Everything ends this way in France – everything. Weddings, christenings, duels, burials, swindlings, diplomatic affairs – everything is a pretext for a good dinner -- Jean Anouilh

After a week in Langkawi, I am back to "My Scooter Sunday". I had a blast. But I did not accomplish any of “My Scooter Sunday” goals such as a Vespa ride around the island, a food tour of Kuah and squid scooping in the Andaman Sea.

But what I do know is that I really enjoyed covering London from the view point of Fish and Chips. And I think I will continue in the same vein.

Since I do not have the freedom to travel the world right now, I will explore the world semi-virtually from Kuala Lumpur. I will kick-off this blog with a semi-virtual exploration of the City of Lights and one of her must-try-foods.

Paris has eluded me. I have made two attempts to travel from London to Paris within the last two years but neither worked out. In the first attempt, I had no company and in the second attempt, I had company but it was expensive - the roundtrip from London St. Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord on the Eurostar is USD500 or RM2,000, which is half the Air France roundtrip from Kuala Lumpur to Paris.

Although Paris has eluded me, I realised that France has not. In the nineties, while I was in England, I accompanied my sister to Geneva, Switzerland and we took a tour to Chamonix and Mont Blanc. Recently, while browsing the map of Europe, I discovered that Mont Blanc is located in the French Alps and France, Switzerland and Italy meet at Chamonix. And so, I have been to France!

There are other things I do know about France: her fashion houses (Chanel and Louboutin), landmarks (Eiffel Tower and Louvre), painters (Monet and Matisse), writers (Voltaire and Hugo), historical figures (Joan of Arc and Bonaparte), actors (Binoche and Bardot), chefs (Savoy and Pepin), and food (soufflé and mousse).

But I know nothing about French music. A google search for the top French song of all time turned up La vie en rose (Life in Happy Hues) by Edith Piaf. I did not recognise the song by its name, but I recognised the tune from Louis Armstrong’s rendition. And so, as I fact-find and write my blog, this is my music.

To explore France, I went on a tour of her food. Interestingly, Howard Hillman’s World Cuisine Guide ranks French cuisine second, behind Chinese cuisine, followed by Italian, Indian, Japanese, Moroccan, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Indonesian.

Getting back to French cuisine, here are some of her famous foods: Bouillabaisse (fish and shell fish stew), Quiche Lorraine (custard and ham cooked in a pastry shell), Coq au vin (chicken, mushrooms and cured pork braised in red wine), Boeuf Bourguignon (beef and mushrooms braised in red wine) and Escargots de Bourgogne (snails in garlic, herbs and butter).

I picked escargots to delve into because it is not something I would naturally gravitate to; I wanted to broaden my cultural and culinary point of view. Like bourbon, haggis, champagne, durian and truffle, escargot is one of the delicacies of the world (Delicacy Wikipedia).

Escargot means edible snail in French. There are two types of snails: water-based snails and land-based snails. But only land-based snails are used for escargots. They are low in fat and high in protein (Departures 2021).

Snails come from all around the world, but the best snails for escargot come from the Eastern Alps, Turkey and Burgundy. The texture of snails is similar to mussels, but it is chewier and it has no flavour. Instead, it takes on the flavour of the herbs and broth it is cooked in.

Every year, France consumes 424 million escargots and with a population of 68 million, that works out to six escargots per person per year. And the biggest consumer of escargots in France is Eastern France (Offbeat France La Gastronomie).

Escargots are cooked and served in a special pan; it is a sauté pan with six to twelve divots (small holes) so that the snails are cooked individually. There are different preparations of escargots but the most common are Escargots a la Bourguignonne, Escargots Vol-Au-Vent and Escargots a la Bordelaise.

In the first, the escargot is cooked in garlic, butter and parsley, in the second, the escargot is stuffed into baked puffed pastry and topped with mushrooms and in the third, the escargot is cooked in a dry red wine broth (Journey to France 2021).

Escargots are usually served in their shells with a French baguette (long loaf with a crunchy crust) and a glass of local white wine. They are served as a hot appetizer at apero hour (hour before dinner where the palate is prepared for the next meal) and it is served on a metal or ceramic tray with divots for six or twelve escargots (Wikipedia Snails).

In French fine dining, escargots are eaten using a pince a escargot to hold the shell and a fourchette a escargot to remove the snail from the shell. Then you break and use the baguette to soak-up the sauce from your plate. This is the approved etiquette for eating escargots (Etiquipedia). On the topic of etiquette, do you know that in France, it is considered rude to ask someone to split the bill? (The Travel 2022).  

