Paris - odds and ends

An assortment of odds and ends from our trip to Paris.



The window display mentioned in our previous post.



Either chickens, or possibly guinea fowl on the left.



Quality burger! Having never tried this French burger chain, I absolutely had to, just for the experience.



Over 7 euro for a burger, fries and chips? This had better be damn good squishy.



These pseudo MacDonald's can be found all over Paris.



Back in our hotel room, the contents of our paper bag is quickly dispensed. Chips are crisp; good.



The burger has a little neck collar, like they have for dogs. Perhaps they too bite their stitches? The verdict: not awful, but not great. The bread is sweet and slightly brioche-like. The patty is fairly bland and generic, and the cheese is... processed cheese.



Pomme de Pain is a chain of baguette/sandwich eateries dotted around the place. I was told off for taking photos inside, but they mainly sell pastries, filled baguettes etc.



Crepe man on the Champ Elysee



Just before visiting the Musee d'Orsay, we stopped for a quick lunch. The restaurant/cafe/bar is located immediately behind the Musee itself.




Seated at the window, we overlooked the museum.



A's steak tartar was very nice, but unexpectedly was mainly flavoured with mustard. The texture and flavour of the meat was very nice, and the chips were crisp but slightly dry and bland, needing either more salt and/or less cooking



The steak was a little too cold for A's liking, and numbed her taste buds slightly. The seasoning was just right, and the mustard flavour didn't overwhelm. The beef was a good cut, and had been chopped, and not ground.



I made the unfortunate mistake of ordering roast chicken. France is famous for its treatment of roast chicken, and indeed on a previous visit to Paris I had the most amazing rotisserie chicken, which I'd hoped to revisit. A food critic once wrote that you should never order roast chicken in a restaurant that did not require prior booking, or at least a delay.

The less we say about this chicken, the better.



The damage: a carafe of house wine, and two mains came to €36. The service was extremely friendly - indeed we only had one incidence of the infamous Parisian waiter syndrome, but everybody else was friendly and helpful.

Honourable mention:



Outside the Jardin du Luxembourg we stopped for a cafe breakfast, and A had the most amazing cappuccino and croissant, and an even better freshly-squeezed orange juice.



My espresso was rich and the crema was, well, creamy!

Bern - sweets and fondue

Bern - Switzerland



Traipsing through Switzerland, we arrive in Bern on a freezing winter's morning. Fogged in and miserable, we seek solace in the wonderful bakeries down the city's main street.



Beautiful presentations and delicious smells convince us that something had to be done:



A small local doughnut (note spelling) dusted with cinnamon and sugar.



This was, A declared, the best doughnut that she had ever tasted. Being quite a connoisseur of doughnuts and notoriously difficult to please, this is very high praise indeed! The pastry was fluffy and mildly sweet, with the taste of fresh bread. The fluffy inside was so light as to be melting, while the outside almost slightly crisp and nicely caramalised.



Cold and tired, we wander into a small cafe for a pick-me-up. A's cafe latte is stylishly served in a tall glass with the most amazing marshmallow-like foam.



My espresso was rich and dark, with delicious crema.



Almost CHF10 (£7) for a couple of coffees: what else would you expect from Switzerland?



More chocolate-gazing...



Cakes, biscuits and pastries line every surface...

For the feature part of this post:

Restaurant Zur Krone
Gerechtigkeitsgasse 66
CH-3011 Bern





By now, we are cold, hungry and very tired from window shopping, so we wander into a restaurant promising fondue.



Daily specials.



The drinks menu.



We choose a nice bottle of Swiss wine. Not many people outside of Switzerland will have tried their wine, as so much of it is consumed domestically. This was a fine example of light, fruity, and quite a summery wine. Not for winter, you say?




It's because we're having cheese for lunch! Not the cute little fondue forks that in any western country outside of Franco-Europe would scream 'retro'.



Ahh the chewy, crusty, stale bread.



We chose a tomato and basil fondue. Slightly different from the traditional plain cheese, but we thought it'd be an interesting experiment.



A side serving of baby potatoes to dip in the cheese.



Mmmmm warming-toasty-cheesy goodness.


The bread was actually too fresh, in my opinion. It clung to the cheese well without disintergration, but it also lacked the real chew of a good hard-bread. The cheese was extremely flavourful, with strong notes of wine, tomato and herbs. Not too rich, but hearty on such a cold Swiss winter's day, it was exactly what we needed.



The damage: Bottle of wine, some great fondue, and a side serving of potatoes came to CHF76 (approx £50). Not bad for Switzerland, and not bad for the delicious meal.



Back to the window shopping and chocolate oogling.



Truely, this is the land of chocolate.