This, That, and The Other Thing

Viking Delling staff met us at the Marseilles airport and drove us to Avignon to begin our cruise up the Rhone River. Day 1 consisted of getting settled in our rooms (ours had a small veranda looking out at the river), obligatory safety drill, introductory talks in the Lounge by the Captain and staff and a brief description of the next day’s activities.

Food, of course, is always amazing on cruises and this one is no exception. in the dining room, There are so many options for dining. There will be something for every taste and dietary requirement. The Chef’s Regional Specialties Tasting Menu is offered every night – and two other 3-course menu options. There are other offerings which are available every night as pick-and-choose meals. They are —

1st Course -Caesar Salad                                                                                                            2nd Course-Angus Rib Eye Steak/Poached Norwegian Salmon/Roast Chicken Supreme 3rd Course-Crème Brulee/Fromagerie/ Seasonal Fresh Fruit Plate/Ice Cream or Sorbet

If the first night was any indication, I think it will be the Chef’s Tasting Menu for me every night. Tonight’s chef recommendation —

Crispy Vegetable Salad                                                                                                                Peppers, Red Apple, Feta; Mint & Sherry Vinegar Dressing

Seared Diver Scallops                                                                                                               Sunchoke Mousseline, Pine Nut Gremolata, Asparagus & Radish                                        (Scallops can be difficult to get just right – these were perfect!)

Clafoutis aux Cerises                                                                                                                   Warm Baked Cherry Pudding

This first night, Kathy opted for the pick-and-choose of Caesar Salad, Roasted Chicken Supreme and the Crème Brulee. She commented that the chicken was more flavorful than the roasted chicken that came so highly recommended when we were in Paris.

Cocktails in the Lounge after dinner with entertainment by the Gypsy Kings – a little Flamenco to end the evening.

After a lovely buffet breakfast of anything and everything one could want (I had a made to order spinach and cheese omelet which was a light as a crepe), we boarded a bus for our tour. Tarascon was our first port, but Arles was our destination as it cannot dock a ship of our size. It is the last town at the end of the river, then it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. So we are working backwards and will end the cruise with 2 days in Lyon – the food capital of France! The ship cast off from Avignon to Arles at 5am. Breakfast service began at 6am.

Arles is a fascinating little town. In the last days of the Roman Empire, Arles was the capital of Roman Gaul.  Remnants from that time include an ancient amphitheater seating 20,000 and is still used today for events. Vincent Van Gogh was inspired to paint a number of works highlighting many of Arles’ sights. Narrow streets and cobblestone walks aside, Arles has a vibrant and energetic feel.  Provencal Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays feature fresh fruit and vegetables from local farms.

Free afternoon to explore the ship and catch up on my blog. Posts will probably be delayed as wifi reception onboard is spotty and my photos are taking their own sweet time to link to my tablet.  But who’s in a big hurry anyway? Its vacation time. About 5pm, I took my decaf caramel coffee into the Viking Lounge and just sat for a while looking out at the river and the precious silence of a lovely sunny afternoon in France!! I haven’t seen Kathy in a while. I think she is taking a nap. It is well deserved. Being a tourist is hard work! Experiencing new places, doing new things, and having lots of fun is not for weaklings. And this new week has just begin.

Before you know it, it’s dinner time again. Tasting Menu tonight was –

Soup au Pistou                                                                                                                Vegetable Soup, Basil Pesto

Gnocchi a la Nicoise                                                                                                                     Gnocchi Tossed with Summer Vegetables & Safe Butter

Moelleux au Chocolat                                                                                                           Vairhona Tainori Cacao (translated, this is chocolate cake in a raspberry coulee and covered with chocolate)

Music in the Lounge after dinner with our onboard pianist Benny.

This place is not to be believed. It is not a shopping mall – it is a shopping city. It consists of three 6-story buildings. If you cannot find it here, it is not to be found anywhere. This is not an exaggeration!

Each floor in each building has a specialty. Every major fashion designer is on display. There were departments for men, women and children with the largest selection of clothing I have ever seen. The Le Gourmet building has everthing you need for preparation, cooking tools and cookware spices, fresh produce, fruits, chocolates and their famous macarons. It was a dizzying array of everything to tempt your pocketbook.

There was a lovely wine and food bar where we had a glass of Puissy Fume and shared pasta with truffles. This dish didn’t look appetizing, but it was completely and entirely delicious!!

The piece de resistance is the dome ceiling in one of the buildings. When you go to the 6th floor, you are outside with an incredible view of the Paris sights.

I now know the meaning of shop til you drop. We Ubered with our bags back to the hotel to pack for tomorrow. We fly to Marseilles to start our river cruise.

This fashionable district is filled with boutiques, galleries and bars. It once was the City’s Jewish quarter, and there are still numerous kosher restaurants. The grassy Place des Vosges with its beautiful fountains has elegant arcades, is home to Musee Victor Hugo where the writer lived.

Next on the list was this three story building which opened in 1985 and holds the world’s largest collection of Pablo Picasso’s work. It encompasses all artistic movements and themes of his work and explores his creative process through drawings and sketches.

We had lunch at Gribouille, an outdoor café where I had my along awaited Croque Monsieur – a little disappointing but the French fries sure were tasty!!

