Having lived in total oblivion for the past couple of weeks, what with my trip to France and Germany and only a few days spare to pack for this trip to Indonesia and then Australia, I had barely been aware of the goings on of the Beijing Olympics. I must surely have been one of the very few people on this earth who did not watch the opening ceremony. The fact that a Jamaican won gold in the 100m sprint had actually registered in my consciousness was some minor miracle. So it was with some interest, whilst sitting at Costa Coffee at London Heathrow’s Terminal 3, that I read the headlines – something about Bolt storming to a double. How clever of The Times Newspaper to come up with such an euphemism to describe this person’s athletic prowess, I thought. However, as I read on, I came to realise that it was actually his name. Usain Bolt. Oh. What planet had I been on? Clearly not on earth.

Well lots to time to ponder this question as I was due to fly to Indonesia with a long stopover in Kuala Lumpur. So many, many hours of contemplative time I thought miserably. This surely justified some comfort eating, as I placated myself with lemon cake from Costa Coffee. I am particularly fond of lemon drizzle cake, like the varieties you get at Waitrose and Tescos, as I like the zingy lemon taste. The Costa Coffee version was pleasantly moist, the icing not too sugary or too sweet and just nicely zingy. As I finished off my café latte, I stared into the cup. What an awful lot of frothy milk gets left behind. Does this form part of calculation of the £10bn of food thrown away in Britain each year?

On route back to London, we decide to detour through Brussels, Belgium, to catch up with some friends who have now made this city their home. What would a road trip be without spontaneity? At the suggestion of the friends, we headed to Restaurant Brasseries Georges. If you are looking for some oysters in Brussels then perhaps this is perhaps the restaurant to try. On the day we visited there were some 20 different varieties on the menu, including local, French, Dutch and English (Colchester) offerings and which ranged in price up to about €30 for nine. There was also a selection of different types of seafood if you have an aversion to oysters: fish, clams, langoustines, whelks, sea urchins, prawns, lobster and of course mussels!

If this appears to be a tremendous amount of choice, then you may wish to settle for one of the seafood platters to give you a little taste of everything. Some eight different types of platters were available, for one or two persons, and all starting from about €20. For the meat eaters, options were also plentiful. And for every palate, a promise of the “best french fries in the world” cooked in goose fat.

Belgian croquettes with Ostend shrimp

Tempting as the fries were, we decided to start with croquettes and the calamari and octopus salad. Famously, croquettes are Friday night drinking food in Holland with various different types of fillings. Much like how we might purchase the odd kebab from Maroush in London, the Dutch buy their croquettes from a Dutch fast food chain called Febo. Typically theirs contain mash potato, but our Belgian croquettes today were instead filled with a hearty, deliciously thick creamy sauce filled with Ostend shrimp that ran a dreamy line along the inside of my mouth. The salad was well proportioned, but erred more on the side of just calamari rather then any octopus or salad, but so tender that I would’ve had no qualms feeding it to grandpa even without his dentures.

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For as long as I can remember I’ve dreamt of visiting Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle at Disneyland.  Tomorrow my dream comes true for Neuschwanstein will be our pit stop, but tonight our resting point was Füssen, located only a few miles away from the castle.  I had chosen a restaurant (Tannheimer Stube) for the evening which looked somewhat interesting. Its website suggested an Alpine-styled setting, leaving me with visions of Maria bursting into song about the hills, and men in lederhosen yodelling away.

“It’s thirty kilometres away, you know” I told my friend.  “Is that ok?” “Yeah sure” he said.  It was only after I made the reservation at the restaurant that he uttered something about it being in Austria and had I realised?  Nope.  It had all looked German to me.  So today, after having driven some seven hours from Munster, France, to Füssen, Germany, we drove to a restaurant in Tannheim, Austria for dinner.  How many people would ever do that?

On route to Tannheimer Stube Restaurant

The drive to Tannheimer Stube, a Michelin one-star, made the effort worthwhile. With green hills and lush fields lining the route, it was beset by a mystical, magical quality with the onset of a light mist and the fading of the evening light.  We pulled into the restaurant, and it was just as the website suggested, an alpine hut in an alpine setting (where was Maria?).  We walked through the entrance into a Laura Ashley-like pastel coloured drawing room and were greeted by Heidi, who directed us to the dining room.  Warm and inviting, it was the picture of charm!  Pine throughout, there were many touches of homeliness and romance everywhere; the beautiful red rose on the table, the candle shaped lights fitted to the walls, the cushions fashioned with love hearts and similarly matched table runners.

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As part of the planning for this road trip, I trawled through the Michelin website. Within about a thirty-five kilometre radius of Munster there were some fifteen or so Michelin-starred restaurants. Sigh, which one to choose? Do I choose on the basis of geography, how good the food looks on the restaurants’ websites or how nice the people are to me when they answer the phone? Uncertain, I read each and every restaurant description, one by one. Next were the emails to my friend. “Here are numbers one to eight, others to follow. I liked number three best but number eight looked great too. What do you think?” and so it went. Curiously most were one-star, until I got to number twelve on the list, Auberge de L’ill. Interestingly, this was a three star. What could set it so distinctly apart from all the others? Was this the Sirius Star in a constellation of restaurants? Well that settled that. A decision was made.

