A tale of three Restaurants

This is a short tale about three restaurants two of my friends & I ate at last Thursday & Friday. To me it sort of shows part of the joy of living and eating in France. The occasion was one of the overnight hiking trips that we take. We being a floating group of friends, all at least in our 60's and all of whom like to walk and eat well. We try for interesting walks, a decent place to stay & above all - a good restaurant.
This trip were were staying in Calvinet in the Southern Cantal. The hotel/restaurant was Beausejour. Maitre Peusch is a master chef. Anywhere where the meal price is nearly the same as the room price usually offers a pretty good dinner! Anyway, off we went, a bit late due to Michaels encounter the evening before with a bad mushroom from his garden, but that's another tale.
The countryside is beautiful in that part of Cantal & we quickly worked out a circular walk which turned out to be very nice. By the time we did the circuit it was nearly 1:00PM and time for lunch. Not wanting a big lunch & not wanting to eat where we were having dinner we headed for Cassaniouze which was the nearest village of any size. Sure enough we found a small hotel/cafe which was full of locals. We asked for a table for three & Madame quickly checked with the kitchen & allowed that there was food. We were sat down & asked what kind of wine we wanted. Red vin ordinaire we said. We got a 1 litre bottle which later turned out to cost 4 euros. No menu, but food started coming. First a salad with numerous slices of home cured pork sausage, then a platter of braised beef with its juice and aligot. So much we couldn't eat it all. Then a platter with 4-5 kinds of cheese was placed upon the table. Finally, believe it, plastic packaged creme caramel desserts. All for 13 Euros. About as classic a French village lunch as you could hope for. Not the least bit fancy, but plentiful, cooked well and nourishing.

Ok, another walk after taking a close look at a simply stunning working chateau then to our hotel. We checked in arranged dinner and decided to go for a drive. We went up to Marcoles which is a pretty bastide town. Back for a shower & clean up and then down to dinner. We decided to have the Menu Evasion, a sort of tasting menu at 60 Euros a head. To be honest it was a disappointment. Perhaps our standards are too high? The soup course (Cold leek with foam & dried truffle) was good. The fish (crispy langoustines over salad) was also good. The next course (foie gras with waffles & a ? white sauce) was innovative, but let down by so so foie gras. The centerpiece pigeon course was a disaster! The pigeon was completely drowned by a very dark, strong highly reduced sauce, Yuck! Cheese was a nice Blue de Auverne which had been split & coated with a fig compote. I would have preferred to have the compote on the side so I has a choice as to whether or not to eat it. Desserts were lackluster. All in all not as good as expected for this price & pretension.
The next morning we took a glorious walk up a stream then a 450 meter hill above the river Lot. Fantastic views along the ridge & then down to the river. We arrived in Viellevie in time for lunch. A real find this place. We sat on a beautiful wisteria covered patio overlooking the river & pool. I had the plat de jour (10.50 Euros) which was comfit de poule served with vegetables and a baked potato followed by a choice of cheese or dessert. I had the cheese selection. The chicken & veggies were great as was the cheese selection. Donald had a omelet with cepes and a large salad. (14.50 Euro) He choose the dessert which was an apricot clafoutis. Michael had a full menu; Langustines & salad followed by lamb chops & kidneys with veggie, cheese and a very complicated fruit dessert. All was nicely presented and very well cooked. A real find & unexpected.

Hard to tell why I love France isn't it?

A visit to St. Yrieix de Perche

Yesterday we visited Saint Yrieix de Perche. The name alone makes it worth visiting, but the real attraction is the Limoges china outlet stores. Incredible bargains on this beautiful china.
We had a nice drive up about 3 hours from our place through some beautiful country side, past Cahors, past Brive on the Autoroute then across country seeing lots of fruit orchards, mainly apples, in rolling countryside.

St Yrieix itself is a thriving & very pretty town.


Unfortunately the day was overcast so the pictures don't really do the town justice.










Our first order of business was lunch at Le Cheval Blanc (The White Horse). We ate out on the covered patio. We all had the Carte de Jour, three courses for 15 Euros. Our starter was a salad of green lentils with little cubes of ham & chicken gizzards with a light vinegar sauce; very nice it was. The main course was bavette (skirt steak) with fried potatoes and dessert was two slices of pie (apricot & grape) with a little piece of lemon cake. This along with two pichets of house red set us up for shopping.






















As you can see there is lots of china and the pictures show only the crates out on the sidewalk outside the two main shops. Here's an interior shot of just some of the stacks. There must be,literally, tons of china in all shapes, sizes and patterns. All at incredible prices.

We were looking for some everyday china and were able to buy a set of 12 for just over 40 Euros. A dozen cups & saucers and a dozen big coffee mugs set us back another 30.


The best part for me, however, was the incredible food shop in St Yrieix. I remembered buying cheese in it a couple of years ago, but hadn't fully remembered just how magnificent this shop really is until this trip.


Here's a picture of the bulk beans, rice & pulses
outside the shop. And, yes, casoulette lovers they
do have Tarbais beans. Inside there is an even greater selection of rice, flours and grains. I particularly liked the large bag of raw refined sugar.










There is an amazing array of sauces, herbs & spices plus all kinds of preserved and candied fruits. The goodies just go on & on. This is definitely a food lovers paradise. You can see some of the goodies & order them on: www.epicurieux.com. Love the name and expect they may have been before the famous site in the states.


There are two large cabinets full of cheeses in perfect condition. (for pictures see my post on the cheese thread of eGullet)

Given all this bounty I couldn't help buying something. So I bought two cheeses (showing great restraint), a Selles sur Cher which is a chevre and is mild & Ok, but nothing special and a Bleu de Gex which was terrific! I've never has this bleu before and found it very very good.

I also bought two little treats. One was chocolate covered raisins from Bordeaux which had been soaked in cassis. Absolutely wonderful, but surpassed by the dried & sugared wild cherries. These are dynamite.

If you are touring any where near St Yrieix de Peche make sure you spend some time here. Its a super little town and off the tourist track. Great place!

Guilty!

Boy, have I been neglecting this blog. Busy, busy, busy, but that's no excuse. I'm promising myself that I'll be better & more disciplined from now on.

Some highlights: (to be followed up)

• The French pig butchering experience.,
• My 70th birthday party (surprised me)
• New recipes
  
• The French Elections

Watch this space.