FOOD LOVER’S
JOURNEY
Felicity’s travels have taken her everywhere from the Bordeaux wine region to the coast around Marseille
Seasoned travellers love to claim that French cooking isn’t what it used to be – that gone are the days when you could roll into any little roadside restaurant and eat like a king (or perhaps a president) for the price of a Pret sandwich – but there are few countries around the world that take their food as seriously as our nearest continental neighbours. Bien sûr, they still respect the classics but increasingly you’ll also find young chefs playing around with old favourites, incorporating influences from around the world in menus championing local, seasonal ingredients.
And they have a lot of ingredients to work with. Over twice the size of the UK, France runs from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, aubergines to oysters, from the cheese-lovers’ paradise of the high mountains to the vast mushroom-packed forests of the centre, which means dinner in Provence is likely to taste very different from one in Perpignan or Poitiers. (And wherever you are, southeast Asian and North African restaurants serve as a reminder that Paris presided over the 20th century’s second largest colonial empire.)
A word of warning: the one thing that unites this vast country, as I’ve discovered to my cost on countless occasions, is that outside major tourist areas, French restaurants keep strict hours. Lunch is generally between 12 and 2pm (though you’re unlikely to be seated towards the end of that time), and dinner 7-9pm. Bear this in mind, and always check opening times before setting off – you really don’t want to miss out on these places.
MOULES IN A BEACH SHACK