Crispy baguettes, a breeze of spring air and spacious alleys of Paris are the first things I see when I hear ‘France’. If I were to draw it, my picture would feature the Eiffel Tower, French cheese, long baguettes, city bikes and a blue beret. When I think of it more, I see charming towns of Normandy and Brittany, empty beaches in the spring and a pot of mussels. I can feel their sea scent right now. I shred a croissant with my fingers and dip it in marmalade. I remember fresh bread with creamy cheese and that special calvados marmalade which we enjoyed in picturesque Honfleur back in May.
France. I don’t love it as much as I love Spain. I don’t have that many memories and don’t inhale its fragrance with amazement every time I land on an airport somewhere in France. Yes, that’s true, I do it in Spain! 🙂 If I were to choose one cuisine only and eat it until the end of my days, that woulnd’t be French – I love pizza, pasta, ravioli, gnocchi and mozzarella di bufala with ripe tomatoes too much. It may not be my TOP but we always return there happily, we always have great time, it always amazes us. We fell in love! Because it’s easy to fall in love with France… 🙂
20 THINGS WE LOVE FRANCE FOR:
1) PARIS
A dream. Romanticism. Art. Centre of Life. We love it! For the beautiful alleys, lawns in front of the Eiffel Tower that are full of people, impressive churches, walks through Champs-Elysees, for little places with fondue, for bikes, little bakeries, baguettes for breakfast and chocolate soufflé for dessert. For diversity, for lots of emotions. We’ve been to Paris several times and we love it every time! 🙂 Lately we stopped for too little time definitely!
2) PROVENCE
Amazing, incredible, especially in the spring. Stone houses, greenness and charming benches. Magical medieval Les Baux-de-Provence amazes with its location among the rocks and with charming little alleys. In Arles we can have a trip in the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh who spent his last years there. One of the best things is the signs with reproduced paintings depicting actual places where they are placed. You will find more about Provence HERE.
3) BAGUETTES
I know, I know – gluten is bad and passé… But I can’t do anything about the fact that I love Fresh baguettes with everlasting love!!!! And they taste best in France! With ham and cheese for instance… Simple yet delicious! Or just with butter, eaten during dinner! Or shredded with your fingers right after walking out of the bakery. Perfect in all forms!
4) FRENCH DESSERTS
I always said that this is the weakest point of my beloved Spain – I never got fascinated by their desserts! And France? You just don’t know what to take: crème brulee, chocolate soufflé with liquid chocolate inside or an apple tart tatin??? Maybe a simple brioche will do??? Or colourful macarons?
5) MUSSELS SERVED HUDREDS OF WAYS
We might have had the best and biggest mussels in Belgium, but in the North of France, in charming towns of Brittany or Normandy we also had some good stuff. Huge pots with a distinct Moules written on them and a remarkable sea fragrance. Served in many different ways – in wine sauce, cream sauce, Provence sauce but also with Camembert or Roquefort cheese! Or with Calvados. Sometimes with French fries, however I prefer the combination with no. 3) when in Frane.
6) INCREDIBLE TOWNS IN THE NORTH
We fell in love with them during our first trip to the North of France. Old houses and stone streets of Dinan. Incredibly beautiful bay in Honfleur which we simply couldn’t miss. Charming Lyos-La-Foret. There’s so much to see that you need to read THIS to boost your appetite.
7) WINE!!!
Is there anything better than an evening with your friends with good wine and good food??? And if you’re talking about wine, then France is a must! It’s the second country when it comes to the area the grapevines cover (after Spain). When it comes to production – it’s the leader. There’s plenty of wine regions to choose from – we love Bordeaux. How about you???? 🙂
8) VINEYARDS NEAR SAINT-EMILION
Saint-Emilion area was a total killer. Vineyards stretching for kilometres, old and charming chateau. There’s nothing better than driving around, choosing the best wines and taking them home after spending a night in one of such chateau.. The vineyard view in the morning is something really impressive! 🙂
9) MUSIC
I’m no expert of French music but we both love Zaz. It was the perfect musical background to our French trip in 2011!:)
10) CHEESE AND… CALVADOS MARMALADE
You either love or hate French cheese. Some will say that they stink and won’t let you keep them in their fridge. Others will love every bite. We definitely belong to the second group. You will often find French cheese at our place and in Paris we’ll surely go for a fondue or a raclette… In Normandy we learned that a fresh baguette, cheese and a bit of marmalade (i.e. the one from Calvados) is what makes a perfect breakfast.
