If not the best, one of the most memorable meals for sure.
In August of 1987 we took our son Joe, then 17, on a biking trip to France, Paris and the Loire Valley Chateau area. He was a sulky, recalcitrant “fish out of Houghs Neck” teen at first until he spotted the French women’s swimming topless in the river Cher. After that, it was all joie de vivre … Vive La France!
As a blowout last night celebration before returning to Paris, we stayed at a very high-end Relais & Chateaux resort for one night. We parked our bikes amid the Bentleys, Rolls Royces, ExCaliburs, and other fancy cars. The staff treated us wonderfully. We still wonder if that was Jerry Garcia wearing a Tarzan-style bathing suit at the poolside.
The Food was ultra-elegance, and since the menu was totally in French, what we ordered was always a surprise. Joe was served a dish of little crayfish-type shellfish with various elaborate eating implements on each side of the plate. How to eat it was a mystery until the little ‘finger bowls’ arrived, and we knew he could apply the primitive hands-on method to enjoy the succulent morsels.
Course after course with swooping presentations by formally-dressed wait staff wowed us throughout the meal. The next morning, delicious croissants were brought to our room on trays with dome-shaped silver service by two tuxedoed waiters. To cap off this luxurious memory the sky opened up in a torrential downpour as we departed! We went to the kitchen where we were provided with first class trash bags to fashion rain gear for ourselves as we pedaled away from the resort to the train station in Tours.
C’est magnifique!!!