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Subject Topic: What meals whilst in France!!!!!
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17/7/2010 at 11:29am
 Location: West - North Yorkshire
 Outfit: Swift Speedbird 490 Mondeo Estate
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Quote: Originally posted by Nick J on 17/7/2010
Not, if like us you take a 2 x burner electric hob with you... 
That's just what we do - even with the caravan, and it's surprising how many people you can feed with a two ring electric hob!  Saves on gas, means you can cook outside, and stops the caravan smelling of garlic and tomato sauce for a fortnight!  And you can buy a Cookworks 'double boiling ring' from Argos, at the moment, for just £14.99!  We've just replaced ours.


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17/7/2010 at 1:23pm
 Location: Cornwall
 Outfit:  Hobby 650 Ec low profile motorhome
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Greetings,

Can I join in on this one.?

 

I've only skimmed the above but I have one word warning/caution regarding meals and it comes as a result of my stubborness in not allowing SWMBO to take a shedload of food TO France.

I banned her from taking loads of food and then discovered that the french have no history of curry eating.

The result was (and with six bottles of Korma left at home) that I went bah't curries for six weeks.

If you like your Indian meals, take it with you.



-------------
How come when some people visit the fountain of knowledge, they only gargle!!!


17/7/2010 at 2:02pm
 Location: central Brittany
 Outfit: Rapido Exportmatic
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You can buy curry sauce and spices in France. Although they have don't do English curries many peoples of the world have curry, the Indochinese for one and France was there for quite a while.

The original post mentioned not eating out because of having a baby. I wouldn't let that bother you. The French take their children with them all the time and babies are welcome in restaurants all over the place. Enjoy you time in France and eat whatever and wherever you fancy.



17/7/2010 at 3:24pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: khyam's Vango's Terra Nova Outhouse
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I think prices can vary considerably between regions. My parents live in the SW and say poultry was very expensive last year. Whilst we holidayed in the Jura and got some fantastic deals on chicken breasts. I often make go further by adding beans or lentils. You can make a nice tagine with a couple of chicken breasts and a can of chickpeas. A can of green lentils goes well with beef. If you're feeding a crowd then for a chilli use 1 x chickpeas and 1 x kidney beans with the meat.

I have to confess I've not always experienced French restaurants welcoming children  or seen loads of French children out in restaurants during the night time. I have in touristy places in the summer hols. I suppose we've been going to my parerents for years out of season. When we've got them to babysit and had a night out there's been very few children about in restaurants and then mainly 10+. We did once take our toddler out and were "tolerated".



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17/7/2010 at 4:17pm
 Location: central Brittany
 Outfit: Rapido Exportmatic
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Maybe it is just in Brittany then, but I see kids out all the time. But mostly the French eat their big meal at lunchtime so in the evenings if they go out it is to a pizza place or some such. All the people we know never get baby sitters they just take the kids along with them.


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17/7/2010 at 4:30pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: khyam's Vango's Terra Nova Outhouse
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I'm sure many places are similar :) Where's there's lots of holiday makes there's a huge demand for child friendly restaurants.

Sorry I started to muse about often not experiencing the child friendly Utopia that everyone else seems to experience. It could well be me that the waiters dislike lol


17/7/2010 at 5:35pm
 Location: London
 Outfit: Quechua XXL IIII
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When making BBQ in France, the must have is definitely Merguez + Baguette + Moutarde! I miss it and can't really find a real equivalent of merguez in Tesco


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17/7/2010 at 6:07pm
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Re: Child friendly restaurants

In my experience it will depend on how busy the area and how busy the restaurant. The maître d’ will soon explain they have no tables if they think they can fill the seats with adult diners or you might be offered a table upstairs. Also I've if you are dressed too casually (ie flip flops and shorts) they'll say they have no room.

If its quiet and they need your business they will welcome you with open arms!

-------------
Ollie

2016
Monplaisir - Provence
Camping Les Gorges du Loup


17/7/2010 at 7:57pm
 Location: central Brittany
 Outfit: Rapido Exportmatic
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Soup Dragon perhaps you have hit the nail on the head, not that the waiters don't like you!!! But that loads of holiday makers make a difference to service.

Our area has a few holiday makers but nothing like the seaside areas and and I expect the Waiters aren't as friendly as kids don;t usually tip very well.

I must admit to steering clear of places where there will be loads of Tourists so I don't encounter overly busy restaurants.


17/7/2010 at 8:56pm
 Location: Berkshire
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Has nobody mentioned the fantastic cans of ratatouille nicoise - an absolute staple of our camping store cupboard, and a completely different beast to the stuff you get over here ...

Properly brown off some quality french sausages, deglaze with plenty of decent red wine, reduce, chuck in The Can, bring to a simmer, chuck in a can of haricot beans, bring to a simmer for 2 minutes and your done - delicious. Serve with some crusty bread.

