Thursday, April 2, 2015

B = Bistros and Baguettes, French Faves, A to Z Blog Challenge

To live, one must eat, and what better place than Paris? In a bistro, with a baguette on the side. . .?


Bistro Marguerite, near the Hotel de Ville, Paris, by DG Hudson


B = Bistros


In Paris and other cities, a Bistro is a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve: French home-style cooking, and slow-cooked foods with lots of flavour.


Bistro Marguerite

Situated on the Right Bank across from the Hotel de Ville, Bistro Marguerite hugs the corner. With a view of the Seine River this bistro is great for people-watching and tasting some of the best French dishes we had ever had. The waiters are friendly and helpful, bringing us back multiple times. Not suitable for vegetarians or vegans --the bistro logo is a bull, after all. Good eating is celebrated here.

Examples: Baked cod dish, French style, with caramelized onions, and potatoes, also grilled salmon, fat juicy sausage, even steak and frites. Also French onion soup, fresh local veggies and more.


A little flash fiction mentioning this bistro

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Le Voltaire Restaurante - Left Bank, by DG Hudson


Le Voltaire

A real old world atmosphere. Voltaire used to hang around here. That's per the plaque on the building in the photo above. We were there for lunch so meal cost about 50 Euros. Use what French you know for better service, it helps as they get lots of tourists in this area. We had great food. Suggested by the Madame Hostess:  German beer, Quiche and salad, and raisin pie. 

Here are two short fiction pieces using this restaurant as a setting:

Flash Fiction and

Resistance is Futile


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B = Baguette

A baguette is "a long thin loaf" of French Bread that is commonly made from basic lean dough, which is defined by French law. It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust.


French Baguette - Crusty with a light interior, Creative Commons*

The word 'baguette' was not used to refer to this type of bread until 1920, but what is now known as a baguette may have existed well before that. The word in its simple form means 'wand' or 'baton'. The traditional loaf is made from wheat flour, water, yeast and common salt. We bought one each day that we spent in Paris, in the Marais, from a boulangerie nearby. That crusty bread is habit-forming. . .


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Do you like baguettes, the French crusty type? How about bistros? Do you like the smell of warm bread?

Please leave a comment to let me know you stopped by, and if you are part of the A to Z Challenge. I'll be sure to check your blog, and reciprocate. If you're not in the challenge, thanks for stopping by to visit! I try to reply to all comments.

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The A to Z Blog Challenge is brainchild of Lee, at Tossing It Out.  Please visit the A to Z blog site to find out more information and the participant list.  There are also Twitter and Facebook presences if you want to check those!




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References:

http://dghudson-rainwriting.blogspot.ca/2014/08/taking-chances-wep-in-little-cafe.html Short fiction: Taking Chances

http://dghudson-rainwriting.blogspot.ca/2013/08/paris-cafe-pages.html The Cafe Pages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baguette Wiki

http://dghudson-rainwriting.blogspot.ca/2011/02/immerse-yourself-in-moment.html A Tour of Paris via the 5 Senses.

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* Creative Commons Image Credit: French Baguette
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License.

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