fyi

For anyone who cares (or is still reading this blog): the Hermes store in Toulouse has a few Birkin bags in stock; sizes/color/leather/price vary.

For people like me, who wouldn't be able to afford such a bag even 2 years from now (the longest wait possible in Toulouse depending on what you want), this news is no comfort.

You can't deny the French this: they have a sense of ritual when it comes to coffee and tea. Even dingy bars, still reeking of their smoking years, will offer a proper pot of hot water complete with cup and saucer and sugar cubes. So this doesn't always happen, and sometimes you might just get lipton yellow instead of a choice of teas or infusions. Compare this to the unromantic steps needed to have tea stateside: you pick out your tazo tea from the dispenser near the cash register, the cashier hands you a paper cup of hot water, and then you grab your sugar and plastic striped stirrer from the dispensers by the trash. Where's the fun in that?

Le Chalet

In my original post on Ax-les-thermes, I mentioned the springs, the ski slopes, and the casino. But another good reason to spend an afternoon there is the bib gourmand restaurant and hotel, Le Chalet.

Le Chalet has a couple different menus. There is the weekday lunch one, which is a deal at 22€ for 3 courses; a 2-course choice from the menu for 26€; a 3-course choice for 30€; 4-courses for 36€; a 4-course menu "decouverte" for 45€; and a 5-course menu "suprise" for 48€. These are all available on their website, http://www.le-chalet.fr/. I wasn't feeling ready to take on three courses and decided to get a main dish and dessert, while R went for all three.

As soon as we were seated we were brought a platter of breadsticks, pastry puffs, and dip. Unfortunately the pastries were gone by the time I remembered to snap a photo (proof of their success, I suppose):
Afterwards we had the amuse-bouche, an emulsion of potatoes and cepes. Frothy and delicious!
R started with the pot-au-feu with beef, topped with a nice portion of foie gras.

I had a pot of earl grey while R made his way through his entree. I know the waiter looked at me funny when I requested it, and what blasphemy to have a pot of tea in the middle of lunch, but I had a cold!
Afterwards we both ordered the lamb. Here we had our disagreements. I preferred the small pot on the left, the lamb confit. Very tender and tasty. R preferred the lamb in the middle, because it was a better cut of meat and not as fatty. But neither of us liked the side dish of beans, which was terribly bland.
For dessert I had the Ile Flottantes with lemon sorbet and a citrus soup. Perfect for someone with a cold! But an odd choice for a winter menu; it seems like this type of light dessert would be much more refreshing -- and appreciated -- in the summer. It looked so beautiful, topped with the dried slice of orange:
R had the Cafe Liegeois, which was layers of brownie, coffee ice cream and creme chantilly. A very elegant sundae indeed.
After our desserts were cleared, R had cognac (he insists that I mention it was a Remy Martin XO -- his favorite) and we were brought this final platter of sweets. So cute! From top to bottom: mini-caneles, pate de fruit (either blueberry or blackberry, I can't remember), and caramel lollipops.
To accompany our meals R had ordered an excellent bottle of Madeira red wine, and we had some local sparkling water -- the only kind they serve. The total came to about 100€, and we were very pleased with the food, the presentation, the service, and especially our nice window table with a view of the hot stream below. The only low point might be the limited menu -- only 3 each of entrees, plats, and desserts, but the other gourmet menus might make up for that.

Le Chalet
http://www.le-chalet.fr/
4 Avenue de Turrel
09110 Ax-les-Thermes
Tél 05.61.64.24.31
Reservations recommended.

tags: grub

Ax-les-Thermes

We have been exploring l'Ariege and Midi-Pyrenees slowly but surely, making daytrips or afternoon visits here and there. Last weekend we went to Ax-les-thermes, which is known mainly for 3 things: the hot springs, the ski slopes, and the casino. Even though we did not partake in any of these activities, we still enjoyed our afternoon there.

Springs, fountains, and spigots with the hot spring water are found all throughout the town, hidden in inconspicuous walls or featured in more central locations. We didn't have an appointment at this spa, but we did dip our feet in the public wading pool near the casino:
And even though we didn't go skiing, we did have a fun time riding the cable cars up to the lower ski slope, Bonascre. Minus one stomach-dropping moment where our car stopped for a few minutes at what felt like the highest point. Unfortunately this region has not really had much snow this winter, and the ski slopes and area businesses are feeling it.
We had a fabulous lunch at Le Chalet, a bib gourmand restaurant, but that is another post entirely.

And finally, what would a Saturday afternoon be without a Nutella crepe?
Ax-les-thermes is cute enough, with winding streets and elaborately decorated crepe stands, and I really enjoyed my afternoon there. If I ever go back I will be sure to research the spas in the area! Plan on about a 2 hr train ride from Toulouse. The cable cars are about 6€ roundtrip to get to the first point, Bonascre.

