Becky McClellan CreativeNew Orleans: I Had Bread Pudding for Dinner and I’m Not Even Sorry
Posted on September 7, 2013
“So where to next?”
That’s a common question in the Smith house, especially as the days and weeks pass from the last time we unpacked our suitcases.
With Labor Day and a perfectly good three-day travel weekend coming up, that sounded like the best time for our next adventure. We looked at several cities for a quick getaway, but we knew we wanted to go somewhere we could drive to in a day, since we were taking our furry children with us. After perusing the map, we settled on New Orleans, because it’s very dog-friendly and also because we’ve both been there before. Having already been to New Orleans separately, we figured we’d have to worry less about figuring out the lay of the land so we could spend more time eating, which, let’s be honest, is what it’s all about.
We headed out for the Big Easy Friday afternoon and got in around midnight. Our hotel was located between the French Quarter and the Business District, so we were able to walk to nearly everything while still being far enough away from the crazy that is Bourbon Street. There was even a cute little outside atrium about a block from our hotel where the dogs could do their business. Frank thought this was fantastic. Honestly, Frank thought everything about New Orleans was fantastic. I’m pretty sure they’re going to give him a key to the city at some point.
Our first day, we woke up early so we could head down to Jackson Square with the pups. We wanted to go before the heat of the day so they wouldn’t get too tuckered out, and we figured there would be fewer people around. Frank is really good when he’s in public and loves the attention, but our poor little Gracie has a bit of social anxiety so we didn’t want her to stress out too much. They did great on the ride down and really loved the hotel. Frank is okay with anywhere that puts lots of pillows on the bed, and Gracie liked looking out our hotel window at the city below. She’s our little guard dog.
Our original plan was to stop by Café Du Monde for the world-famous beignets and coffee, but when we got to Jackson Square, the line to get in went down Decatur Street. Since Allen and I had both been there before, we decided not to wait. For the Smiths, it’s rare that we’ll wait in line to eat anywhere no matter how delicious the food. We walked around Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral for a bit before ducking into Pierre Maspero’s restaurant for a bite — a totally awesome culinary decision on our part. Allen ordered a mint julep and I had a Cajun Bloody Mary to start things off. We also ordered crawfish beignets for an appetizer, which pretty much ended up being the best thing I ate on our trip — and that’s saying a lot because all of the food was delicious. If you leave New Orleans hungry, it’s your own darn fault. After we polished off our beignet app, and by “polished off,” I mean “licked the plate,” we each ordered an entree that was original to New Orleans. Allen got a sampler that consisted of gumbo, jambalaya, and étouffée. I opted for the red beans and rice, and it was really tasty and just spicy enough.
With our tummies full and happy, we continued our trek through the French Quarter, checking out the shops and bakeries and just taking it all in. I absolutely adore the architecture in New Orleans, and I love how heavy cast iron fences and rails are somehow made softer by all of the greenery and brightly colored flowers. I also love doors, so I enjoyed seeing all of the different kinds, usually against beautiful brick or boldly painted walls. We walked along the Mississippi River and watched the riverboats docking while listening to various street musicians playing jazz along the banks. I mean they were literally playing jazz with saxophones and whatnot. This is not a metaphor.
Later on in the afternoon, we stopped at a place called Backspace Bar based solely on the sign’s font because we’re both writers and that’s what we do. Another great decision. It was definitely a Becky and Allen kind of place — the entire bar was made of rich wooden tables, and old typewriters and books lined the shelves. So basically it was the library at our house. We were particularly amused by a sign above our table that read “Mr. Frank.” It’s like New Orleans knew he was coming. (See also: King of Mardi Gras.)
Our bartender at Backspace Bar was super sweet, and we asked her to make us some authentic New Orleans spirits. She whipped me up the most delicious Hurricane — the good kind of hurricane — and she made Allen a Sazerac, which is a combination of cognac or rye whiskey, absinthe, and Peychaud’s Bitters. After our late afternoon cocktails, we headed over to Lafayette Square near our hotel. The pups really liked Lafayette Square because it wasn’t as crowded and they could run around in the grassy area without hearing traffic horns and other random noises. I think this was Grace’s favorite spot in the city.
For dinner we decided that we had to have Po-Boys. We stopped at a place called Huck Finn’s, and I had a shrimp version while Allen opted for a fried oyster one. I have to say I don’t think New Orleans has any bad food, because our sandwiches were delicious. After dinner, we walked around the city a bit more and down Bourbon Street before calling it a night. Bourbon Street is crazy. Total crazy.