Now, where does one go for an escargot experience in Paris?

Established in 1912, Benoit Bistro is in the heart of Paris, near the Saint-Jacques tower. Benoit escargots are cooked in rich Bourgogne butter and offered in an escargot platter accompanied by a warm baguette (Matador Network Cohen 2022).The cost of six escargots at Benoit is €20. And if you selected Cassoulet (stew) as your main course, Profiterole as your dessert, the total meal will set you back €75 or RM375.   

The mission of Bouillon Chartier or “Broth Kitchen” in Paris is to provide an affordable meal to Parisians. At Bouillon, escargots are cooked in garlic and herb butter and served in an escargot platter with an escargot fork; a dozen escargots cost €15. And if you chose Confit duck as your main and Profiterole as your dessert, the total meal would be €30 or RM150 - about half the cost at Benoit.

But what is a KL gal going to do?  

Chef Nigen first established Rendez-vous, a traditional French restaurant and later followed it up with Chez Gaston by Rendez-vous in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

The mission of Chez Gaston (Home of Gaston) is to offer affordable French cuisine in a laid-back environment. Chez Gaston offers Escargots Bourguignonne as a starter for RM30. If you wanted a full meal, you could add Bouillabaisse a ma facon (seafood in a fish gravy) for RM70 and Crème brulee (custard topped with caramelized sugar) for RM25. The total cost without wine is RM125.

Florian Nigen is from Brittany, France, which is 500 km west of Paris; believe it or not, there are seven different ways to travel between these two cities. And Brittany's claim to fame is shellfish, stew and Breton butter!

His father still runs a restaurant in Brittany and so, Chef Nigen is a second-generation chef. His labour of love, Chez Gaston does not specialize in fine dining; instead it specializes in the French classics. And as luck would have it, Escargot in French Pesto is one of his top sellers! (Eat Drink KL 2021).

To get a full French escargot experience, I went to Chez Gaston in Bangsar and I wined and dined like I never have. I was clear about my intentions, which were to get a flavour of France through a famous food and to have a fabluex (fabulous) time doing so!

When I arrived at Chez Gaston, Joseph seated me and brought me their carte du jor. I sat down, took out my note book and looked over their menu. I started with the Escargots de Bourgogne appetizer, followed by Bouillabaisse for the main course and finished off with (surprise, surprise) Chocolate Mousse. My special request to the chef was to serve all my food together.

With “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” playing in the background, I raised the bar and ordered a mocktail and a glass of white wine; I was pleasantly surprised when I also received a Gaston Signature cocktail on the house!

My drinks arrived first, followed by my food. After I took my photos for the blog, I dived in! The escargots swirling in pesto were delicious; it was chewier than mussels, but nice; soaking up the sauce with a warm baguette was a treat. And the white wine, which paired perfectly with the escargot, catapulted the experience.

After the escargots, I proceeded to the Bouillabaisse, which is a seafood stew imbibed in saffron. The fish was soft and succulent, the mussels were tender and, the shrimp was big. I was not sure about the shrimp eating etiquette in a French restaurant, but I boldly used my fingers. Fortunately, no etiquette police were around and no one pulled me over!

Last but not least was dessert. For me, it was a toss-up between Crème brulee and Mousse au choclat. But being a dark chocolate lover, I went for the mousse. As I blogged, I ate scoops of chocolate joy and I savored the delightful moments. Cocktails, mocktails and wine do it for some; but for me, chocolate is the food of Gods. After my last mouthful of mousse, I declared to the world that I was in love - in love with France.

And to conclude, I talked to Alison Grun, my French riding instructor here in Malaysia. She was the one who gave me the confidence to ride JuJu, my Vespa Primavera, around town. She has no favourite food, but she does miss good wine, bread and cheese. She tried escargots when she was young but what she loved most was the garlic butter. Grun is now mostly vegetarian and so, she is not an escargot fan.  

With that as the last word, I wrap up “My Scooter Sunday” blog. Now that I have explored two world cities (London and Paris) through famous food, I know that this is what I want to do; I will harness the power of people, food, restaurants and research to do this.

A long time ago, I promised my now nonagenarian mom (confidant, advisor and friend) that I would take her on a trip around the world; it happened, but only partially. So, this is my second chance to semi-virtually fulfill that promise.

But now, I have to scoot because my mom and I are leaving the city of Paris. She is excited about our new destination and so am I. Until then, Bonjour and Au revoir!