Another take on visiting Paris during the Olympics
 

Good obnoxiously early morning, also more commonly known as late night.

It’s 2:20 am and I am writing a trip report…

To understand why, I point you to excellent reports written by JapesUK and recent report by HON_FRA who travelled to Paris to enjoy the Games.

Both to test my new setup for on the road, and to give another angle to the trip by HON_FRA, I have decided to document my little excursion.

And because of reasons of budget, availability and timing, I ended up with a departure from BRU at 6:10 and a hour and half long drive, it’s about time to get in the car and go. I’ll check in with you from BRU.

Superb! Now don’t break anything ;)

The drive went as well as can be expected. Nice weather in The Netherlands, became foggy by Belgian border. A pit stop shortly after Belgian border means I counted my gas right, and will be making full use of price arbitrage.

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Registering for a Pcard+ with Interparking has shown itself to have been the right choice. Drive up to the ramp, system sees my car, says Welcome Mr. Fabo.sk on the screen and lets me in. Wonderful, I wish it was always this easy (and expecting it to be even more so on leaving, as no pesky payment machines will need be used.)

BRU has also welcomed me with foggy weather, hopefully there won’t be much impact on morning departures. The flight to Paris I am on seems quite full, so I don’t want to end up having to battle it out for free seats later in the day, even if my FB status would help.

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One lame scam attempt just in front of the entryway bypassed and I am in. That’s driving up the ramp. at 4:40, concourse 4:50, landsice 5:00 exactly. I like it when things go this way.

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Love me a mechanical departure board

The mood in the airport is the one I like, shortly before sunrise people are moving, but nobody has woken up enough yet to actually rush. Doubly so today, as traffic is very leisure heavy, with the associated “let’s suddenly stop in the middle of a narrow walkway so we can discuss if we want to buy duty free” type moments, but I don’t mind. Doesn’t take me more than 10 minutes to reach Diamond lounge anyway.

TIme for breakfast.

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Warm on the right, cold on the left, pastry behind me, cereals and sweets around the corner

Decent spread, a number of warm options, a number of cold options,pastries, sweets, cereals… Pretty much everything you could need.

Lounge was pretty full when I walked in, started cleaning up at around 5:20, I guess the bunch of 6am departures were where bulk of the guests went to. I’m off not long behind. Departure is estimated on time.

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You know I wouldn’t leave this out.

No chasing someone to give a lost unwanted trinket at great personal cost anymore, I promise :D

No drama on the flight. Boarding started at the expected time and despite fairly full flight, it was only a small 175, so everybody was seated prior to departure time. Still we pushed about 10 minutes late due to traffic around us getting in the way.

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This wetlease(?) Airbus was bound for Alicante

Fog was actually pretty bad, RVR getting as low as 225 meters had me worried for a second but it ended up not being an issue.

Minimal service on this flight, but give a coconut macaroon and I'm a happy man, so no complaints here.

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26 minutes total in the air, I even managed to doze off for a couple of them.

Rather than being late, we ended up landing early. By the time of scheduled arrival, I am already in Crown Lounge.

As an aside, the area close to passport control is undergoing renovations at Schiphol. This is the new estabilishment open on Schengen side, roughly at the location of the old, I think it was called, Paleis? The big one anyway. Looks alright I think. I’ll give it a try one of these days.

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The only way to start a travel day :D

It seems that I have timed my arrival at the gate perfectly. SkyPrio boarding was already underway, Group 3 just about to start, and as I walked down the jetway, people were already streaming in, none of that “wait in the jetway” crap. Just how I like it.

This 737 has the new interior in it, great bins, workable seats. Economy comfort legroom is fine, however cabin width is forever the issue of the type.

I was going to type out the details of my routing and what went into the decision process, but as I did end up getting a seat mate in the middle in the end (plane seems to be packed to the brim, I was sort of hoping for an opup, but no such luck today) I think I will leave it until Paris. If I am lucky, I will be typing in the 2F lounge, if not…. I will be typing somewhere.

It is not clear how the lounge access in Paris after arrival works. Some people say there is none, some people say they have been able to enter, but it’s only for Gold and up, some say only Platinums get to do it. We’ll see in an hour and a bit I suppose.

——————————————————

Another remarkably unremarkable flight. Coffee was had, another macaroon, and an on-time landing followed by a 10 minute wait for gate to open.

