HALLEGRIA IN LES HALLES, BEZIERS: RESTAURANT REVIEW

Years ago when we first visited, Beziers' covered market was a disappointment. They seem to have spent some time in the interim, though, upgrading the quality of the merchants on the inside and there's substantial construction taking place around the exterior to facilitate traffic circulation. I don't think that the end result will rival Les Halles in Narbonne but I'm glad for the improvements. When we were in Beziers for a morning appointment and afternoon shopping recently, Les Halles was along the way. We decided to see what sort of lunch we could find. We found Hallegria. We were not disappointed.

At noon the market was winding down and Hallegria was almost deserted. We needn't have worried. By the time that we finished, a lively crowd had gathered. It turns out that Hallegria has a dedicated entrance from the outside and is therefore not totally dependent on Les Halles traffic and hours. The menu on a large, fold-up chalk board was wheeled over and was quite comprehensive. But we all settled for the formula of the day. Start and main or main and dessert for 14.50 euros, all three for 17.50 euros. The start was rillette of saumon fume, two scoops of shredded smoked salmon held together with creme fraiche and topped by lemon wedges. A small side of greens with a pleasant balsamic dressing accompanied the rillette perfectly. Three grilled lamb chops provided the centerpiece of a main plate that included a mound of creamy mashed potatoes, sauteed trumpets, and a taste of ratatouille. Fine French lamb properly grilled. For dessert, a boule of vanilla ice cream between bits of pastry with red fruit and dollops of chantilly. Very refreshing. Our water bottle was kept full and cold. There was plenty of fresh, grainy, crusty bread. And we finished off a bottle of nice rose.

Service was attentive without being intrusive. Food came in an orderly, unhurried fashion. And although three of our party of four only ordered two of the three courses, we all left full and satisfied. 77 euros total, a bit more than a three-course featuring steak/frites and jug wine but of superior quality. Well worth the price.

Recommended.

PS: While Hallegria doesn't have the feel of a sports bar, there were two televisions in sight of our table. They were showing Moto GP. As a motorhead, I found that an added bonus. You might not.

CAFE DES ARTS, BEZIERS - QUICK TAKE RESTAURANT REVIEW

It had been a busy morning. We were tired. We had to wait to do our last little bit of business in central Beziers until after lunch. So we found the Cafe des Arts just off the Allee Paul Piquet and settled in for a quick bite.

Primitive oil paintings of clowns? Really?

The waiter touted the special - a mixed salad, beef bourguignon, and dessert. Not feeling quite that hungry, we ordered off the slate. Two of us went for the bavette, two for confit de canard. French beef is French beef. If you know what to expect, you won't be disappointed. The two who ordered the bavette knew what to expect and were not disappointed. The confit was a proper joint, properly prepared. The frites were fresh, not reconstituted. The bread was grainy and crusty. Service was attentive without being intrusive. And the pink en pichet was quaffable. With two coffees at the finish, 54 euros and change.

As we left, we noticed some nicely presented plates on other tables. The pizza looked interesting and the salad well constructed. If we'd been less tired and more interested in dining, we might have been a bit more adventurous. It's hard to say if we'll return. There are so many choices in the area. But they took care of our hunger and didn't charge too much, so we have no complaints.

Worth a visit. 

LA BRASSERIE BARBA - RESTAURANT REVIEW

I've been wanting to stop into the poissonnerie (fish market) that is attached to La Brasserie Barba for quite some time but I always seem to miss the turnoff. On this trip, I discovered that the problem was that the exit on the roundabout is not marked as I expected. Problem solved if you come at it from the opposite direction. So this time we found it and, although we missed the market because it didn't open until some time after we'd finished our lunch, now that we know how to get there, and now that we know that the restaurant is worth a repeat visit, we'll be back.


The exterior of the building has an industrial modern flavor but the brasserie is of the white tablecloth and sparkling crystal variety. Our waitress was attentive without being intrusive and had enough English to answer the question or two that we couldn't answer for ourselves from the extensive menu.


Our meal began with a small tray with three amuse-bouches - olives, tiny crisp-roasted shrimp, and a snail-like little shelled creature that required some digging to get out. All very proper.