This picture comes from the market in Rouen, fortunately great French cheese can also be found in Poland! 🙂
11) PAINTING
Visiting France by following in the footsteps of great painters is a great idea! We loved Giverny with Claude Monet’s house and an amazing garden where the most beautiful of his works were painted. Arles in Provence is also fascinating along with Vincent Van Gogh’s dramatic history. Moulin Rouge and Parisian cabarets on Toulouse-Lautrec’s paintings. And there’s Paris and Louvre.
Pictures is from Monet’s house in Giverny – you can find more HERE.
12) CREPES AND CREPERIAS
Pancakes! The easiest of French delicacies! For breakfast, lunch, dinner or a quick snack. Very useful if you’re visiting France with a child. If the menu includes crepes, you know the little one will squelch with joy. Add charming Creperias to the picture and you’ll get a beautiful element of French landscape.
13) SEAFOOD MARKETS
The French love great food and know how to celebrate it. Markets with fresh food are always tempting with rings of cheese, various cold cuts, tasty vegetables and fruits, but it was fish and seafood markets we loved the most. We found our ideal in tiny Trouville-Sur-Mer! And the best thing was that you could either buy all the goods for home or get fresh food and eat it with lemon and aioli on the spot, washing it down with white wine! Tasted delicious!
14) BOULANGERIE
French bakeries have been my love for years! Ever since our first visit to Paris and my first baguette with ham and cheese and its beautifully simplicity I always remember. French boulangeries (bakeries) always tempt me with their sweet baked goods. That’s why I was so happy when we learned that French PAUL – a chain of bakeries and restaurants established in 1889 was coming to Warsaw!!! Heard about it??? 🙂 We’re big fans of PAUL and we always visited it on out trips to France or Belgium. You can imagine how happy we were after making a deal with them 😉 Effects to follow 🙂
Now we have a French boulangerie quite close! 🙂
15) CONFECTIONERIES IN PARIS
Paris is a paradise for every sweet lover! There’s plenty of confectioneries with many years of tradition, plenty of big names that have been shaping the world’s confectioner’s trade trends for years. Tradition and modernity, classics and Asian novelties. In Paris there’s everything and everything tastes incredible!
16) ECLAIRS
As for the sweets, everybody has their own favourites – we fell in love with éclairs! When I was a child I liked Polish éclairs – with chocolate and whipped cream but French ones are a totally different story! Delicate, just for a few bites. With various fillings, beautifully decorated, perfect in flavour and in texture. Love it!
17) FRENCH BASQUE COUNTRY
Basque Coutnry is something that has fascinated and amazed be for 10 years now. When I arrived in Basque Bilbao for my Erasmus student exchange in 2006 I didn’t know that I will read tonnes of books about Basques, write two diplomas about them and tie with the subject for quite a while. French Basque Country is calmer, less controversial than the Spanish one with distinct white houses and green hills in the background along with little towns such as Ainhoa. Alsom French Basque Country offers some great surfing spots!
18) OYSTERS
Łukasz’s love. Fresh and smelling of the sea. Best are in France. When you ask him about oysters he will tell the same story about a little adventure on Ille d’Oleron island every time. A fishermen’s cottage, a plastic plate and a fisherman in wellingtons opening the oysters and serving them with a glass of wine.
19) ILE D’OLERON
And if you like oysters, you have to visit a remarkable Ille d’Oleron island. It’s easy to get there since it’s connected with mainland by a bridge since the 60s. It’s surprising because it’s completely different. Colourful with wooden houses, sleepy atmosphere and these oysters right from the fishermen. If you’re around, be sure to check it out!
20) HOW ABOUT YOU? DO YOU HAVE YOUR REASONS? 🙂
Sure you do! 🙂 Tell us about them! And in the meantime, say hello to my delicious pain au chocolat… one of the other reasons to love this country. More to come 🙂
* the entry was written In cooperation with the bakeries and restaurants chain PAUL.
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