The only thing of note was that I noticed my seat neighbor had connected to wifi, which prompted me to check and apparently KLM now offers free messaging in the wifi enabled aircraft. Good to know.

After arrival I was unfortunately not able to enter the lounge, that remains departure only. Not the worst thing to happen, I will attempt to get an early check in in the hotel and nap for a bit instead then.

Which reminds me of what was supposed to be the point of this part - the trip and how it is planned.

I was lucky enough to get a fairly early position in the ticket lottery when the sale opened. With that, I grabbed a couple of tickets, for this weekend and next. I was already fairly sure that the second weekend will be incorporated into a driving holiday as a stop enroute to the south, so that was not something I had to think about much, but getting here for my events today and tomorrow proved more difficult than expected.

I have considered driving, but the idea of driving 5-6 hours at night after a day out and about did not appeal to me too much.

Flying was the obvious first choice, however there was an issue - the last flight of the day being at 17:50, plus travel time to CDG and early arrival…. No good. Expecting outrageous prices for accommodation, I did not want to stay an extra night either.

The last train left at 20:25, which was fine. The one-way fare to get to Amsterdam was not too bad and the train wasn’t too bad either.

I almost ended up with that, but when looking up prices, I considered ending in Antwerp as well, and finally have seen Brussels, which obviously has more trains than Amsterdam and a good bit cheaper. Flight BRU-AMS-CDG was also ever so slightly less and gave extra XP. The parking cost would be more than covered by the savings on the train. And I could take a bit later train to be able to get a dinner in Paris as opposed to eating whatever the bistro car could offer… so here I am.

Flight in today, train out tomorrow, drive in next week. Good variety, eh.

The last thing was hotels, and boy, did the hoteliers of Paris decide to get in on it. Couldn’t find an ibis Budget for under 200 a night, if not 250.

However I did luck out in the end, as Mercure Nanterre showed up one day, having missed the last years start of sale due to construction delays. That seems to have forced the hotel to offer reasonable prices and also not be locked with mandatory non-flex Olympic rates. So I’m “only” out some 175 tonight. OTOH, right outside of Nanterre RER, fairly good location at least compared to what I was considering before (Orsay and the likes).

And that’s where I will head to now. Maybe there will be some napping, maybe I’ll just drop off my backpack and go out, we’ll have to see. I will be getting back to you tonight to tell you if I messed up with the hotel or not.

Proud of you! :D Enjoy your trip!

I thought this was trademarked.

this one is with espresso, doesn’t count 😂

Well that didn't go according to plan.

First, the RER B train out of CDG broke, so I had to wait for the next departure. Then a navigation fail has me get out at Nanterre Prefecture instead of Nanterre Ville. So I resolved to get the next train… but didn't realize until too late that trains towards St Germain stop at a different platform… so I of course miss the next train. And then the one after that is cancelled because of a security incident.

All in all I planned to get to the hotel at 12 and try for early check-in, or at least a nap in a quiet corner of the lobby. I got in at 1, and of course, rooms not available.

Hotel leaves an interesting first impression too. Not the best area, but less than three minutes walk out of the station, freshly renovated. Decor in your standard issue beige.
What I didn't expect at the Mercure is reception desk at the bar. I honestly might just prefer a self service a la Citizen M.

With no prospect of a room, a delay, and places to be, I just have to leave and hope for the best. First course of action is to find lunch, then some energy drink, and after I'm done with my football, no messing about in the city, but an early night. Fan zones will have to wait until tomorrow.

I promise the next update will have pictures again.

Well there goes my early night.

​​​​

To quote Captain Barbossa “sleep when you’re dead” :D

Trust me, I am no stranger to that tenet, but after getting average of probably less than 4 hours of sleep per night over the last week, I was looking forward to the lie-in. Once again, my body has surprised me by its ability to pull energy to go on seemingly out of nowhere, despite not being 20 anymore, or anywhere near so.
Now it seems that I will have to sacrifice a workday next week to catch up. At least it’s off-season.

I have decided I will catch you up until the quarter final football ends and abandon you for the night in the metro.

Rest, including how I ended up still being in a RER train at 10 past midnight despite my plans to the contrary, will have to wait.

edit: I will say though - hotel is fine. Weirdly the vibe around the station at 1am is better than the vibe around the station at 1pm. Rooms are nice and new. The one fault I will say, sound insulation is abysmal, chiefly between rooms.

