So yeah…this marks the end of my stories about our European adventure! Back to regular programming…:)
For links to my European Experience, click here. For my posts on other countries, including my beloved Philippines, click here.
And yes I know I’ve been lagging on my recipes, but I will go back to cooking and baking once I get the time! (I always say this but my schedule is always crazy!) For recipes, click here.
Ladurée (Paris, France)
Aside from the store we visited in Versailles, we also sat down for dessert at the Ladurée along Champs-Élysées.
Because I wanted to see what the French version tasted like, I ordered the Ispahan (which I first tried at The Cake Club here in Manila). It had a thin crisp exterior, chewy rose-flavored interior, cream with rose petals raspberries and lychees. The best way I can describe the taste is that its slightly sweet and fragrant - like perfume, but in an edible way.
Of course, G ordered something chocolate - I can’t recall what it was called but it definitely looked like a puff pastry stuffed with chocolate cream, dipped in chocolate and topped with whipped cream and caramel.
Beef bourguignon for G and Quiche for me (Paris, France)
Macarons at McCafe (Paris, France)
Um yeah…I guess you could call them Mc-arons?
Macarons from Pierre Hermé (Paris, France)
These macarons had the same thin crust and chewy interior like those of Ladurée, but you could definitely taste the almond in these cookies (not that I minded!) Pierre Hermé’s flavors seemed more unique though - we had:
Disclaimer: My European Experience series is based on a “crash course” tour of 8 countries in 14 days. Therefore, these posts will contain only some sights and tastes of each country.
Sorry for being my childish self again here, but fellow Filipinos would understand why I find this photo so amusing. In fact, we were so amused that we ended up having afternoon tea here.
We were lucky to have nice sunny spring weather while we were out, so we had two glasses of Aqualemon, which had lemonade, squeezed lemon, mint syrup, and crushed ice. It was such a refreshing drink, with the ice and the lemon and the mint all mixed together! Couldn’t finish the whole glass though.
Of course we just had to try a real French crepe! We ordered the Crepe Complete, which had a thin, crisp crepe topped with powdered sugar and was served with chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and slivered almonds.
This is what it looked like when I assembled the whole thing for me and G. Pretty impressive, don’t you think?
We also tried the Tiramisu au Nutella because it sounded like a unique combination. For something with Nutella, this dessert was surprisingly light, as it had soft ladyfingers, whipped cream topped with cocoa, and thin layers of Nutella syrup.
Last but most certainly not the least…Paris. Before I set foot on Europe, I never fully appreciated why people gushed about this place. But I was blown away the moment we arrived late in the afternoon, just as Paris was transforming into the City of Light (La Ville-Lumière).
I never really got to see the Eiffel Towel up close but even from the distance it was absolutely breathtaking. We were lucky to be there just in time for the city’s nightly light display, where the Eiffel Towel sparkles like it burst into a million fireflies!
This is the famous (or infamous?) Lover’s Bridge found along the Seine River. As they say, this is where “love is locked forever” - couples come here to close a lock onto the bridge then throw the key into the river.
Nope, G and I didn’t have our lock, but we did spend some time looking at the different colors, shapes and designs.
Here is the Arc de Triomphe (or the Triumphal Arch) - a monument dedicated to those who fought for France during the French Revolution. I found it funny that our fellow tourists were nervously shrieking while we were driving around this monument. God knows how they’d feel driving around the Quezon Memorial Circle here in the Philippines!
You could actually go up the Arc and have a 360 degree view of the city , but we didn’t make it on time. So we just contented ourselves taking pictures under the Arc - names of soldiers who bravely died for France were engraved here.
Funny but the first time I’ve heard of the Notre Dame de Paris or the Notre Dame Cathedral was when they showed the Disney movie, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, when I was younger. Years later, here I am seeing it in real life.
Here’s a view of the cathedral inside…
…and here’s a view of the cathedral along the Seine River.
I made a donation, lit a candle, and said a little prayer thanking God for the chance to visit Europe.
Now for some shots along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It’s kind of like Orchard Road in Singapore, which has a line of restaurants, souvenir shops, and *cough* exorbitantly expensive *cough* stores. They actually had a line outside going into the store. As for me, I’m not really the type of person who’d spend an arm and a leg for a bag - I’d rather spend it on good chocolate or traveling.
We had a lot of attempts taking photos of the Arc de Triomphe from afar while crossing the street (while the traffic light was green for pedestrians, of course)! This photo was one of the results.
Ah…the Laduree store along Champs-Élysées. We had dessert here, which I will write about later.
This is the eternal flame under the Arc de Triomphe, which never-endingly burns in memory of those soldiers who died and were never identified during the world wars.
Here’s the Musée du Louvre - the largest museum in the world. It is as magnificent as it looks in the daytime…
…and especially during night time.
Our travel director mentioned that the Louvre is so huge, that he knew someone who carefully viewed at all the artwork, one by one, inside the museum, and after a month, she still wasn’t done!
