Burgundy and The French Riviera (4 of 12) - Le Girelier St Tropez

Bit of a digression here, talking about getting from Lyon to St Paul and the drive to St Tropez - skip down to the bold type if this doesn't grab you. 

Three cabs got loaded up and a mid afternoon drizzly drive to Part Dieu station got followed by a forty minute wait due to delay in the train arriving. Of course. We parked our luggage by the stairs and guarded it like Dobermanns. I'd read stories about train stations in France being a bit hairy for petty thieves. As it was we didn't see anyone even remotely shifty, but then the good thieves don't fit this mould. Whatever, there were squads of mean looking blue uniformed military police style hombres parading up and down the main thoroughfare with their macho looking rifles and would give pause to anyone. For darn sure gave pause to me. Don't mess with these guys. 

The train duly got announced and we boarded what turned out to be the wrong carriage. Which can happen when the carriages are not labelled. Whilst the others went about finding their proper seats and rolling their luggage through the train, Lenglui and I settled into the nearest seats and waited to be told to move by someone in authority or someone with a seat number on their ticket. No one came and we had a pleasant nap filled journey to Aix.

Our breakfast spot on the road into St Paul-de-Vence centre

Off the train and up and down elevators to exit the station and the queue for the Hertz cars. Paperwork processed, hunt for the cars, and off to St Paul de Vence where the five room town house Villa Mandarinette had been rented to serve as our base. We figured given all the delays it would be pretty dark by the time we got to St Paul and sought to keep the cars together as much as possible. We did pretty well on the motorway but we lost each other after we got on to the two lane blacktop main road to St Paul. The village was pretty well signposted, and we found the Villa just after the others had arrived. Got met by the managers and instructed on the amenities. The rooms were quite spartan with a TV, two stools and a concrete shower room, but the view of the village at sunset was stunning. Think we had bread, ham and cheese supper with some of the wine bought in Beaune. Also a 2002 Moet Rose Champagne we had bought in Cardiff got scarfed by everyone. We managed to snuck a glass each and very tasty it was - biscuit, complex and with a few good years left in it yet. Paid about Fifty Pound in House of Fraser. Washed some clothes and hit the sheets.

On the outskirts of St Paul-de-Vence

Woke up to a glorious morning sky and a shaded view of St Paul village. Found the coffee machine and managed to get one espresso out of it before it decided to get temperamental. Bloody French. Ten minutes later, got another for Lenglui but that was pretty much it. It was French press for the rest of the home stay. But it was totally pleasant to sip the morning brew with such an amazing view. No wonder all the artists came here to paint. I would too. If I could paint. The house was rousing and eventually we got it together to wander into the village for breakfast. Down the hill and through the fruit market and town arch for Croissants and coffee at the local patisserie. Very pleasant. We had a free morning which was spent wandering through the main thoroughfare of the town and gawping at all the art and fashion in the shop windows. A very pretty town is St Paul - lots of old stonework and narrow winding streets and enough on the sides to maintain interest. We bought an owl but not much else. 

St Paul-de-Vence main street

The plan was to drive along the Corniche de L'Esterel for the afternoon and end up in St Tropez for a brief wander around the town and a sunset dinner at Le Girelier on the Marina. I spent a bit of time trying to figure out the GPS in the van, but pretty much failed. Seemed to be a bit French and wanting to double back to earlier instructions all the time. I did manage to input our Villa as a favourite though, figuring at the least that if all else failed we would find our way back from wherever we were. Fall back was a map of the French Riviera which came with one of those Insight travel books and which was to prove hugely useful. 

The navigators (all of whom had seemed to have decided to travel in the other van) asserted that they had totally done their homework and had loaded all their maps and everything into the iPads and all we had to do was to just follow the van. So. Within ten minutes they had headed off the complete wrong way. We were later to find out they wanted to take a scenic route to the main road and the GPS screwed them. Hmmm. Needless to say we lost each other as they sought to double back. Busy Roundabouts anywhere will do that to you. So we broke out the paper map and with a bit of "Cow Sense" made our own way along the coast road. We figured if we kept the water to our left we couldn't go far wrong. Got a bit stuck getting through some thick traffic through what we figured might have been Nice but was probably Cros de-Cagnes. Whatever, once out on the coast road it was lovely. The Corniche de L'Esterel is one of those James Bond Riviera drives that take you through mountain hugging road to reveal some of the most stunning vistas this planet has to offer. There's a lovely piece of schmaltz 1960's music called "That Riviera Touch" which was humming through my mind as we were driving the road. Wonderful. Felt like I had arrived somewhere and was totally in the moment. Zen Buddhism holds that we take one moment and release it to the next and simply observe the passage of it - felt a lot like that. Stopped for a few photos on the way and coffee and crepes. We were in phone contact with our navigators who urged us to speed up and make up time but we decided to take our own sweet leisure and get there when we got there. The views and the ride were worth it. 

