Monaco/Nice/Cannes (11-12April11)

Returned to Monte-Carlo the next day for lunch. We love the drive there from Nice not only because it's scenic, but also because it's part of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit! Great feeling to pass through the same tunnels and round the same bends :) We never knew Monaco was so mountainous but now we do and we love it. A principality in all its exclusivity.

Over at the restaurant, we had the best frog legs ever. The egg carbonara starter was also superb! Wanted to try their cheaper 35€ bar menu at first but we didn't know that it had to be indicated before being seated. Ended up in their main dining area where we could only order the lunch menu or a-la-carte. That's alright since the food was good. But yeah, take note. I also wanted to try his first Japanese restaurant in the world (called Yoshi & located in the same hotel) but it wasn't open. Perhaps next time!

Name: Joël Robuchon Monte-Carlo
Location: 4 Avenue de la Madone, 98000 Monaco

Expenditure: 127€ (incl. 2 glasses of wine) *they have lunch menus from 39€

Back to Nice and it's finally time to explore this place. The pebble beach & clear waters looked very inviting but dogs aren't allowed on the beach so we couldn't take a walk there. Sigh! Walked along the pavement instead but still nice to admire from afar. Took a turn into the city center and strolled around a bit. All in all, we didn't really like Nice as we found it too touristic & uncharismatic. We were outta there in a few hours.

Cannes is slightly better but also nothing much around except the beach which, unfortunately, a large area of it is reserved by beach bars & restaurants, leaving only a tiny place for the public. The Inter Continental hotel looks like a really grand place to stay though! Maybe the next time we're back...

Lyon/Monaco (9-10April11)

Took a 1 week vacation in the region South of France which more or less completes our French experience here. We chose to drive down south as it gives us more flexibility to venture out to smaller neighbouring towns around Nice and Marseille (both of which are considered more touristic). Nonetheless due to the expensive road tolls (150€ in total) and petrol consumption(~250€), it might be cheaper by train, although I'll still advise renting a car while you're there. Visited a total of 7 places and they include Lyon, Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Aix-en-Provence,  Cassis and Marseille. Hence I'll have to split this travel log into several posts.
 
As you can see from the Google map, the drive was no easy feat - no doubt the longest drive of my life. Distance from point A to point B (Paris to Nice) is 930km! Estimated time on the road is 9 hours. Insane. However, S was rather ill that day so we had to change plans halfway and stopped over for a night in Lyon.

Beautiful day, beautiful city. No chance to fully explore the place but at least we walked along 1 of 2 main rivers (Rhône and Saône) that dominate Lyon. The riverside bars/restaurants were packed. People were lying around on the grass, cycling, strolling etc.. Such is the goodness of the sun for them! During our walk Tasha got hijacked by this man who started playing with her and kept suggesting we could keep her with him. Haha. It just shows how irresistibly adorable she is :)

By the way, DO NOT stay in the urban centre of Part-Dieu as it's boring and far away from the rivers (where most activities are centered around). To make things worse, the Hotel Ibis Part Dieu Les Halles was so old and dirty it totally dampened our moods. So it's really important that you choose the right location for your accommodation. Since Lyon is famed for its food as well (quoted from wiki as "the French capital of gastronomy"), we decided to try one of the many Michelin-starred restaurants. Not easy to get reservations as it was a last-minute booking but we managed to get one at this place that has just acquired its 1st Michelin star. Japanese chef and the cuisine is supposed to be more fusion but it wasn't too obvious to me. Apart from the pan-fried foie gras starter, the rest of the food was not bad. A pity S couldn't really taste that day. Reasonably priced for dinner so I wouldn't mind going back. Reviews online are mixed though.

Name: Takao Takano

Location: 14 rue Grolée F - 69002 Lyon

Expenditure: 120€ (incl. 1/2 bot of wine)

The next day, we quickly continued our journey to Nice, checked in to the hotel, then drove out to Monte-Carlo from there (approx 30mins). Didn't know the Rolex Masters was on that week. Spotted a crowd which we assumed was waiting for the tennis stars. Great to see somewhere bustling with activities on a Sunday. Lunched at Café de Paris - expensive and food so-so but one of the very few restaurants still opened at 3pm. We really like it there as it's clean, lively, colourful and rich, especially with all the fancy cars zipping around. We also found it interesting the way the elderly dress in an OTT manner!

Had dinner at tripadvisor's #1 restaurant in Monte-Carlo. Italian cuisine. Didn't like the beef carpaccio but the ham, squid ink pasta and clams spaghetti were good. Reservations needed, opens till late.

