France vacation post 3 -The 排行榜 Part 1
Overpowering smell 排行榜
All top 3 dishes have been ordered and stomached by my husband. Ok, I take back my statement in the last blog entry that he's unadventurous.
1. Stewed beef tripe
at Mont St-Michele legendary restaurant La Mère Poulard.
2. Mussels
Mont St Michele (across the cross way), Le Relais Du Roy
3. Normandy cheese
Mont St Michele (across the cross way), Le Relais Du Roy
Museum 排行榜
1. Musée National d'Art Moderne
I think many people will be shocked the number one is not Musée Du Louvre or Musée d'Orsay.
I admit I'm an Art-idiot so please do not start criticizing my judgement. I put Musée National d'Art Moderne as number one because my husband and I had a fun time there. The art pieces were totally incomprehensible to us so we used a bit of our imagination.
Look at the art pieces in the photos below. Aren't they absolutely mind-blowing?
2. Musée d'Orsay
Had a great time here. We needed to rush to the train station to catch a train at 2pm, so we reached the museum very early (first few to enter). The crowd was milder than Musée Du Louvre so I felt more comfortable. Saw the paintings of famous artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet. There were also very interesting nude paintings which made my husband and I giggle like kids.
We also had lunch at the beautiful restaurant in the museum.
3. Musée Du Louvre
Again, we were queueing at the entrance before the doors open at 9am. My travel companion even bought tickets online, so that we didn't have to queue at the ticket booths inside. We went straight to see the Mona Lisa once inside while there was no crowd, and we were able to spend a few minutes of intimate moments with it. Don't laugh, we saw the crowd when we returned to the area few hours later - the painting, from the distance and over the bobbing heads, could be only as big as your thumb.
It was interesting to see paintings and art pieces which I'd previously only seen in books or other media, like the Venus de Milo, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Winged Victory of Samothrace etc.
Standard photo to be taken with the pyramid at Musée Du Louvre - touching the tip of the pyramid.
Favourite Restaurant 排行榜
1. Café MANCEL
Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Château
Caen
We stopped over at Caen on our way back to Paris from Mont St-Michel. We visited the Chateau, and after the long walk with our 2 days' nightpack in tow, we were exhausted. There was only one restaurant in the castle, so we decided to take a rest and eat lunch there.
We were surprised to see the Michelin Guide sticker on the door, not a star but a bib gourmand. Still, I didn't expect this in such a ulu place. This is not the reason why we rank it number one though. Among all the local french restaurants we have eaten in these 2 weeks' vacation, this was the only one which I had the "wow" feel. Most other french restaurants left me feeling I have ordered the wrong thing on the menu or I have difficulty finishing the whole dish.
My husband ordered an entree+plat, while I ordered a plat+dessert. The lamb I ordered was perfect. Even the sides, potatoes and mushrooms, were lovely. Dessert was apple tart with caramel ice cream. I think I've eaten a few different apple desserts in Mont St-Michel and Caen, apples must be a specialty in the Normandy region.
2. Restaurant Thailandaise
La Motte-Picquet Grenelle, Paris
I guess I was really not used to French food. Other than the French restaurant who took the top spot above, I could not fully enjoy my French meals, they always leave something to be desired.
Fortunately we found some good Asian restaurants in France! Ok, some think we are crazy to look for Asian food in France. I guess it's hard to understand unless you have been working in the Middle East for an extended period of time. Before I started working overseas, I took everything I have back home for granted. Now, I would rather go back to Singapore and take the terrible and cramped MRT (than driving in Qatar with the crazy drivers here) and eat simple chee cheong fun.
3. Le Sardaigne
1 pl Mendes, 51200 Epernay, France
We settled in this restaurant for dinner in Epernay. It's Italian, which is more palatable to me than French food.
All three dishes which we ordered were good. The pizza was great. We saw the chef making pizzas in front of a big furnace at the door. Usually I don't like pizzas but this certainly won me over. The hot salad was also very good.