En route to St Tropez

The road into St Tropez was quite clearly marked and we found the Car Park quite easily. A short walk along the dock area led into the town. There was a sense of faded glory about the place, like an old colonial expatriate who has stayed too long in the one place. A bit shabby, though wealth was clearly in abundance from the huge boats impassively static on the dock. Any one that rocked with the waves was clearly not of class and the big suckers showed it all off. Quite obscene in some respects but there's not one of us reading this who would not change places with someone in that position in a second. Comfortable wealth is the goal of us all; obscene wealth is still the dream. Or the nightmare...

On the Marina in St Tropez - Le Girelier is somewhere in the background

We found the Le Girelier restaurant and reconfirmed that the reservation was 7pm which gave for a bit more shopping time so back into town we headed to look for pharmacy stores. We seem to spend a lot of time in these when overseas, hunting down those little life easers that for some reason are not readily available back home. We are experts on pharmacy stores across the globe. Lenglui had bought some bunion pads in Waterford and had decided that a spare pair were essential. Finding such things at a fair price proved elusive. The staff in the one store we visited didn't seem fully alert, possibly because it was near closing time and they were keen to go home. Didn't buy anything there. 

Interior - photo from restaurant website

Le Girelier - Dinner

Quai Jean Jaures, St Tropez

Situated on the port of Saint-Tropez, Le Girelier claims to be renowned for Seafood specialties and Provencal influences. It offers refined cuisine with fresh ingredients and letting patrons eat in the spirit of the "fisherman's hut." Specialties include whole fish a la plancha, seafood, paella and bouillabaisse and a good wine list. 

Entering the Michelin Two Forks Le Girelier restaurant was a bit like walking into a snowhouse. Visually, it was almost totally shockingly white - the tablecloths, the seats, the staff, though the walls and chairs gave way to a more pastel pink and pine. Must be murder to keep everything so pristine and starchy, but there you go. Also felt a bit austere sitting there, as if we were the germs in the disinfected purity of the place. Being cramped around a round table Chinese style also didn't help, but it's tradition that everyone must sit together. Quite right too. But a bigger table would have helped. 

The location is the real selling point, looking out over a marina filled with gently rocking ships and a sunset that burns the eyes. We had been given prime table to enjoy the sunset over the St Tropez dock - the only downside to this was it was still burning fiercely and brightly as it set and we needed to break out the sunblock and sunglasses to prevent ourselves getting blinded and burnt. It was a bit fierce. 

The Plateau Royale - from the restaurant website

We started with two servings of the PLATEAU ROYAL, comprising 9 Oysters, 4 langoustines, 6 whelks, 8 prawns, sea snails, 1⁄2 crab, shrimps and 1⁄2 lobster. It came out as lots of shellfish stuck into crushed ice on two silver plates in a tower and was visually quite splendid. For the main courses, most of the table went for the Bouillabaisse du Girelier as the main dish. Apparently famous, it is not a dish that traditionally appeals. The bisque is often over seasoned to the point of brutality and becomes very demanding on the palate. Others went for the Loup entier pour 2 pers en croûte de sel (Sea bass for 2 persons in salt crust) which sounded bland and which indeed was predictably salty. So it was to gasps and shrieks of culinary incredulity from some of the assembled that Lenglui and myself went for an extra 6 oyster starter and shared the home made Paëlla Royale. Shock! "How can you eat Paella in France? It's Spanish! You should go for something else! We're in France!!" Well, and maybe. My reasoning was that any seafood at a seaside restaurant should be a better bet than meat or poultry. And St Tropez is not that far from Spain so it might offer a French twist on a Spanish staple. As it turned out the Paella was extremely good. It had spice, taste, verve… and some very good fresh seafood mixed in. Crunchy prawns and fresh mussels and not too ungenerous with them - total belter. The others quietly scarfed their bland fish and mouth beating Bouillabaise and equally quietly finished off our mussels without a word. So. Drinkswise, we had a double bottle of the local St Tropez Rose which was light and crisp and totally refreshing, with good zing and mouth watering acidity. Probably quite cheap too, if we'd gone to look for it on the streets, but no time. Anyway, the palate of the group wouldn't take much more lightness - more complexity was the usual order of the day in the whites. One of the group has a reaction to sulphites so the thinking is that if one is going to drink one might as well drink the very VERY good stuff. Fair enough. Life is too short for headaches from bad wines. Memorable for the sunset, the whiteness and the Paella. Bit cramped but very good seafood. Worth a shot with some light wine at sunset, but get there early to snag the best seats.

