Food and Dining Thread

[Cincydawg]

We spent a full month in France in 2020 Jan/Feb just before fecal matter was spread widely.

The first three weeks were in a tiny village at our daughter's place.  It's a one bistro village and we got friendly with the owner, a nice lady from Portugal, good food, they had a fire going every day.  The wife says she survived the shut downs, barely, with government help.  The lady said she went to market in a larger town each morning around 5 AM to get the food.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Wow, great experience.  The wife talks about going over for 3 months sometime, but I don't think she means it.

She talks about registering our marriage so I could get an EU passport in five years.

I'd say do it... 100%. 

Not going to get political in this thread, but it's always good to have an exit strategy "plan B" if you can. I'll bet most of the countries on the long list of "oh my god how could that have ever happened?!" were filled with people who believed "it'll never happen here". It probably never will, but "probably" is a weak enough statement to have a plan B.

Yup, I ate a lot of meals in European hotels.  When you're there for 3-4 months at a time, getting out and about for dinner becomes a little exhausting.  Some nights I'd just get back from work around 6, sit down at the bar and have an aperitif or two, and then go into the hotel dining room around 7:30 and grab a fantastic meal.  I was still usually the first one eating, most folks wouldn't come in until 8:30 or 9.  Even later, in Italy.


Phillippe, the bartender at my hotel in Nantes, and I, got to be pretty good friends.  After a while, I realized that he and the hotel staff were eating family style in the otherwise empty dining room around the same time I was getting to the hotel bar, and he'd have to split time bringing me drinks while he was eating.  One day, he invited me to sit down and eat with them.  The staff all got shift meals so there was no cost, and there was no way to pay.  Eating with the staff became a regular thing so I started buying bottles of wine for the staff and having Phillippe write up the check as my dinner so I could still expense it. Those were some amazing meals, just whatever the cook had fresh, he'd serve family style in big dishes, and there was always a huge pile of frites at the center of the table.  Boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin, lapine a la cocette, and of course plenty of steak frites cooked almost raw.

Phillippe even invited me to eat at his home several times.  His wife was British, and his English was perfect, although I did try to practice my French with them.  We cleared out his wine rack more than a couple of times, but I'd take him to the Carrefour and restock him.  I always asked him, "which wine would you recommend for a really important meal?" and he'd point it out, then I'd buy several for him.  Even their very best wines were still cheap by American standards.

Those were the days.

Our best meal in Paris was at our hotel bar... Oddly enough, it wasn't even remotely French food... It was basically tapas. Our second-best meal was French and it was in the restaurant attached to a hotel a few blocks away. Both definitely better than the restaurant I'd found...

The bartender at our hotel bar was interesting... A very nervous little man from Vietnam, IIRC. He was pouring champagne for another table and we watched (we were sitting at the actual bar) as he literally had his face down at the level of the glasses pouring the two to ensure that they had the same amount of liquid to a precision that I'm sure was within 0.5 mL lol... Nice guy, but he seemed a little OCD.

[847badgerfan]

I'd say do it... 100%.

Not going to get political in this thread, but it's always good to have an exit strategy "plan B" if you can. I'll bet most of the countries on the long list of "oh my god how could that have ever happened?!" were filled with people who believed "it'll never happen here". It probably never will, but "probably" is a weak enough statement to have a plan B.

How would one go about doing that if there is no connection via marriage? Is it even possible?

[betarhoalphadelta]

How would one go about doing that if there is no connection via marriage? Is it even possible?

That's my point... I don't have that option. If I did, I'd take it, just in case. CD has that option. Might as well fill out the paperwork and make it happen... The limited hassle and cost is a cheap insurance plan for SHTF territory. 

[Cincydawg]

I figure is the US went south, France likely would have preceded us.  

I suppose it would be a thing, and I could then stay there indefinitely.  Right now, I can't get in anyway.  The wife can.

[Brutus Buckeye]

A passport for us mere mortals is a pretty big hassle. They wanted me to send my actual SS Card and Birth Certificate (not copies, the actual documents) through the freaking US mail to a faceless govt bureaucracy, where they will probably be handled by convicts that they hired from the local halfway house. 

As inviting as that all sounds... 

[FearlessF]

passport is current

wasn't a problem either time I signed up.  Did everything in person at the local post office.

I don't foresee fleeing this country, but never say never.

I'd probably just make the 7 hour drive north to Canada, or take a flight to the pacific coast of Mexico.  Manzanillo and Zihuatanejo were nice the last time I was there.

[Cincydawg]

I got my first passport through the company.  I've later just renewed, which is pretty simple.  I recall getting a Visa to Brazil meant sending my passport by mail to the Brazilian Embassy (how many is a brazilian?).  I was a bit nervous about that.

[Cincydawg]

One option with France (EU) is they still have islands in the Pacific, Bora Bora I think, and New Caledonia?

[Brutus Buckeye]

wasn't a problem either time I signed up.  Did everything in person at the local post office.

.

Yeah, it was the county clerks office. I said "there's no way I'm sending the actual documents through the mail" and she was like "well then it looks like you're not getting a passport, hyuk hyuk hyuk." No, I guess I'm not. 

[847badgerfan]

I got my passport and I don't even possess a SS card. Lost it years ago.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Must have tightened things up since then. 

[GopherRock]

One option with France (EU) is they still have islands in the Pacific, Bora Bora I think, and New Caledonia?

Yup. Most of the traditional Polynesian island groups (Marquesas, Tahiti, Society, Gambiers) are still French colonies, as is New Caledonia.

As for my passport, I didn't need to mail in all my documents. I brought them to the passport office in downtown Minneapolis, and the clerk verified them there.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Yeah I mean I just tried it last week. Not only did they not verify them there, they openly mocked me for even concocting such an absurd suggestion.