Author Archives: vicentesf

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About vicentesf

Exploring life one meal at a time. Cause I'm not a foodie, I just like to eat!

Iberico ham sandwich – Los Vikingos

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Iberico ham sandwich - Los Vikingos
Jamon iberico de bellota con pan con tomate. On toasted tomato bread, with espresso.
Los Vikingos, Sitges ES

Mmm, I love tomato bread in Spain! It’s SO simple but the bread and tomatoes they use are so delicious. This particular sandwich is stuffed with Iberico ham de bellota which is of the finest grade, from free range pigs that feed in oak forests and primarily eat acorns (bellotas). Noms!

Monument al Doctor Robert

Monument al Doctor Robert in front of the Church of Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla. I guess Doctor Robert was a former mayor of Barcelona so I’m not sure why they have his statue in Sitges. Regardless, Sitges is so quaint with lots of cute vistas and everyone is really friendly.

Affligem beer – L’Arganier

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Affligem beer - L'Arganier

The more I drink beers from different countries, the more I realize that I really like Belgian beers. They go down smoothly and usually taste really good. This was a great beer to relax with before continuing our whirlwind sightseeing adventure. 3€
L’Arganier, Paris FR

Sidewalk stencil art
Paris is full of love indeed! Sidewalk stencil art.

Roasted sablefish – L’Epigramme

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Roasted sablefish - L'Epigramme
Lieu noir roti, croustillant de risotto. Pollock, crispy fried risotto, root puree, foam, sprout. Entree/Plat option 24€
L’Epigramme, Paris FR

Mmm, another beautiful and delicious dish from L’Epigramme! It was a simple preparation but the fish was cooked perfectly and the accompaniments tasted amazing. The crispy polenta was warm and comforting, and the sauce worked well with the sablefish. Noms!

Bread - L'Epigramme
Bread. Complimentary

Ecole Militarie
Ecole Militarie (Paris Military School), Champs de Mars. This huge school sits on the opposite side of the Champs de Mars from the Eiffel Tower. It’s not very pretty since it’s just a huge dirt field as you approach.

BLT sandwich – Dolce Sitges

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BLT sandwich - Dolce Sitges
With hard boiled eggs, mixed root chips, side salad.
Dolce Sitges, Sitges ES

Wow, this hotel was beautiful! It’s situated on a hill above the town with great views of the Mediterranean. After taking the train from Barcelona, I was super hungry when I arrived so I went straight to lobby bar/restaurant and ordered some food and mojitos! Mmm, just what the doctor ordered.

Passeig Maritim
Passeig Maritim, the main drag along the beaches. Sitges is SO charming with many visitors from all around the world there to enjoy the beautiful beaches and warm weather. The town is small enough to easily navigate, but at the same time feels cosmopolitan because it’s packed with people.

Bretonne galette – Breizh Cafe

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Bretonne galette - Breizh Cafe
Sauteed mushrooms, gruyere cheese, scrambled egg, bacon, farmhouse creme fraiche from Bordier Creamery, espelette pepper. Galette made with organic buckwheat from Brittany and local eggs. 12,50€
Breizh Cafe, Paris FR

Mmm, I really loved these buckwheat galettes! They were nutty tasting and perfectly cooked and the ingredients were of high quality and delicious. They weren’t overly huge so we were actually able to finish them. To stay with the regional theme, we also ordered Bretonne beer. Perfect! 🙂

Biere blonde Lancelot - Breizh Cafe
Biere blonde Lancelot (Roc-St-Andre). La bout 33 cl 6€

Jardin du Luxembourg gardeners
Jardin du Luxembourg. These gardens are absolutely beautiful and immaculately kept. During our visit, there seemed to be an army of gardeners edging paths and cleaning brush. There were even these guys who were just pulling out dead flowers from all the flower planters, amazing!

Prawn risotto – La Mar Salada

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Prawn risotto - La Mar Salada
Pedro Ximenez sherry and parmesan cream.
La Mar Salada, Barcelona ES

This restaurant is on the boardwalk naer the Playa de St. Sebastia. I was hungry after walking around all day so I ducked in for a late lunch. I think I was the only non-Spanish person in the restaurant, lol! The food was really good and decently priced. I loved this risotto! It was super creamy and the prawns were cooked perfectly. Unfortunately, I was REALLY bad at taking food pics during this trip so don’t expect many, sorry. 😦

La Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia, Passion Facade (western side). The cranes are kinda ugly, but I guess this Roman Catholic church designed by Antoni Gaudi is constantly under building and restoration. It’s pretty frickin’ amazing regardless!

