Text 33481, 76 rader
Skriven 2015-11-22 11:32:22 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 520
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LH2230 MUC CDG 1225 1400 320 12EF

This time our seats stuck and were okay. Lunch was perfectly
respectable - Warsteiner for me and some red plonk for her, plus
half a pastrami and coleslaw sandwich (fairly tasty despite its
being very lean meat) each. The guy in the aisle seat, perhaps
being a delicate palate, offered us his; we declined with a smile.

We landed a bit early; were supposed to meet Swisher at the Grand
Comptoir, which has been relocated as has much of the airport;
eventually I stationed Lilli at the exit and took a tour of the 
terminal. When I got back, they had found each other and had
taken control of a rental car, alles gut, a dayglo red Renault,
maybe not so gut. Swisher had brought a GPS for the purpose, so
we turned it on and left town. The device kept giving us cockamamie 
weird directions, so the trip to the hotel took twice as long as it 
should have. Eventually by luck we found Le Grand Monarque, Melun,
a perfectly okay place in a rather nice setting. Lilli and I split
a small but pleasant room and met Swisher down in the lobby for
drinks. It turns out that this being the offseason, the desk 
clerk, whom I suspect to be the manager and probably the husband
of the cook, had to get our drinks, beers for the boys and a vin
ordinaire for the lady.

Dinner started at 7, and we nursed our drinks until then.

We were ushered in by the trusty desk guy and given a fairly
nice table in the middle of nowhere but with a view of the
grounds. We were the only ones around until a woman I'd seen
back in the hotel office headed into the kitchen.

I ordered a bottle of Chateau Anniche 12, a thin but fairly
respectable Bordeaux blend with a bit of spice and locorice 
in among the usual red fruits. This went with their meals, 
not so much with mine.

Swisher had an appetizer of chevre on toast over salad - these
came as two small whole cheeses, very pungent. He seemed to
enjoy them, but I'm pretty sure I'd not have.

Both he and Lilli had bavettes (a flanklike cut) rare; they 
were of decent meat, decent size, and done as ordered. They 
came  with respectable fries.

I decided I wanted one appetizer and two desserts, this 
motivated by my not wanting three steaks at table and the
other choice being a rather fishy fishy that couldn't
possibly be eaten with red wine.

So I got a salade de gesiers, which was not quite as
expected. There's no reason to expect duck gizzards in such 
a dish, but that's all I'd ever had before, and I was 
surprised to find a huge pile of big chunks of chicken parts
on my plate, over some leaves of curly lettuce dressed in a
quite acidy dressing. The gizzards were good, a little on the
crispy side even though the gelatinous end bits were mostly
cut off. I offered my tablemates tastes - Lilli of course
refused, but Swisher tried one; he liked the flavor but not the 
texture, information that I filed away for future reference.

Dessert number one was a flan de coco, a rather ordinary flan
with some not-so-young coconut on top; I'd have hoped for more
coconut flavor in the pudding itself, but that's just me.

Rosemary-scented roast figs with vanilla ice cream were firm
but ripe, red-wine sauced, and excellent once I got used to
the rosemary, which I thought didn't add much.

There was one glass of wine left in the bottle, so we took it
back to the room, where Lilli promptly upset it all over her 
bed, the glass breaking as well. This didn't affect me other
than my having to listen to the girl berate herself loud and
often about her clumsiness and how she had ruined her duvet,
the sheet, and the evening.
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