The girls picked from the menu of the day. Connie started with mussels en croustade, juicy mussels with a tomato-based (but not Italian) veggie medley in a ring of pastry. Cathey chose the smoked mackerel pressed in a vegetable terrine. Both were inventive, tasty starters. Connie then had the bonita, Cathey the sole meuniere. Both properly done. Both with a nicely prepared, cheesy cauliflower side.

I'm not a big seafood guy. Steak/frites for me. The beef was above the average for the region and I enjoyed it.

I was the only one with room for dessert, chocolate ice cream. The waitress asked, almost with a wink, if I'd like a bit of chantilly. Of course. The French really do know how to do chocolate, ice cream, and chantilly.

With a bottle of regional rose from Domaine La Croix Belle, a favorite winery, and coffee at the finish, the total tab was 94.10 euros. That's a bit more than we usually pay but this was an exceptional meal in genteel surroundings, worth the price. Our new, special local seafood place.

FRIDAY FLOWER MARKET, BEZIERS - APRIL 2015

RESTAURANT L'AMBASSADE, BEZIERS - A REVIEW

When I was writing restaurant reviews professionally in the Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, I would take copious notes. How was the room furnished? Did the acoustics allow for comfortable conversation? Crisp linens? Sparkling glassware? Was the service attentive, professional? And I would carefully describe every dish - visual presentation, aroma, texture, taste, ingredients, derivation. All grist for the mill. I was being paid to eat and I was determined to give my employer and the reader their money's worth.

I now live in the south of France, in the land of the Impressionist artists who taught us that beauty is not always best expressed through strict attention to photographic detail. It's possible, perhaps desirable, to simply sketch the outlines and let the imagination of the viewer fill in the forms. I'm certainly not in the same league on the printed page as the Impressionists were on canvas, but you get my meaning. My style is not as precise as it once was. You'll have to get to know me, to trust me, and to read between the lines.

Why have I spent so much time explaining my current process? Because I have just finished the best fine dining experience that I have yet to have had in France and I don't want to spend an inordinate amount of time on the details. The details would only fuzz up the experience rather than sharpen it. There are those who would disagree, who would demand every jot and tittle. Fine. Enjoy a lunch at L'Ambassade. (And you WILL enjoy it.) Write your own revue. But think of me as the Rod Serling of restaurant reviewers. Are you familiar with the customary opening of Twilight Zone? Rod would face the camera, perhaps smoking a cigarette, and say, "Imagine, if you will, a world in which..."

Imagine...

L'Ambassade is directly opposite the train station in Beziers, not the toniest part of town. With an unprepossessing facade and simple, adequate, but almost pedestrian interior furnishings, L'Ambassade doesn't strike any poses.

The service is attentive but not intrusive. Informative without being overbearing. Timed to our pace rather than demanding that we conform to theirs. Nearly three hours at table and we never felt either rushed or neglected. (You read that right. Three hours. For lunch.)

An assortment of amuse-bouches presented us with a kaleidoscope of tastes and textures. I particularly enjoyed a test-tube portion of creamy mussel soup sipped through a straw (my table mates found it a bit too briny) and a tiny bowl layered with custard, sauced mushrooms, and a lobster froth. About six different such tidbits were presented to us on two rectangular plates, one plate for each side of the table, enough for the seven of us to have one of each of the bits.

The starters were diverse and unusual, for this Yank anyway. I had the masque de cochon, pig snout for the uninitiated, with a skewer of fried offal. Calm down. If you are a meat eater in a culture that adheres to the 'from tail to nose' philosophy, you should be prepared for a little tail, a little nose. The thin circles of tender snout were quite tasty and were accompanied by green lentils that were prepared in such a way, and in such a creamy sauce, that completely changed their typically beany flavor. Cathey had an off-menu velouté de champignons (mushroom soup) that spanned the gamut of textures from solid bits of mushroom to foam. She described the soup as essence of mushroom.

