We dined with views of the world’s most popular architectural monuments, Castles, and the Mediterranean. We tasted some of the finest wines, cheeses and meats as well as Auto grill food (think truck stop). We met several lovely people from our servers to restaurant owners and fellow patrons and made some new friends (waves to David & Sandy, Vanessa & Brendon, Randelle & Gabriella , Paula & Angello).
We had great macrons from Reims and dinner with tasty local Champagne in a restaurant cellar in Epernay France.
Germany showed us it was cheaper to drink beir then water and it had some of the best sausages, brats and schnitzels and oh let’s not forget the goulash soup.
We had the most amazing pizza in Innsbruck at a campground surrounded by the Alps.
In Modena Italy we had the best tortellini of our lives served by an elderly owner that spoke no English.
We ate a sublime lunch on the patio of a castle in Parma Italy.
We dined on the freshest seafood at a seaside restaurant in the Mediterranean, ummm just love those tiny little squid and of course anchovies.
The gelato that dripped on our hands was quickly licked off while sitting by that same Ligurian sea.
We ate mouth watering pastries most every morning and soon became addicted to the wonderful espresso that only Italy can seem to produce.
I got to eat my beloved rabbit (can’t find it on an American menu) on more than one occasion.
Again we were surprised by great food at another campground in Beaune France and its excellent escargot paired with a lovely local wine.
Mark made some perfect puff pastry in our apartment in Paris with a view of the iconic Eiffel tower.
We tasted some of the most buttery and flakey croissants ever with that same view.
Lot’s and lot’s of canard whether it was foigras, pate or a breast on the freshest bread.
We drank too much of the local wines and didn’t regret it. We also ordered several bottles to be shipped as well as all of the bottles we consumed in our RV in the evening or our apartment in Paris.
Food is a universal language and we managed to order food everywhere without much knowledge of the local language and ate great. We learned that pepperoni in Europe is a spicy pepper and not a meat. That when they say fried potatoes they usually mean French fries not sliced and skillet fried. If you ask for tap water it will most likely come out of the hot water tap instead of cold. Germany and Austria love their water (Aqua) with fizz. Don’t expect a coffee (café) in France until after dessert. Nutella is under rated in the US. Wine and beer are cheaper then water in Europe. If you want fresh food just go to Italy they have the freshest ingredients while French food uses lots of sauces to help make their food exceptional. Food in the Auto grills beats any American fast food establishment.
It wasn’t long after returning home we soon started missing our leisurely 2 hour lunches with wine and wonder why we Americans don’t eat more starters followed by mains and a luscious dessert. Guess we’ll just have to go back as soon as possible. Until then we’ll just have to survive on our memories.
You can follow our adventures through Europe on our other blog European Dreaming. http://www.1hipxrayr.blogspot.com/2013/05/day-1.html
Keep coming back here though to read more details about the above pictures and our reviews of the restaurants we got to experience.
Ciao Ciao
