Rick Steves' Europe
Travel Bites 948: Eating French Cliches at a Parisian Bistro
Clip | 3m 55sVideo has Closed Captions
Grab a seat for lunch to enjoy a kir, French onion soup, escargot, croque madam, steak tartare.
Grab a seat for lunch to enjoy a kir, French onion soup, escargot, croque madam, steak tartare, crème brûlée, coffee, and a nice cognac.
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Distributed nationally by American Public Television
Rick Steves' Europe
Travel Bites 948: Eating French Cliches at a Parisian Bistro
Clip | 3m 55sVideo has Closed Captions
Grab a seat for lunch to enjoy a kir, French onion soup, escargot, croque madam, steak tartare, crème brûlée, coffee, and a nice cognac.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[music playing] The French eat long and well.
Relaxed lunches, three hour dinners, and endless hours sitting at outdoor cafes are the norm.
My friend and fellow tour guide, Thierry Gauduchon, and I are having lunch at a classic Parisian bistro.
French, we know how to take our time for lunch.
Not like you Americans.
You're always in a hurry, it seems, to us.
So we start with an aperitif, just to open your appetite.
And normally, we have three courses.
To open your appetite, but also just to slow down.
Exactly.
Relax, relax.
OK.
[french] Just for fun, and to embarrass my friend, we're eating all the French edible clichés on the menu in one meal.
It's a little confusing for a lot of Americans.
Entree, we say, for the main course, but the entree is the first course here.
Entree means a starter for us.
OK.
Entree.
Then main course is a [french] [french] [speaking french] of the main dish, meat, fish, or whatever.
And then the dessert.
OK, so this is the entree.
This is the entree.
The first course.
Yes.
And tell me what you have.
I've got onion soup.
In French, [french].
In Paris, we have food coming from all over France, like stew from Burgundy, but one speciality, one typical dish, I will say, from Paris, it's onion soup.
This is true.
This is more like a winter dish, than a summer dish.
My onion soup, like bread, normally, old bread, and then some cheese above it, like melted cheese.
So good, so good.
And I love a plate of escargot.
You know why French people like escargot so much?
Because we French don't like fast food.
This is as slow as it goes.
You got it?
OK, so my escargot.
Pull the little guy out.
There we go.
Bon appetit.
[speaking french] We got a croque monsieur, croque madame.
Croque monsieur is basic, just toasted bread.
[french] Croque madame is more sophisticated with a fried egg on the top.
[interposing voices] We French love steak tartare.
It's very healthy.
And then you put different stuff inside like capers, like Tabasco, mustard-- Dijon mustard, Burgundy mustard.
And that's so good.
It's very light.
You can then work or jog or whatever.
So enjoy.
France is famous for rare steak, but this is beyond rare.
This is raw.
This is raw.
The meat has to be very good.
Not too fat.
To me, a tartare-- Thierry, this is a good example for the tourists to be with a little adventure.
Exactly.
Try something different.
Go for it.
Yeah.
Try it.
Creme brulée.
Merci.
[french] What I love about creme brulée is the sound.
Caramelized sugar on the top of those eggs, it's so good.
And the sounds, gives you the goosebumps.
Whoa, that's good.
Normally, I would have coffee with the dessert.
We French have coffee after our dessert.
Again, it's making the meal more of a-- Exactly.
--relax.
Thank you so much.
It was a great lunch.
My pleasure.
I gotta run.
[interposing voices] My brandy.
My cognac.
[french] For more information, visit RickSteves.com.
[audio logo]
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NewTravel Bites 954: Paris’ Other Great Museums
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NewTravel Bites 953: Versailles, Europe’s Palace of Palaces
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NewTravel Bites 951: Paris's Louvre Museum
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Now PlayingTravel Bites 948: Eating French Cliches at a Parisian Bistro
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Clip | 3m 55s | Grab a seat for lunch to enjoy a kir, French onion soup, escargot, croque madam, steak tartare. (3m 55s)
NewTravel Bites 947: Paris’ Marais neighborhood
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Clip | 4m 6s | The Marais is a hub of Parisian history and culture—with its Jewish Quarter, and Bastille prison,. (4m 6s)
NewTravel Bites 946: Shopping for Dinner on Paris’ Rue Cler
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Clip | 2m 28s | Paris’ two most popular churches are the beloved Notre-Dame and the exquisite Sainte-Chapelle. (2m 28s)
NewTravel Bites 944: The Eiffel Tower
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Clip | 2m 15s | Paris’ Eiffel Tower, a muscular symbol of France’s Industrial Age, has been entertaining since 1889. (2m 15s)
NewTravel Bites 943: Paris’ River Seine
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NewTravel Bites 940: A Proper Afternoon Tea
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NewTravel Bites 938: London’s Victoria and Albert Museum
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NewTravel Bites 933: London’s Westminster and Whitehall, Home of Britain’s Government
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