Since G and I had barely an afternoon to spend inside the Louvre, we decided to just go for the 3 most visited artworks: the Winged Victory or Nike, the Mona Lisa (which is surprisingly smaller than expected), and the Venus de Milo.
Lovers in Paris…just outside the Louvre. How I wish I had more time to explore Paris…someday I will return!
Disclaimer: My European Experience series is based on a “crash course” tour of 8 countries in 14 days. Therefore, these posts will contain only some sights and tastes of each country.
Sneak Peek: My first glimpses of Paris, France. Good night!
Ladurée (Versailles, France)
I finally got my hands on real Ladurée macarons! We bought a box of 8 pieces which had the following flavors: Citron (Lemon), Caramel Fleur de Sel (Salted Caramel), Pistache (Pistachio), Praliné (Praline), Chocolat Yuzu (Yuzu Chocolate), Chocolat (Chocolate), Rose (Rose) and Vanille (Vanilla). One thing I noticed about Ladurée macarons versus other macarons I’ve tried is that their macarons don’t have that lingering almond taste - if you try their lemon macaron, you taste only lemon, if you try pistachio, you taste only pistachio, and so on. I personally don’t mind the taste of almond flour, but I was impressed that all their flavors were pretty spot on. My favorites were the praline (it had a light sweet nutty taste), chocolate (deep dark chewy chocolate…need I say more?), and rose (I will sound weird for saying this but it reminds me of rose-scented bubble baths my sisters and I had when we were younger).
Finally, I have some time to write about the last leg of our honeymoon! Before I write about Paris, here are some photos of the Château de Versailles (roughly pronounced as Sha-tu de ver-sigh, thanks to my “Neanderthal” French speaking skills) or the Palace of Versailles.
Our travel director mentioned that once you see this palace, you’d understand why the French Revolution happened. And really, I have never seen a more extravagant palace until I saw the Château de Versailles.
View from the outside - we had an hour to roam around before our appointed time to enter the palace.
Behind the palace was an extremely vast garden…and when I say vast, I mean 800 hectares!!!
In spite of the various construction projects happening on site - the rest of the garden was well-maintained and very beautiful!
This is the view that greeted us once we got inside - little did I realize that this view would be the most plain among the state apartments we were about to see.
So most of the state apartments look like this, with elaborate marble and art.
This is the Hall of Mirrors, which is a long and wide hallway with chandeliers. It really is an amazing sight, although I was wary of having one of the chandeliers fall on me as they looked really heavy.
At this point, I’d like to say that it is a bit uncreative for the monarchs of France before the French Revolution to all be named “Louis”. As it so happens, King Louis the XIV, King Louis the XV, and King Louis the XVI all lived at this palace from the 1600s to the late 1700s.
As for their queens, they were all named “Marie” (remember Marie-Antoinette?)
Below is a painting of King Louis the XIV. Notice how funny looking his legs are? Our local guide mentioned that in the past, a monarch only stood long enough for an artist to paint his face, then the artist will paint some random body to go with the face.
At the end of our tour, surprises of all surprises, we found a Ladurée shop just at the exit of the palace! While I never visited the Ladurée store when it opened in New York a couple of years ago (there were so many other cheaper macaron places in NYC anyway!), I told myself that I had to try their macarons when I visit France.
So here they are in their chewy glory. Will be writing a separate post about them in a bit.
Finally, I couldn’t help taking a photo of this! The pups are just as fashionable as their owners in France!
Disclaimer: My European Experience series is based on a “crash course” tour of 8 countries in 14 days. Therefore, these posts will contain only some sights and tastes of each country.
Woman vs. Fish - First Attempt
Yup. I stared for a while at those big red eyes as I have never prepared a whole fish in my entire life. G’s parents usually give us fish fresh from the sea, but this is the first time we have received one that was still intact. I tried following instructions on how to gut and scale a fish but seriously, it’s not that easy. Who knew that this Maya-Maya’s (Red Snapper’s) scales were that tough? Plus, its fins and teeth were really sharp, so I had to be really careful. Removing the guts was not a fun experience either, though I think that was the easiest part of the process.
In the taste department though, this fish was delicious. I sauteed garlic and bell pepper, seasoned and fried the fish for a while in tomato sauce, then finished baking it in the oven. The flesh was soft and did not have that “fishy taste” which was good. I had this whole fish to myself, with a bit of scales and all.
Old Swiss House shows us how their Deluxe Wienerschnitzel is made. My first video on Tumblr ever. Please pardon my very elementary video editing skills and shaky hands. But I am pretty sure that you will be hungry if you manage to sit through this video.
Our most memorable meal during our Europe tour is actually in Switzerland, where G and I chanced upon the Old Swiss House. We were initially intimidated as it looked like a fine dining restaurant and we were just dressed in shirts and sneakers. But we were so hungry (and wanted to try real Swiss food) so we went in anyway.