All top 3 dishes have been ordered and stomached by my husband. Ok, I take back my statement in the last blog entry that he's unadventurous.
1. Stewed beef tripe
at Mont St-Michele legendary restaurant La Mère Poulard.
2. Mussels
Mont St Michele (across the cross way), Le Relais Du Roy
3. Normandy cheese
Mont St Michele (across the cross way), Le Relais Du Roy
Museum 排行榜
1. Musée National d'Art Moderne
I think many people will be shocked the number one is not Musée Du Louvre or Musée d'Orsay.
I admit I'm an Art-idiot so please do not start criticizing my judgement. I put Musée National d'Art Moderne as number one because my husband and I had a fun time there. The art pieces were totally incomprehensible to us so we used a bit of our imagination.
Look at the art pieces in the photos below. Aren't they absolutely mind-blowing?
2. Musée d'Orsay
Had a great time here. We needed to rush to the train station to catch a train at 2pm, so we reached the museum very early (first few to enter). The crowd was milder than Musée Du Louvre so I felt more comfortable. Saw the paintings of famous artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet. There were also very interesting nude paintings which made my husband and I giggle like kids.
We also had lunch at the beautiful restaurant in the museum.
3. Musée Du Louvre
Again, we were queueing at the entrance before the doors open at 9am. My travel companion even bought tickets online, so that we didn't have to queue at the ticket booths inside. We went straight to see the Mona Lisa once inside while there was no crowd, and we were able to spend a few minutes of intimate moments with it. Don't laugh, we saw the crowd when we returned to the area few hours later - the painting, from the distance and over the bobbing heads, could be only as big as your thumb.
It was interesting to see paintings and art pieces which I'd previously only seen in books or other media, like the Venus de Milo, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Winged Victory of Samothrace etc.
Standard photo to be taken with the pyramid at Musée Du Louvre - touching the tip of the pyramid.
Favourite Restaurant 排行榜
1. Café MANCEL
Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Château
Caen
We stopped over at Caen on our way back to Paris from Mont St-Michel. We visited the Chateau, and after the long walk with our 2 days' nightpack in tow, we were exhausted. There was only one restaurant in the castle, so we decided to take a rest and eat lunch there.
We were surprised to see the Michelin Guide sticker on the door, not a star but a bib gourmand. Still, I didn't expect this in such a ulu place. This is not the reason why we rank it number one though. Among all the local french restaurants we have eaten in these 2 weeks' vacation, this was the only one which I had the "wow" feel. Most other french restaurants left me feeling I have ordered the wrong thing on the menu or I have difficulty finishing the whole dish.
My husband ordered an entree+plat, while I ordered a plat+dessert. The lamb I ordered was perfect. Even the sides, potatoes and mushrooms, were lovely. Dessert was apple tart with caramel ice cream. I think I've eaten a few different apple desserts in Mont St-Michel and Caen, apples must be a specialty in the Normandy region.
2. Restaurant Thailandaise
La Motte-Picquet Grenelle, Paris
I guess I was really not used to French food. Other than the French restaurant who took the top spot above, I could not fully enjoy my French meals, they always leave something to be desired.
Fortunately we found some good Asian restaurants in France! Ok, some think we are crazy to look for Asian food in France. I guess it's hard to understand unless you have been working in the Middle East for an extended period of time. Before I started working overseas, I took everything I have back home for granted. Now, I would rather go back to Singapore and take the terrible and cramped MRT (than driving in Qatar with the crazy drivers here) and eat simple chee cheong fun.
3. Le Sardaigne
1 pl Mendes, 51200 Epernay, France
We settled in this restaurant for dinner in Epernay. It's Italian, which is more palatable to me than French food.
All three dishes which we ordered were good. The pizza was great. We saw the chef making pizzas in front of a big furnace at the door. Usually I don't like pizzas but this certainly won me over. The hot salad was also very good.
posted by WSW at 1:42 AM
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