I Love Paris in the Springtime
T and I have just got back from a brief holiday in Paris. I've only ever stopped in Paris on my way somewhere else so this was a good opportunity to get to know the place a bit. It's a fabulous city and we enjoyed the art and architecture very much.
The only major let-down, and this may come as a shock, was the food. T is a vegetarian which does complicate matters where French cuisine is concerned but in this day and age if your kitchen can't cook something interesting without meat then it's not a very good kitchen; all it proves is that you're lazy and not creative. We ate in a variety of places, with friends of ours who live in Paris, at places highly recommended by guide books and had two dinners out at restaurants recommended by the hotel so I think there was plenty of opportunity to impress. Nothing I ate, and I didn't eat any vegetarian options, was beyond average and considering that last night's meal cost a small fortune whilst featuring limp overcooked asparagus and over cooked fish was not really acceptable. I get the impression that city has rested on its laurels for far too long.
After five meals at several price brackets from multiple recommendations I can only conclude that Paris falls well behind New York and London in culinary big cities. A real shame. The rest of the trip was great though and here are the inevitable photos:
The only major let-down, and this may come as a shock, was the food. T is a vegetarian which does complicate matters where French cuisine is concerned but in this day and age if your kitchen can't cook something interesting without meat then it's not a very good kitchen; all it proves is that you're lazy and not creative. We ate in a variety of places, with friends of ours who live in Paris, at places highly recommended by guide books and had two dinners out at restaurants recommended by the hotel so I think there was plenty of opportunity to impress. Nothing I ate, and I didn't eat any vegetarian options, was beyond average and considering that last night's meal cost a small fortune whilst featuring limp overcooked asparagus and over cooked fish was not really acceptable. I get the impression that city has rested on its laurels for far too long.
After five meals at several price brackets from multiple recommendations I can only conclude that Paris falls well behind New York and London in culinary big cities. A real shame. The rest of the trip was great though and here are the inevitable photos:
scribbled hastily by Mr Atrocity at 5:38 pm
2 Comments:
I've never been to Europe at all, but would love to go.
That is sad about the food in Paris. I've always heard such good things about it and the word "butter" in every single recipe, so I figured it had to be wonderful.
1. You continue to astonish me. How is it possible this is your first trip to Paris? (That's rhetorical. You've been now, that's all that matters.) I love Paris, but not as much as the rest of France.
2. There's a whole LOT of terrible cooking in France. And Italy. It drives me crazy when people pretend they got great food in Venice. It's nearly miraculous when that happens.
3. It's too bad about the veg. thingie because they DO do fois gras like aucunes affaires de personne - yah, well, it's SUPPOSED to be nobody's business, but the idioms of le Francais are idiotique.
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