Everything is bigger in America

There are a number of things to remember when travelling in the States

• Remember to ask your server for "only a couple of cubes" of ice in your drink. This usually results in a half glass of ice rather than a glacier.
• Remember everything is supersize, so your peppermint tea comes in a cup the size of a bucket.

San Francisco airport - this way to zen

Also remember to avoid flying into LAX - this one we did remember and so hub through San Francisco - oh the difference.  Quieter surrounds, civil TSA staff (yes it is possible to have civil TSA staff, and I even meet one with a sense of humour). Then, in Terminal 2, where I go for my connection to Chicago, what do I find?  A yoga room.  What could be more perfectly San Francisco?  It is stocked with a few mats and blocks and I am the only one in there for half an hour or so, until some bendy young thing arrives and it is time to go to the gate.
Because of a late Air New Zealand departure from Auckland I miss my connection and have had to reticket my flight to Chicago.  So despite finding calm in the yoga room, I am more than ready for my bed when I arrive in Chicago at midnight, having left home approximately 29 hours earlier.  Here, I am meeting old friends from New Zealand, she a Kiwi, he American, who have been living here for the last 20 years.  My how time flies.  They love dining and cocktails so I am assured of a good time in their company. They have taken the train down from Milwaukee, where we will return together after a few adventures in the windy city - no, not Wellington, Chicago.

Aside from the wind, Chicago is known for its terrific architecture and there is a very good organisation providing information and tours.  On past visits the hunter-gatherer and I have taken the excellent river cruise, which runs past some of the iconic Chicago icons, such as the rather Gothic Tribune building.  (In case you were wondering, the h-g has by now joined his homeboys in Seattle for their motor bike ride across to Colorado). On this occasion my friends and I take an Art Deco tour of downtown, and find some fabulous foyers dating back to the late 1920s, most of which, mercifully, have not been renovated. There are exquisitely wrought decorative panels on elevator doors, beautiful marble clad walls and very groovy deco lighting.
I am reliably informed by the Milwaukee gourmets that Girl and the Goat is one of the top eateries so we find ourselves in a cavernous eatery with wooden floors, high ceilings and tables snuggled together.  The cocktails are good and I find one called Before and After: combining my new favourite Campari and my old favourite Gin. What could be better?  The food is, as is often the case now, "for sharing" and I have no problem with that - you just get to taste more great things. It isn't difficult to find lots of dishes we want to try.  Of course we have goat, in the form of slow roasted shank. Other good choices were scallops with foie gras vinaigrette, sweet onions and brioche croutons; roasted beets with green beans, white anchovy, avocado creme fraiche and breadcrumbs.  Sorry for the lack of photos but it was dark in there and I only have an iPhone3!

For dessert we jump in a cab and head off into the 'burbs to a gelato place the gal gourmet has read about.  Perched in the corner of a semi-seedy looking street (it probably looks perfectly innocuous in daylight) we find Black Dog Gelato and peruse the offerings.  We find all the usual suspects in terms of flavours along with a few innovations - we share tastes, and although not what I chose, I rate the salted peanut gelato and goat cheese gelato the picks of the night.


Milwaukee is a beautiful city, most especially along the lake Michigan shore.  The lake, as you may or may not know is one of the five Great Lakes, second largest by volume and third largest by surface area (58,000 sq kms).  The shoreline is 2,640kms long. When you stand at the shore it is hard to believe it is bordered by land.


the stunning Milwaukee Art Museum from the south



The downtown area is close to the shore and there is a heap of grassy area, along with bike trails,walkways, picnic and BBQ areas, all extending for miles.  The new extension to the Milwaukee Art Museum is visually stunning.  It sits facing out to the lake. poised like a giant bird ready to take flight.  We see a very good exhibition of Parisian posters - you know the ones you see everywhere - the Toulouse-Lautrec poster of Aristide Bruant; Le Chat Noir etc. It was interesting to read about the history and context in which they were developed, and I will no longer glance lightly when I see them again.








My gal gourmet needs a fix of oysters and takes me to an Oyster bar in the downtown market.  I eschew the briny bivalves: she orders five varieties from different areas and eats them while I try not to gag.  Just can't seem to get oysters - it's a texture thing.



Unfortunately one of our dining out experiences is cancelled as I am unwell, but my last night sees us at a lakeside restaurant, high on a bluff looking at the moody lake and changing sky.  Unfortunately I am still a bit seedy and have to pass on the cocktails (yes, me, passing on cocktails)  but my Alaskan halibut is divine. Large firm flakes of juicy flesh over a fingerling potato and bacon salad, with baby spinach. I had to ask them to hold the cherries listed with the dish. True.

The man gourmet gets a T-bone only slightly smaller than the state of Illinois.  We actually leave the restaurant with two doggie bags, as the gal gourmet ordered a trio of terrines for an appetiser (that's starter to you and me) and it was unseemly in the generosity of the portions. She pronounced it delicious but too much and too rich to finish.

