Bonjour tout le monde!

[Kelli]

Bonjour Annie and merci beaucoup for your wonderful podcast! Je m’appelle Kelli and I have been listening for a few months now and finally got around to subscribing on Patreon and to your newsletter. Since I started listening, my list of things to see in France has grown quite a bit!
Since 2014 my husband and I have been visiting France for 4-5 weeks every other year. We had one more impromptu shorter trip in 2019 and I am so glad we did because you know what happened after that. We are biding our time about going back because we are still hoping for a more “normal” experience to come back.

Thanks for the shout out in the travel vs. tourist episode. My husband and I listened to that one together. What an amazing lady! We tend to travel more like her. We call ourselves the kings of “slow travel” actually. A museum that takes most people 2 hours will take us four. 😆 Our most treasured travel memories are about the things that happen “par hazard.”

I just finished listening to yesterdays episode with the cute anniversary couple, and it was fun to listen to their experience. It’s much too jam-packed for us, but it makes me nostalgic for our first trip to France. I did want to put in a plug for Michelin-starred restaurants, though.
We go to the same one in Paris every time we go to France, and it is always a highlight of the trip. I chose this restaurant as a treat for us on our first trip to Paris. I had a reason, though! The chef at Le Grand Véfour, Guy Martin, has or had a show on TV5 called “Épicerie Fine.” In each episode he would go search out a French product, usually one with an AOC, and visit the producers and the region, then finish with a recipe featuring it. I loved it for helping me with my French, and it featured some of the best offerings of the country. So naturally I wanted to go to his restaurant. It’s at the Palais Royale, and has literally been a restaurant nearly as long as the US has been a country. The decor is fantastic, and the people are fantastic too. The first time we went, we had a lost luggage debacle (long story, but one of my favorite Paris stories!) and they were so kind to us. We didn’t feel out of place or like we were amongst snooty people at all! We went for lunch, not dinner (less $$$ but still très cher) so maybe that makes a difference. But lunch there still includes all the courses and the food was amazing! We were fed so much food that we didn’t feel like eating again until lunch the next day. Going for lunch was great so we had a lot of time to walk afterwards.  The chef came out and walked the tables after the meal and I was so star-struck I couldn’t speak! Anyway, all that to say that not all Michelin restaurants are equal 🙂 I wanted to put in a plug for Le Grand Véfour!

Thanks again Annie, for all your hard work making these great podcasts!

[Annie Sargent]

Bonjour Kelli and thank you for sharing your story! You know what’s crazy? I tried to reserve at Le Grand Verfour yesterday for when I’m in Paris in a few days and they are fully booked 🙁 Next time I hope, but at any rate it’s still a really popular place! I do know that not all stared restaurants are the same. But I think Verfour is listed in the Michelin but has no stars. I could be wrong–again! 😉

I am delighted to have you on board and I’ll report on the restaurants I try next week!

 

[Author]

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