Vide Grenier (attic emptying)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Although we spend a lot of our travel time prowling through antique venues, Robert Brown brought to our attention a term we had never noticed before: Vide Grenier or a private party offering his less-than-precious personal goods for sale, much like our garage sale.  

Yes, Robert, we did find one, 300 locals who hauled their stuff to the sidewalks surrounding the park in the center of Place de Rungis in Paris' 13e.  We didn't buy, but that didn't take away from the festive mood of the place and the sellers.  There were, in fact, a handful of these sales advertised in Aladin (the French monthly antique/brocante venue locator) for central Paris, and scores listed for provincial locations.  

I can't say whether you are on the cutting edge of a mushrooming phenomenon or whether this is another case of "heightened awareness" for us.  Either way, thanks much for introducing us to this new wild goose sanctuary! ;)  

[robert brown]

Margaret,

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, if not from under the roof of my non-existant chateau. I'm glad I added a new dimension to your buying excursions and hope they yield something good the next time. When, by the way, will that be? How did your eating go this time?

Robert

[Margaret Pilgrim]

You have probably figured out that prowling brocante venues is our excuse for going to France so that we can eat!  I am still mulling over our dining experiences from our October trip.  We had many wonderful evenings, excellent dishes but few perfect meals.  I attribute this to two things.  First, I think we weren't "hungry" this trip, as if we had experienced an embarrassment of riches for some time before we left home.  And second, I always try to stretch my experience and understanding when ordering, and frequently wind up with very unusual plates, to say the least.  But all in all, we enjoyed dinners at old addresses and were introduced to several new ones.

We aren't scheduled to return until March, when we will enclose a week in the Pays Basques between a few days in Paris.  But at present, my husband has dug in his heels, complaining that he needs an extended down-time at home.

[Bux]

I understand not being hungry all too well. I'm afraid age is a factor in appetite along with quite a few other things. Earlier this month something hit me the day we were leaving for Paris. I nursed part of a Coke down at the airport to settle a very queasy stomach and was far too dizzy to think straight enough about returning home on the spot. I started to recover by the time we landed at CDG. I could not touch the Air France breakfast, but did enjoy a cup of coffee and croissant at the airport. Nevertheless, I have to think twice about all my restaurant experiences and compare my gustatory pleasure with the intellectual ones and wonder if the former might not have been even better if I was in better shape. Part of my problem is that my eyes are always in better shape than my stomach and I chose things such as cassoulet and andouille on which to nurse myself.

If you travel often enough, you will eventually experience traveling out of sorts from time to time. My favorite trip to France was made years ago. I frequently ordered more courses than my wife and young daughter put together. They marvelled at my prodigious appetite. Even better, it was a unique trip in that I gained no weight. Months later, undergoing some medical test for what turned out to be an unrelated problem, they discovered that I had some sort of parasitic worm. (The worm, by the way, was likely from some cross contamination with raw freshwater fish and not uncommon in NY State.) I understand Maria Callas once ate a tapeworm as a diet aid. It's not something I'd do or recommend, but I fondly look back on that trip with much joy.

[robert brown]

Bux, when was that? Where did you eat? I used to adapt the old Ernie Banks exhortation, "Let's Play Two",  to eating in France by having a lunch and a dinner the same day at a three-star restaurant. But that's when I was around Steven's age. With a late dinner and a moderate lunch I can still do it. However, it falls quite a bit short of the old days. Since we've had a thread about memorable meals, how about one for the biggest?

(Edited by robert brown at 12:08 pm on Dec. 1, 2001)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Bux, I have attributed our malaise to living beyond well.  It is, I think, possible to surround yourself with so much that you were actually better off when you had less.  I have always thought of France as a place where one was given some kind of dietary dispensation, where there were no "no-nos", just "Why nots". And we savored every morsel during those splurges.  Then for some unexplained reason within the last year we have been doing the same at home.  Rather than the occasional treat, we seem to be making sure that we always have a supply of great cheese, pate, chocolate, and fabulous bread, something we used to bring into the house only with premeditation.  And so we go to France and while quality and variety can be better there, we simply are not hungry for these and, unfortunately, many other good things.  

[Bux]

Margaret, I understand you better now. Yes, that too. It's getting easier and easier to find great produce and great products here and in France there seems to have been some slippage. At any rate, the availability of even pretty good stuff at home can take the edge off your "hunger" when abroad. I suppose this is why an andouille at ผ.50 can give an entire dinner at Ducasse running hundreds of dollars, a run for what I crave most from my trip. I know of nothing like a (French) andouille in America, but there are some pretty good restaurants that are like Ducasse, including Ducasse/NY.