Assorted macarons – Paul

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Assorted macarons - Paul
Chocolate, coconut, raspberry, citron, caramel, pistachio. 8,70€
Paul, Paris FR

Assorted macarons - Paul
I grabbed these macarons at Gare du Nord. I had bought some fancier ones from Pierre Herme as gifts. I later found that the Pierre Herme macarons didn’t survive the hot weather though, aww. 😦 The Paul macarons did survive. I ate some on the train leaving Paris and they were pretty good. They definitely weren’t as soft and delicate as the ones from Pierre Herme. Those were super fancy and expensive.

Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord train station. I love the public transportation in Paris, it’s SO much more extensive and efficient than what we have in San Francisco (Muni and Bart both suck!).

Roasted half pigeon – L’Epigramme

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Roasted half pigeon - L'Epigramme
Demi pigeon roti, aubergine. Roasted potatoes, eggplant, two types of root purees. Entree/Plat/Dessert option 28€
L’Epigramme, Paris FR

Roasted half pigeon - L'Epigramme
When I saw pigeon on the menu, I know I had to try it! And I’m SO glad I did because everything on the plate was absolutely amazing! The pigeon was fairly pink so I was initially wary (maybe I should have asked for well done), but it actually tasted great and was super tender. I immediately fell in love with the potatoes and eggplant; they were expertly prepared and SO delicious! The purees were also very flavorful and I just wanted to lick my plate clean. NOM NOMS!

Chardonnay and rose - L'Epigramme
Chardonny and rose wines.
You really can’t eat a meal of this caliber and not have some wine! This was a perfect lunch and a great way to spend our last full day in Paris.

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars. Wow, the area around the Eiffel Tower is so unreal. The place is completely unique and doesn’t remind me of anywhere else in the world. There’s so much green space and the tower is an enormous and majestic beacon visible from anywhere. SO awesome!

Beef roll ups – L’Arganier

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Beef roll ups - L'Arganier
Flatbread filled with beef, cheese, tomato, pickle. Complimentary
L’Arganier, Paris FR

We had sat down outside this restaurant for a quick drink break from walking around. After we had ordered our drinks, the waitress brought us this plate of roll ups which we weren’t expecting. We really liked her and thought that this was cute. We noticed that we were the only table to get the complimentary snacks in our area and we really weren’t sure why. It’s times like this when it would’ve been great to know French. 🙂

Les Invalides
L’Hotel national des Invalides (Les Invalides). This huge complex is pretty impressive, but the Hardouin Mansart chapel dome is certainly the centerpiece.

Smoked “andouille” board – Breizh Cafe

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Smoked andouille board - Breizh Cafe
Assortment of local, artisanal chitterling sausages from Guemene and Cogles regions, cornichons, pickled onions, butter. 8€
Breizh Cafe, Paris FR

The waitress made sure that we understood that this dish wasn’t like American andouille sausages. Andouille in this case refers to chitterling sausages from Brittany which are made from pig intestines. I had already tried a piece of andouille at Ma Bourgogne but I wanted to try what I thought would be a more authentic product from Breizh Cafe since they specialize in food from that region.

I always love trying new and regional food items, so this was a challenge of sorts because I’m not a huge fan of intestine in the first place. I will say that this andouille was much better than the one at Ma Bourgogne. I definitely liked the variety pictured on the top row a little more because it had a more smokey flavor and that helped to mask the intestine taste. I really liked both their textures though, and eating them with buttered bread helped. 🙂

Bread - Breizh Cafe
Bread. Complimentary

Silverware - Breizh Cafe
Silverware.

Palais Garnier
Palais Garnier (Paris Opera House), Place de l’Opera. This is one of the most famous opera houses in the world and is the setting for Gaston Leroux’s novel The Phantom of the Opera.

Evening drinks – La Favorite

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Lillet Blanc - La Favorite

Lillet Blanc. 5 cl 5,50€
La Favorite, Paris FR

Paris is beautiful at night and probably even more lively. People seem to be everywhere, and why not? There’s so much to do and even the sights you saw during the day take on a completely different look and feel in the dark – it’s quite magical. Of course, it’s always good to intersperse some drink breaks throughout the evening. 🙂

Kronenbourg beer - La Favorite

Kronenbourg beer. 25 cl 5,20€

Window street art
Window street art, Le Marais.

Pistachio gelato – Pozzetto

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Pistachio gelato - Pozzetto
Pistacchio del re de sicilia. 4,90€
Pozzetto, Paris FR

It takes a lot of energy to walk around sightseeing on a hot day, so I totally earned this large cup of gelato! 🙂 It tasted pretty good and I liked the texture. I just wish it had a bolder pistachio flavor.

Arab World Institute
Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute). We came here because they have a great view of the city from their rooftop which is open to the public and free – heck yeah!