Final stop in Le Marais was the Pompidou Centre which opened in 1977 to great fanfare. It is certainly different – a little too odd architecturally even for me. It does house the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. There are programs and activities for all ages. Kathy and I were excited to see such a large exhibition of Kandinsky.

This was a long and busy day. The traffic and the crowds were overwhelming. The view from the 6th floor of the Pompidou Centre was gorgeous though – with great views of Sacre Coeur, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame (sad).

Too tired to go out to dinner – ordered room service.

This was one of my must-go to-places in Paris. Here between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, famous artists gathered at local cafes and bars to bemoan the fact that they were not rich and famous – artists like Delacroix, Gericault, Cortot, and impressionists like Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissaro, Cezanne, Gaugin, Lautrec and Van-Gogh.

In the 19th century came the cabarets –  Moulin Rouge and Le Lapin Agile. They are till here. The Moulin Rouge was destroyed by fire in 1916 and was reopened in 1926 with such artists as Josephine Baker and Maurice Chevalier.

The Basilica of Sacre-Coeur is one of the most visited monuments in Paris. At 430 feet, it is Paris’ highest natural point. It took the Catholics from 1876 to 1910 to built it. In The Roman-Byzantine style, it was in penance for how the surrounding neighborhood had become so rebellious and sinful. It offers a widespread view of the city. There was a wine festival going on today, and thousands of people made it impossible for us to go inside. Very disappointing!!

All those steps – it’s enough to make your legs ache just looking at them!!

After a lovely buffet breakfast at our hotel,

We took a stroll along the Seine which is only 3 block away.

Ah – Paris in the Fall!!

Planning this for a long time, and it’s finally here. My friend Kathy and I flew Air France from LAX to Charles DeGaulle and arrived one hour early. The new international airport is very fancy. How about that Champagne and Caviar bar to enjoy while waiting for your flight.

The flight was pretty bumpy but the food was pretty good — Chicken with Balsamic Cream, Polenta with Spinach. The chocolate brownie was actually pretty moist. But  adding my two glasses of champagne made it all perfect!! We woke up to breakfast, not realizing that it was already daylight, and we were an hour early landing in Paris. When does that ever happen! We barely had time to eat our feta and Spinach Fritata, Chicken Sausage with Mushrooms and Potato Croquettes, when we had to prepare for landing.

We had to wait almost one hour for our driver to take us to our hotel. It was a comdedy or errors and ended up being very annoying. By the time we got to our hotel, it was time for check-in. Even though the plane arrived early, waiting for our driver ate up our extra tourist time.

Melia Vendome is a pretty hotel but the rooms are small. It wouldn’t be so bad though if two women didn’t pack so darn much stuff.

Kathy’s daughter-in-law Carla came to our hotel and brought us museum passes and metro rail passes for our stay in Paris. We then treated her to dinner at Frenchie’s Wine Bar. What a treat!

More champagne for me, and then we shared small plates of  Four Cheeses from Neal’s Yard Dairy (Dorstone Pasturized Goat’s Milk, Lincolnshire Poacher Cheddar, Durras Pasturized Cow’s Milk  and Calston Bassert Stilton), Burrata with Heirloom Tomatoes, and Raviolis with Butternut Squash and Smoked Sage.

After this culinary adventure, we literally wandered the streets, looking in store windows.

If it takes as long to blog as this first one did, I may not be doing it everyday.

Fred’s is a Mexican Cafe at PCH and Main in Huntington Beach. Weird name but it has been around for years. That usually means the food is pretty good  — and the view!

We were celebrating Julie’s birthday so it was crucial that we began with margaritas and chips with salsa and guacamole.

The Wedge specialty for me was a very tasty chicken taco and cheese enchilada with black beans and rice.  Julie had what would have been my second choice — the Chicken Tostada Salad with lime cilantro vinaigrette. It was piled high with grilled sliced breast and looked like a complete meal!!

It was an enjoyable time in a festive atmosphere in a place close enough to hear the ocean. I even appreciated the old time rock and roll playing on the sound system.

The other thing – I was surprised, however, at the $13.50 fee for 2 hours in the parking  garage!

This restaurant at PCH and Blue Lantern in Dana Point is visually inviting as it provides an architecturally open space that is a pleasure to behold. The furniture and décor are bright and beach-breezy with blue accents that pop. We liked it before we even saw the menu.

As the birthday girl, Jennifer couldn’t have chosen a better place for our celebration. She is a caterer, Debbie is a chef and I love to eat. So what more appropriate friends to be my lunch companions. The menu at Coastal Kitchen is just the right size so it doesn’t take us forever to choose, even though everything sounded good.  We started with the Smoked Trout Dip served with toast points. I could have eaten it with a spoon – and I did!

Jennifer ordered the Parmesan Fried Chicken BLT with Swiss Cheese, Smoked Bacon and Arugula. Debbie and I had the Cuban Sandwich – hers with Fries and mine with Slaw. I ordered mine protein style since I am trying to avoid carbs. (Imagine a foodie like me trying to avoid anything?) It was pretty messing eating that way, but was muy delicious.

Jennifer loves Coastal Kitchen’s key Lime Pie. It was delivered with a lit candle. Very  much yum!!    (Somehow I lost the pie pic)

The Other Thing – The service was great. Waiter was very friendly and helpful. Jennifer had been there several times. Debbie and I agreed that we like her taste. We will definitely be back.