I was reliving an experience by email with Phil, a friend of mine, this morning.
The event came nearly 39 years ago, in April of 1985.
Judy and I fulfilled a dream of spending a month traveling around Europe.
Le grand tour.
Now we are lovers of escargot, snails in a garlic butter sauce.
(Photo by Landon Nordeman)
And we had vowed that we would have them every time we saw them on a restaurant menu.
Lack and alas, the only time in a month of travel through country after country . . including France . . that we ever saw them was when we spent part of a day in Monaco.
We were traveling from San Remo, Italy, to Nice, France and stopped at a small bistro in Monte Carlo and ate our snails at a sidewalk table alfresco.
They were delicious!
Later, wandering around, we found the famous Casino featured in several James Bond movies.
That's me in the lower left before entering and losing a few coins in a slot machine.
As we walked the streets we found them lined with huge grandstands being built.
The Monaco Grand Prix was to be held the following month.
We also spent some time gazing at the crystalline blue waters of the harbor.
And yes the water really is that blue.
And the yachts are large, expensive and numerous.
(Sorry, no pictures of them.)
We only spent part of a day there.
We were a month early so we didn't see the race.
We didn't break the bank at the Casino.
But the snails were marvelous!
I did a blog post about Monaco, and the yachts were indeed huge and expensive. I've had escargot, I think it was NYC, and they were quite good. Nice pic of the harbor water.
ReplyDeleteI had snails in Paris! I was on a tour on my way home from a year & a half in Africa. We ate in a restaurant that was purportedly in the former home of the inventor of the guillotine. That thought did not diminish our appetites, although maybe the idea of eating snails did. I mostly remember that they tasted like delicious garlic butter. But I remember the French onion soup better. Yum!
ReplyDeleteI will have to take your word for it.
ReplyDeleteI've been inside that casino too and admired the beautiful colored water. Been a long time though.
ReplyDeleteEverybody should get to spend a month in Europe. It would alter our thinking.
ReplyDeleteLove these type posts. I always stop and say what or where was I in 1985. Thanks Bruce Dee
ReplyDeleteYou got a lot done in part of a day. Good thing you weren't moving at a snail's pace! Look where it got them.
ReplyDeleteSnails is one thing I will never ever try along with several other things. I wouldn't mind the travelling part.
ReplyDeleteNo to snails!
ReplyDelete