Eating Our Way Through Paris

Paris is known to many as le cité des amour yet to me it's more like le cité du manger and that's pretty much all we did.

The last time Coasts were on their European tour I packed my bags and my mother off to a quick sojourn to Berlin and then Hamburg. (How was that two years ago?) The only difference this time was that the venue/ country had changed and Coasts joined label mates The Hunna, oh yeah and there was a new album so I guess pretty much everything had changed really.

On Sunday night, after a delayed Eurostar trip, my mother and I checked in at the Saint Louis Pigalle hotel before heading out to explore the Pigalle neighbourhood, from the Moulin Rouge to the Sacre Coeur where the 10pm service was just about to start: cue the organ music.

Le Bon Bock was the venue for dinner/supper and was a great find. It is the oldest restaurant in Montmartre and used to be a popular haunt of artists like Toulouse La Trec. Here my journey through classic French dishes began with onion soup and confit de la canard.

On Mondays, many (if not all) of the museums and tourist attractions are closed which left us with no choice but to explore the cobbled streets of Paris, and, most importantly, the gastronomy.

When I had researched the foodie scene before we came out one of the places that had stood out to me was Soul Kitchen on the Rue Lamarck but I could not for the life of me find it. In its place, the Hardware Societé offered a very appetising alternative.

Fried brioche served with pannacotta, poached pear and lashings of chocolate sauce may not be your usual breakfast fare but omg you really need to try that like right now!

Hotel two of two for our Paris mini city break was the Best Western Saint Martin Bastille, just opposite the Bataclan and, as the name suggests, situated in the Bastille area of the city.

Dalloyau famously provided the Palace of Versaille with Pattiserie delights up until the French Revolution and they can now add me to their prestigious list of customers as we happily stumbled across one of their Salon de Thé(s). We sampled the gorgeously light Delice de Chef and the absolutely divine Tonka - brb in heaven right now.

The Little Café, in the Marais part of town, continued my foray into the world of classic French dishes with Boeuf Bourginon. For dessert, I opted for the Pain Perdu, made with croissants and served with a deliciously sweet caramel sauce.

Our final culinary stop or the day (Monday) was Jones, formerly known as Bones. Here diners can enjoy a four-course meal that is a delight to the senses or indeed for individual dishes. It would have been criminal to not at least try the exquisitely prepared food even if I had eaten a three-course meal only a few hours previously and those smoked carrots were simply stunning.

On our last full day in Paris, we visited the Pere Lachaise, the notorious graveyard where many famous faces are buried; Jim Morrison and Frederic Chopin included, as well as a memorial to Oscar Wilde. Alas, If I had only been there a few hours later I could have played everyone's favourite game 'spot The Hunna'

Frederic Chopin

Jim Morrison

Oscar Wilde - he's not actually in there though

The snowy stroll (read hike) left me feeling particularly hangry by the time we approached
Notre Dame. The aptly named Brasserie Esmerelda was as good a spot as any for a crepe and a chocolat chaud as it was getting pretty cold actually.

The plat du jour on the Rue Babylon was Côte du Boeuf, accompanied by dauphinoise potatoes and a bearnaise sauce. Our brasserie of choice just happened to be opposite Le Bon Marche, the Harrods of Paris which at the time of visiting housed the Sous La Ciel art installation by Leandro Erlich.

The Musee d' Orsay is not actually a museum at all but an art gallery housing five storeys of everything from impressionism to sculpture including work from Toulouse Le Trec who by the way I approve of your choice of restaurant/bar but dude what is that artwork?

On the way home to the hotel we stopped off at a patisserie for madeleines and a l'imperial - berry goodness encased in créme de pistache with a biscuit base.

Next stop: Le Maroquinerie.

P.S. We bought croissants for the journey home aka our super fun 7am Eurostar train.

The Life of Brian and other tales from Brighton

Being a crazy fangirl gives me the perfect excuse to visit cities far and wide including places where I've never been to before but have always wanted to.

So far I've been to see Coasts around the country, in Glasgow, Bristol and, old uni haunt, Bath as well as abroad in both Berlin and Hamburg......obvs not weird at all.

This time I was off to a place that fits the above description perfectly, as I have wanted to go there for aaaages now: Brighton.

We, my mother and I were staying at The Queen's hotel a mere pebble's throw away from the Haunt, where Coasts were going to be playing, and also on the seafront. Our room even had a sea view - result.

The plan was to drop off our bags at the hotel and then head toward the Choccywoccydoodah Brighton mothership, singing the theme tune as we went. I've been a fan of the Choccywoccydoodah TV show on the Good Food Show and was delighted when they opened their flagship store in London as this location seemed a bit more within visiting range. The day was finally here though, I was finally going to go to the home of Choccywoccydoodah....somebody hold me.

After a lot of deliberation, both online weeks before our trip as well as on the day (because they might have changed the menu) I opted for 'the most decadent hot chocolate' which not only included marshmallows and cream but also a chocolate straw, ice cream and GBBO fave, a stroopwaffle - I think I need a lie down.

My mother had the sticky ginger hot chocolate, complete with ginger truffles.

Unfortunately, possibly due to all the extra embellishments, our hot chocolates weren't all that hot but this was quickly resolved as we were provided with some extra hot water.

