Two Fine Meals
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2009
1
21
31
Trip End
Oct 24, 2009
Nîmes, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Nimes
We arrived in Nimes in the late afternoon and booked into the Hotel des Tuileries, a lovely hotel in the old part of town very close to the Arena. The host, Andrew, recommended a restaurant across the street – La Palette Gourmande (29 Rue Roussy), but we thought we would wander around and see what else was on offer. However, while we were doing our washing in the nearby launderette, it started to rain. At first it was just a gentle refreshing shower, but became a thunderstorm lasting for hours. By dinner time it was still lashing down, so we ran the 5 metres across the road.
We were rewarded by one of those meals that will linger in the memory, well beyond the consumption, and without really knowing what we were ordering. After complimentary salads to start, Alison had sliced duck on skewers (the waiter asked, in the manner of steak, how madame would like it), and I had a pot of seafood (Marmite). Both superb. We followed, in the same manner with desserts that were unknown to us, but proved to be delicious – Alison's was a chocolate tart and mine a variety of glaces including licorice, topped with finely shaved licorice. The waiter explained when we were ordering that the chef considered cooking to be an art, and in the manner of a painter, he arranged the food as though it was on a palette. Hence the name of the restaurant.
Narbonne
Our friend Susan Flintoff had recommended a restaurant in Narbonne, called Le Petit Comptoir that she and Brett had enjoyed last year. Narbonne was on our route to Spain, so we decided to make a minor detour from the motorway and go there for lunch. We didn’t leave Nimes till well after midday; - it was a beautiful day after the thunderstorm of the night before, so we were exploring the old town, and the Roman Arena.
It always takes a while to find a location in a new town, so by the time we arrived outside Le Petit Comptoir (yes outside – after circling the block several times we got the last park in the whole area, and it was right outside the restaurant. Never mind that it required Alison to hold up traffic while I backed out later on.) it was past 2.00pm. We were most concerned that we would be too late. But no, they found us a table, and brought the Menu de Jour on a blackboard – three courses with two options for each course. Our French phrase book did not help us to understand any of the dishes (which were written in a flowery script that made the names even harder to decipher), and the waiter struggled to translate. So we thought, well it’ll all be good, and none of it seemed to be brains or tripe, so we each ordered one option of all three courses. One of the first courses was no longer available so we both had a salmon dish. Now I’ve eaten a lot of salmon but this was the best ever – firm, succulent, full of flavour. For the second course I had a seafood dish and Alison had a beef stew on mashed potatoes (looked very simple but Alison said it tasted "Divine!"). My seafood dish had a variety of shellfish in their shells, and other seafood, and was delicious. Our desserts were a mousse made with raspberries, and soft meringues floating in thin custard (the descriptions do not do these dishes any justice at all).
The cost had increased since Susan and Brett last visited, but at €18.00 each, plus wine and wonderful coffee, it is extraordinary value.
Alison sat outside with one of the waiters while I paid the bill, and explained that we were from Nouvelle Zelande. The waiter replied that there had been two people from New Zealand having lunch the day before and several the previous week. So the word must have got around. Next time we might have to reserve.