I could about kill for a croque madamme at this point. While walking back to the RER station (Nanterre-Ville, not Nanterre-Prefecture) I looked up what route do I need to take to Parc de Princes and noticed that it changes at CDG-Etoille station, which reminds me of a small but nice shopping centre that I have passed through some years back during my stay in Hyatt Regency Etoille. Eventually I find out that this hotel is one station up the M1 line at Porte Maillot, but a plan is a plan, so I go there.

Well, half a success. The small shopping centre is there (and as expected, the hotel and adjacent conference centre have an official function wrt the games, which explains why this one, my otherwise favourite Paris hotel, had even crazier rates than the others) and I have found a cafe of the exact style I was looking for. However, when I attempted to order a croque monsieur, the man just says “is finish sorry”. Damn and blast. Well, fresh baguettes to the rescue, in the end I was quite happy with my lunch, for 11 euros including the can of beer.

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After that, it was time to head to the actual venue. I knew already I would be late, but as it turned out, I was far from alone. A steady stream of latecomers trickled towards the stadium.

I did get in just in time though to catch the first Moroccan goal, and capture the “home fans” after.

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In retrospect I feel a little sorry for Team USA. The Moroccans made themselves heard, and it really felt almost like the match could have been in Rabat.

But… that is exactly what I came here looking for. I enjoyed the game immensely

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And am quite happy to learn my tickets in a week are in virtually the same place.

The whole experience really renergized me, and I decided to try and pay the National Houses at least a short visit (stadium having only non-alcoholic 1664 beer, and me knowing the Czechs brought in Czech craft beers might have played a role) and stop for a dinner on the way.

To that effect, I took the metro from a nearby station.

And man, I have to say, the organization of volunteers is on point. From only letting in a reasonable number of people to actually enter the subterranean station, to straight up handing out water in the hot&stuffy environment of the metro… my hat is off and I bow as deep as I might.

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Excellent TR. I was in Paris for the start of the Olympics for work. Loved every minute. Was actually able to find availability at the Westin Place Vendome about a week out. I like your philosophy re travel.

PS I tidied up your formatting (I hope you dont mind, it was messing with my OCD nature :))

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for the clean up. The formatting is making me unhappy as well, I was going to go ahead and fix it once back home. It's definitely a lesson for the next time to figure out how to deal with it on the iPad. Perhaps write in Word instead of Google Docs.

Writing this report without the benefit of downtime at the airport or in flight is more difficult than I expected…

Something got me in the mood for tacos, so I looked for a well reviewed place around where I would have to change the metro lines and came up with El Chingon.

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Six tacos mixed set for 25 EUR, more than enough even for a large man like myself


Can’t fault them, the tacos were not the best I’ve ever had, but very good, and the michelada was excellent. Easy 4.5/5.

Couple more stops on the metro and I am in Parc des Nations. First stop, Slovak house. Slightly underwhelming, not much is happening, some tennis is on and there is a stand selling half decent beer and some finger food. The restaurant menu looks good though, I will visit tonight for dinner, I think.

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Google did a funny and suggested I “erase people in the background”, so I tried

Main destination ended up being Czech house, and I can wholeheartedly recommend. They took over Cabaret Sauvage, with a large space both inside and outside, live sports, olympians coming to say hi, in general just a great atmosphere. I originally wanted to just stop for a bit, sample the beer and go to sleep, but the atmosphere was so nice, and then I watched watch Jakub Jurka absolutely destroy Yannick Borel in the teams fencing bronze match, winning the first Czech medal of the games and the feeling was electric.

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Moments after CZE draw the score in the bronze medal match


Some great modern dance set to a mix of Smetana and Dvorak made for a great cultural interlude and before long, the main event of the night was on, mixed tennis doubles finals with Czech team squaring against China. I watched the first set be handily won by the Czech team, almost left, but decided to watch the second just on the offchance they win, and while the Chinese pair managed to tie the match, and maintain just a tiny bit of lead through most of the tiebreaker set, the Czechs managed to turn around at last minute and went from losing 6-8 to winning 10-8.

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Fans watching the outside screen after team CZE wins the gold medal in tennis


The party started right after, and boy was it banging. After it was paused for the medal ceremony, I knew I had to leave before I get too caught up and end up missing the last train.

Eventually I got back to the hotel. A slight confusion on the side of the night receptionist (I had left my backpack in the hotel, and knew my room number, but didn’t get the keycard before leaving early afternoon) but soon I got what I needed.