The banks of the River L’ill

Auberge de L’ill is so named for it lies on the banks of the River L’ill in Alsace, Eastern France. Established in 1878 and famed for the finest of fine Alsatian cuisine (and by some accounts, the best restaurant in Eastern France), it has been an outpost for the creations of many generations of the Haeberlin family. So it was with awe that I stepped onto the path that led us to the key address of this family dynasty. As the door swung open I was simply stunned.

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My first taste of the Alsace region of France was Eguisheim, which we approached from La Route des Crêtes (the Crest Road). This route runs through one of the oldest mountain ranges in France and gives you some amazing panoramic views, some as far as the Black Forest.

La Route des Crêtes (the Crest Road)

We’d come to Eguisheim in the Alsace for the sole purpose of this little restaurant that I’d discovered in the Michelin guide. I was particularly drawn to the description which mentioned that the restaurant was once the home of a former winegrower. ‘Quaint’, I thought, and I do adore quaint. So of course we had to come. See, some people choose where to travel to and then pick the restaurants, or even go with the flow. Not me. I’ve to choose which restaurants I want to eat at and then pick the route. So to Eguisheim we went. Eguisheim was probably on of those places I would’ve never thought to visit for the sheer fact that it has never registered in my radius of knowledge. However, it turned out to be wonderfully delightful. A medieval village surrounded by the mountains, there are German influences throughout given both its proximity to Germany and that for long periods in history was under German occupation. It has now been beautifully restored to resemble a kaleidoscope of colours and on the first day of real sunshine on our driving trip thus far, it was truly picture postcard perfect.

Egusheim: Picture postcard perfect

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The bistro: Le Bistroquet

As mentioned in my Crêpes in Troyes post, we had come to Troyes to same the andouillette. Le Bistroquet was the restaurant where we came to sample the andouillette here in Troyes. It was a gorgeous, classic-looking French bistro with warm beige tones, rich brown wooden panelling, soft muted lighting and touches of art deco throughout. Was I ever excited! Such surroundings to me always promise more to come – and come they did. Our waitress was a petite little thing; full of feistiness but with a charming, mischievous grin. She took our order, and on quiet reflection, she hesitated ever so slightly when we came to order the andouilette, but such is the beauty of hindsight.

A starter of scallops grilled in butter proved to be lovely; plump and meaty, it was served with a light and crisp side salad dressed wonderfully in extra virgin olive oil. The froid (cold) foie gras had a lovely creamy, rich, melt-in-your-mouth texture, but unfortunately was a little too salty. Despite this, I was pleased with what had been presented so far. With no reason to suspect any surprises, my expectations remained high.

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Dear fair reader, are you the type of person, who like me, feels duty bound to try regional specialities and local delicacies on your travels? Would you otherwise feel like you might miss out on some important culinary discovery if you did not? When in Rome I always say.

So it was with great fanfare and aplomb that we arrive in Troyes three days into our driving trip of the Champagne region. As you already know, we’d done some research prior and located a restaurant where it was possible to try the regional speciality, andouilette. A French tourism website had described it as meatballs… little did we know, but more on that later.

Medieval Troyes

Troyes, first a Roman city, is now a quaint but slightly jaded medieval town. It retains a certain sense of charm and whilst dressed slightly rough around the edges, it hasn’t been dolled up just for the tourists, allowing it to hold onto that sense of a lived-in town. We meandered leisurely through the streets, and with all the little curiosities that its architecture had to offer, snapped happily away for it was a place worthy of a spot in the photo album. Unexpectedly, we walked past a little crêperie and I was duly summoned. Unable to resist because some things you know are just going to be damn good, we ordered the specialty of the house with ham, bacon, cheese, tomato, pan-fried potato and crème fraiche. Hot, wholesome and hearty, the melted cheese meshed with the meatiness of the ham and bacon and the soft juiciness of the warm tomato. Damn good indeed.

Crêpe with ham, cheese, tomato and lots of other goodies

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Instead of eating petit déjeuner (breakfast) at the restaurant hotel we chose to buy croissants from the patisserie for breakfast. It was France after all, and at €1 a pop, cheaper than the €8 for breakfast charged by the restaurant at the hotel. The croissants were good as you would expect, flaky and buttery, but I’d now left crumbs in the car to add to the odd crisp and brazil nut from yesterday.

Chateau de Pierrefonds

Our first stop of the day was Chateau de Pierrefonds. Considered a national monument and one of the most beautiful castles in France, it is perched high up on the hill.

Originally built for military defense purposes, it found new life through restoration efforts in the 19 Century and was used as the backdrop for a number of films. It overlooks the little village of (surprise, surprise) Pierrefonds. Delightfully, this cozy little village has a tiny high street of about six shops or so, most of which related to food, including a restaurant brasserie. Clearly the French know what is important in life.

The aromas from the rotisserie were overwhelmingly seductive, and the spit roasted chickens on display looked irresistible, so of course we had to lunch from the rotisserie, settling on ham, roast pork, fried mash potatoes and fries, all washed down with beer from the restaurant. Last up were the chocolate eclairs from the patisserie; with airy light pastry and a soft gooey chocolatey centre they were utterly divine. This was truly what life was all about.