My birthday in France

My birthday (September 28) occurred on my 2nd day in France, my 2nd day in Poligny. It was definitely a different kind of birthday!

View from my seat at the bar on my bday

another view - center of the city

When I woke up, it was a brilliant sunny day - not a cloud in the sky!! Thank goodness! I needed some sunshine!

So my birthday happen to fall on a friday this year, and in Poligny, every Monday and Friday mornings they have a little fresh market in the center of the city. There are about 5 different vendors selling anything from organic oats, local breads, cheeses, and honey, to fresh fish. It is quite quaint. I bought myself an almond croissant - mmmm it was divine and a perfect start to the day.

Almond croissant

For lunch, Francoise took me out to lunch at a nearby restaurant and gave me a jar of her homemade Coing fruit - which is like a type of pear.

The lunch was delicious. We sat outside on the patio and dined.
Let me begin with what I ate and then I shall discuss the wine...

I had a Tortillas Jambon  - which was basically ham and comte cheese (Poligny is the capital of comte cheese. ie divine) nestled between 2 warm crepes. It came with a simple salad of greens, cubs of ham and cheese, and topped with a light vinaigrette. Oh it was so good and my first real French meal since I had arrived.

The wine, oh the wine. I let Francoise order it since I want to try everything unique to this area as possible.  We got a pitcher of wine - enough for 2 glasses per person. The wine is called  - Sauterne.
It is a specialty of this area and is something not to miss out on here. It is a white wine, but has a very strong nutty flavor. And when I say nutty, I mean nutty. It is quite good and very different. I plan to drink several bottles while I am here. haha

Then for dinner, I invited my roommate and her Asian friend to go out to dinner at the same restaurant. I mean it was good at lunch and there are not a lot of options here  - it is a very very small town! Like think of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls small.
Let me preference my saying that this was a divine eating experience.

I chose the Menu Terrain - which was a set menu and cost only 21 euros for 3 courses.
It included:
Salad Comtoise - which was a salad of green bib lettuce, topped with hard boiled egg slices, tomatoes, pecans, cubs on ham and comte cheese, and a light vinaigrette. C'est tres bon.

Truite au vin jaune - which was the main course and amazing.  It was trout cooked in vin jaune (a special wine of the area) accompanied with a medley of sauteed vegetables ( all in season of course) a roasted potato halve, and a roasted tomatoe topped with bread crumbs. I ate every single bite on that plate. And since it was my bday, the cook even made me a flower out of carrot :)

The main dish of trout - notice my birthday flower

Molton chocolate cake - the dessert. Oh my. So amazing. It was a warm chocolate moulton cake accompanied with 2 dollops of freshly whipped cream topped with nuts and a side of raspberry glaze. I wanted to lick my plate it was so good!!


As for the wine, I asked the waiter for his best recommendations. So I had a glass of the house Chardonnay since it is a dry wine that goes best with fish. But he even brought me a second glass of the Sauterne wine since he wanted me just to try it out. Ah I love the French love of wine!

I shall update again soon! Right now I am sitting outside the bar, sipping on a warm cup of tea,the sun is shining, and I'm watching the townspeople pursue the local market.
I'm headed to Besancon this afternoon for training and can't wait to share about that experience!!

Til then!