The hotel is newly refurbished and it shows. Room is nice, bathroom on the smaller side, but workable. Plenty of power points, with USBs, even one or two USB-C. And a table just big enough to write the previous installment.

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The bed was great to sleep on too, and I ended up with almost 8 hours of sleep after all, deciding that leaving a bit later than planned is not the end of the world, the golf is an all day event anyway.

Welcome to my world :D

You’re doing a fine job and I’m enjoying tagging along

And so I roll out of bed at 9 and a bit. Sleep = good.

The plans for the day are to go see some golf, then in the afternoon go back to Paris and look around, and have dinner in Parc des Nations.

On my way to the station I check the Paris Transport app, and it tells me that I need to change at La Defense to a suburban train. That works well, I’ll grab breakfast while there, I have a long transfer.

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Today’s breakfast supplied by Paul


After the train ride, bunch of volunteers again, herding everybody through a barrier lined path that twists and turns to make space, until we are deposited on the shuttle platform. A small armada of buses line up, no soon one or two fill up, the whole thing moves forward so that the next batch can be had. After couple of lights we end up in a neat mini convoy of three, and see similar groupings in front and behind.

Truly great organization, I believe they have achieved under a minute between buses at the peak.

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Funky statue at entering the golf course. I gather it’s Olympics related as this is not the normal way to enter, plus the five balls


Golf National is a great venue for spectating, with every hole flanked on one or both sides by an upslope, allowing s number of spectators “stadium” style views. I believe it is deliberaly designed with this in mind and it was for sure a success.

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Crowd watches Hole 2. The turnout was higher than I would have expected, I always took golf to be a niche sport except the big UK and US tournaments.


There is no shortage of F&B either, in multiple spots. After wandering around and watching players take and make shots I could not in half the distance and quarter the precision, my choice is made.

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I went for a beef grilled cheese, and while pricy, it was well worth it. Bunch of cheese and pulled beef, all encased in a nice, warm, crunchy but only on the outside, bread. Only vegetable this has seen was the onion, and that’s a maybe.


Time to start thinking about getting back to Paris, but not before I watch the leader play one more hole.

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Crowd follows the leader as the last flight of the day closes the field.

Again very good organization with the shuttles, this time I elected to go to Massy-Palaiseau, which is a longer drive, but through nicer environment.

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This time, I was given not only water, but a leaflet that could be folded alongside pre-pressed lines into a fan


Initial plan was to try and make it for the finish of the road cycling race, but that would not work. So I go to Gare du Nord, leave my bag at the Consignes and see what’s what.
Somehow there’s only three hours left until I should be back, that’s shocked me a bit, I was planning with more. Well, let’s see what I can do. I really want to see how Notre Dame is doing, last time I was in Paris, there wasn’t anything to see of her.

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Next on the itinerary, Eiffel Tower and Trocadero. Maps suggest I might like to take a bike, and after seeing the improvements in bike infrastructure in Paris over the last few years, I’ll give it a try.

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Riding the bike along the Seine
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And who did I not meet if not a bunch of Dutch on matching orange folding bikes :D


Unfortunately, while the ride was fun, and I ended up even using a couple kilometers of the road race course in arriving to finish, the path to the bridge is blocked and there is no way to bypass the block… so I have to backtrack a bridge, go to the other side and along the Seine again. By the time I reach the Trocadero, time is moving and an executive decision is made to make a quick cycle to the metro at Iena. Unfortunately, the bike didn’t like being parked, so I lost another valuable time.
Well, as I walked out of the Metro at Corentin Cariou, it is raining.
It’s already late, and I decide it’s just not worth getting rained on and possibly drenched later if the weather worsens, only to have a rushed dinner and risk missing my train. Back to the station it is.

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Dinner tonight, not very French... or Slovak... but it will do

What a read!

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New and old models of TGV. As the are seen side-by-side here, it's really clear why I like the old one so much more. It seems designed, with intention, while the new one is just "we told the computer to do aerodynamics and this is what we got". To the left, a dark ruby red set put together from one old one and one new one stands getting ready for us to board.