We were offered several such off-menu items, by the way. We all chose from the 30 Euro menu that, in print, featured two choices for starter and three mains. In fact, we were offered about twice as many choices. Our host, a new foodie friend of ours here in France, is well known in L'Ambassade. Since he dines there often enough to have run through the seasonal menu, the chef provides an alternative or two for him when he books a reservation.

I chose ris d'agneau (lamb sweetbreads) for my main course. I am not a particular fan but the other three choices - two on menu and one off - were each seafood and none caught my fancy. Simply grilled, on a bed of rizotto adorned with truffle shavings, and with a couple of hearty chunks of fresh girolle mushrooms, the sweetbreads filled the bill. But they did point up another curiosity, perhaps French, perhaps just L'Ambassade. Think about it. Four choices. Three fish - monkfish, sea bass, and baccalao (salt cod) - plus sweetbreads. From my point of view, a bit restrictive. Speaking of the baccalao, that was Cathey's choice. Perfection.

Before dessert, a shot glass of citrus mousse with almond slivers cleansed the palate. Then wondrous desserts. Several choices. I had chocolate ice cream in a ganache cup sitting atop a chocolate 'brownie' (but so much more) encased in ganache, with a shot glass of chocolate syrup on the side. Wondrous is just the right word for French chocolate. Cathey had crepes Suzette, an add-on of a couple of Euros, prepared at table side. Without the dramatic pyrotechnics that sometimes accompany the dish, but perfectly executed just the same.

A word about the wines. We all drank white throughout the meal, a fine, full-bodied four-grape white, primarily chardonnay and viognier, from the Domaine Castelneau a bit east of us. I think that given my menu choices, my pairings-conscious host would have preferred that I shifted to red. But the viognier gave the white enough of a boost to work with my choices and I saw no reason to change from the excellent vintage. At the finish, and in honor of our host, we were treated by staff to glasses of a sweet Banyuls from Catalan country.

And, of course, coffee.

With a bit of a gratuity, 50 Euros a head. An afternoon of exquisite taste at an incredibly low price for the quality of the fare. If you are a true foodie and you find yourself anywhere near the train station in Beziers, you owe L'Ambassade a visit.

TRAVELING WITH OUR CATS TO FRANCE - DONE!

Veterinary examinations done. Paperwork done. Reservations made. All that's left is to make the trek.

Cathey and I had decided, both for our own sanity and that of the cats, to spend only one night in a hotel prior to boarding our flight for Europe. One night was the minimum given that we had to completely clean out the house before we left, mattresses and all. We'd given some thought to spending as much as a week in a hotel but decided that would be both excessively costly and excessively stressful both for us and for the cats. Camping out in a familiar place, even in a severely stripped down condition, made more sense.

The cats were a bit spooked by this time. In fact, the past few months had been quite stressful for them. They knew that something was up but they didn't know exactly what. Strange people marched in and out of the house. Furniture and furnishings disappeared at an alarming rate. And there were those frequent visits to the vet to consider. But to their credit, and perhaps to ours, our Siamese sisters didn't completely freak out. Instead of running and hiding, they clung closer and closer to us. They spent more time on my lap in those last couple of weeks than in the past couple of years.

So, on the day before our flight we watched as Dr. Clutter cleaned us out. Everything went - mattresses, box springs, sprung sofas and arm chairs, unwanted and unsaleable furniture, everything. We put the cats in their carriers, turned the key on our home of 30 years, and didn't look back. We picked up our renter - a minivan that was required due to our four full-sized suitcases, two carry on bags, and two carriers. We dropped off our cars (sold for just about their scrap value) and checked into the local Best Western, chosen because it was both close to our house and is one of the few in the Lehigh Valley that accepts pets.

On their new bed in their new
home, safe and sound

The cats checked out the room thoroughly, announced their relative displeasure, and slept tight up against us.

Our flight time was 12:50 PM, so given three hours to get to JFK (two on average but we figured a cushion) and given three hours to check in (two required but again, a cushion), we left the hotel - after a decent free breakfast - at 7:00 AM. Traffic was light so we made good time and the cats were no more upset than during the much shorter rides to the vet. We discovered, however, that if the two zipper pulls on Chloe's carrier were in just the right position, she could arch her back and pop the zipper open. No problem. Just set the zippers at the halfway point instead of all the way to one end or the other.

