France
what would you order from our three-course taste of travel menu?
We were nominated/tagged by two fellow blogger pals, A New Life Wandering and Mrs Ayla’s Adventures for #atasteoftravel blogger competition. Although we are not eligible to win the prize and we are not entering this post into the competition, we thought it would still be fun to get involved in creating a three-course menu from the foods we have tried on our travels.
But we are choosing to put a “spin” on the menu – instead of one entree, main or dessert, we have decided to make it like a set menu: a choice of one of:
- three entrees
- three mains
- three desserts
Simply because we could decide on JUST one for each 🙂 – Apologies in advance that there are no vegetarian options.
So here goes the Wise Monkeys Abroad 3-course Travel Menu.
ENTREE
OPTION 1:
White Rose Dumplings from Hoi An, Vietnam
A steamed dumpling filled with shrimp bunched to look like a rose.
It is served with toasted garlic and sweet dipping sauce.
OPTION 2:
Sashimi Platter from Hakone, Japan
A selection of uncooked seafood includes tuna, prawn, squid, octopus, yellow tail .
Served with wasabi and shaved radish.
OPTION 3:
Cheese Fondue from Lucerne, Switzerland
An infusion of gruyère and emmental cheese in dry white whine.
Served in a casserole on top of a spirit lamp and a basket of bread.
MAIN:
OPTION 1:
Beef Stroganoff from St Petersburg, Russia
Sauteed beef in a mushroom, sour cream based sauce.
Served with a side of mash potatoes.
OPTION 2:
Seafood Paella from Leon, Spain
Aromatic rice cooked with seafood, chicken and vegetables over an open fire.
Served in the pan it is cooked in.
OPTION 3:
Pork Knuckle from Riga, Latvia
Slow-cooked pork knuckle.
Served with beans, fresh tomato salad and potato wedges.
DESSERT:
OPTION 1:
Chocolate Soup from Edinburgh, Scotland
A hot chocolate served in a bowl, topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
OPTION 2:
Creme Brûlée from Carcassonne, France
Vanilla custard based layered underneath a hard caramel top.
OPTION 3:
Pistachio Baklava from Istanbul, Turkey
Chopped pistachios wrapped in filo pastry and held together with a sweet syrup.
What are you ordering?
Let us know in the comments.
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top 5 unexpected travel gems
With the New Year almost a week in, we are back to regular blogging again. We had a festive/silly season break and it feels good to be back.
Towards the end of last year, we wrote a piece about our most disappointing travel sites and to introduce this year, we are sharing our top 5 unexpected travel highlights – places which we fell in love but hadn’t expected to.
In a world where information is so readily at our fingertips and the internet can reveal so much about a place – we avoid “researching” too much into a place we want to visit. We look for inspiration, we read about safety and basic introductory information, but we don’t read or look at everything we can about the place because we find that creates expectation and takes away some of the “unknown”. We tend to like the element of surprise. And these are our top 5 unexpected travel gems.
(5) Pingyao
Enter through the gates of Pingyao and we were transported back to centuries ago. There are no cars inside, it is all pedestrian and bicycles. Chinese history is oozing out of the walls and rooftops of this city and we LOVED it. It was our most favourite city during our time in China. As we walk along the alleyways and admire the well-preserved architecture, the only giveaway that we are in the 21st Century are the tourist shops.
(4) Lyon
Before arriving in Lyon, we did little research as we were using it more as a stopover before we headed into Switzerland, not expecting to be so blown away by it. The history and its Roman past had us fascinated for hours. We have written only about a couple of the places we visited in Lyon; the Museum of Miniatures and Cinema and the street murals. There is so much there to see and still more we are yet to share about our time in Lyon. Do yourself a favour and add it to your list for next time you are in France.
(3) Pergamum
When it comes to anything history, we love it! Visiting ancient ruins is one of our favourite things to do when travelling. Whilst travelling through Turkey, there are a LOT of ancient ruins to the point of possibly being fatigued by them. But there is no fatigue when it comes to riding a cable car and then exploring the ruins of Pergamum. The views from the top are just unbelievable across the countryside. What we found to be the biggest treat was walking amongst the columns and stones and remnants of life from thousands of years ago.
