Hotel Belle Etoile in La Roque-Gageac, Where Time Stands Still

Perhaps time does not stand still in this quaint village, however, it does slow down, and it is unbelievable that in the past 8 years, Hotel Belle Etoile had not increased its rates for double rooms with private baths. As I looked back on the menus, even they have not kept up with inflation. The two course meal is now 28 euro, 2 euro above the 2006 price. The 3 and 4 course dinners were similarly increased in price, by a pittance. The value is so phenomenal, last year we booked 5 rooms for our 25th wedding anniversary, then invited family and friends who enjoy traveling to Europe to join us for 4 days and we would pick up the tab. It was far more generous for those who paid airfare to join us, and continue on with their own trips, than it was for us to take them to Belle Etoile.

The lovely, little settee where I sat and wrote my travel notes is now gone from the parlor, and has been replaced by a small table and two chairs. I could say I missed it, but in truth it squeaked and was so unstable that I could just picture myself sprawled across it's broken parts, in the middle of the floor. When it comes to the wall bedecked with stuffed, wild game, my perspective has changed. I used to love peering at the crocodile on top of a wardrobe closet, from the small window in the 2nd floor hallway. This time I contented myself with looking up at it from my chair.

  

No matter which room you stay in, whether it be the smaller rooms facing toward the garden or the front rooms facing the river, at Belle Etoile you will always get a room with a view. But even better you can also have breakfast or dinner at the hotel since they have a wonderful restaurant on site.

     

The Restaurant Belle Etoile is divided into 3 spaces. As you walk through the courtyard, up the stairs and through the front door, to your left is the formal, country French dining room. This room is also used for breakfast which the hotel provides for an extra 10 euro per day, per person and it is optional. It’s a charming, comfortable room with a bar that opens in the afternoon. You may have your drink while sitting in this room or you may opt to take it to the informal terrace.

The terrace is perfect for a sunny afternoon and now that the grape arbor is beautifully filled out, it provides a cool, shaded, al fresco, dining experience. It’s tempting to pick a grape during the season, but I’ve managed to resist thus far. During the evenings, I prefer the 2 indoor dining spaces. Just behind the terrace, is the 3rd dining room.

My favorite space is this elegant, formal dining room, still French in feel, but not “country”. It looks onto the small back garden that is seen from the back of the building, as well as toward the terrace. The menu is the same in all three spaces, the dishes served are exceptional, and the only recommendation to be made is that the menu could change with more frequency.  Some of the selections we were offered in 2014 were the same as they were in 2011. Dining there 2 of 4 evenings in the same week was difficult and left several of us choosing the same entree, just because there was only one non meat entree and no nightly special available. The menu has no vegetarian entree, but I’m certain the kitchen would accommodate the special need upon request. I’ll try asking on my next visit.

After the bread and mini baguettes are delivered to the table in a small basket, filled with one of each item per person, you can expect to receive an amuse bouche, compliments of the chef. On the first occasion we were served a wild mushroom, creamed soup, another time we received a creamed winter squash or pumpkin soup. Both were flavorful and seasoned to perfection. I was happy to see the mushroom soup with cepes (porcini mushrooms) and creme fraiche served again.

It’s safe to say that you could easily be offered a prawn appetizer, since we now have photographic evidence of two different preparations. The cold prawns served over eggplant and a ginger tart was the most recent of these appetizers, but as good as it was, the earlier offering of breaded and fried prawns, with potato slices covered in balsamic glazed shallots, was my preferred choice. This year a monkfish carpaccio marinated in lemon juice was on the menu. There was also a red wine poached foie gras, however it would be difficult to improve on the foie gras that came with a drinkable pear compote imbued with walnut and vanilla. After rereading the older menu, I regret not having tried the foie gras with caramelized apples and black pudding. Since the Dordogne is foie gras country, rest assured, you will find it on the menu in several variations.

   

The small grey snails cooked in a Pot-au-feu broth of mixed herbs, covered in a puff pastry was beautiful to behold and delicious as well. It was more than an appetizer, it was an event. Now for my favorite appetizer, mercifully on the menu every time we have been to Belle Etoile, Cocotte style eggs (coddled) with crayfish and morel mushrooms in a chicory cream sauce. Everyone at our table swooned with their first mouthful.

If you have to choose between a filet topped with potatoes, or a tenderloin topped with foie gras, could you make a wrong decision? I know the meat looks like a tenderloin, but I even checked my travel notes and the foie gras definitely came with the duck.

Okay, you prefer lighter proteins like fish or chicken; you still can’t go wrong at Restaurant La Belle Etoile. Perfectly cooked sea bass was on the menu with mussels, a lemon fennel sauce, and the most interesting vegetable presentation. Buttered, shredded carrots were baked inside crispy phyllo dough. The free range chicken had black truffles layered under the skin before roasting and was served with a truffle risotto. I like the way the wing drumette was included with a grated cheese tuile.

