Travelnotesfromtheworld

If you are lucky enough to be spending some of the summer in France, here are some famous French delicacies to sample. Sharon Preston, who has just returned from a visit to her favourite European country, gives you an idea of what is on a traditional French menu, and what you should sample next time you’re in gourmet heaven

Foie Gras
This famous dish is made from the liver of ducks or geese that are specially fattened. The flavour is rich and delicate with a buttery aftertaste. It’s a luxury delicacy sold whole, or made into mousse, pate, galantine or parfait. It’s traditionally eaten on special occasions, like Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Duck foie gras is slightly cheaper than the goose product and has a more musky flavour, while the goose version is smoother and more delicate. It’s traditionally served as an appetiser with toast triangles or crusty bread.

Escargots
Escargots is the French word for snails, a French delicacy of steamed or boiled snails served with a herbed butter sauce that is usually flavoured with garlic, parsley, pine nuts or thyme. Escargots are served on a special plate with holes in to keep the snails in place. You will be given special tongs to hold the shell and a fork to extract the snail meat. Once it’s on the fork, dip it into the sauce.

Boeuf Tartare
Steak or Boeuf Tartare is a delicacy of raw beef tossed with egg yolk, capers, finely chopped shallot onions and gherkins and seasoned with Tabasco and Worcester sauce. The freshness of the minced beef gives it a very light, delicate taste. It’s usually served with sautéed potatoes, pommes frites (French fries) or rye bread and is a staple dish on brasserie and bistro menus throughout France.

Cuisses de Grenouilles – Frogs’ legs
Although eaten in many countries, frogs’ legs are a traditional French dish. They are prepared with a sauce made of butter, garlic and parsley and then served with a salad. They taste like a combination of fish and chicken.

Onion soup
French onion soup is a rich-flavoured onion broth made from beef or chicken stock and traditionally topped with Gruyere cheese and bread croutons. Its rich, robust flavour is due to the way the onions are slowly caramelised with butter during the cooking process and the addition of cognac, thyme and black pepper. French Onion Soup is topped with grated Gruyere cheese and bread just before serving and toasted so that the cheese melts and the bread is crisp.

Duck
The French love duck, and during your visit to France, you’ll find many famous duck dishes to sample, including Confit de Canard, which is slow-cooked duck leg that has been preserved in duck fat, and Canard a l’Orange, where the duck is roasted and served with an orange sauce. Then, of course, there’s the famous delicacy we already described above, called foie gras, a pate made out of duck liver. Sample little slabs of this delicious delicacy on crusty French bread for breakfast.

I have visited Venice a number of times, and return time and again to enjoy its magnificent history and beauty. This is why Venice is one of my favourite cities…

Venice is a romantic place, a city of canals and one of the most beautiful places to visit in Europe. It’s otherworldly with the canals taking centre stage, and gondolas and speedboats the most popular mode of transport. Then there’s the backdrop of romantic old buildings and palaces that house exquisite artworks and other treasures. Exploring here is a dream come true. Whenever I visit, one of the first things I do is take time out to explore the narrow streets that wind through the city, passing tiny arched bridges that link one side of the canal to the other. You see, Venice is actually made up of 116 islands all located on the Venice Lagoon, which is in the north of the Adriatic Sea.

What could be more romantic  than floating down the river, taking in all the breathless scenery with your favorite person, Let’s face it if you haven’t been to Venice then you haven’t lived.  With so many things to do and so many places to see Venice is the place you really need to be. Some more places that you can and really should visit in Venice are.

The spacious main square, Piazza San Marco, is home to the famous Basilica di San Marco and the beautiful Rialto Bridge. Adjacent to the square is the Arsenale, which is where Venice’s famous international Art Biennale takes place.

Nearby you’ll find Campo Santa Margherita, whose bars and restaurants make it a popular spot after dark. If you want to see Venice from the water, then you must cruise on the canals. The best way to do this is by taking a vaporetti, a motorboat bus, or a gondola if you’re in the mood for romance.

One of the highlights of a visit to Venice is definitely the food. And you can’t visit this magical city without sampling a Bellini, a combination of fresh peach juice and sparkling wine. If you can afford it, enjoy a Bellini at famous Harry’s Bar, opened in 1931 by bartender Giuseppe Cipriani, after whom the famous luxury Cipriani Hotel in Venice is named. The bar has been visited by many famous people over the years, including Ernest Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin, Woody Allen and Orson Welles.

We would like to finish off by thanking you for your visit to our blog today. And hope you got some nice tips and ideas for your next trip to Venice. Make sure to bookmark this website and save it in your favorites. And don’t forget to check out some of our other enticing holiday destinations as well.  There are holiday ideas for all occasions and ages.