Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Lunch dilemma

After an almost summery week, with temperatures up to 27°C on Thursday, the weekend was dreary and wet in Belgium. On Sunday morning I was awakened by the sound of water running down the rain pipe from the roof. It rained steadily until 11 a.m. Then the sky cleared a little but temperatures hardly reached 12°C. This called for some comfort food.

I therefore opened the last tin of ‘Confit de Canard’ that I bought last year at the ‘Cave des Vignerons’ in Amboise and used it to cook a ‘Parmentier de Canard’. This oven dish is dead easy to make.



2008: The terrace at 'les Remparts' in Amboise.

With the last tin of Confit gone, it’s time to stock up on some new ones. That shouldn’t be a problem as we’ll be visiting the Cave des Vignerons at the foot of the Château as soon as we get to Amboise on Sunday in two weeks time. In the meantime, I’m still trying to decide on a restaurant for our Sunday lunch.

My initial idea was to go to ‘les Remparts’ where we had a lovely meal in 2008. The restaurant used to have a sunlit terrace in the back, with lots of flowers and even a banana tree in one corner. However, according to the restaurant’s website, they covered it up to increase the overall capacity of the restaurant. Although it looks nice enough, it has lost its original charm. But the food is still excellent, if I’m to believe recent reviews. So that option remains open; depending on the weather conditions.

The second possibility is the ‘Val Joli’ in Vouvray. But that means that we’ll have to travel back and forth twice between Amboise and Vouvray if we want to visit the Château of Amboise in the afternoon.

And finally there is ‘L’Epicerie’, right across the street from the castle. Lunch on the terrace, watching the tourist crowds walk by, can be fun and the food is rather good too. Inside, however, the low-beamed rooms are rather small and dark. When full, the place is pretty noisy …

Sounds like the weather will be the decisive factor. Judging by today’s temperatures and grey skies, a table by a blazing log fire would be the best option!

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6 comments:

chm said...

Talking about the rain running from the roof, did they ever find what was the cause of that dampness on your ceiling? I do hope that matter is now settled.

Ken Broadhurst said...

Hi Martine, where is Les Remparts? In Amboise? About the Epicerie in Amboise, the only time we ate there was years ago, outside on the terrace.

By the way, we are having the cold, gray weather now, so that when you get here it will be warm and sunny. Lucky you!

Anonymous said...

I can't recommend a restaurant as it's been too long since I've been to Amboise, but I'll be interested to find out what you decide.

We're going through les Saints de glâces and freezing our little *** off.

Amanda said...

Martine (or anyone else) can you remind me what "the saintes glaces" are? I forgot!

Ken Broadhurst said...

Ce sont les saints de glaces, les 11, 12, et 13 mai. Voir ce sujet dans Wikipédia.

ladybird said...

Chm, Oops, very touchy subject (you couldn't know, so don't worry) as I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of this 'descending damp' problem.

After 7 months and two expert surveys, they still haven't found the cause and in the meantime the degradation of the ceiling and the wall continue. I'm fed up with it, but being a tenant, not the owner, I can't do anything about it. The insurance companies are 'taking their time', probably hoping that it will go away by itself. Today I received a letter from the owner with the annual indexation of the monthly rent, while I'm legally allowed not to pay any rent at all as long as the problem isn't solved. The nerve that man has ! I'm at my wit's end and am even considering moving ...:((

Ken, Les Remparts is a lovely restaurant in a one way street at the end of the Mall of Amboise when you're driving in the direction of Tours on the same bank as the castle. You should try it!

Dedene, Only another week to go and the 'saints de glaces' can take a holiday for another year. Time for us then to go on a vacation!

Nadege, I think Ken answered your question. I couldn't have done it any better. Thank you Ken!