Georges and I were just saying to each other that we're eating way too much on this vacation. You're about to discover why.
We arrived in Saint Raphael in time for lunch on Christmas Eve afternoon. We tried to "eat light" for that meal (huh) because we knew what was coming that evening. In this family, Christmas Eve is when the big event takes place, including opening all the gifts, so the dinner is a very big deal. Plus, this IS France, where food reigns supreme.
This was our first course at Christmas dinner, to go with the champagne: a caviar-substitute (the real deal costs a fortune) and assorted spreads on "toasts". Oh, and there was foie gras, too (California doesn't know what it's missing). Personally, I could have stopped right after this course and been totally fine for the rest of the evening.
But we followed that up with capons in a lovely mushroom cream sauce. Then there was the usual bûche de Noël and the traditional (in Provence) "13 desserts" which is mainly a plate with 13 different little dried fruits and things (and you can't put chocolate on it, it doesn't "count" according to Georges).
The next day, Christmas Day, was a quiet day spent at my sister-in-law's house. We all slept late, but then there was a real lunch (the French typically prefer a full, hot lunch to doing something easy and quick like sandwiches, whenever possible) and later a real dinner. We're talking hot meals with cheese and some kind of dessert which could be fruit, yogurt or something more sinful like the rest of the bûche de Noël. Sometimes, depending on how the day is going, there might also be an afternoon snack and/or an aperitif before dinner as well, although so far I don't think we've done both of those on any given day.
Every day since, it's been pretty much more of the same. We try to eat one bigger meal and one smaller one (this is not counting breakfast, mind you, but at least we aren't doing big, giant full American-style breakfasts -- no eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc.) and we generally forego the car and do a fair amount of walking when we're here, but still... I think it's catching up with us. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at the home of our friends in Marseille, so of course there was a big lunch with champagne and wine, a cheese course, and macarons for dessert. None of us was super hungry for dinner after that, so on the train ride back home we just picked up some snacks in the train station.
Today, we went out to eat for lunch. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and nice enough to sit out on the restaurant's sea-front terrasse in the sun, without even having to wear coats or sweaters. I opted to skip the appetizer, but that damn (wonderful) waiter brought me something to nibble on the house so I wouldn't be the only one at the table NOT EATING. Because this is France and that would just be SO VERY WRONG.
This is the appetizer someone else at the table chose; I think it had goat cheese in it. She said it was delicious.
We enjoyed our main course (mine was a risotto with scallops) and then moved on to dessert. Georges and I both opted for the "café gourmand" which is an espresso served with anywhere from 3 to 5 mini-desserts, depending on the restaurant. It's like a dessert sampler, if you will, which I think is kind of fun especially if you are having trouble choosing just one dessert.
The thing about the word "gourmand" in French is that it doesn't mean "gourmet". It means "greedy". Ahem.
The reason I don't have more pictures of all the wonderful food is because I've been too busy enjoying it to take photos of it.
We still have 8 days left on this vacation. Le Garçon arrives tomorrow. And this kid loves to eat, plus he's on the skinny side so we're always trying to plump him up a bit. One of the restaurants he wants to eat at is an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.
But of course. All you can eat seems to be the theme of this holiday. God help us... and our waistlines.