The excellent Paella Royale

It was a pleasant evening walk back to the car park where I finally figured out how to use the GPS en route. As said, I had been surprisingly smart enough to input the GPS location of the St Paul villa whilst we were parked that morning getting ready to head off. So inputting it as our destination along with the paper map and a bit of cowsense, the drive back was drama free and quite quick. The only hassle was trying to figure out the toll road gates. The apparent ticket sign was not actually a ticket sign - it was a credit card sign and meant "pay by credit card" rather than "take a ticket." Probably a cultural thing - here in Malaysia we take tickets and pay by preloaded card. We found the gate which took coins and threw money at the machine which let us through. Back at the villa we polished off the fizz and fell into bed. Slept well. 

Burgundy and The French Riviera (3 of 12) - Lunch in Lyon

Paul Bocuse Restaurant

Paul Bocuse - Lunch

69660 Collonges-Au- Mont-D'Or, Lyon

The Fates being what they are, the Regional French Railmen had decided to hold a one day strike on the day we needed to get from Beaune to Lyon to get the TGV to Aix En Provence to pick up the vans that would be our transport for our time on the French Riviera. Wonderful. As a result, it was decided that, rather than mess around with the trains, we'd get two big taxi vans to take us direct to our reserved lunch at the Paul Bocuse in Lyon and then get the train to Aix from there. 

So, having duly packed and breakfasted and checked out of the Ibis Styles we loaded up the bags on the vans for a two hour drizzly motorway drive to Lyon. At the station, LT went to check trains and Left luggage while Lenglui and I found coffee and a toilet. It was discovered that Left luggage would cost a bomb so the vans took us direct to the Restaurant and we parked our bags there, figuring that taxis back to the station after lunch would be able to transport them. Pretty good service from the drivers, can't remember the cost. Call Sebastien +33 06 33 48 24 79 email reservation@premiereclassetransport.fr

Lot of charm in the ambience

The Three Star Paul Bocuse restaurant is the stuff of culinary legend. Holding three Michelin stars continuously since 1965 and still monitored by Chef Paul and Mme Bocuse, the restaurant is a drawing room of objets d'art and a memorial to Chef Paul and his achievements. They also do a very nice trade in souvenirs and memorabilia. 

The place is its own landmark, standing on a slight hill and dominating the view from the road leading to it. The building looked a bit like a Portuguese birthday cake with its red Louvre windows against pea green walls, but it certainly stood out. This was the castle of the culinary king. Who are we to judge?

The interior is plush red wallpaper and golden  cream panels with much in the way of ornate furniture and small art pieces adorning the walls. In the lunchtime natural light, there was an airiness about the place which set an easy tone for the party. Starch white tablecloths contrasted the reds and creams of the room, whilst delightful and playful Paul Bocuse dinner sets waited for food. It was later discovered that much of the plateware was available for purchase. Well, and why not? We were all of us here on a Pilgrimage to one of the true shrines of food and if people want to take a piece of it with them then they will naturally be obliged. We bought a butter dish. 

We were sat on a long table near a window for natural light and would be having the "Classique" Menu at Euro150. Here we got to choose a starter and a main followed by cheese table and dessert. I rarely like to pay so much for food, but have to admit that on this occasion it was totally worth it. The decor, the ambiance, the cutlery and plateware and glasses. And some wonderful service. Now I understand the art of simple modern French cuisine. Lots of butter. No, the tastes are more subtle than this. The key is clearly not overdoing it with the seasoning and using incredibly fresh produce impeccably prepared. Standouts were the fish in pastry crust and the foie gras, and Chef Paul coming out for photo ops with all the guests. Still strong at 86 though a bit shaky on the knees, the man is living history and still making it. There is still a fire in the eyes and you just know he will take no nonsense or excuse for people not producing exceptional dishes. Meeting the legend was beyond words. Top man. 