The train boarding started 30 minutes before departure, and it seemed that half of the train is already there waiting.
With a bit of a delay similar to the usual “go to the jetway and wait there”, we were let on the platform, and then stopped just before the first carriage door until the final go-ahead. Then it was a fairly long walk until my carriage and a civilized boarding. Unfortunately, the train type seems to have been changed and that meant some confusion.
Either way, we were able to leave on time and I was happy with my seat, enough legroom, enough width, I would even say slightly more comfortable than the premium seat in the same train. Only downside is that the tray table was so large, it got into my being fat space. But, no big deal, I could still open and use it.
Note: No photos because train was full and there were children seated around me

Now, the train arrived in Midi, but I needed to get to my car at the airport.
The arrival time was 23:17 scheduled. There would be a train at 23:09, at 23:15 and then at 23:51.
Luckily, we were arriving a bit early, and the train at 09 showed 6 minutes of delay.

So, I had two chances to make it, looking at SNCB app, from platforms 8 and 12. I decided to make a run for it, and got out at platform 3 into the concourse, got my bearings and went down the underground pass. I’ve seen platform 7, then platform 9, missed 8, decided to go for 12. Up the stairs at 12, the train was nowhere to be seen, looks like it left. I look over and notice a train on what seems to be platform 8, just leaving. Damnit, I could have made it. Now I not only have 35 minutes to wait, the train itself was slower, so I lost more like 45 minutes in total. Not great at this time of the day, but I’ll have to deal with it.

Picking the car up was as easy as dropping it off, just opened the barrier and my card should be charged automatically, love it.
The rain that has been periodically showing up all evening went out in full force as I left Brussels due north, the worst I have driven in for some time, but was gone by the time I entered the Netherlands, and as I eventually parked in front of home, almost exactly 48 hours after leaving.

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Not far from Mechelen

So, conclusion time.

Sometimes, the French do things just to prove to everyone that they can. And I would say that the Olympics this year fall into that bucket. And you know what?
They absolutely can.

The organization of the games, the amount of volunteers starting from arrival at CDG, all the way around Paris, in and around the transport system, as well as the venues, was staggering. The way the environment was adapted to make wayfinding easy, and to handle the crowds, was great. The atmosphere, exactly as I would expect the atmosphere at the Olympics to be, and more.
Will I make it a point in the future to travel to more games? Probably not… Not unless they happened to be close by. Maybe the Winter games in Milan…
The Summer games will be happening next in LA and Brisbane, and I would expect somewhere in Asia after then. We’ll see, maybe in 20 years or so it will be the time again.

But am I happy I took the opportunity?

Absolutely!
Despite not being a big fan of Paris in general, the Olympics got me out and about the place, and in areas I would otherwise not explore, and I enjoyed myself immensely. Already looking forward to my visit next week, it’s shaping up to be France versus Spain in the football finals, that’s going to be an experience and a half.

This is my conclusion too. I visited last weekend but enjoyed it a lot even though I wasn't there a long time. It was raining on day 1 but it didn't matter because everything about the games was great and that certainly included the Handball and Volleyball games I went to.

Oh, and thanks for sharing.

Did you manage to go back to the Slovak house?

No, I pulled the plug when I found rain while getting out of the Metro, as you can read in #21. I might give it another try on Friday, depending on the timing.

There's better places and times to give French cousine a try than Paris during the Olympics :D also, you would have read how my quest for croque monsieur failed.

There will be plenty options to sample French cooking starting Thursday this week into next. I have a couple restaurants in mind on my way north to south - it will be a driving holiday, so not sure about a TR, but... maybe. Or I will give it as an addendum to this one.

And a series of bonus posts starts tonight!

I have set out on my driving holiday today. I will not be making a diary out of it, but I have decided that if there are items off French cuisine to be highlighted, or perhaps something interesting Olympics related, this will be the place to do it.

Tonight, I am in Charleville-Mèziers and had this nice duck leg confit for dinner. A good start of my vacation indeed.
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I had a plan to show you a French restaurant that the gigant of French gastronomy - the French car tyre company - marked with a star. The restaurant La Vielle Fontaine looked ideal for my purposes - that is, until I learned that they are off for holidays until the next week after I am through.

Damn and blast.

So here is your consolation prize then.

After leaving Charleville-Meziers on Friday morning, I found I had enough time not only to stop by Chalons-en-Champagne and Epernay, but also to stop by the Parc des Nations before moving on to Parc des Princes.
So here is the dinner that was supposed to be last week Saturday, but as a late lunch this week Friday.

