Interpreting French Cuisine

So far we have enjoyed our time in Paris very much. We have cruised up and down the Seine, tramped around the Louvre, wandered around Montmarte and negotiated the metro.

There is no doubt that Paris is a city you can fall in love with. After all,  the architecture is beautiful, there are great monuments and gardens and more art than any mere mortal can take in one visit.

We have also found the locals surprisingly helpful and nice. Perhaps because we are trying to converse in French,  which is hilarious as we seem to throw in every other word from every language we have some words. Turkish, Bahasa Indonesian and some Arabic are all there for good measure. We must be very amusing to watch.

One of the things we are enjoying the most is the food. It is real treat. With one exception. One that says more about me than the cuisine.  Call me unrefined, even a bogan, but I can not hack raw meat. I don’t eat meat often but when I do, I don’t want it mooing on my plate. What I have discovered is a different understanding of what ‘medium’ and ‘well done’ actually constitute.  The other night I ordered ‘medium’, in a feeble effort to be refined. What I got was what I would call a ‘blue’ steak, a piece of meat that had hardly hit the grill. Pathetically, I tried to cut off the cooked bits on the outside and had an extra bread roll. Today, I ordered ‘well done’ and apologized to the waiter who looked at me with disdain. But guess what? ! This steak was also trying to escape from my plate, blood oozing with every cut. Luckily, I had onion soup for entrée. I have learnt a big lesson. Avoid asking for steak. Full stop. Anyone for Tartare?

Hmmm, I didn’t think so. Don’t worry though, there are plenty more options 🙂

On another note, here are some of my favorites from the Louvre