Paris, Heaven for Foodies and Heiratage Lover - Laduree

I love macaroon so much that I thought I would have it everyday during the trip in its authentic origin. In fact, I just bought macaroon once from Piere Hermes, which are rich in cream. Pity I forgot to take any photo.

For Laduree, I planned to try its pastries at Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Pity I had no time to queue up. Grab a rose flavor ice-cream instead. Special taste, only the biscuit was not too crispy.

















Lucky I could still try it out before departure at the airport.

















Pastry and tea are always the perfect match. My pastry is named Honey Fig Charlotte, featuring elegant outlook and soft and sweet heart.

















Fly me home.

Paris, Heaven for Foodies and Heiratage Lover - Work 5

My friend suggested to have hot pot dinner. Wow! I never heard people would have hot pot in Paris. How cool it is!

A range of balls, must have for hot pot.

The spicy soup base was for my friend while the basic soup base was for me. I did feel excited to have hot pot in Paris. 

The restaurant adopts buffet style. A range of raw and cooked food is avaliable.

This fried nian gao with crab was super yummy, better than the hot pot.

Paris, Heaven for Foodies and Heiratage Lover - The Last French Lunch

I slowed down my pace to enjoy my last day in Paris.

What for lunch? Certainly French. Veal, duck, seafood, it's the turn for lamb. Good to have a meaty, tender and juicy lam shank. Potato always tastes good regardless of cooking method.

















French people like dining outdoors, enjoying their meals or coffee while observing passersby. The summer heat can be annoying sometimes however. This restaurant comes up with a special idea. Can you guess what the smoke is? It's an eco-friendly air-conditioning system, water drops. Ar.... I felt like I was a plant being watered. Yet, has the restaurant ever thought the water drops may destroy customers' clothes or valuables? Weird idea.

Bordeaux, Paradise for Wine and Seafood Lovers - Seafood Lunch

We ended the Bordeaux trip with a seafood lunch.

Lovely pan-friend scallops in smooth texture and sweet taste with delicious baby potatoes.


















Oysters again but those in Le Petit Commerce were better.

















This type of fresh sea snail is not common in Hong Kong. Super yummy!













This marked the perfect end of the Bordeaux trip.

Bordeaux, Paradise for Wine and Seafood Lovers - Beach and Sun

It was a very busy day for we had to rush to Cap Ferret after the chateau tour.

Seafood in form of quick meal, tuna salad sandwich. 

















After abut 50-min train ride, we arrived Arcachon, a famous resort town. Unlike common sand sculptures, these colored ones are more edgy.

















Wow, what a giant blue whale! Wait, it is only an installation.



















Actually, the final destination was Cap Ferret, where is about 30 minutes away from Arcachon by boat. An oyster farm near the pier. 

















Many Europeans love summer because the winter there can be terribly cold, and French is not an exception. Besides, it's said that tanned people is usually rich people in France. We took a 30-miniute walk to the beach to visit this beach along the Atlantic Ocean.






















The sandbank at the background is one of the largest in the world, even bigger than the one in Perth. The number of yachts illustrates it's an area where the rich loves.
 
















It's my first time to see fishing by a net at the pier.
 

Bordeaux, Paradise for Wine and Seafood Lovers - Chateau Tour

Chateau tour is a highly recommended if you wanna explore this renowned wine making region.


The first chateau of the morning was one with long long history backed to the medieval age. This castle is armed by a moat for defensive purpose. It was once the living place for its old masters and now is the office of the chateau.



Grapes - the soul of wine. The soil, sunshine, water, temperature, wind, etc influence the quality of wine to be produced that year.

















The birth place and the storage of wine. Different allocation of grapes will formulate different wine in different personalities.
 


This tasting room was once a pigeon hole. 


 
The second chateau we visited is brought by a professor and run in a more modern way. It was quite interesting to see a relatively new world model in the old world.

 

This beautiful chateau is one of the five owned by AXA, a French insurance company, served as a photo backdrop of the day. We had no chance to have a visit inside however.

Bordeaux, Paradise for Wine and Seafood Lovers - Le Petit Commerce

Again, Le Petit Commerce was a good pick by my friend's intuition. We ordered this seafood platter packed by at least 8 kinds of seafood at Euro 30 something, a very good price in term of quality and variety. The oysters were full of taste of sea water; the clams were as fresh as sashimi; the edible crab (half) was full of eggs , etc. A perfect dinner.



















Because of the machine, my friend considered this salami should be something. The perfect allocation of fat and meat proved it was a right bet. The pickles on the side reduced the oily feeling of the sausage.

Bordeaux, Paradise for Wine and Seafood Lovers - Grand Hotel de Bordeaux

We were starving after booked a chateau tour at the tourist information centre. My friend found this restaurant at Grand Hotel de Bordeaux offering 2-course set lunch at Euro20. 

Given the presentation and taste, this lunch was in very good value. Look the poached egg is softly lays on parma ham and veggies. 

















Seafood soup, one of traditional French soup. Ingredient is crucial to a dish, in term of freshness and quantity. The chef gave generously to cook this rich in taste soup. And price of seafood in coastal cities is usually cheaper. No wonder my friend reminded me often we should have seafood in Bordeaux rather than in Paris. This soup really brought me an awesome start of the seafood gourmet trip.

















Being a big producer (and consumer) of wine, the pricing of wine is also very attractive in Bordeaux. I had some even I am not a wine lover. It is good to try the local speciality of the place where you are

Bordeaux, Paradise for Wine and Seafood Lovers - Snapshots

I don't know why many buildings in France are in long and narrow shape, which make the space looks smaller than it is. Moreover, may buildings are without lifts and air-conditioners because they are built long time ago.














This arch divides high street and not so high street.






















This sculpture looks very 3D no matter from which angle.



Signage of the building in the past.

















A place where kids are crazy for. Nothing is better than playing in water in hot summer.

















A tower from a church?






















Beautiful water lilies in a garden.

Paris, Heaven for Foodies and Heiratage Lover - Heading to Bordeaux

My friend suggested to add one more city to the itinerary. Shortlisted candidates included Bordeaux, Mt St Michel, Normandy, and the final winner was - Bordeaux.

The Paris Montparnasse station was patrolled by police and soldiers.

















A machine which I did not have time to check its job scope.






















A croissant from Paul, a chain of bakery / cafe in France.

















It took us 3 hours to arrive Bordeaux. The St Jeans looks more historical than the Montparnasse.

















Inter-city train.




















The exterior of the train station under super strong sunshine.

Paris, Heaven for Foodies and Heiratage Lovers - Le Palais Garnier

The front of Le Palais Garnier. It is impossible to get a shot without tourist, even at night.
















The back of the Opera, lucky to get rid of crowd.


















Despite of the size, its interior is as luxurious as a palace.If you don't have sufficient time to visit Chateau de Versailles, Le Palais Garnier is a choice to appreciate the magnificent architectures in the ancient French. The sparkling gold background and the ceiling painting of the foyer is similar to those in palaces.

















The renowned grand staircase is the attention of many tourists. I was more interested in the sculptures everywhere in the Opera.


















More about the interiors.

 
 

 


Some outfits for stage performance. Le Palais Garnier is where the classic ballet arises.



The home of the Phantom of the Opera. The interior of the auditorium is a bit too loud. Should the audience appreciate the performance on stage or the decorations around?

















A stage backdrop model in the library.