One last photo, of the Casino:


tags: grub, sights

Mirepoix

We recently spent an afternoon in Mirepoix. Besides the church, and the cute buildings in the center of the town, there's not much to see or do. There aren't even any bars or restaurants worth mentioning! Still cute and still worthy of an afternoon visit.


tags: sights

So I discovered a nifty new site today that will find all the grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops, etc near a certain address and calculate a "walkability" score: www.walkscore.com. And the best news: it works for France too! I thought my Parisian neighborhood would do better than the lowly 71,* because I had no problems getting all my major errands done: my bank was 2 blocks away, the library was 4 blocks away, corner groceries were all nearby, and even real shops like Sephora, Habitat, American Apparel, etc were only a 5 minute walk away. I am surprised because I compared it with my undergrad address, which was in the heart of a great shopping district in a major city but not so convenient for any "errandy" type things, and it got an 87. Back home gets a 30 (no surprise) and where I am now gets a 49 (also no surprise). Where the boyfriend is gets a score of 54, and thanks to this site I discovered that an English specialty grocery is only .5 miles away from him. This is a really fun tool to keep around, and I bet it would be really handy while traveling and wondering what the nearest coffee shop, or restaurant, or whatever is.

*The grading scale says: "70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car." See http://www.walkscore.com/how-it-works.shtml.

Le J'Go

Wow. This feels wierd. An actual blog post. Imagine that.

Anyways. In Toulouse for the day, wanted to try a great resto, but there are no bib gourmands in Toulouse! Or at least none that turn up on ViaMichelin.fr. So instead I turned to my backup online guide, lefooding.com, and decided to go with J'Go, even though it bothered me that they have a resto at Paris too. (At first I felt like it was a cop-out, but while I was shopping I ran into a boutique that had the J'Gos business cards next to its own, and the shopgirl raved about it.)

No worries, though, we had a good time. I went with the Formule Rest'o, at 23€, and my boyfriend had the Formule J'Go, at 30€. I would recommend the upgrade to the 30€ set menu - as you will see, it is worth it when comparing the main dishes, and to have the choice of the full range of desserts.

I started with the Soupe de Potimarron, which was excellent. This is one of my favorite soups anyways, and I was not disappointed. It was topped with croutons and dried ham.

The boyfriend had the pate. In a word: copious. Though I'm not sure that he even touched the salad!Not pictured is the pot of cocktail pickles and onions that accompanied it.

After, the boyfriend had the gigot, which was excellent. As it should be, given the name of the restaurant!It was served on a bed of haricots tarbais (they weren't bad). But most remarkable was the fact that this was all you can eat! When we were reading the menu beforehand, I remarked that the "a volonte" must be referring to the side dish -- not the lamb itself -- because who has ever heard of all you can eat anything in France?!* But much to my boyfriend's delight, this assumption was wrong. This is one reason it is now on his shortlist for a good guys' night out restaurant.

*except for Flam's, of course!

So tender and juicy, the gigot really outshone my sad dry roasted lamb in comparison. I definitely regretted not getting the restaurant's namesake!

But at least my fries were excellent - I had to force myself to slide them to the boyfriend's side of the table so that I wouldn't eat them all.



For dessert, I had the dessert of the day, caneles. These are one of my favorite sweets when they are done right, and happily these were wonderful. I rarely find good caneles -- I had just bought one the day before that was too doughy. Some are too hard, some have no flavor. But these were great - soft and sweet and warm. And the waiter even wrapped them up for me to take home! My boyfriend rolled his eyes at my request, but I wasn't ashamed. They were even better the next morning. ;)

My boyfriend was in heaven with his dessert: prune ice cream, generously topped with armagnac and a little pastry. "It's like rum raisin ice cream - but better!" he pronounced after his first spoonful.

We had a bottle of red wine to accompany this; the wine list is available on their website, and starts at about 20€. I think our bill came to about 80€ total for the both of us, and we thought it was a very good value.* Service was great - I mean, they wrapped up my caneles! I can't really complain. One minor point, that might be a downside for some: we were surrounded by Brits, so it's easy to forget you're in France.

*Though now, with the Euro at $1.40+, can I really keep a straight face when I say it's a good value? Is anything a good value in France anymore? (for Americans at least.) Even French brands -- think Petit Bateau, Repetto, etc -- now seem to be cheaper, or at least the same price, in the US. This is the only part that worries me about my return to France, especially if I will be paid in USD. And especially since it's only going to get worse.


Le J'Go
16, place Victor-Hugo
31000 Toulouse
05 61 23 02 03
M: Jean-Jaures or Capitole
7/7
lejgo.com
Reservations recommended during the week; necessary on the weekends.

The menu (you can also check out their website for more details):

tags: grub