Chef Paul with LT and Cheng Han

Actually, foodwise everything was standout. We all selected different dishes so we could all have a taste of each others food. Can't remember much about the tastes of the dishes, except that they were magnificent.  It was all totally splendid. Stellar, stellar, stellar. Three stars indeed, and big ones at that.  

Love the plates...

Lunch was a major, major splurge, but less of a splurge than dinner would have been and, hey, once in a lifetime we only may come here. If twice comes along, would definitely do it again. Have to starve for a few weeks after. But it would be worth it. The ladies all got copies of the menu given to them. Wonderful wines, can't remember what they were. Absolutely glad that we did this. Total history on a plate. 

MENU CLASSIQUE

Dodine de canard à l’ancienne pistachée et foie gras de canard maison

ou Soupe de moules de Bouchot aux pistils de safran ‘Billy bye’

ou Quenelle de brochet aux écrevisses, sauce Nantua

ou Cassolette de homard à l’armoricaine

Loup en croûte feuilletée, sauce Choron (pour 2 convives) 

ou Filet de bœuf Rossini, sauce Périgueux 

ou Fricassée de volaille de Bresse à la crème et aux morilles 

ou Carré d’agneau «Côtes Premières» rôti à la fleur de thyme

Sélection de fromages frais et affinés «Mère Richard»

Délices et gourmandises Petits fours et chocolats

MENU CLASSIQUE

Duck meat dodine ‘à l’ancienne’, foie gras and pistachios 

or Frogs soup with cresson 

or Traditional Lyon quenelles of pike with crayfish, Nantua sauce

or Cassolette of lobster ‘à l’Armoricaine’ 

Sea bass stuffed in puff pastry shell, Choron sauce

(for 2 persons) 

or Filet of beef Rossini, Périgueux sauce 

or Fricassee of Bresse chicken in cream sauce, morel mushrooms 

or Rack of lamb roasted with thyme

Selection of fresh and matured cheese from « La Mère Richard »

Delicacies and temptations Fantasies & Chocolates

Think this was the soup...

Sea Bass in Pastry Shell - magnificent!

Total yum...

The Cheese Board

Dessert One...

and Dessert Two!!

More dessert... phwoooarggghh, stuffed...

I was here!!

So was Lenglui!!

Burgundy and The French Riviera (2 of 12) - Paris and Beaune

Minipalais, Grand Palais, Paris

Hotel Majestic lounge

My original choices for a dinner in Paris revolved around steak and frites. We like it and Paris is pretty much one of the best places in the world to find it. My research showed that Rue Marbeuf housed two of the best in the city, these being Le Relais de L'Entrecote du Relais (no 15) and Charbon Rouge (no 25). The first is total legend, with queues forming outside given the restaurant's policy of not taking reservations. The second offers steak from around the world and both offer fair value for a good chunk of ribeye. Sadly we did not get the chance to try, my choices being dismissed with a "you can get good steak at home." Which on one level was correct. Even so, there was a twinge of pining regret as we walked past both establishments on our way to the final choice of venue for the evening. Two shrines of steak on the same Rue. Next time.

The Minipalais was a newly refurbished eaterie in the Grand Palais museum setting. Recommended by old family friend Olivier on the sayso of a friend of a friend, it proved more than a shade disappointing. Fashion show music ambience, dim lighting, slow service, mediocre food, over priced and massively trendy. Pretty young things flitted around trying to be efficient and fluttery at the same time. Though the setting was brilliant - statues and other objets d'art littered the alcoves and walls. Table setting was pleasant and starchy white tablecloths are always good to see, We were both pretty determined to have a steak and ordered a Charolais rare. Rare proved pretty raw on this showing, as if the beef had been shown a toaster for a few seconds and declared cooked. Yes. The others had more unique food though I did not hear raving reports of the tastes. Well, at least we could now tell the world and its dog it had been done. Which perhaps is a good part of the reason for going in the first place - to be the first and set the trend, n'est-ce pas? 