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Happy to see sponsorship of Rona glassware. It’s no Josephinen, but it’s a respectable brand.
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Starter - buckwheat salat with marinated beetroot, root vegetables and a local smoked cheese
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Main - fillet of zander, pea purée, vegetables, beurre blanc
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Dessert - Forest fruit strudel with vanilla cream


The complete prix fixe menu with drink (choice of a glass of wine, beer or lemonade) plus water cost 40 EUR. Which I think is more than fair, and I was glad to see the Slovak gastronomy being presented in such a positive light in Paris of all places. And as I have seen, the Slovak restaurant is pretty popular with visitors.


After that, and a great football match, a night in the suburbs and a very long drive, I ended up in Avignon.

The original hope was, as I mentioned, to visit the start restaurant La Vielle Fontaine. That could not happen, so instead I ended up in Avenio, still very good, a Bib Gourmand holder.

Not as traditional French as I would have originally hoped, but enjoyable nonetheless.

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Ceviche of tuna for a starter, very very nice
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For the following course, I was presented with two options for the wine pairing by the sommelier, and being that I was in the papal city of Avignon, I decided to go with the Chateauneuf du Pape, and it was the right choice. One of the best wines I have ever had. Looking back, Vivino rating 4.2… I’d go even a bit higher. Highlight of my evening.
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Main in this menu was Iberico pork, prepared sous vice, on bed of sweet potato purée, with seasonal vegetables
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For the dessert, I went with a cheese platter, very enjoyable with the chutney. Particularly I enjoyed the aged soft cheese that is last on the picture going counterclockwise.

Prix fixe menu of 39 EUR, two glasses of wine at some 10-12 euros each.

I would say that this restaurant is one more proof that it is indeed still possible to find very good gastronomy in France for a reasonable price, if you know where to look for. Granted it was not a multi-course tasting experience, but every single bite of the food was excellent, not to mention the service. I will be back, the only question is, when.
(For comparison, the starred restaurant I was originally planning for was also quite affordable if a bit more expensive at 54 for the three course prix fixe and ~15 per glass of wine.)

I am afraid this concludes the French section of the report - I am currently down south in Cannes, and the restaurants I looked at are closed while I am here (leaving Monday for Italy.) Unless something unexpected happens, I will come back with a comparison of a starred dinner in Ljubljana, and that will be it.

Rona makes some nice glasses. Could you keep it?



No tvaroh? :) looks really tasty

It was glassware in the restaurant, I was not about to take it. I don’t think I’ve seen it sold with the souvenirs.

No tvaroh, mak a višne.

I have not forgotten about you, and will get you the promised epilogue from Strelec, offerendum-style soon.

It's just...

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...that vacationing is very hard and busy work.

As a little spoiler, this lady is keeping me busy today:


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​​​​

Strelec is a Michelin one-star rated restaurant in Ljubljana, which slotted in neatly into my travel plans.

A bit more difficult to find on the site as the entrance is not visible from the main castle courtyard, but I found it eventually and got seated with a late seating. I’ve gone for a middle ground 7 course tasting menu, with the wine pairing.

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Amuse bouche, first round. There was salmon tartare with cream on top, liver pate coated to look like a cherry, and the last one I don’t remember.
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Second amuse bouche, which completely left my memory as to what was in it.
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First course, roe tartar wrapped in leaves, foie gras foam
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Cauliflower, with egg yolk, brown butter, breadcrumbs and truffles
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Onion, with cheese and yeast
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Veal main, with eggplant, pine nuts, olives and smoked marrow
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First desert, with rhubarb, youghurt and elderflower
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Peach, rosemary and honey in the second dessert
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And lastly petit fours with, among others, melon jelly, chocolate truffle.

The menu was 115, the accompanying wine selection 60, and I paid a couple extra for an aperitif of sparkling wine.
All in all a good experience and an appropriate value. The food was very good (I think I have missed the pictures of both mains, one of which I grabbed from the restaurant socials) and certainly worth the Michelin award. Wine pairing also, great selection that paired well. I was happy to see that all of them were Slovenian, showcasing the variety this little thought of wine producing country can supply.
What was not so great was service. Some mistakes were made, with service recovery which was made with good effort but not effectively. Coupled with the fact that I was seated at 20:30 (and not as the last diner) and would not get my last course until about 11pm, when rest of the castle around was long deserted, this is something the restaurant should look at. According to maitre d’hotel I discussed the service with, they are stretched quite a bit with the restaurant management trying to extract as much value from the season as they can, to a detrimental effect.