Most tables left with one or two doggie bags - it seems to be the norm here, but I very rarely ever see it in New Zealand. The three of us ponder the economics of such large portions - taking a cheffy point of view it sends food costs and waste up. It also means people don't order dessert so potentially you lose a sale.   Actually, many people do order dessert because as we know, more is better, and everything is bigger in America.





The kindness of friends

For the last week of the trip we enjoy the company and hospitality of friends - first with the Vikings in Axat, a small village of approximately 900 people snuggled in the Pyrénées, close to the border with Spain. Then we drop Bella off and kiss her good bye before flying to visit the Celts in Paris, a large city of approximately 2.5 million and a brazen sprawl. 
The house in Axat sits directly, and I mean directly, on the River Aude, which has its source in the  Pyrénées and runs east into the Med, carving a most attractive and highly navigable waterway (raft or canoe, no barges or super-yachts).  It is serene, sitting on the terrace enjoying a glass of something medicinal, the church bell marking each passing hour, and otherwise only the whoop the occasional kayaker to disturb.   All in all it is a supremely relaxing place to be and the few days saunter by in a rhythm of eating, drinking, walking, drinking, and a little adventuring - and drinking.

Axat: the view from the terrace

Sermon on the mount -fresco in the church

One intriguing adventure takes us to Rennes-le-Château, which at first flush appears to be yet another cute hilltop village with a church in the vein the French do so well in these parts.  However..... dark secrets abound.  The whole story is too long to recount here, but the history provides inspiration for the conspiracy theories  of the 1982 book Holy Blood Holy Grail, in which the authors hypothesise Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a family.  This was revisited more latterly in that simultaneously gripping and turgid tome The Da Vinci Code. ( I galloped through the first half of that book and then became annoyed and bored by it, so my memory of the story is dim.)  François Bérenger Saunière was parish priest from 1885 to 1909 and within the space of a few years renovated the Church (St Mary Magdalene church is highly ornate and very beautiful), presbytery and other buildings, and created ostentatious projects in the parish, raising questions as to the origin of the funds. The rumour spread that he had found a treasure.  However the Bishop of Carcassonne thought otherwise and drew up and Ecclesiastical Bill of Indictment . charging  Saunière with "Trafficking in Masses, Disobedience to the Bishop, and Exaggerated and unjustified expenditure to which fees from Masses that have not been said seem to have been devoted".  Given the means the Catholic church has used to gather its vast wealth, I would have thought he would have been praised rather than indicted.
  

Lemon verbena mousse with
raspberry sorbet

We repair for lunch at an elegant chateau and enjoy a delicate and delicious three course lunch: a trio of tomato, being three different varieties, with prosciutto; Brandade (a puree of salt cod and olive oil that tastes much better than it sounds) on herby potato; and a light lemon verbena mousse on a crisp sable biscuit with zingy raspberry sorbet.  What a perfectly enjoyable way to spend a day: history, culture, intrigue and good food.

Every car should have air con in the glove box

It is sad to say goodbye to Bella at Perpignan airport as it signals how close we are to the end of this trip.  She has served us well and we only exchanged a few bitter words over GPS directions. One of Bella's most attractive features is the air conditioning in the glove box, which serves to keep the essentials of life cool.  Every car should have this as standard.


We take an Air France flight to Orly and fetch up to our Scottish friends' apartment. They have been living in Paris for five years now, but we first met when they lived in Wellington. 

Poultry is presented with all its bits including gizzards 

They live in the 10th arrondissement, which borders the canal and is lively with restaurants and bars. I read a column that also describes it as boho, as in a mix of bohemian-bourgeoise.  On Sunday we walk down the canal to the seemingly endless street market and our host selects fruit and vegetables, cheese and meats.  Everything is fresh and there are many, many producers, so competition keeps prices in line.  I particularly approve of the country of origin labelling. 

The Sunday weather precludes much except a lazy lunch at the corner bistrot.  While the other three order an attractive avocado and shrimp dish, I opt for Salade de Gésiers - yes that is chicken gizzard salad.  It sounds like something Jed Clampett would eat. The fried gizzards come atop of a pile of salad greens, and are crowned with a poached egg. They are not unlike bacon, which is a surprise, and rather delicious.  A good choice after all.

When the weather improves we mooch around the Parisian streets and wander through the Luxembourg Gardens.  Paris is quite well served for parks and areas providing respite from the insane traffic.   A quartet of skilled and competitive boules (petanque) players absorb our attention for a good while.  There is evidence of considerable technique as the three men and one woman flick the weighty boules with precision: they either land just near the target, or conversely squarely smack the opponents boule and sending it skittering away.  

Soupe a l'oignon

Lunch - delicious onion soup - comes from the charming madame running a little caravan cafe. She asks us to sign her Livre d'Or, her Golden Book, in which visitors from all over the world sing the praises of her crepes and soupes.  All from a gas bottle and a couple of burners.


And so our trip draws to a close. I head to London to catch up with friends and the h-g stays a couple more days with our kind Celts before he returns via Dubai, where he stops over to see his boy.


We are home now - it's raining. The first rain we have really seen (aside from one drizzly Paris day) in seven weeks. Welcome back.