The Lanes of Brighton are well known for their quirky, independent shops, including the (rubber) duck shop, vintage sweet emporium and a number of antique and jewellery shops.

Foodilic, was to be our dinner time stop, after an evening stroll/ never-ending hike along the seafront. For a mere £6.95 you can help yourself to an 'all you can eat' buffet of colourful salads and healthy looking grub, we even sampled the fermented tea.

Outside the Haunt a man and his daughter stopped me to ask who was playing at the venue that evening, Coasts I replied. Ghosts? he said, well, that would be fitting, wouldn't it.

Coasts remain my absolute fave band to see live and they literally get better everytime that I see them (this was no. 11 in case you were wondering) and their infectious energy coupled with dance-worthy tunes makes for an unforgettable night. Highlight included (yet another) epic stage invasion during the finale and venue-wide hot potato balloon games.

After an early morning swim and a spot of breakfast, we headed off out again, despite the 70mph winds brought by storm Brian, in the direction of the famous North Laines. We had tried to get there the day before but had actually just ended up taking the wrong turn and ending up walking halfway up the coast instead.

North Laines is well loved by locals and tourists alike for its array of unique of shops, cafes and gorgeous boutiques including Beretun Designs by Linda Johnson where you can buy made to order,  hand-painted shoes, in literally any design imageable. The Wizard of Oz shoes on display were simply incredible and omg those Winnie The Pooh shoes!

I am currently loving the UK's love affair with proper ice cream and gelato. No longer do I need to venture to Italy and other European countries for a proper scoop. Gusto Gelato on North Laines was an unexpected find and I was totally blown away.

The gelateria was ready for Halloween with a variety of ghoulishly inspired flavour combinations including vampire's blood: red velvet and cherry, Casper: white chocolate and black death: liquorice. My mother and I had a large cup (4 flavours) between us and went for toasted almond, sea salted caramel and the themed flavours of toffee apple and black death. Totally divine.

Out of all the weekends that we could have chosen to go and visited Brighton, the week that storm Brian came to the city a visit was quite possibly not the best choice. With winds of up to 70mph battered the coast and killer waves crashing against the rocks it definitely added the drama to a trip to the pier.

Luckily for us, we were able to dodge the showers and take shelter in one of the Brighton's many cafes. The problem was was with oh so many to choose from I was having a serious case of FOMO. Maybe next time I need to go on a cafe crawl.

Prague Part 1 : Of Chinese Lanterns and String Quartets

This year for my mummy's birthday I decided to whisk her away on a city break to Prague....except it was her birthday in August and it's now November....so more like a belated birthday present really.

We set off early in anticipation of the adventures to come, so early in fact that I forgot to pack a notebook on which to write this here blog and even my EHIC card- bother.

Suitably stressed we arrived at the airport in time to cruise through security with the usual kerfuffle of taking off belts, coats, shoes etc. just to get dressed at the other end. And then my bag broke. *facepalm* Prague is a city renowned for pickpockets so I need to have all my wits about me and preferably a bag that works. 

In regards to getting around Prague, you have many public transport options including bus, metro or tram with cars being quite a rare sight, especially in the inner city. Indeed the old town is pretty much just pedestrianised. 

You can buy 30, 60 or 90 minters indeed a 24 of 72-hour ticket which is valid on any mode of public transport for that allotted time. My mother informs me that this system is also used in Verona and is quite effective. 

If you are travelling this way then you must validate your ticket which will then give you a time stamp so that you can count down how much time you have left on the clock. However, once you have validated your ticket once don't try and do it again as it will render your ticket useless.

We bought a 90-minute ticket at the airport and after using a bus, two metros and a tram finally arrived at our destination; Plus Prague. 

Readers of this blog may (or may not) know that I have stayed at the Plus hostel in Berlin- the first time I went there anyway and before that I stayed at the Plus in Florence. 

Plus have a variety of hostels around Europe and offer really quite cheap accommodation to backpackers and tourists alike. One of the things I most like about Plus is that the rooms are large and spacious and they even include a pool....the hostel that is not the room. 

After dumping our stuff in our room and getting some recommendations about where to eat from the guy at reception we set off bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to explore what the city had to offer...we returned a good few hours later with our tails between our legs and rather large blisters on our feet.......well I had the blisters anyway but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. 

After twenty minutes of fruitlessly consulting the map, it was decided that we were definitely a bit lost. Whilst there should have been the river to our immediate right we found that there was actually a park....a park where lots of people were gathering...people with lanterns...people lighting lanterns.... 

*insert photographic interlude*

We walked and we walked and then we walked some more until we reached Charles Bridge; the most famous bridge in Prague. 

The Charles Bridge is flanked by watchtowers to either side and is home to many a statue. I have read that if you get a chance you should and go to see the Bridge at night when the statues are lit up so that's exactly what we did and it was beautiful. 

Clam-Gallas palace was the host for this evening's musical interlude which we stumbled upon quite by chance.  The string quartet played many classical favourites including Pacabel's Canon, Mozart, Strauss and the Czech composer A. Dvorak in the baroque hall which in its hay day might well have seen many similar recitals. Although I'm pretty sure that back in the 17th/18th centuries the audience would have been a lot better dressed than their modern counterparts in jumpers and jeans.