Dinner at The Barbaconne

July 12, 2007

Michelin Dinner at The Barbaconne

We dined at the fabulous Michelin restaurant, The Barbaconne, located in our hotel, The Hotel De La Cite. The space was exquisite. As soon as I get the hang of this photo placement thing, I'll attach some. I'm a total Luddite.

We ordered the eight course prix fixe which began with abalone on skewers – tres magnifique! Followed by ratatouille puree accompanied by a perfectly cooked legume salad festooned with truffles, carrot, and onion. Next was the ubiquitous Fois Gras with balsamic glaze, chocolate peanuts, and orange marmalade. I realize I've just lost all my PETA readers. Sorry guys, you only live once and you can't tell me that geese suffer from PTSD. Sea Bass with artichoke, mint, kalamata olive puree, sweet basil and tomato followed. Thank God I wear elastic. The next course would repulse many, especially my mother, which made me want to try it even more. Pigeon fillet and potato galette with phyllo wrapped pigeon marrow. These looked like little cigars. The flavor of pigeon very much resembled chicken thigh. I successfully banished all thoughts of pigeon-poop. Many delicious cheeses were served from a groaning cart. We selected the stinkiest and runniest. This again, would totally repulse my mother. The dessert was some decadent chocolate creation that was far too beautiful to disturb. Naturally, way too many wines were served to accurately describe and make any sense at all... Suffice to say, everything was bountiful and fantastic.

Bon Appetit from the Languedoc!

Carcassonne

7/11/07

Carcassonne

It's truly a magical medieval place. Our hotel is lovely and they upgraded us to a nice suite at the same price. I'm suspicious.... We're probably just over the drunken live medieval music venue. I'm enjoying it while I can.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch in the walled city. I had a shirred egg cooked over tomato sauce in a custard cup and Charlie enjoyed a calorie-cholesterol laden cassoulet overflowing with duck fat and sausage. No nursing homes for us. No siree. Carpe Diem!

The hotel is situated next to a basillica and a stones throw from the castle. In between there are many windy cobblestone paths lined with touristy tapestry, t-shirt, and medieval figurine junk shops. It's sort of like a “Medieval Branson”, but truly historic and quaint nonetheless.

We've found it difficult to get a bad meal or a nasty glass of wine or beer.

Tomorrow, we go to the “New” Carcassonne. It's only about 600 years old. We plan to troll around the Thursday Open Air Food & Flower Market. We're also going on a vineyard wine tasting tour in the afternoon and dining in the hotel's Michelin Star Restaurant.

Friday, we hope to tour the castle and plan to attend a tapas cooking class and dinner at a local chef's home. She offers a number of themed classes to guests of the hotel. Her name is Nathalie Valnary and she had published a number of cookbooks in France and Holland.

My mother's concerned about our barge cruise. She's insisting we absolutely cancel if there are no toilets or if bed bugs are present. She has great faith in my trip planning abilities. And, frankly, after the Ryan Air Ripoff, she might be right!

We had dinner at a little restaurant that the hotel recommended. Naturally, it was superb. Charlie had the prix fixe which included the ubiquitous fois gras followed by monkfish with artichokes and tomatoes and concluding with a decadent French dessert of some kind. I tried not to notice. I had seabass carpaccio. I've never seen this on a menu. It was fascinating and delicious. It was served with slivered fennel and cottage cheese, of all things. It was luscious with that anisey zing. No dessert for me.

We slept great, probably 12-13 hours. Nice catch up.

Watching CNN International the next morning, I noticed a glitzy ad, “Come to Bosnia and Herzegovina and enjoy The Good Life” while showing breathtaking stretches of coastline, exquisite wines and cheeses, blah, blah, blah... Imagine just 15 years ago it was a fricking war zone. My brother-in-law resigned his military commission to AVOID going there.

The light bulb went off in my head. But, of course, mais oui, this is the answer for Iraq. Just send in the fine folks from Disney and Carnival Cruise Lines, maybe even Dolly Parton and the Branson City Council. They could rehabilitate the place and turn it into a war ruins destination point. Just imagine cruising down the IED laden Tigris and Euphrates. They could restore it's rightly place as the “cradle of civilization” The only thing, they'd have to get over that alcohol thing. Even that's possible. Dubai did it. Better still, all the greedy shareholders in the US can bring home the bucks instead of the body bags. They did it in Viet Nam. Why not?