By the way, these are the carriers that we used. They worked well enough. Yes, we had the zipper problem. And yes, a determined cat could probably scratch through the mesh if left unattended. But all in all, we were satisfied..

At JFK, I paid a red cap way too much money to watch out for Cathey and the cats in the terminal while I returned the renter and took the tram back. After the usual long wait in line to get to the ticket counter, we discovered that the Turkish Air agent had been trained to check in cabin-riding pets but had never actually done so. She excused herself to go talk to her supervisor and, about a half-hour later, returned to tell us that we had too much luggage. Neither the website nor the reservation agents over the phone had been clear. I'd thought that we could bring both the pet carriers and our carry on bags into the cabin. Nope. We'd have to pay for the carry ons or put the pets in the hold. Pets in the hold was not an option. $320 later, we were set to go.

We made a mistake during the boarding of our flight to Istanbul. When we got to our seats, all the way in the back of the plane, window and aisle together, a mother and child were sitting in them. We showed them our tickets and they realized that they belonged in the center section. So they moved. As it turned out, one of the three seats in their section was empty. So they were able to stretch out and be comfy. We shoulda kept our mouths shut. But it worked out OK. The stewardesses and most of the passengers loved our cats. (One passenger was a grouch. "Are they good travelers," she asked dourly. "I don't know," I replied. "They never traveled before." Eyes rolled.) And the guy and his young daughter in the seats ahead of us probably made more noise than the cats. The cats themselves never got over-excited. All in all, a fairly normal overseas flight.

We deplaned last, found our way to a quiet corner of the international terminal, put on the girls' halters and leashes, and let them out under close supervision. They stuck together like glue after a quick leg stretch, had no interest in the bits of food and water that we offered, and settled down using Cathey's coat for a pillow. After a five hour wait, our flight from Istanbul to Marseilles was called. Unfortunately, no jet way. We had to take a bus and climb stairs into the cabin. Not fun with both the cats and our carry ons, but we managed.

At this point, Chloe had enough. She began rolling on her back and kicking at the carrier. Not yowling, mind you. But showing signs of panic. Shortly after takeoff we understood why. Her bladder just could not hold out any longer. So she peed...while Cathey was holding the carrier on her lap. Ugh. Not terrible UGH! But ugh just the same.

It's a short flight from Istanbul to Marseilles. We were again the last ones out. A jet way instead of a bus, thankfully. Another long line, this time at passport control. And all the while, we could smell Chloe's pee. Not UGH enough for anyone else to notice, but we could. Finally, we reached the guy in the passport control booth.

Our instructions when applying for our long-stay visa had been specific. Your passport must have two blank pages facing each other, one for the long-stay visa and one for your entry stamp. So we opened our passports to the visa page when we handed them over. The guy looked our passports over, flipped through pages, and stamped them somewhere in the back. Maybe it won't matter. (It didn't. More about the immigration form in a later post.)

We picked up a cart for our luggage, loaded up with the cats' carriers on the top, and headed for customs. Nothing to declare. Except cats. I had their paperwork out. You remember, the paperwork that cost us hundreds of dollars, a trip to Harrisburg, and several dozen gray hairs to obtain? The customs agents on duty just waved us through. I pointed to the cats. They smiled and waved us through. The folks who told us that they never had to show the paperwork were right. Would I fly without the proper paperwork? Never. But it is galling.

The ride to our house in Quarante was uneventful. The cats were more than pleased to be released from bondage when we arrived. And they spent the next few weeks taking over their new home.

For now, that's the story of their journey. Perhaps we'll talk about the acclimatizing process in future.

TRAVELING WITH OUR CATS TO FRANCE - PHASE 1: PAPERWORK

We made it! Mimi and Chloe are with us in France. Here's how it played out.

If you've read my previous posts on the subject, you are aware that there are rules to be followed when bringing domestic animals into France. They must be micro chipped. They must have all the appropriate vaccinations. They must pass a health examination within ten days of entry into France. And the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) veterinarian for your state must sign off on their paperwork within ten days of entry into France. The timing is tight. The rules as published on the French consular website can be found here.