Robert, that must have been around '85 or '86. It was our daughter's first trip to France and our first return since she was born. As I recall, her first meal was a disaster although the restaurant had a good description, if a middling rating in GaultMillau. The next night was redemption in Pouilly-sur-Loire. The chef was president of Maîtres Cuisiniers de France, and his one star restaurant was everything a good provincial restaurant should have been. It also grew grapes entitled to a Pouilly-Fumé appellation in the back yard on a slope stretching down to the Loire. We occupied two of the four rooms over the restaurant. All of the rooms were too tiny to take an extra cot. We ordered, the by then classic, salmon in sorrel sauce and I had eel in red wine with a nice Sancerre rouge. I don't remember the rest of the menu, except that with the waiter's urging I think I tasted most of what was on the dessert chariot. Troisgros was the major event of the trip and I remember little of that meal except that it was very good. I think it was on that same trip that we ate in Le Centenaire in Les Ezies-de-Tayac and Moulin du Roc near Brantôme. I think Le Centenaire had only one star at the time, but it made a very favorable impression on us.

(Edited by Bux at 8:54 pm on Dec. 1, 2001)

[Steve Klc]

I thought for sure I must have had one of those parasitic worms, especially after I took a graduate course in parasitology while I was still an undergrad.  We peacefully co-existed--if I remember my notes that was called symbiosis--because I was able to consume prolifically and remain relatively thin.  That all changed when I turned 35 or so.   What hasn't seemed to change, however, is my appetite when I'm in France.

[robert brown]

Bux,  I could never work up the desire to return to Troisgros after Jean Troisgros died young and suddenly. I keep meaning to go back. We loved it there. I'm sure I will still be happy. I could never figure out which brother, if either, was the guiding light. I always assumed it was Jean only because he was so different from Pierre in a way that you would assume he was the more creative: serious, intellectual-appearing, and a sweet man. I never saw two brothers who looked so different. Have you been back since 1985?

I remember a risotto of some kind at Les Centenaires, circa 1991 and perhaps a guinea hen. I liked it a lot, my wife less so. Were you still able to see the original caves in Lascaux (if you visited there)? We could only see the recreation cave.

[robert brown]

Bux,  I could never work up the desire to return to Troisgros after Jean Troisgros died young and suddenly. I keep meaning to go back. We loved it there. I'm sure I will still be happy. I could never figure out which brother, if either, was the guiding light. I always assumed it was Jean only because he was so different from Pierre in a way that you would assume he was the more creative: serious, intellectual-appearing, and a sweet man. I never saw two brothers who looked so different. Have you been back since 1985?

I remember a risotto of some kind at Les Centenaires, circa 1991 and perhaps a guinea hen. I liked it a lot, my wife less so. Were you still able to see the original caves in Lascaux (if you visited there)? We could only see the recreation cave.

[Bux]

As I recall, the caves were already closed. I don't seem to recall why we didin't visit the replica Lascaux. Perhaps it was not yet open, or perhaps we decided to visit lesser caves, but original ones.

I believe Pierre is Claude's father. If so, we had his food again at the first anniversary celebration of CT in New York. That was a nice restaurant. I'm sorry to say that the premium priced event with father and sone cooking was not up to a meal where the son cooked alone. It turned out like a catered affair by lesser chefs. Too bad as it left me believing that one could not feed many guests simultaneously with the same food in perfect form and that all catered affairs and so called special gourmet dinners were doomed. Years later, Daniel Boulud proved one could deliver 125 or so perfectly cooked scallop dishes or rare lamb at a catered affair and I've been told they can do it for a thousand if they have the right kitchen facilities on hand. I have not been back to Troisgros. There are still restaurants in Burgundy that I have not been to the first time. There, in fact, great restaurants in which I may never get to dine. Generally if we get back to a restaurant, it's because we are with friends who want to eat there, or because it's in an area to which we return for other reasons and in which there's little competition. Sometimes it's the little restaurants that draw me back faster than the great ones.

[cabrales]

Quote: from robert brown on 12:05 pm on Dec. 1, 2001

Bux, when was that? Where did you eat? I used to adapt the old Ernie Banks exhortation, "Let's Play Two",  to eating in France by having a lunch and a dinner the same day at a three-star restaurant. But that's when I was around Steven's age.

<p>Robert -- My efforts to have two three-star meals a day when I am in France continue.  If I am not in Paris, I try to have them at the same restaurant.  There are so many dishes I would like to order from initially reviewing the menu, and, further there are other dishes that appear interesting when served to neighboring diners.  I try to avoid cheese and digestifs during both meals (as much as I like cheese), and schedule a later dinner (9:30 or 10:00).  I also try to pace myself on wine during lunch.