More on Carcassonne and Michelin Dinner later

Ghastly Ryan Air Experience

7/11/07

Ghastly 2:30 a.m. wake up call for 5:30 a.m. flight from Brussels to Carcassonne, France. Only room service choice available was croque monsieur. A bit early for grilled cheese and ham but travelers adapt and thank God for something because we know it will be many hours before we eat again. Eight to be exact.

Tres expensive surprise, we depart from Brussels Charleroi Airport and not the REAL airport. Ryan Air is the only carrier that flies from Brussels to Carcassonne. It's a low cost carrier like Southwest and serves second-tier airports and cities. Cab fare to this bucolic trailer park airport was 130 Euros or about $195!!! It was more than the fricking airfare!! What can ya do? The only other option would have been a nine hour train ride.

We were warned about Ryan Air and their so-called "low-cost fares"... They charge extra to check baggage, about 8 Euros ($12) a piece. Not bad really.... But that's not all folks.... There is a 15 Kg weight limit (about 30 lbs) And guess what? For every Kg over the limit, it's another 9 Euros (about $13) Well, we thought we figured out a way around their convoluted baggage scheme. We each paid to check two bags and made sure neither weighed over the 15 Kg limit.

Tres Desole Monsieur.... So sorry sucker.... It's 15 Kg PER PERSON TOTAL WEIGHT, not per bag... Gottcha.... Standard maximum weight for REAL airlines is 50 lbs per checked bag with 2 bags allowed per passenger at no extra charge.

On well, it's only Euros - about 100 to be specific. Total cost for our journey 800 miles south was 450 Euros, approximately $675.

Boarded bare bones Ryan Air 737 Boeing Aircraft. At least it was a REAL airplane. Everyman for himself through the boarding process. They would literally knock you down if they could. The aircraft is configured with three seats on each side. The rows are so close together, the seats don't recline and are actually tilted forward at a slight angle. Great for low back pain sufferers. The seats covers are plastic and there is no front seat pocket. They're so cheap they don't even have safety cards. The crash information is laminated on the back of the seat in front of you.

Everything is for sale, water, soda, snacks, alcohol, duty free cigarettes, liquor, and perfume. Their flight attendants are not only glorified waitresses but they also engage in spokes model activities hawking the duty-free stuff. I was surprised they didn't charge extra to use the loo, which, by the way, doubles as the smoking section. Forget those bothersome regulations... In France, such things are merely "suggestions."

Thank goodness it was only a 90 minute flight.

At last, the pilot announced the final approach. Around and around the city we went, diving through huge banks of clouds, obviously a very low ceiling. Ten minutes into the final approach, the pilot had to abandon the initial plan due to poor visibility. Instead of switching to an instrument guided landing, he announced they would come in low and slow.... Isn't that how you cook BBQ?

We got the "helicopter" tour of Carcassonne. If I could have rolled down the window, I probably could have pinched a spire off one of the castles. I'm sure the residents of sleepy Carcassonne really enjoyed the reassuring roar of jet engines overhead, while savoring their croissants.

The PWT (Poor White Trash) Euro passengers erupted into thunderous applause when we touched Terra firma.

Bags arrived without incident and off we went to the Hotel de la Cite located within the old walled city of Carcassonne.

More on Carcassonne later..

Getting lost in Brussels

7/10/07

We toured the Musical Museum in Brussels and saw many beautiful, intricately carved and painted keyboard instruments, harps and numerous other stringed instruments. Bought the book since no photos were allowed. Only problem, the book's in Flemish... Oh well, I've always been one to look at the pictures first anyway. We spotted a group of young children (not the screaming variety) with their teacher. I noticed a youngster was wearing an Oklahoma Sooner T-Shirt. I nearly dropped my Belgian Chocolate... How could this be? I approached the teacher and in my pathetic Oklahoman French proceeded to tell her that I was American and from Oklahoma. She gasped and shouted "Mais No" and burst into apoplectic laughter.

We enjoyed a magnificent lunch in the museum's rooftop restaurant. I had a superb steak tartare dressed with balsamic and parmesan and Charlie had a luscious tortellini.

Totally sated, we decided to hoof it back to the hotel. We strolled through ancient shopping arcades featuring beautiful displays of charcuterie, chocolates, seafood, cheeses and wines. However, street signs are miniscule and written in French and Flemish. They are very difficult to find on the map and even harder to spot on the street corners. After three hours of aimless wandering, we spotted a cab and headed back to the hotel.

We had dinner at the hotel dining room which uncharacteristically, was tres magnifique. I had a lobster salad with lentils and tomatoes. Charlie had Filet Mignon with glazed carrots garnished with sweet basil and baked leeks with balsamic. Charlie also had chocolate volcano cake with vanilla ice cream.

