Du vin, la cuisine and l'argent

Today was a travel day, so it gives me some extra time to address questions from readers.  (I'm thrilled that I even have any readers!)

This is actually cider and Calvados, but let's just pretend it's wine! 

Kris asked about the wine we're drinking.  We made a pact before coming to France that we wouldn't try to find the absolute cheapest wine to drink. (Rick says he agreed to no such thing.  He loves finding really inexpensive wine that's drinkable!)  It's fun to think you can get a whole bottle for 2 euros, but it's not usually a very good wine.  When our foursome was in Italy 4 years ago, we were tickled to try lots of inexpensive wine, but came home feeling like we might not have really experienced the good, but moderately priced, regional wines.

The criteria on this trip was to spend a bit more, but not too much, and see how we liked the wine.  I like my friend Cheryl's hint on her blog Paris and Beyond 2012.  She and husband Norman decided that if they looked for wines that had won acclaim here in France the wine would probably be good.  We've followed that advice, and when we see the gold, silver or bronze medallion on the bottles, we've found them to be very nice wines. 

Our goal is to find wines in the 4-8 euro range.  Every region has its own local wines, with the exception of Normandy, where Calvados and cider rule.  We really like Côtes du Rhone, Bordeaux & Côtes du Provence, both reds and whites.  Wine is readily available at grocery and convenience stores, and there are also fancier liquor stores, and about a million wineries where we can taste first and then buy. 

It's also possible to fill your own containers with wine at some of the wineries.  We bought lots of wine that way in Italy, but it was usually at the grocery store where they only had one kind to buy.  Here we've only seen this at some of the wineries, and you'd be able to taste before buying, so you'd know better what you were getting.

Choice and availability are affected by the fact that we're traveling down the west side of the country, so we're not seeing lots of Burgundy wines, or wines from Alsace. 

For our food choices, we're all adventurous eaters, so we'll try almost anything.  We would like to have some idea what it is though!  Years ago I bought a great little book called "Eating and Drinking in Paris, A menu reader and restaurant guide" by Andy Herbach and Michael Dillon.  It's been invaluable as we peruse menus without english translations listed on them.  Patricia Wells also offers an extensive glossary of translations of food terms on her website that you can download for free.

A lovely lunch salad.  Would knowing that it was made with octopus (poulpes) change your order?

Sue asked whether we'd be publishing a companion cookbook, after all the great meals we're cooking and eating.  I wish!  A good Wi-fi connection has been a help when trying to find recipes for unusual ingredients.

We knew we wanted to have some picnics while we were on the road, so I brought a tablecloth from home, along with bandanas in different colors to use as napkins.  A corkscrew, swiss army knife, plastic cups and little plastic cutting boards have made it possible for us to eat anything, anytime, anyplace.

Pique-nique supplies

In France, bread is life, oui?  Fresh bread is a given.  Someone here explained that not only do french people buy a fresh baguette each morning, but might also buy a fresh baguette later in the day so as to have fresh bread at dinner.  Sometimes we overbuy, but at 85 centimes per baguette (about $1) it isn't a crime if we have to throw some out.  Just going to the bakery every day is part of the culture we want to experience.

L'argent - money!  I think we're always a bit nervous about being so far from home and having problems getting cash or using our credit cards.  It seems there is a cash machine on every corner here, so that hasn't been a problem.  Plus, the limit of the cash we can get in a day seems very high, and usually is higher than what the machine will actually allow anyway.  Credit cards have been a bit of a challenge this time though.  The Bank of America card we've tried to use doesn't seem to work in machines (ticket, toll), but is accepted where there is an actual person processing the charge (restaurants, stores.)  The Chase Bank card (through British Airways) we use has an imbedded chip - which is common, or maybe standard (?), in Europe.  We've been able to use it almost everywhere, whether there is a human being processing the transaction or not.  One notable exception was on the tollroad one day, when we used the card to pay a toll, and then at the next booth, on the same road, it didn't work!  Go figure!