Recent reviews on the Tripadvisor seem a bit mixed over the food, though apparently lunch on the terrace is a dream view across the river. I think I was probably teed off at missing an opportunity for a darned good steak. Certainly was not in the mood for the more delicate offerings on the menu that night, which in retrospect look very tasty (www.minipalais.com). Maybe worth a return visit, but take a tour of the museum beforehand and do lunch preferably in Springtime. Cue for a song?

Whilst the others took a cab, I walked back with Steven and Vinita to disperse the underdone steak and to view Eiffel in all her lumiere glory and almost got lost in the dark back streets trying to find the Hotel Majestic where we were staying. It looked pretty clear on the map, but one quickly learns that Les Rues de Paris have offshoots of offshoots and it all gets a shade mazelike. But it was a good if somewhat chilly walk and you do get to see the night side of the city. Passed some poor soul huddled in a sleeping bag in an office doorway for the night and remembered a similar experience over thirty years ago trying to sleep in cardboard boxes behind a supermarket in Calais prior to getting a Ferry back to the UK the following day. Darn cold that one, even in July as it was. Didn't sleep much that night. 

Inside Les Caveau Des Arches

Caveau des Arches

An uneventful and easy train ride brought us to Beaune station just before 5pm where we had to wait about 15 minutes for a taxi for a 15 minute drive to take us the ten minute walk to the hotel. Beaune is basically a town inside a ring road circle which you can drive through but is quicker to go around. So a ten minute walk became a fifteen minute drive. And the ring road was a one way which naturally went the opposite direction to the way we needed. Welcome to France.

Got installed at the hotel at about 6pm so there was just enough time to shower and wash some clothes ahead of our 7.30pm dinner. The Ibis Styles hotel on the boulevard Perpreuil was a clean no-nonsense type of hotel, white with bold colours in the breakfast area and with roomy rooms with a TV, shower and a big bed with a heater so our clothes could dry quickly. There was a long table and sofa to park the suitcase without really needing to unpack. Living out of the suitcase seems to come quite easily to me. It would be our new home for the next three nights and it would prove most comfortable and convenient. Quite impressed and quite pleasantly surprised - we have since stayed at a number of Ibis hotels in France and elsewhere. We like the simplicity and efficiency of the chain - clean, fair value and no frills. We are definitely fans. 

As said, dinner was 7.30pm at Les Caveau des Arches which was a somewhat wet and rainy two minute walk across the road from the Ibis Styles hotel. An unassuming entrance led to a downstairs cavern of painted bricks of what was presumably a wine cellar in a previous 17th Century life. A very pleasant ambience, we were sat Chinese style around a round table. I have little memory of the food though I do seem to remember sucking up Lenglui's Escargot garlic butter with the delightful bread. That's me - give me bead with salty herbed butter and garlic and I am like a pig in mud. I think I had the fish, a Sea Bream as I remember because we don't get this kind of fish too often in KL. It was pleasant enough, but didn't sear into the memory. Maybe we were tired. Certainly too tired to take photos and write about the food. But we cleared most of the plates. Good wines, though. Having good wines with the meals would prove a hallmark of the trip - there would barely be one that did not go well with the table fare. The reviews say it is good, and the website photos of the dishes are magnificent so I shall have to return one day and make decent notes on the food.

L'Hotel de Beaune Serving area

L' Hotel de Beaune - Dinner

We caught a lucky break for dinner. Lorraine had already booked the Bistro de L' Hotel for eight for dinner but it had somewhere been decided to not go there. Fortune would have it that she had omitted to advised the restaurant. Lance had a yearning for steak and chips and had gone to the Bistro only to be told it was fully booked. At this point Lorraine realised that the booking might ours, she checked and found it was and so we were back on to dine there at 8pm. Just as well we did, it proved one of the gastronomic delights of the entire trip. The steak frites for two was off the map. The perfectly seared Angus with duck fat fried new potatoes was stellar. We saw what else the tiny kitchen was dishing out and our mouths just fell. The Bresse Chicken was carved off the bone at the tables and looked so succulent; the salt baked fish looked equally amazing. They were serving an amazing amount of food for a place that was desperately small and ageing. But that made for the charm, being cramped around a table sharing our food with each other and chugging some tasty local red. It had that ageless feel about it, the town hotel that serves good honest food for those on a venture across the land. A definite must do for the soul foodies and definitely one to come back to. 