Addendum -

The restaurant is in a tower of the Ljubljana castle. There is some outside seating as well for earlier diners, but by the time I came, it was all inside. The view from the tower is just a view of the city. Nothing special.

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Small light at the table caused the well lit desktop to reflect in the window. This actually reminded me of another small issue, very minor, but in a detail-oriented environment noticeable - the light is battery operated and started giving up as I was finishing my meal.

The restaurant gives out a menu with the daily offerings, the 5, 7 and 9 course menus are put together by a chefs selection of these options. The sommelier was kind enough to write down my pairings as well.

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What an amazing TR! Loved the multiple travel modes, and how much you packed into such a short trip. I did wonder how many people stayed outside of Paris and simply caught the TGV in for the day to spectate the various free Olympic events, especially like the road cycling or the marathon.

I, too, prefer the old TGV power car design. The TGV Duplex is one of my favourite trains in the world, despite the French quirks.

Very enthused!

And one last bonus post while I am vacationing. Once I am back to my daily grind, I’ll find more time to work on my next TR.


I have been thinking about taking my parents out for a “proper” dinner for some time now. Originally I was thinking a restaurant up in the Slovak mountains (Gašperov Mlyn, to be recommended) but recently, The Michelin Guide has extended the scope of its Hungarian publication from Budapest to the whole country, and one of my all-time favorite restaurants, one Anyukám Mondta (“Mom said so”) in a small town of Encs, received a Bib Gourmand distinction.
And about the same time, and perhaps for that reason, the restaurant started offering a 5 course tasting menu “Blind date with a chef”.

This was much easier to work into the plans as it is an easy drive from my parents home. So this year, I asked for the birthday dinner to be there.

I do not have any pictures to show the setting this time, but the restaurant is tucked in in a small alley behind the local post office, next to a butchers shop and a confectionery. The interior is nice however, quite recent, made out in a farmhouse style.
The restaurant serves modern Italian-Hungarian fusion, you can go as simple as cheap as a nice pizza, or have a multi-course menu as we did. Still with very good prices.

Let the pictures do the talking for a bit now:

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First amuse bouche, a small piece of bread with a cut of ham, a bit of pesto and a bit of tomato paste. Excellent way to showcase the italian fresh tastes to come.
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Second amuse, a small bowl of brioche, with duck pate. Nice, sweet, less Italian, but favorite of the group.
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First proper course, grilled heart of mutton on a bed of panzanela. My personal favorite.
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Second course was a bit disappointing, well executed but comparatively bland. Raviolo filled with ricotta, with tomato sauce and some special kind of parmigiano.
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Catfish fillet on a parsley purree. Very good.
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Second main, lamb on a bean salad with picked radishes. Somewhat disappointing, for some reason the lamb was over salty and chewy. A good idea in the dish, but the execution was not as good as it needed to be.
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And lastly a simple desert of a chocolate cake. No petits fours tonight.


Wine pairing was had by most (except the designated driver) and they paired well. Only one red, with the dessert. Most of the rest was white, with one rose and one orange wine. Some were restaurant branded, from Hungarian producers and I really liked those. There were some Italian and one New Zealand wine, all around, decent showing, but not as good as in Strelec, which is absolutely fine for a restaurant with this distinction and especially price point.

Which is low. Yes, this is a Hungarian countryside random towns local restaurant. But still, the dinner is about 75 eur per person with the wine pairing, go with just water and you are under 50. For this amount and quality of food, it’s the best deal I’ve had in a looong time.

Is it worth upgrading to a Star? No, I don’t think so. I’m sure they could if they wanted, but the restaurant would have to change too much, and would lose, I think, the bread and butter of their business - people from the wider area who want a good dinner in a nice environment that wouldn’t break the bank. A Bib Gourmand is where the restaurant is now, and where I think they can comfortably stay for years to come.

Coming back through my reports, I realized I forgot to address this note.

I was actually looking at staying outside of Paris and taking the TGV in to take part, both for the first and second weekend.

What I have found is that the cities and towns around Paris, about the area of first stop of the Grande Vitesse routes, were quite expensive. Of course I have no idea whether this was due to Parisians wanting to get out, or visitors thinking to get a leg up on Paris proper prices... but I can definitely tell you, that a night close to the likes of Champagne-Ardenne TGV, Reims TGV or Fontainbleau was quite a bit more expensive than the Orsay hotel I ended up staying in.