After all of the walking, eating, and imbibing, I think all four of us passed out the moment our heads hit the pillow. Or pillows in Frank’s case. Big dogs need lots of pillows.
When we woke up the next morning we decided to get out of the French Quarter for the day and head over to the Garden District. Armed with lots of water, our travel doggie cup, and plenty of puppy poop bags, we hopped in the car and headed that way. I must digress for a minute to love on doggie travel cups. They’re so convenient and pretty much the greatest invention ever. They’re perfect for the dog on the go who needs to say hydrated. Frank and Grace adore their cup. Now back to my story.
The Garden District is definitely a site to see. With all of the historic homes and tree-lined streets, it’s such a beautiful walk. Our first stop was Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, one of New Orleans’ oldest above-ground cemeteries. I’m so intrigued by New Orleans cemeteries and the history — it’s almost like time stands still when you walk through them. Even on the warmest, sunniest day, it gives you chills. I was really taken by all of the flowers in front of the old graves — something about the contrast between life and death. Or maybe it was just the pops of color against the otherwise bleak gray stones. Either way, it prompted me to keep my shutter clicking.
After the cemetery, we stopped by a little Cajun cafe for some lunch. I had the vegetarian jambalaya and Allen had red beans and rice. Frank and Grace had some ice water and carrots from my jambalaya. Frank also tried to drink some of my coffee. Such a city dog. He sat on my lap and Grace perched under my chair so they could do some people-watching and also protect our table from the people moving out of their apartment above us. We enjoyed our Garden District afternoon and then headed back to our part of town.
For dinner, we chose Chartres House so we could sit out on the cast-iron patio and do a little people-watching as the sun set. I had bread pudding for dinner and I’m not even sorry. Was it the best decision I made this trip? Quite possibly. After dinner, it was dark so we walked around the city at night, enjoying the bright lights, friendly people, and the faint sound of jazz drifting through the air.
We headed back to the hotel happy, content, and exhausted. The next day we headed home, but the trip was definitely amazing and a much-needed break. And I’m totally still dreaming about those crawfish beignets.
Smith European Adventure: Paris
Posted on May 26, 2013
I love to travel. I grew up as an airline brat with both of my parents working for USAirways, and I took my first plane ride before I could even sit up by myself. By the time I reached the precocious age of six, I was already turning away souvenir clip-on wings from pilots, saying, “No, thank you. I have too many already,” much to the chagrin of my mother.
Fast forward more than ten countries, every continental U.S. state, hundreds of plastic-cup tomato juices (most often with ice), and at least two dozen bags of those little pretzel peanut things, and I still have sand in my Chucks. I was fortunate enough to a marry a swell guy who is also in love with the world.
My husband Allen not only loves to travel, but he is also fluent in German having studied abroad in Würzburg while he was in college, circa 2004. I took my first trip to Paris in February 2005, so for this year’s big trip, we decided to visit Germany and France. Allen took to planning the German portion of our adventure since he lived there, and I set to work on the France leg, since that was my area of expertise. See also: Fromage.
Our trip started last Thursday, as we flew from Nashville to Charlotte to Paris. We prepped for the Charlotte to Paris portion by fueling up on Pinkberry at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, a decision that would later be paramount when our stewardess ran out of chicken and presented us with the world’s smallest portion of pasta for our in-flight dinner. I’ve never been one to sleep on a flight, but I came prepared for this trip with a 1970s disco-style sleeping mask I purchased the week before at my local Michaels, hours of Mumford on my iPod, and two Advil PMs.
I still didn’t sleep, but I’m pretty sure I looked very fashionable and I now know every word to every Mumford song ever.
When we finally arrived in Paris at 7:00 a.m. local time, we were giddy with excitement. Even our hour-long taxi ride to the hotel in the morning rush didn’t dampen our spirits. We were delirious from no sleep and the promise of pain au chocolat and other pastries we weren’t even sure existed except in our dreams.
After arriving at the amazing Hotel Opera Deauville near Gare St. Lazare (the same hotel I stayed at eight years earlier), we had our first breakfast in the adorable little brick basement cafe in our hotel. Complete with the aforementioned pain au chocolate, cold cuts, hard boiled eggs, and delicious coffee, we refueled before heading out for some sight-seeing. We visited Notre Dame, the Jardin des Tuileries, and of course the Louvre. We walked along the Seine and just took it all in. Allen was so excited to be in Paris, and I was really enjoying acting as our tour guide. My French was a bit rusty, but it came back to me. It’s like riding a bicyclette.