(2) Tasmania
Often left off maps and forgotten as belonging to Australia, it is one of the places in the world where we want to come back to as soon as we have left. There is just something about it that makes us just want more. There is delicious, fresh local food! There is jaw-dropping stunning scenery. There is an abundance of wildlife and there is a touch of history. Whoever comes to Australia and doesn’t put Tassie on their list is crazy!!
(1) Weliczka Salt Mines
Hands up if you thought “salt mines? – how special can they be?” We knew they were UNESCO Heritage, we knew they were important and a must-see. We knew about the history behind it but we were NOT by any means expecting to see what we saw. Climbing into a 3-storey shaft lift was only the beginning of one of THE MOST incredible places we have visited. An underground city, quite literally, that was carved out of salt.
We love having these surprises so we try not to look at too many photos of a place just before we visit!
Now it’s your turn! We would love to hear about places that you didn’t expect to be so AWESOME 🙂
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mont st michel: a photo essay
There are quite a number of places in the world that we have seen photos of and have therefore decided that we wanted to go there.
Mont St Michel is one of them. It has been on our dream travel list for as long as we can remember. Plus the added bonus that it was on the UNESCO Heritage list that we are trying to tick off slowly. We missed going to see it last time we were in France. We were not letting it slip away again this time.
It is certainly not the easiest place to get to (particularly if you don’t have a car) so we decided to stay two nights – which turned out to be a double “thumbs up” decision. It gave us plenty of time to explore and relax without feeling like we were rushed.
After travelling several hours from Paris on a train and then a bus, we finally arrived! In the distance, we could see the outline. The feeling we often get inside when we get to finally see something we have been SOOOOO looking forward to: a tingle in our stomach and the goosebumps of “we are really here!”
It’s as majestic and grand as we have seen it in the pictures. Without wanting to sound cliché, we will be cliche anyway by saying that it truly took our breath away.
Once we were inside the walls after crossing the bridge, it was like we were zapped back in time to the Middle Ages (except for maybe the hoards of tourists in modern clothes).
Crowded as it was, we looked past that and found the entire place so surreal to witness. Walking up all those old stone steps to the top before exploring the inside. And the inside? It seems to carry that little bit of mystery, intrigue and plenty of history that we love when we explore places like this.
With the tide being out, we were able to walk around the outside of the walls on the mudflats. We didn’t stray too far as we were warned that there are sections of “quicksand”. It is recommended that you join a tour group before venturing too far.
To finish off our time there, we sat down for a local Normandy feed. We tried a soufflé omelette with bacon… let’s just say, it must be an acquired taste!
The other local dish we tried was creamy chicken cooked Normandy style and that was DELICIOUS 🙂
Mont St Michel was listed as a
UNESCO Heritage site in 1979.
To see the other UNESCO sites we have visited,
visit our unofficial bucket list
Have you been to Mont St Michel? Tell us your experiences/thoughts.
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mural art in lyon
For us, Lyon was a convenient city to stop into for a few days before we ducked on over to Switzerland.
But not only was it convenient, it was an incredible place for us to explore for three days. There is so much to do (free and not) and plenty of little surprises, like the Miniatures and Cinema Museum that we stumbled across, we really enjoyed Lyon!
One of it’s free attractions is the city’s mural art. There are certainly a few scattered around the city. Our favourite is at the corner of rue de la Martiniére and Quai St Vincent, it depicts and honours Lyon’s famous citizens such as the Lumière brothers (the first film makers) and Laurent Mourguet (creator of the famous French puppet, Guignol).
We sat on a bench right across from the artwork and spent quite a while staring at it. The mural is detailed and life-like, there is so much depth in the art and it simply drew us in. We ended up with pretty sore necks after we moved from our vantage point.
Here are the Lumière brothers:
And Laurent Mourguet and Guignol:
We love how the ground floor of the mural looks so realistic. We could easily have tried entering the building and walking up the staircases …
Or enjoyed a warm drink in that cafe.
So if you ever find yourself in Lyon looking for something to do that won’t affect the budget; walking the streets to explore the mural art might just be the thing.
Have you been to Lyon?
What did you think of the murals?
As always, we love hearing what you have to say.
wise monkeys abroad 