A meal to remember at L'Hotel de Beaune

Le Montrachet - Lunch

Le Montrachet

This was a hotel we stopped at as part of an organised tour around the vineyards and countryside of the Burgundy area. We caught it during a brilliant sunny day, total contrast to the hailstorms of previous weeks which had swept through the valley and decimated much of the precious grapes. We saw first hand what they had done to the vines. They were shredded. Bits of grape hanging off the stem, wounded beyond redemption. It was pitiful. Estimates were that up to 90% of the crop had gone in Beaune, Pommard and Volnay. The rest had fared somewhat better. Sad.

Our tour hostess Cristina had given us a very informative two hour tasting and seminar at the Hotel de Dieu in town which helped understand Burgundy wines a whole lot better. They follow the land and the producer. The higher up the slope that the parcel of vines is located then the greater the Cru, and the village near which the vineyard is located also adds to the name. I think. And the icing on the label is the name of the parcel in which the grapes are grown. Some parcels enjoy a better microclimate and add intensity to the final wine. I think. The wines we tasted were very nice - crisp easy Chablis right through to complex Grand Cru Montrachet. 

Amuse Bouche

Le Montrachet is a two star restaurant and was a charmer in the late summer lunchtime light - airy, with a light breezy charm, we sat down for what was a delightful lunch full of textured food and lots of very good white wine.  A lazy two hours followed by a stroll in the grounds. Every lunch should be like this. 

MENU

Saumon Gravlax, Salade de Fenouil, Zestes de Citron OU Risotto Arborio Snacke, Sot-l'y-Laisse en Persillade

Maquereaux au vin Blanc, Mouselline de Carotte OU Caille au Raisin et Coing, Polenta Cremeuse

Poelee de Mures Sauvage, Granite a la "Reine des Pres" OU Verrine facon Cafe Liegeois

Some lovely local white wines and burgundies for lunch

No idea... looks fishy.

Saumon Gravlax, Salade de Fenouil, Zestes de Citron

Looks like the Mackerel. Think I had this.

Lunch wines - very nice!

Lenglui and Lilies - love the colours and lighting here

Interior Ma Cuisine

Ma Cuisine - Dinner

Passage Sainte-Helene, 21200 Beaune

After lunch, we headed north with destination being the DRC vines. A quick stop on the way at some map and straight to the vines that produce the wine few of us will ever be blessed enough to sip, let alone buy. Photos of us at the all hallowed spot of vineyard were essential and taken. It was quite desolate, though a few hardy walkers and cyclists were in evidence. Outside of this, we were alone. The vines were left pretty much to themselves. We then headed off for a tasting at the Domaine Gros winery in Vosne-Romanee where we bought up a couple of Grands Echezeaux for keeping for a special occasion at a fair winery price and headed off to a museum to end the tour. Quick drive back to the hotel to shower and change for dinner at Ma Cuisine. This proved a bit disappointing. That's what expectations can do to you. The Charolais beef was tender of texture but a shade too rare for personal taste. The rest of the food was pretty forgettable, and yet all the webbies praise it up to the skies. Perhaps our delightful lunch in the pristine Montrachet was still playing in our heads and the way more rustic charm of Ma Cuisine was a different prospect that didn't quite dovetail in a gastronomic sense. None of the others in the group had much to say about the meal. Lance headed back to L'Hotel de Beaune to see if he could snag some final chicken. We went back to pack and sleep. So ended much of our time in Beaune. Nice memories and a hope to return.  

Segway tour of Dijon with Polar Bear. Yes.

Aren't we the poor relation...

The pleasures of France in Dijon

Dijon ville

Happy and full from Steak Frites at L'Hotel de Beaune

L'Hotel de Beaune entrance

The village of Pommard

Who is chief navigator again?