Alternatively, you can use it to make our classic camping curry: fry some onions gently; seperately fry the meat of your choice, and finish frying with curry spices from home, then add onions and The Can and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with the old favourite boil-in-the-bag rice. Easy, and delicious.



Post last edited on 17/07/2010 23:53:31


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17/7/2010 at 11:56pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: khyam's Vango's Terra Nova Outhouse
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Quote: Originally posted by Xantippe on 17/7/2010
Soup Dragon perhaps you have hit the nail on the head, not that the waiters don't like you!!! But that loads of holiday makers make a difference to service.

Our area has a few holiday makers but nothing like the seaside areas and and I expect the Waiters aren't as friendly as kids don;t usually tip very well.

I must admit to steering clear of places where there will be loads of Tourists so I don't encounter overly busy restaurants.


Where there's demand and money, there is willing


I often take my kids out in the UK to coffee shops, lunch, early dinner and never had a problem. The town is full of other families doing he same thing. Independent and chain, I find they'll try and make space, be friendly. I've not often had bad service. I don't often take them out late because it tends to be dark and cold most of the year here lol

I've been to resorts in France many times and found them to be very welcoming to families. It's warm, there's families on holiday out and about late. Most people are on holiday and out having fun and not worrying about getting their kids to school the next day.

My parents are on the coast just before you get to Spain. Gorgeous town, lots of locals, lots of tourists in summer , lots of day visitors. Out of season go on the high street on a Saturday lunch and all those nice fish restaurants aren't full. The kids may be with their parents buying frites at one of the sea front take aways, Buy if you want to see the local familes .... well the local McD's and Buffalo Grill seem to be doing a good business!


Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!


18/7/2010 at 8:25am
 Location: Cotswolds
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Pitch perfect...I am definitely going to try your ratatouille and sausage recipe when we go to France. I do like suasages but try not to eat meat every day so i can have veggie only but OH will be happy as he loves the suasages in France!!

 



18/7/2010 at 9:39am
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I've never tried the ratatouille, will give it a go this year :)


18/7/2010 at 9:43am
 Location: very near Portsmouth
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Some fantastic ideas here, love the ratatouille and sausage recipe and also Val's paella, and will also do risotto (why have I never thought of that before?)

As others have mentioned, one of the things I love about holidaying in France is eating yummy food outside the caravan. After a long hot day on the beach, mealtimes are very social. We always lay the table and light candles (yes we have a tablecloth, got it from The Range, it's a picture of lots of different ice-creams).

Our evening meal is our time to spend together as a family and talk about the day. We often play cards afterwards too.We have a 12yr old and a 15yr old, and I would love to think that one day they might enjoy camping holidays in France with their friends and families. For me, mealtimes and particularly evening mealtimes are special and I like to make the effort. We normally only eat out a couple of times on hols, preferring to relax on our pitch, chatting to friends and neighbours whilst dinner is cooking and making the most of the evening sun.

Roll on August 11th!



18/7/2010 at 10:44am
 Location: central Brittany
 Outfit: Rapido Exportmatic
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E]
Where there's demand and money, there is willing


I often take my kids out in the UK to coffee shops, lunch, early dinner and never had a problem. The town is full of other families doing he same thing. Independent and chain, I find they'll try and make space, be friendly. I've not often had bad service. I don't often take them out late because it tends to be dark and cold most of the year here lol

I've been to resorts in France many times and found them to be very welcoming to families. It's warm, there's families on holiday out and about late. Most people are on holiday and out having fun and not worrying about getting their kids to school the next day.

My parents are on the coast just before you get to Spain. Gorgeous town, lots of locals, lots of tourists in summer , lots of day visitors. Out of season go on the high street on a Saturday lunch and all those nice fish restaurants aren't full. The kids may be with their parents buying frites at one of the sea front take aways, Buy if you want to see the local familes .... well the local McD's and Buffalo Grill seem to be doing a good business!


We rarely do American food places we lived there for 24 yrs and have had enough of them. So McDo's and Buffalo Grill are a last resort for us. Although our Grandson is a burger and fries fanatic.

It is dark and cold here a lot of the time too. We still eat out though but early dinners aren't available. We never eat before seven anyway. Usually nearer to eight. The restaurants around here don't usually open until seven. Sounds like your parents live in a very lively spot. We live in a sleepy village. It does have four restaurants for lunch. Two for dinner.

The tins of chili con carne are good if you add some mince and a bit more chili powder. Same with the curry sauce very mild but pleasant taste at least for us. Bit of left over chicken raisins and whatever else is to hand makes a good tasty meal. Probably not an English curry but it is how the woman in the Indian shop told me how to do it. But I have never had an English curry. Been away too long.



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