Again, as reported previously, we forewarned our new vet, Dr. Greg Leck, months in advance. (The vet who had cared for our Siamese step-sisters since their birth having retired, apparently just to avoid this craziness.) The girls were chipped. The paperwork downloaded, printed, and discussed. Meanwhile, in order to bring the girls with us in the cabin and in order to go through French customs rather than customs in Barcelona (so that the girls would arrive as French rather than Spanish cats), we chose Turkish Airlines - JFK to Istanbul to Marseilles.

We bought soft-sided carriers, left them out and open for the girls to explore, put their favorite toys in them, and took the girls for several short rides in the carriers in hopes that would acclimate them. The girls weren't happy about it, Mimi (the elder of the two by one year) being the more vocal. She would also occasionally mark the padding with a spot of piss - just enough to let us know that she was pissed. But all in all, they dealt with the carriers well.

As our day of departure approached, things began to get tricky. Our vet had trouble connecting with the USDA vet in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capitol about 80 miles from our home in Bath. The USDA wasn't responding to voice mails or faxes. Finally, during our visit to our local vet exactly nine days before our anticipated entry into France, we asked Dr. Leck once again to try to contact the USDA. Lo and behold, contact was made. "Fax me the paperwork," said the USDA, "and I'll get back to you in five minutes."

Yeah. Right.

But that's exactly what happened. Surprise, surprise. A quick tweak, another fax, and according to the USDA we were good to go. Good to go, that is, to Harrisburg to have the paperwork signed and sealed.

Can it be done over the counter?

Yes.

What are your hours?

8 AM to 4 PM.

Great. I hopped on my Suzuki and took the 80 mile ride to Harrisburg from Bath, found the right building, took the elevator up one floor, found the right office, and walked right in. And there, at the counter, was a sign that read: By Appointment Only. Appointment Hours 9:00 - 11:00 AM, 1:00 - 3:00 PM.

Frack!

I rang the bell. I begged.

Maybe it could be done today. Maybe not. The vet is a busy man. He might not be able to fit you in.

I proposed to go to lunch for an hour, come back, and see where things stood.

I went to lunch for an hour and came back. I rang the bell. The vet appeared.

You're the one with the cats going to France?

That's me.

That'll be $38.

Done.

I'll post once more when we arrive at our house in Quarante.

ON TAKING OUR CATS TO FRANCE - PART 2

We've determined on which airline we'll be flying to which port of entry - Turkish Air through Istanbul to Marseille (See Part I). The next hurdle? Paperwork.

The website maintained by the French embassy in DC has a section on regulations regarding bringing privately-owned pets into France. It seems simple enough. Dogs, cats, and ferrets as well as hamsters, mice and other domestic pet rodents are welcome with the proper paperwork. Birds must undergo quarantine either pre- or post-entry. Here are the rules  ripped from the website and slightly modified for clarity for dogs, cats and ferrets coming to France from the US:

• Every animal must be identified by a standard ISO 11784 or annex A ISO standard 11785 microchip or a tatoo clearly readable and applied before July, 2011. If the microchip standard is different from standard ISO 11784 or annex A ISO standard 11785, you must bring your own scanner in order to read the microchip.  
• Every animal must have a valid rabies vaccination, even if less than 3 months old. If it is the first rabies vaccination for the pet, you must wait 21 days between the last shot of the vaccination protocol and departure.
• An OFFICIAL health certificate.

I've capitalized OFFICIAL for a reason. There's a form. It is not enough to have our vet sign off on the health of Mimi and Chloe - our Siamese stepsisters. The official USDA vet in our home state must sign off on the health of our cats no more than 10 days from our date of departure. This creates two problems:

1. Our vet since our cats acquired us retired just seven or eight months before we're scheduled to leave. We're going to run this craziness through a vet who has never before seen us or our cats.

