Take Your Market Buys to a Park for a Picnic

In my five plus years living in Europe, I have been asked many times about how to stretch dollars while traveling in the ever increasingly more expensive Euro-zone. There are lots of tricks, but one of the best ways to save is to skip eating all your meals in restaurants.

Save fast-food, which I am never going to promote, there isn’t that much in the way of inexpensive dining in Europe. Certainly I found Bordeaux to be no exception to this rule on a recent trip there in April 2011. Sure, you can always grab something yummy, cheap and filling from a bakery for under $5.00. However, if you want something more elaborate then plan ahead and do two things: rent an apartment (or a room at a place with a kitchen) and hit up Bordeaux’s many markets!
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French Omelet - Any Teas

During my recent four-day trip to Bordeaux I ate a total of three omelets. The omelet is a lunch and dinner food in France, and for a variety of reasons I was made to eat this popular dish on several occasions.

It’s funny for me to consider the omelet now, after so much time living in Europe. Back in my part of the United States, the omelet was not a lunch dish, but something on the breakfast menu. The same is true of yogurt, which I had always considered a breakfast food before coming to Spain (where I live). With time I have grown to accept that yogurt is a dessert, and the omelet is served after 12 noon.

Bordeaux

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Bordeaux Cafes

Yet another perk to living in Catalunya is its close proximity to France. In my 5 plus years here I have made many a journey over the border to take in the charms of the French countryside. My last jaunt was to the fabulous western city of Bordeaux, known for its fat river and tasty wines.

When I think France I think wine, but I also think croissant. Currently in training for swimsuit season, I have not been allowing myself to eat croissants (of muffins, or chocolate napolitanas) for breakfast lately. In France I made an exception, because it seemed so wrong not to eat their baked goods. And so I did, and with relish. Read More »