Strasbourg: Tram and the City

In the City of Sylvia

Before we visited Strasbourg, we watched In the City of Sylvia (2007) at London's BFI. We knew the film is set in Strasbourg; but we didn't expect that our hotel would appear in the very first scene of the film. Sitting in the front row of seats, we looked at each other and laughted when El, the main character, stepped out of 'Hotel Patricia'. A few weeks later, when we were in Strasbourg, we tried to shoot the same picture of the hotel as it appears in the film.

Ronchamp: Notre Dame du Haut

Bordeaux: Tram and the City

Cancale: The Oyster Feast

The little fishing port is famed for its offshore oyster beds. Near the lighthouse, there is the famous marché aux huîtres where cluster of stalls sell oysters from €3.5 per dozen for huîtres creuses n° 3 to €10 for plates de Cancale . For an extra of €0.5, the oyster mongers would carefully open each oyster for you. For another €0.5, you would get a lemon. We ended up having 3 dozens of fresh oysters of various sizes from different stalls. We tasted them with a bottle of Cidre Bouché Brut Cru Breton. The sweetness of the cider was surprisingly a perfect companion for the oysters. We sat by the coast, watching the sea to go from high tide to low tide. When the sun broke through the cloud, we could see the silhouette of Mount Saint-Michel floating on the sea. All of a sudden, our thoughts drifted back to our first trip together to Europe, when we were both 19…

That period of time seems as far away as the silhouette of Mount Saint-Michel.

Burgundy: Côte d'Or

We said...

One day if we could find a 2009 Echezeaux
no matter it's a good or bad year
we would store it in our cellar and
open it one day
when we both turn 60.

Dijon - Covered Market

It was lunch time when we arrived in Dijon. We went straight to the covered food market and found a traiteur 'caterer' selling all different kinds of food from pate to tarte aux pommes. Many locals went there to buy small quantities of food to take home and we had a delicious melt-in-the-mouth quiche with escargot and a few slices of terrine for lunch.