Survivors of the 2013 summer hailstorm

Timeless Romanee-Conti

Museum at Chateau Clos de Vougeot

Burgundy and The French Riviera (1 of 12) - Introduction

Got an urge to finally write about the Michelin Starred and other restaurants we visited during an amazing ten day Food and Wine trip through Burgundy and the French Riviera in September 2013. Lenglui's daughter had done a brilliant job of booking some stunning restaurants and these became a photo book by her thanks to the magic of Apple. I made occasional writing starts and scribblings of general memories over the intervening months but nothing that coalesced quickly into something worthy of posting for posterity. It all felt a bit large and when other more manageable bits and projects kept plopping on the screen, writing about the South of France Restaurants took a back seat. But there seems to be a bit of a gap in the writing time at the moment, so here goes. Only two years after the event. Hope it all gets remembered. Some say the memory gets more focused and acute after some time has elapsed.  We'll see. Will also have to check to see if these places are still around. Probably so, but worth to check and get some update notes.

For ease and convenience I will break up the tour into sections each of which will cover at least one of the restaurants. A full posting of the entire trip in one posting would be way too much. The notes are on the brief side for most of the places - I think the plan was to write about the places the following day and just enjoy the food and wine on its own. Didn't work - little to no discipline to write notes the morning after. At least now I know. 

I have separated most of the restaurant writings from the travel notes. It is a food and wine blog after all and no point to bore everyone with what are personal memories. They will get posted later for those keen to read the experiences. And for me as insurance against losing marbles. Getting silly forgetful about simple things. 

It's probably best to preface everything by noting that memories of much of the food consumed and wine tasted has pretty much faded. What mostly sticks in the mind is the ambience and the venue, the sunshine and the people, the locations and some magical decor. None of the food was bad, and hopefully any notes I still have will prod and bring it all back. But here in this early noteless state, the memory is of place over taste. 

The exceptions to this are the Steak Frites at the L'Hotel de Beaune, the Baked Fish at the Paul Bocuse in Lyon, the stunning duck at La Route du Miam in Nice and the Lamb and Butter Mash Potato at the Joel Robuchon in Monaco. These seared straight into the memory because they were all in their own ways totally sublime. These are tastes that I would return to. I can still taste them now. 

The other standout memories are the Chevre D'Or in Eze, Le Girelier in St Tropez and the Mirazur in Menton for their brilliant views across landscapes and seascapes and general ambience. Honoourable mention for Le Montrachet for a delightful ambience. All have a sense of the timeless and deathless, since these places will outlive most of us on this planet simply because people will always be prepared to pay top dollar for the best cuisine and locations across the globe. Maybe only once, but the memory and experience can almost spiritual.

Here is the list of the restaurants visited:

Minipalais

Grand Palais

Avenue Winston Churchill

75008 Paris

01 42 56 42 42

www.minipalais.com

Caveau des Arches - Dinner

10, bd Perpreuil, 21200 Beaune

03 80 22 10 37

www.caveau-des-arches.com

L'Hotel de Beaune - Dinner

5 rue Samuel Legay, 21200 Beaune

03 80 25 94 14

www.lhoteldebeaune.com

Hotel Le Montrachet - Lunch

10 Place des Marroniers

21190 Puligny-Montrachet

03 80 21 30 16

www.le-montrachet.com

Ma Cuisine - Dinner

Passage Sainte-Helene, Beaune

Paul Bocuse - Lunch

69660 Collonges Au Mont D'Or, Lyon

04 72 42 90 90

www.bocuse.fr

www.bocuse.com

148.00

(prix fixe)

Michelin 3*

Le Girelier - Dinner

Quai Jean Jaures, St Tropez

Dinner

http://www.legirelier.fr/uk/index.php

La Roustide - Dinner

34 rue Beaumont, Nice

Cocoon - Lunch

18, rue Bivouac Napoleon, Cannes

La Place de Mougins

41, place du Commandant Lamy

06250 Mougins

04 93 90 15 78

http://www.laplacedemougins.com/

La Chevre D'Or - Relais & Chateau

Rue du Barri

06360 Eze

(Michelin 2*) - Lunch

Joel Robuchon Monte Carlo (Michelin 2*) - Dinner

Hotel Metropole, Monaco

Mirazur (Michelin 2*) - lunch

Avenue Aristide Briand, Menton

La Route du Miam - dinner

1, rue Moliere, Nice

Kame Sushi - still got class

We found ourselves in Sri Hartamas one lunchtime during the week and Lenglui had the brilliant idea of going to Kame Sushi. We hadn't been since it had moved into new premises (still on the same block but more in the middle and up one floor). We'd also never tried their lunch menu.