Name: Mozza

Location: 11 rue du Portier, Monte-Carlo 98000 , Monaco
Expenditure: 95€

Randoms

The next day, we went for a brunch at a mildly touristic cafe which you will be familiar with if you have watched the highly acclaimed French film Amelie! Came here thanks to Groupon again. Food was surprisingly decent and reasonably priced. Not bad for an experience and you get to see a small Amelie "shrine" ironically displayed in the toilet.

Name: Café des Deux Moulins

Location: 15 Rue Lepic, 75018 Paris, France
Expenditure: ~45€ for 2

After that, we headed to an Art & Design exhibition held at the Tuileries Garden (love the vibrant spring colors). Interesting but we didn't stay long. And yea I didn't get to verify but I think that's a real porcupine in the lamp! Talk about art.

On a separate day, Anne and Roger invited us to their house for an awesome Indian dinner. Look at the home-cooked spread. Roger really inspires me!! Can't wait for our next meal together.

Le Pré Catelan

I need to rush this post to clear my backlog because I just returned from a trip to the South of France where I took a bunch of beautiful photos and it's going to take forever to showcase them all!

One fine day we went for a 3-star lunch at a restaurant situated in the middle of a huge and famous park (called Bois de Boulogne) west of Paris. Such a lovely place with abundant natural light shining through their tall glass windows. Exceptional food and in my opinion the best value-for-money lunch menu around (among the 3 Michelin-starred restaurants of course). We took the Un Déjeuner au Pré Catelan menu (unfortunately you have to ask for it) with wine pairing which cost only an additional 35€. I highly recommend this over a bottle of wine especially since the wines they served were excellent. Food wise, the amuse-bouche was so-so but the rest blew me away. I loveee the scallop starter (cooked in 3 different styles) and the lamb dish which consisted of 5 parts of the lamb from head to toe! My favourite part was the brain. Serious! Only for the adventurous :D S' main was good too - deep fried langoustines with risotto and ravioli. Much to our surprise, we absolutely adored the Le Paris Brest dessert (the one that looks like an eclair). I really want to go back there again. A word of advice though - the restaurant is extremely hard to find if you rely on the GPS because many roads in the park are closed. We detoured and went round & round for a good half hour before arriving just in time before the kitchen closed. It's safer to enter from 'Porte Maillot' and follow the signs from there.

Name: Le Pré Catelan

Location: Route de la Porte des Sablons à la Porte Maillot, 75116 Paris, France

Expenditure: 120€ pp (85€ pp for lunch menu, 35€ additional for wine pairing)

Okay I love this place so much I think it should be given one post on its own ;)

To conclude the month of March

Some updates to my blog: I removed a couple of sections in the sidebar and added a list of my Google maps as well as a list of Michelin-starred restaurants I've been to. The list of restaurants is in no way meant to brag about my dining experiences. It is created purely for personal record, as with everything I post on this blog (which is what an online diary is supposed to be in the first place, right?)

Anyway, I mentioned previously about buying coupons on Groupon and here's one of the better restaurants we ate at. Generous portions with above-average quality. Extremely good value with the Groupon promotion but I guess it's still not so bad without. Located in a hip area with numerous crowded bars (mostly gay) on weekends!

Name: Le Passage Obligé

Location: 29 Rue du Bourg Tibourg, 75004 Paris

Expenditure: ~25€ pp w/o promotion

Found a gem in the 8th arrondissement - a rare one that opens on Sundays (everyday in fact). It offers a fixed "Menu of the Day" at 35€ per person. According to the waiter, the menu changes everyday. Perfect place to go back again & again! Of course, this runs the risk of inconsistency. You can love it one day and hate the other depending the kind of food they serve. We loved ours that day, so let's see how it goes the next time we return. I highly recommend this.

Name: Bar Le Passage (the bar section of a 2-star restaurant called Senderens)

Location: 9 place de la Madeleine, 75008 Paris

Expenditure: 35€ pp excl. drinks

Because Hongxi and I love truffles, I picked this tiny place that specializes in just that. We liked the entrées more than the mains, especially the iberico ham and beef carpaccio. We also loved the truffle-infused olive oil that came with the bread. The velouté de cèpes tasted disappointingly bland. The risotto and pastas (with seasonal truffles) were not bad, while the egg cocotte was simply too small for its price! Fortunately the pasta was substantial enough for sharing. I think the sauce goes best tagliatelle, albeit a tad dry. Hence, this place recommended only for serious mushroom lovers :) Reservations necessary since the restaurants sits only 20 people. The corner shelves stock a great number of truffle-related products which I suppose they use in their recipes. Nice.

Name: Truffes Folies

Location: 37 Rue Malar, 75007 Paris

Expenditure: 150€ for 4 incl. a bot of wine (after 30% discount by booking through toptable.com)