For dinner, we ate the popular French sandwich, the croque Madame, which is basically a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with an egg on top. We will literally eat anything if you put an egg on it.
The next day, we woke up super early, grabbed some Nutella crepes, and headed out to the Eiffel Tower. It should be noted that Nutella is everywhere here. I think it’s the official condiment of France. But I digress.
It’s been on my bucket list to have a picnic lunch on the grass in front of said Tower, so we stopped by the grocer and picked up a freshly baked baguette, two types of French cheese (one that had green fur on it), and two tiny bottles of wine (more on this later). We took the metro and as soon as we stepped onto the platform, we saw it. It’s kind of a big deal and even though I’d seen it before, it still amazes me.
We stood in line for a few minutes before we realized we were not allowed to take glass bottles up to the top, which was awkward since we had brought our picnic lunch with us. We were not about to throw out two perfectly good bottles of wine, so I did what anyone in my situation would do. I hid them under a shrub.
We made it though the line in about 45 minutes and bought our tickets to the top. Since we’re both in good shape, we decided to walk. Let me just say there are a heck of a lot of steps and my fanny is still burning. The climb was worth it, because the view is absolutely amazing. You can see all of Paris, and I’m also pretty sure I saw our house in Nashville. Someone really needs to cut the grass.
We decided to take the elevator down because we were starting to get hungry. And we were also curious as to how our wine-in-brush was holding up. Much to our satisfaction, it was exactly where I left it — untouched and ready for consumption. Fantastique!
I have to say, when I was sitting in the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower with Allen, snacking on cheese and sipping wine, I thought, it doesn’t get much better than this unless cake is involved. We did bring some chocolate raspberry cookies, which were quite popular with the gypsy set. Some woman came by and insisted that we give her one of the cookies. It’s all fun and games until someone tries to steal your cookies.
In the afternoon, we headed over to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées. Allen was a real wet blanket and insisted that I stop running across traffic. He said I had to wait for the green man to show up. I told him he really needs to live a little.
After a full day of walking and touring, we were once again famished. If you know us, you know we’re always famished, so why would the Europe Smiths be any different?
We decided to get some pasta and wine at a restaurant near our hotel. I had a four-cheese pasta and Allen tried foie gras for the first time. We also had wine, which if Nutella is the official condiment of France, wine is the official beverage. For dessert, we had a delicious creamy-peanut-brittley-caramel thing that was dee-lish. After dinner, we just walked around Paris. It’s a beautiful city and seeing it lit up at night was breath-taking. We concluded the evening at a local pub where we grabbed a couple 1664 beers, which Allen has dubbed the PBR of France. We’re hipsters and we love PBR so this worked out swimmingly.
Today, we slept in a little bit and grabbed a bite near St. Lazare. We shared a Parisian salad of cheese, ham, tomatoes, and eggs, and also had a delicious ham and cheese omelet. I just started eating meat again not that long ago, but I have to say that the ham in France is really delicious. It all tastes like the roasted ham usually reserved for a fancy Easter feast.
After lunch, we went to Montmartre. I saw a show at the Moulin Rouge on my first visit, and I remember it being really artistic and bohemian. There were street artists, tons of quaint shops, and a good number of unsavory people who only came out after dark. I’m not saying I miss them, but it sort of added to the overall ambiance and carefree vibe. This time around it was quite different.
It’s still my favorite part of Paris and it’s still artsy, but it has evolved quite a bit in eight years. There are more cafes and small businesses (and even a Starbucks, which was sort of odd), and it seems much safer. It’s definitely more trendy, but it’s still unique and worth seeing if you’ve never been.
After taking some pics in front of the Moulin Rouge, we made the circular trek up to the top of Montmartre where the Sacre Coeur overlooks all of Paris. To get away from the early summer crowd, we ducked into a small coffee shop for a quick café au lait and another pain au chocolate before heading back toward town.
Tonight’s dinner was easily the best thing we’ve eaten on our trip so far. We found this really tiny pizzeria with homemade everything. We had a carafe of wine, a garden salad, and a ham and cheese pizza. It was pretty much the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life. We did a bit more walking around the city after dinner before heading back to the hotel, which brings me to now. Tomorrow we have an early train to Würzburg, Germany, so I’ll say bonne soirée for now!
Becky McClellan Creative 