Kame Sushi became one of our default Japanese cuisine destinations. Their Omakase menu and their sashimi remain the stuff of foodie legend. Big Tony used to be regular there, though he hasn't mentioned it in recent times. We had many great nights in the old premises with friends, wine and sake. A lot of them with our Dr Gan who rated Kame Sushi among his favourites. He was a regular there for both lunch and dinner, and if he was regular it would have to have been good. 

The new layout is similar to the previous with a food bar and wines and spirits on display. There are a couple of private rooms but the main is now an open area with tables for between four and six. They had a range of set lunches available in addition to the a la carte. Lenglui had the Yakizakana set and I opted for the Katsudon set, each with a mug of Green Tea. The Katsudon set was delightful - full lunch with Mizo soup, egg custard and salad and a charming orange slice to finish off. The crispy batter on the Pork cutlet was excellent and the onion omelette on the rice nicely light and fluffy. Lenglui said her fish was a bit rich and fishy, but that was because it was probably mackerel. Dark skinned thing it was and grilled to crunchy crispness.

The total came in at RM58.30 after Service charge and GST, which did not feel too bad for a very decent lunch in pleasant surroundings. There is also reasonably plentiful parking, which is unusual given that it is normally madness trying to find a parking space in this area. Would definitely revisit for lunch and will have to go back to see if the Omakase is as brilliant as it used to be. 

Kame Sushi Japanese Restaurant

No 10-1 Jalan 31/70A, 

Desa Sri Hartamas, 

50480 Kuala Lumpur

03-28587739

Got charged for no ice at Kanteen Plus Plaza Damas

This was a first - Lenglui and I both ordered the Nasi Lemak and got sold on Fresh Orange Juice by the staff member. Asked if we wanted with ice, we said no thanks. The Nasi Lemak was not bad, with a good solid leg of Chicken in tasty rendang and full bodied sambal to fire up the rice. The OJ was indeed excellent and refreshing.

On getting the bill, there was a RM4 charge for "Without Ice" which I queried and got told that no ice meant that more oranges get used for the drink and that this somehow justified the charge. I laughed and walked away. Epic fail and unlikely we will go back there. No GST on the bill. 

Ben's KLCC - good food, annoying wine order

Hmmm… bit miffed at our dining experience at the Ben's in KLCC over the weekend. 

Ben's is one of our default places to eat before a concert at the MPO. Food comes out pretty fast and is consistent in taste and quality terms. It also enjoys a brilliant location overlooking the KLCC Park and the dancing fountains. A great place to enjoy a sunset. 

We ordered our food (Fish and Chips for me, Steak Sandwich for Lenglui) and their special three for two wine deal (NB asked if we could have one red and two white but were told cannot - so it goes). I nipped off to the car to retrieve something and on return found that the wine had not arrived apparently due to no glasses and would we like our wine in a flute glass. Kudos to the staff member for looking for an alternative, but clearly not too knowledgeable on wines and glasses. The answer was no and the wine order was cancelled. The food arrived and as we were eating we got interrupted by one of the other staff members saying that glasses were now available and our wine was coming. I told him we had cancelled the order because it was too late to drink with the food but he would not give up and kept trying to sell us the wine idea. He clearly had no idea that he was interrupting our enjoyment of the food and talking to him was making the food go cold on the plate. I finally had to be quite insistent and told him to please go away and let us enjoy our meal in peace. He did. Three minutes later, someone came with our wine order. Again I had to say it had been cancelled. Pretty annoyed by this time, we finished the meal in silence. Not an enjoyable experience, though the fish was quite tasty and the french fries were hot. Good tartare sauce too. Perhaps it was bad timing for communications between the staff, but the friend who would not let us eat in peace was darned annoying. 

The bill showed GST and came out at RM94. Felt like a whack in the wallet for the food we had.  Don't think we will be back for a while but it shouldn't make much difference - the place was pretty full (Saturday night, 7.30pm). Elsewhere in the KLCC, Uncle Chili's was doing a roaring trade with punters queuing up outside to get in. Chinoz looked a bit quiet, thought the Food Court on the second floor was busy. Saw a Kyros Kebab outlet there which was quite reassuring to see they were still around. Great kebabs full of solid meat and coleslaw - total comfort food when you need something solid and fast. We used to have them regularly when they had an outlet in The Mall. I would pick up a couple on the walk home and enjoy them with a glass of Chardonnay. Have to go back and see if they maintained their standard.