaurant that you'd find in a strip mall.

And yet, it was good. They didn't have much vegetarian food, but we settled for some spicy green beans and rice, along with some spring rolls. Word to the wise: "spring roll" doesn't necessarily mean non-fried. Yup, we ordered egg rolls. That's fried greasy goodness, people.

On our second night in Montreux we decided to splurge and try a well-recommended (and very expensive) Italian restaurant named La Rouvenaz.

We started with an unpictured green salad and some red wine. For dinner, we split the veggie pizza and an eggplant pasta dish.

By this point in our trip I had decided to just embrace all the cheese.

After dinner David and I walked over to the main street in Montreux, where they were holding a Christmas festival. Actually, they were holding what is reputedly the largest Christmas festival in Switzerland. Meh. I've seen better. But, it was pretty romantic...

And it was also a nice bit of festivity since we had missed our American Thanksgiving and eaten Chinese food instead of mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.

Montreux was worth it, though. David and I both loved the town, the views, and the people. It was, quite simply, charming. You should do it to it if you get the chance.

In tomorrow's post: Zurich and the return home!

*How would you deal with eating Chinese food for Thanksgiving?

Le Honeymoon, Day 5

Day 5 of our honeymoon took us away from Paris and on to Annecy, France, which is a small town on the Eastern side of France--not too far from the borders of both Switzerland and Italy. You've probably never heard of Annecy, because it's not famous for much, except hosting a time trial stage during the 2009 Tour de France.

David and I decided to go to Annecy because it looked like a quaint Alpine village and we figured we'd appreciate that after four days in bustling Paris. And mostly, we did (more on this later).

We left Paris at approximately 11:30 and settled in for the 3.5 hour train ride to Annecy. Some of us slept like princesses

While others of us read and ate chocolate:

By the time we got to Annecy and to our hotel room, it was time for some relaxation before we headed out to explore the town and grab dinner. Staying in a hotel after the apartment in Paris felt luxurious, and it didn't hurt that they gave us Speculoos cookies in our room each day we were there!

After freshening up a bit, we "hit" the town. (David studies philosophy of language, so it's his fault that I do these ironic quotes now.)

Annecy is a pretty small town, with approximately 53,000 inhabitants. In some ways, its a lot like Vail, Colorado, which in case you haven't been, is kind of a "fake" Alpine village. Only Annecy, of course, is a "real" Alpine village with cobblestone streets, lots of shops, and a similar kind of local culture. We walked by a bar that was clearly the kind of place that snowboarders and skiers hung out after a day on the snow.

Some of the highlights that we saw during our first outing in Annecy included:

The Palais de I'Isle, which is a twelfth-century structure that was used for a prison and is set on a river that runs through the city. It was last used as a jail during World War II, which I think is pretty interesting.

The Annecy Cathedral (at night):

And, a random street scape:

The next day we also happened upon a really adorable little boulangerie that had clearly been in business for some time:

Is that not, like, the most quintessential French bakery shot ever? I swear this could be in a French textbook. I really wish I would've gotten a picture of the baker himself, because it would complete the picture that we saw of a baker who has been doing the same thing, everyday, for a long time. That is one thing the French really do understand--that in some areas it's important to do one or a few things really well rather than trying to do a hundred different things and ending up with mediocre products.

These, my friends, were not mediocre, and were instead made by a man who understands perfectly how do them:

One interesting tidbit about French food customs that I should note here is that breakfast at a boulangerie like this one, or a cafe, is just about the only breakfast dining experience you'll find. I mean, aside from hotel breakfasts that are meant for tourists, there just aren't breakfast restaurants the way we have them here. The French, on the whole, do not dine out for breakfast, except for the odd croissant and cafe breakfast. You definitely won't find oatmeal on any menus, and you're more likely to find an omelet at lunch than at breakfast. Go figure. Next time we go to France we'll have to get an invitation to a French family's home so they can make us some of that French toast.

Speaking of French named foods, David found some frites on Lake Annecy!

This was probably the third time we'd had frites en France, and though I didn't taste these I can say that they didn't look like anything special. I think we really missed out on the French fry thing. I mean, what if they have fries in France that are on the level with the ridiculously good cheese in France?!! And we didn't have any of them--just a few mediocre versions of them!!

While David ate his fries we walked along Lake Annecy, which was probably the biggest draw of the city for us.

I sure would like to live on a lake or a river.

At this point we had been walking around for several hours, so we went off to the hotel for another hour or so of relaxing before heading out again for dinner. Unfortunately, there wasn't much in the way of vegetarian food in Annecy. A lot of the restaurants in Annecy, and in Paris for that matter, were heavy on the duck, beef, chicken, and seafood. In Annecy that meant that we ate pizza two nights in a row, since pizza was the easiest thing for us to make vegetarian.

Pizza the second night:

The best thing about pizza in France is that they bring you a bottle of flavored olive oil to drizzle on your pizza. It usually has a mixture of spices, as well as several hot chilies in it, making it somewhat spicy but not overly so. It.Is.So.Good.

Despite the yummy olive oil drizzling possibilities, I was opted for a salad instead:

Lucky for me it was topped with the best feta cheese I've ever eaten...

Up next: crossing borders to Switzerland, and more butter and cheese!

*How many nights in a row could you eat pizza without getting sick of it?