Wine, Cheese, a Baguette and Me

We are going to France, for two weeks of wine, cheese, and baguettes. I have traveled to France but it was before my culinary awakening, so I can't wait to eat there with all new taste buds. We will be staying in Paris on the Rue Cler, which by all measures looks like French food heaven, lined with cute specialty food shops and fruit stands, and then we are traveling to Normandy, to eat Camembert and Calvados. I'm trying a different kind of vacation this year, where we stay put for a few days and try to live like the locals do. Past trips have included touring the main cities, followed by renting a car and driving 2500 kms to see the rest of the country in a desperate craze to take everything in. These trips were fabulous, but left me exhausted and by the time I went home, I needed a vacation from my vacation. The first time we went to England, we spent 10 days on a whirlwind tour of the country, visiting London, Bath, York, Stonehenge, the Cotswolds, Avon, Avebury and Dover (I'm tired just reading that list), and we met some people in the airport hotel on our last evening. They were flying to St. Tropez in the morning, to linger on the beach for a week. After 10 wonderful days of touring, I was jealous of their vacation. Their trip sounded so lovely and relaxing.

The big upside of the grand tour is that you see a good chuck of the country, and can get an idea about where you would like to spend more time. When we did a similar tour of France (12 nights, 8 different towns - Normandy to Provence with the Alps thrown in for good measure), I fell in love with Normandy's lush green fields, fuzzy cows, half-timbered houses, and rich, creamy cheeses. So we are going back to get an in-depth look at the region. We have rented a house and plan to spend 8 days living like locals, buying baguettes at the bakery and sipping cidre with the local characters. I'm planning to go to the town markets to buy produce and will spend a couple of days following the routes de cidre and fromage, meeting the residents and learning about how they produce their wondrous delicacies.

I'm taking the laptop and will post along the way, pictures and stories of the food we discover and the people we meet. If you have a recommendation of a place in Paris or Normandy that spoke to you, shoot me an email. I'd love to try it out. Cheers for now!