Les Repas

We ate and drank our way through every foodie delight on offer, in France and in Istanbul. Outside of Paris the whole country seems to shut down from noon until 2.00pm so everyone can linger over their dejeuner formule and carafes des vin de table. I thought that with all the walking we were doing that it wouldn't matter if I enjoyed my baguettes and fromage and pain au chocolat and bottle (small) of beer every afternoon. Alas, the walking was not enough so I have had to follow a strict regime since getting back to Australia to remove the extra avoirdupois gained.

We passed Viktor the boulanger and pattissier in Rue Rambuteau a couple of times a day as we walked back and forth from our Paris apartment. How do you resist pastries like this? .....and fresh figs (from Turkey at this stage, the French ones weren't ripe until the end of our stay!)

Rue de Rosiers, in the heart of the Jewish Marais district was quite close to our apartment. We enjoyed the best felafels in Paris a couple of times...maybe even better than those at Sabbaba in Bondi.

We all looked so happy this day because we had just enjoyed Algerian couscous at Le Miyanis in Boulevard Monilmontant after our memorable visit to Pere Lachaise cimetiere. Maxie is holding a bag of handmade Algerian pastries for "later".

We visited many Paris cafes and wine bars..for espresso, cafe creme, cafe noisette..and Pelforth bier (brune). This was one of our favourites. We found it in the Rue de Bac on the Left Bank. We'd got caught in a shower of rain walking back from the Musee Rodin in Rue Varenne (where President Sarkozy lives ("Sharkozy", as the protesters call him)), and it seemed particularly warm and welcoming.

We found the wonderful Gerard Mulot, chocolatier par excellence, in the Rue de Tournon just behind the Marche St Germain. Imagine my delight to find this magical concoction of cake and figs in the window!

Parisiennes enjoy the same access to farmers markets and beautiful fresh food as their country cousins do. It was early Autumn when we arrived so tomatoes, apples and pears were just coming into season (and grapes from Italie).

And I learnt to distinguish Pleurotte, Girolle and Cepes mushrooms.

The biggest artichokes I have ever seen were at the Marche d'Aligne, past the Place de Bastille but I couldn't work out what Donald Duck had to do with it.

After two weeks in Paris we stayed on an organic farm in the Aveyron region near Najac (an hour and a half NE of Toulouse). We had access to fresh RIPE figs, freshly laid eggs and handpicked blackberries (and lots of local vin de pays).

We visited a local village market most days. The best one was in Villefranche de Rouergue in its picturesque medieval, arcaded, village square near the cathedral. We found the best artisan boulanger in the Aveyron here. We brought our valentin bread and scrumptuous tartlets back to the park in the tiny village of Monteil to sit and enjoy over lunch.

Most village markets have one or two paella vendors, just to make sure everyone's senses are awakened!

and an artisan boulanger or two.

Ail (garlic) rose and violet, grown locally. I nearly cried when I saw this. I haven't seen any fresh locally grown garlic in Australia for months!

And tomatoes growing in every country back garden.

Rob says he has eaten enough chevre cheese to do him a lifetime (just like the tofu in Asia), but none of us could get enough of this wondrous cured lait cru (unpasteurised milk) vintage cheese (expensive though!). We found this exceptional selection at the Forcalquier market in Provence.

We loved our visit to Sault, in the lavender growing region of Haute Provence. When we arrived the market vendors were packing up, but not before I captured this man taking his chilli strands down. We were on a mission to find Restaurant Le Provencal which proved to be a highlight of the day. We chose the 15 euro formule meal..mussels, pear tarte for dessert and an assiette of cheese with a 500ml bottle of vin du pays Vaucluse.

Another beautiful lunch, outdoors this time at La Gare de Bonnieux restaurant in the Luberon Valley, Provence. I took this picture so that I could capture the self satisfied, contented looks on the after lunch faces of the French patrons behind Maxie & Rod.

Nice, on the Cote d'Azur, was another great food destination. Every morning the Cours Salaya in the old part of Nice comes alive with a huge fresh food market...by now the grapes were ripening everywhere.

We see the famous Therese making her Nissa Socca in the Cours Salaya markets - I don't know why everyone thinks they are so special; they are just pancakes (made of chick pea flour) after all.

After France, Istanbul was a completely different food scene - dominated by men - lots of simple snack food available on the streets and kebabs everywhere.

But the sweets were amazing - and so many shops making them!

and of course our favourite Anatolian gozlemes.

On a trip like this, food becomes a wonderful window to the passions, preoccupations and history of the people, as well as a great source of enjoyment and experimentation. It is one of the great joys of travelling!