The only thing that was disturbing about this wonderful dining experience was the background music. Here we were in this elegant "Uber-Euro-Businessman's Dining Room" filled with Brits and Asian hotshot business people listening to American Oldies 50's & 60's music. Bizarre to say the least.

We chose to dine in the hotel out of convenience as we had a 2 am wake-up call to catch a 5 a.m. flight on cheapxxx Ryan Air to Carcassonne, France. More on that debacle later.

A Bientot
Teresa

Flight to Brussels

July 7 2007

Brussels, Belgium & Languedoc, France

Being the compliant good citizens we are, we embarked on the first leg of our journey to the acclaimed Will Rogers World Airport with plenty of time to spare. In reverence to the TSA and all the extra security measures being taken to outsmart Al Qaeda, we arrived around 10 am for a 1:20 flight. We anticipated long lines, strip searches and untimely delays having been alerted by the fear mongering media. We were checked in, through security and waiting at the gate by 10:10.

I feel safe now.

Atlanta was another story. Although we had no security issues, having not left the secured area, we did have a major concourse change to navigate having arrived in the trailer park basement regional jet jungle of Hartzfield International. We managed the 30 minute sprint to our designated gate only to be informed of a gate change to the opposite end of the concourse. This was not noted on the electronic flight boards throughout the airport and only indicated by a handwritten sign at the gate. Guess Delta had to let go of their flight information data entry people to emerge from Chapter 11.

This was further complicated by a tight connection of only 40 minutes. Lo and behold, shocking as it seems, the flight was ultimately delayed another hour.

Nevertheless, I'm grateful to have gotten my Atlanta sprint in.

We finally boarded the flight to Brussels which was packed. We always seem to have the good fortune to be seated next to the unhappy child with healthy lungs. The screaming continued well into the initial beverage service - which by the way, alcoholic beverages are no longer free on international flights. However, by this time, I would have bought the kid some Dom Perignon, just to shut her up!

The meal was decent. The attendants were civil and managed to crack a smile. All was well until after dinner when the sun-damaged bejeweled Belgian woman seated in front of me reclined.

Being nearly 6 feet tall and seated in Blood Clot Coach Class, this felt like being pinned in the wreckage of a car crash for 8 hours. I thought they would have to summon the Jaws of Life to extricate me.

The Rozarim my doctor prescribed was of no use. I was simply too miserable to sleep. The movie was some stupid Sandra Bullock flick. The Made in China elastic face mask Delta gave us was too tight and, frankly, I feared it might be tainted with anti-freeze or some other toxin.

Finally, dawn broke somewhere over the UK. We arrived in Brussels on time in spite of our departure delay. Gotta love those tail winds.

My legs felt like they had been reattached. To walk and breath freely without fear of tuberculosis was like a dream come true.

We really thought we were out of the woods and finally on vacation. Sailed through immigration and found our baggage claim carousel without incident.

Time passed..... The carousel went around and around, and around some more. An hour had gone by and no bags. A driver was to meet us outside of baggage claim to take us to the hotel. We feared he was long gone and that our bags were still in the Hartzfield Regional Jet Jungle. But alas, a charming Sebastian Cabot look alike appeared flashing a sign with out names on it. We waved wildly in his direction.

We explained our baggage dilemma and delay. He calmed our fears by explaining that Belgian baggage handlers have July off and poor starving college students fill in for them. Sometimes after a long night of Belgian Beer consumption, they don't always show up for work and/or aren't always the most efficient in transferring baggage. In another 15-20 minutes, our bags finally arrived.

The trip to the hotel in the smart and oh so spacious BMW Sedan was heavenly. Arrival and check in at the lovely hotel went smoothly. We collapsed in our comfy bed for a 2 hour nap and proceeded to enjoy a fabulous al fresco lunch of sole, mussels and lamb in a mustard cream sauce.

After a brief stroll, we're collapsing again before dinner. It's Sunday and not much is open.

Don't expect this everyday. I just needed a good air travel rant.

Tah, Tah for now.

Muziek-instrumenten museum

Brussels Muziek-instrumenten Museum

(Brussels Musical Instrument Museum)

We toured this wonderful museum featuring a spectacular collection of keyboard instruments and many harps, horns and other stringed instruments.

The photo was taken on the rooftop restaurant which serves a balsamic/parmesan steak tartare to die for.... Charlie had the Canard.


Bon Appetit!