Luckily, we weren’t turned away (even without a reservation), and our server, who was in traditional Lucerne dress, was actually quite friendly and very attentive. She told us that this restaurant (along with its dishes) has been established and run by the same family for years (in the mid-1800s).
As an appetizer, G and I shared breaded cubes of cheese served with some salad (really sorry as I didn’t take note what this was called exactly). The cheese inside was extremely rich and contrasted well with the sharp alfalfa sprouts and fresh lettuce.
I had the Small Sliced Veal “Zürich Style” in Mushroom Cream Sauce served with Roesti-Potatoes. Roesti is kind of like hash browns but much thicker. The shoestring strips added crisp on the outside but the inside was smooth and savory like potato croquettes. This is also the first time I’ve tried veal (as I rarely eat red meat) and it was very tender (and not chewy). The mushroom sauce was very hearty but balanced by the parsley sprinkled on top. Delicious!
G went for the house specialty called the Deluxe Wienerschnitzel (Breaded veal escalopine cooked in pure butter, served with egg noodles and breadcrumbs on top). I actually took a video of our server making the Schnitzel so will post it as soon as I can. But upon checking the restaurant’s website, my worst fears were confirmed - this dish alone is made with 150 grams of veal, 5 eggs, 50 grams of grated Parmesan cheese and 80 grams of butter!!! I think my blood vessels just tightened typing this!
The Schnitzel being cooked - up close.
And here it is, served with egg noodles topped with the remaining breadcrumb-egg-butter-cheese mixture! Plus I thought it was smart that they wrapped the lemon in a thin cloth so that the seeds won’t get into the food when you squeeze the juice on it.
By the end of the meal, we were both pretty stuffed, but we couldn’t pass on dessert: in their menu, just under Our Famous Chocolate Mousse, the line, “It’s a must” was clamoring for us to try some of this dessert.
So our server got out two wooden pails, one with freshly whipped cream and the other with rich, thick, pure dark chocolate mousse. This was only the small portion but a bite of this was just so indulgent!
So…this was definitely the best meal I’ve had in Europe, but at a price! But I have no regrets because we really enjoyed the experience and the food, and of course, we deserve to treat ourselves to something really nice every once in a while.
Disclaimer: My European Experience series is based on a “crash course” tour of 8 countries in 14 days. Therefore, these posts will contain only some sights and tastes of each country.
By the time we reached Switzerland, we had jumped from speaking (at least, the best way we could) German to Italian to German back again, because in Switzerland, people speak either German, Italian or French, depending on their location. This is because Switzerland is surrounded by Germany (North), Italy (South), France (West) and Austria and Liechtenstein (East).
We stayed in Lucerne, where most people speak German. It was still pretty cold when we went here, as seen in the snow covered mountains in the distance.
But before we reached Switzerland from Italy, we passed the 3rd longest bridge in the world, called the Gotthard Road Tunnel - more than 16 kilometers! Certainly not a tunnel where you can hold your breath and make a wish. ;)
Remember the Swiss Guards I mentioned while I was in Vatican City? Well, this sad looking, dying lion monument was in memory of the loyalty of the Swiss Guards who protected the French royalty during the French Revolution. This is definitely one of the most unique monuments I’ve ever seen.
To add to another of my “mosts”, Lake Lucerne is probably the clearest lake I’ve ever seen in my life. Below you can see the Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), which is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe.1 Our travel director urged all of us to cross this bridge at least once so we did!
Interestingly, Lake Lucerne is heavily inhabited by swans! I have never seen so many swans in my entire life! They’re pretty huge and don’t seem to be scared of tourists, because they do come closer to you especially when they see that you have some snack or piece of bread in your hands.
I’ve seen some swans actually walking along the sidewalks, posing for excited tourists, but I was only able to take pictures of them in the water.
We also rode a cable car to the peak of Mt. Pilatus which surrounded Lucerne.
Sadly, the weather was a bit dreary and cold when we went up…
…so we couldn’t see much of Lucerne from the top of the mountain. Didn’t help that I wasn’t a big fan of snow.
Did you know that Switzerland breeds St. Bernards (You know, like that lovable family dog in the movie Beethoven)? These St. Bernards were originally used as rescue dogs for those who got injured or lost in the mountains. Sadly, I wasn’t able to see a live one but the souvenir shop at the top of Mt. Pilatus had some stuffed toy versions.
While everything in Lucerne (as it is probably in the whole of Switzerland) is more expensive than it is in other European countries, G and I had our most memorable and delicious (and yes, most expensive) dinner here! Below is a picture of Schnitzel being cooked in front of our table. I will be writing a separate post on this.
Disclaimer: My European Experience series is based on a “crash course” tour of 8 countries in 14 days. Therefore, these posts will contain only some sights and tastes of each country.
My family and friends say I take way too many pictures of food. I really enjoy baking and am starting to enjoy cooking too. I love anything food related - bakery-hopping, learning about food chemistry, drawing food, trying food from different places! Nothing beats home so I tend to write about Asian cuisine a lot too.
Top