2. The office of the official USDA vet for Pennsylvania is in Harrisburg, the state capitol 80 miles away.

So I called the number that I had for the new vet, Dr. Leck. After explaining the situation, I was given a number to call in Harrisburg. I called the number. I was given another number to call. I called the second number and left a message. I got a callback in a surprisingly reasonable period of time. I had called the wrong number. I would be transferred to the right number. And I was. At least I think that I was. The guy who answered seemed to know what he was talking about, asked me the name of our vet and, when I told him, said that he had the name of our vet on his list and would fax him information.

I asked for and received a callback number.

A week later we took Mimi and Chloe to Dr. Leck to be examined and chipped. Painless for us all. The chip is inserted by a syringe and the cats hardly seemed to notice. They're both in good health, from teeth to tail. 

But no fax had been received.

That's why we started this process five months before we depart. There will be glitches. From what I can tell, the form that must accompany the health certificate appears to be somewhat ambiguous in the way that documents created in foreign languages can be when translated to English. But there's time.

Updates as they become available.

ON TAKING OUR CATS TO FRANCE - PART 1

We will not move to France without Mimi and Chloe, our Siamese stepsisters. It would not be LIKE leaving members of our family behind. We WOULD be leaving members of our family behind. So we investigated.

There appear to be two phases to the process. First, how are we going to travel with the cats physically? Then, what happens when we show up in customs with two very tired, annoyed, and vocal felines?

This post will discuss the first question.

Let me be clear. We will not fly in the cabin with the cats in the hold. More precisely, Cathey won't fly in the cabin with the cats in the hold and I, being smarter than the average bear, agree. This limits our choice of airlines. Our usual carrier is Delta/Air France. We normally fly from JFK to Barcelona, rent a car, and drive over the border to France. Delta/Air France does allow cats in the cabin - for a fee of $200 apiece. Including that fee, two one-way tickets would amount to just under $5,000. Two round trip tickets would come to  $2,300. Big difference.

So I called Delta and asked the question: What happens if I buy a round-trip ticket and don't use the return? The answer, according to the agent with an accent neither American nor French, is that nothing will happen. We will receive a credit for the unused portion of the ticket and, after a year, the credit will disappear.

That works.

A thought occurred. We'll be flying into Spain but the cats will be residing in France. We could certainly drive across the border between the two countries without stopping, or even slowing down very much, but will that result in our cats being illegal residents of France? Perhaps it would be better to just fly into France and be done with it.

The question of price became an issue as did the fact that there are no direct flights to any city as close to our destination as Barcelona. To fly to Paris, change planes, and fly on to Montpellier would be one solution. But instead of costing us $2,300, that flight would cost closer to $3,300.

What other options were there to consider? After much internet investigation and phone calls to several different airlines, we have come up with a solution. Turkish Air. We can fly from JFK through Istanbul to Marseille, with the cats in the cabin, for a total of $1,297. One-way tickets. And our tickets would be flexible. No charge for date or flight changes. Literally cheap at twice the price.

The layover in Istanbul will add considerable time to the trip but will also give us time to figure out a way to allow the cats to release their bladders and stretch their legs.

So, unless we come up with Plan C, we'll work on the assumption that we're headed for Marseille by way of Istanbul.

QUICK LINKS TO PLACES WE'RE GOING IN MAY, 2010

Cities/Towns to Visit:
Cazouls les Beziers: Our village. Not a touristy town but near to all the good stuff.

Narbonne: Population of about 50,000. Nice city to walk. Great cathedral.

Beziers: City of about 70,000. Another great cathedral. Commercial center.

Carcassonne: Walled city where Costner filmed the exteriors for his Robin Hood.

Montpellier: City of 270,000. University town with loads of culture and history.

Albi: Scenic city. Home of the largest collection of Toulouse-Latrec's works.

Coilliure: Tourist trap on the Med where the Impressionists came to paint.

Arles: Center of Roman influence with a canal built to the Med 2100 years ago.

Avignon: Seat of the Papacy in the 14th Century.

Wineries:
Domaine Treloar
Chateau Caza Viel
Chateau Saint Martin des Champs
Domaine La Croix Belle

Restaurants:
Auberge de la Croisade

MISC.
Olive Co-op