La Opera - Ciudad de Mexico D.F.

La Opera Bar and Restaurant, was highly recommended to me by a very good friend and his suggestions are always right on! In the center of Mexico City between the Reforma area and Zocalo, I was pleasantly greeted into this historically intriguing eatery. (see the link above)

I ordered the Carne Asada Tampinquena and was completely satisfied. The meat was perfectly medium and the accompanying side dishes made for a delicious meal. I created my own tacos amidst the varied selection of ingredients on my plate: fresh made tortillas, nopalitos, guacamole with cotijo cheese, mole sauce (that smothered a side enchilada), marinated onions, jalapenos, verde salsa and limes. Don't forget the Indio beer for refreshment.

Satiated, I rolled out of the decorative and calming ambiance into the festive 80+ degree streets of la Ciudad de Mexico, ignoring the protesting groups marching to loud speakers, by the omni-present machine gun clad guards, drooling past the window displays of the multiple pastelerias and back to the comfort of my layover hotel to rest before my 4 am wake up call and another 14 hour duty day in the sky.

Caffeine CURE

So we are finally back from our "vacation" in the South of France....although there were many good moments, our visit was overshadowed by our daughters 4 day stay in a Hospital in Bagnols sur Ceze. Instead of focusing on the negative you have to admire this photo of the coffee service offered to us in the ER ( Urgences ) at the Centre Hospitalier Louis Pasteur. After my daughter had an IV in her vein one of the nurses ( or the waiter? ) asked me "Vous voulez du cafe?". I had to nervously laugh at this incredible adherence to typical French tradition of graciousness. No matter where you go in France, you are always offered something...and when you are invited to someone's home for dinner or a party, bringing a gift is expected. The town of Bagnols sur Ceze is a great small town with lots of pedestrian streets and I got to look down upon the town and the moon shining above it while I lived in the hospital with my daughter as the "accompagnant". Although my worries were sometimes personally overwhelming and my daughters pain was too real for words, I had to smirk when I opened my meal to find a fabulous warm quiche lorraine, salade frisee, baguette, camembert and red wine!!! as I dined next to my daughter who was imbedded with tubes and catheters. Not your average hospital fare but not your average relaxing vacation either. And as I sit here still jetlagged from the experience, I'll make myself another cup of coffee and CURE myself of fatigue once again.

Bistro Incroyablement Bon!

Wow, another great Paris layover with some excellent bistro fare. Le Baribal near Metro Pasteur was a hit with all four of us. I got the suggestion from another traveling francophile recently who raved about the Escalope de Veau au Roquefort. She was more than right. The rich and slight crustly Roquefort cream sauce smothered the succulent veal escalope accompanied by thin green beans and pommes de terre. All washed down with red table wine, we were all soaking up the extra sauce with the crusty french baguette slices. I was so glad to be able to share this wonderful meal with 3 others since I'll start to fly to Rome again starting next month...Cabonara here I come. Stay tuned!

Je vous embrasse.