Adventure #230: l'Etape Gourmande (Villandry)

After the wonderful lunch at Villa Margot, we hung around the beach area for a while (at the insistence of the little one) and then drove to Carnac for a quick visit to see the stone hedges.  Once done, we then made the journey to our next destination, the Loire Valley.

The alignment at Carnac

   
Almost 4 hours later, we arrived at Villandry.

Our accommodation for the next 2 nights, a little place right next to Chateau Villandry. Small but with such a beautiful garden!

After the long drive, we thought we will take a leisurely stroll to the restaurant for dinner.......not realizing it was 1km uphill!!!

As with most places in France, most people prefer alfresco dining.  Us included.

Soft boiled egg with tomato, smoked bacon, cream with herbs and dips.  Different. Not too bad.

Stuffed piquillo peppers with herbed goat cheese.  I like goat cheese, so I enjoyed this more than G.

Confit rabbit with citrus fruit in sparkling Vouvray wine with orange juice.  It was good but that is all.  I expected something better.

Small round of veal, vegetable and apple dressing, tartar sauce. Both G and the older one ordered this.  It took a long time to come and it was really dry.  They didn't enjoy this at all.

Kids meal - chicken with mashed potatoes.  I think this was better than the veal!

Kids meal dessert

Apricot in a fruit jelly with rosemary, whipped cream, Vouvray sorbet and biscuit.  The best dish on the night!

The atmosphere and setting was nice but that's where it ends.  The food was disappointing.

Adventure #229: Villa Margot (Quiberon)

No gourmet food for a whole day as we drive around the countryside.  So, before we left Brittany for the Loire Valley, we tried to fit in another restaurant before moving on.  The next town with recommended restaurants is Quiberon. 

Quiberon is situated at the tip of a very thin peninsula and is a very popular holiday destination for the locals. Maybe that is why there are a number of recommended restaurants here.  We narrowed down to 2, La Chaumine and Villa Margot and finally decided on La Chaumine.  Unfortunately when we got there, it was not open........this happened a lot in France as restaurants close on different dates and some do lunches and some don't.  Anyway, no choice, we drove on to Villa Margot which is situated just off the main beach.

It was a really hot day but G never liked sitting inside. Luckily, with the shade and everything, it was actually rather pleasant outside.

Pea soup with mussels and langoustines. Usually not a fan of pea soup but the saltiness of the seafood and the sweetness of the pea went so well together. Delicious.

Skewer of sardines with roasted sesame and zuchini mouse.  A perfect summer dish for the very hot weather.

Fish with caviar and aubergine - the fish was succulent and the aubergine mixture refreshingly delicious.

Signature dish - lobster with rice. Very rare to have rice in French restaurant. But by now, honestly, we are all a bit homesick for food from home, so rice is a nice change to potatoes. And of course, the lobster were delicious.

As always, the older one ordered steak. She said it was perfect!

The little one had the fish too but served with her favourite - mashed potatoes. So no complaints there!

le petite choux with caremel, vanilla and chocolate filling - this was sooooo good.

Don't remember the name of this. Although good but no competition when compared to the le petite choux.

A nice cup of coffee to finish off the excellent meal.

Adventure #228: Tout Le Monde (Douarnenez)

From our base in Pont Croix, we drove to explore the surrounding sites. We spent the morning walking around Pointe du Raz, the western most point in France.  What a beautiful place!

After Pointe du Raz, we drove to Douarnenez, one of the larger cities in this area hoping to find lunch.  Dournenez used to be an old sardine port. It has a self-guided walking tour (the Sardine Trail) which shows the history of the struggles of the sardine workers, especially the women. 

We arrived at Douarnenez after the French lunch hour. Even though it is a large-ish town, most restaurants were still closed.  While on our way to the old port, we walked passed one of the creperies which incidentally is on our list of recommended eating places.

They were about to close for the afternoon but the lady said if we were fast to order and eat, she will accommodate us. That's easy!

2 La complete - a simple dish but very well done. the older one said this was the best she had so far!

2 crepe with sugar.

A quick and simple lunch.  Not the gourmet we were hoping for but for a crepery, it was super food.

Adventure #227: Creperie Ahna (Dinan)

As luck would have had it, the Fete Des Ramparts festival was on when we visited Dinan.  The festival is held only on one weekend in late July every even numbered year and the entire town dresses up in medieval garb and throw a huge party!

We wondered around town, enjoyed the many difference performances around town while G took tonnes of photos of people in various different medieval customs. We even managed some shopping - bought a couple of very unique leather belts, before arriving at our lunch destination for the day.

The town was so full of fun, we were reluctant to sit indoors so we waited more than 30 mins for a little table outside.

Steak to be cooked on heated stone with 3 sauces. Beside the novelty of cooking it yourself on the hot stone, the dish was genuinely delicious.

Galette with salmon and leak. 

The most popular galette - La Complete.

A wonderful relaxing lunch. Food was good and the festivities just made it such an unique experience.

Adventure #226: Le Surcouf (Cancale)

We actually came to Cancale to have dinner at Le Surcouf but got distracted by the fresh oysters.  After the 2 dozen oysters, I just couldn't face dinner so we went for a long walk along the shore.  It was low tide and there was really nothing to see except boats "stranded" on the beach at low tide ......

Finally, after an hour or so, we decided to have an early dinner as there was not that much to do.

Still full from the oysters, I only wanted very little to eat, so I ordered the another gem of the French gastronomy which is the original fish soup or soupe de poissons. This fine and tasty soup was accompanied with a little pot of the garlicky saffron sauce known as rouille ('rust"), a mound of grated cheese, and a bowl of croutons.  Quite enough for me.

G had this raw scallop dish for starter which he said was rather good. I will take his word for it as I am not a fan of raw scallop.

G actually ordered the sole for himself but something was lost in translation and the restaurant split the sole into 2 portions (this is one) for the kids.

The older one had moules and it didn't disappoint.

This salmon was for the little one but with the orders all messed, we all ended up having a little of everything!

A couple of light desserts to finish off the meal.

Nothing much in Cancale except for the oysters.  Food at Le Surcouf was good, would have been better if we didn't already pig out on the oysters.

Adventure #225: Fresh Oysters (Cancale)

After St. Malo, we drove to Cancale for dinner.  Cancale is a holiday town with a street by the sea with holiday shops and restaurants.  Right at the corner of that street, where the lighthouse and jetty are, is a small oyster market made up of a handful of stores selling fresh oysters to eat there or to take away.

The fresh oysters were of varying sizes and ranges from 4 Euro a piece to 4 Euro a dozen! If you decide to eat there, the store keeper will open the oysters for you, serve the oysters on a tray with a lemon and a plastic knife for an extra 1 Euro.

We bought a dozen from this lady.

And we just ate them on the steps next to the market overlooking the oyster farms.

After eating, just throw the shells on the beach which was already covered.

After the initial dozen, we went back for another dozen. This time we had bigger ones for an extra Euro a dozen.

Men working the oyster farms

I am not much of an oyster fan but to eat oysters so fresh and in such a casual environment was such an unique experience. Not to mention the costs! Very glad we came. Now.....what are we going to do about dinner??? I guess we have to feed the kids!