One year we were given the choice of duck fillet, which was a sliced duck breast. It was served with a gratin of pasta using Cantal cheese, another wonderful French cow’s milk cheese. The presentation of ziti with the cheese was beautiful as well as almost architectural and one day I may use that idea for presentation at home. Lamb is another meat that is well prepared at this restaurant and with very generous portions. The hazelnut crust was memorable, but I’m not sure of the vegetable at this late date. It may have been parsnip with a cream sauce.

   

Ordering cognac is a nice start for dessert. To finish, the restaurant served complimentary cannelles and pate de fruit. Better yet are the desserts themselves, some being unique and others very classic. The mixed berries with red currant sorbet and a meringue were very refreshing on a warm evening.

Rhum Baba is one of the classic French desserts and this one was served with house made vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The rum was poured over it at the table; a nice little touch. Creme Brulee is another classic, however, this version seems denser than most and even richer tasting. The dessert that seems proprietary for Belle Etoile is the strawberry dish covered in a sweet pistachio foam and covered by a pistachio tuile.

Two desserts that were new to us were the fried chocolate doughnuts served with vanilla ice cream and pineapple tidbits and the classic profiteroles with a new twist. Instead of vanilla ice cream, the profiteroles were served with chestnut ice cream, and whipped cream, along with the expected chocolate sauce. For those who do not like sweets, cheese is always available. This was similar to a Brie de Meaux with black truffles added by the chef.

How did I manage to forget the wine? La Belle Etoile has an excellent, yet  non cumbersome, wine list that includes French wines that enhance your dining experience; picked expressly for the food they serve. Their cuisine reflects the very best of what the Perigord region has to offer the world.

La Belle Etoile Website

Sleeping in Venice

Ever since our 2^nd trip to Venice, we have been going to Locanda Di Orsaria. We arrived in Venice on our honeymoon without a booking, and as we stood in line at the hotel kiosk in the train station, we were approached by someone trying to lure tourists to Hotel Dolomiti around the corner. We refused the offer of a room for $75 until we kept hearing people ahead of us in line asking if they had something cheaper than $125. Hotel Dolomiti was sounding better and better, so we relented and walked around the corner. It was a decent place and we enjoyed our stay there.

We looked for it again when we were planning another visit but it was closed at that time of year and we ended up canceling plans for Venice entirely. On our 2^nd trip we successfully booked Hotel Dolomiti, but after the first night we needed to find another hotel, and fast. I spent the entire night trying to avoid being eaten alive by mosquitoes. It was very warm, and the sheet covering my head, to avoid dive bombing and buzzing by mosquitoes, made me so uncomfortably hot I couldn’t sleep at all. While my husband strolled around the following morning, I was on a quest to find another room. I found it directly across the street at Locanda Di Orsaria. When I saw the room and noticed window screens I knew I had found the right place. I have never looked back. Here are some photos of this lovely hotel:

  

 

There are two types of rooms, standard and superior. If you need to feel like a princess, try the superior rooms as seen in the photos above. Personally, I like the old fashioned appearance of the standard rooms, and you can book a family room for 4 with that class. Prices have risen over the years and this has become a highly sought after hotel. I count myself lucky to be able to afford it from time to time.

 

When I first booked the hotel, they didn't have a website and you could get a discount for cash. You could also opt out of breakfast to reduce the room price by a small amount. There is no longer an opt out for breakfast, but it's a great way to start your day, so why not indulge yourself? The lattes come in a bowl the way you see them served in France.

 

Locanda Di Orsaria's Website

Where To Stay When In Paris?

 

A simple question, but a complicated answer. I've stayed at many small hotels over the years, in several different arrondissement and would go back to each and every one for very different reasons. This question becomes complicated by finances and location, but after many trips to this charming city it has become a matter of "comfort in location" first and foremost for me. Since I prefer to travel frequently rather than lavishly, cost has to be a consideration, but even if there were more disposable income, I don't think I would dispose of it by overpaying for a place to sleep. That's how each room is viewed, merely a place to sleep. My true comfort is at home; during travel a roof over my head and a clean room will suffice. Big or small, it doesn't matter, so 2 to 3 star hotels are fine. The two hotels in the photos above are three star hotels on Rue de Ecoles in the Latin Quarter.

We wandered into HOTEL SULLY SAINT GERMAIN early one evening during our honeymoon, and snagged a top floor room for very little money. If you're adventurous, this approach works well. Since you will be the last hope for the hotel to rent the room, they very likely will offer you a lower price. Our little hole in the stone wall had a tub half a normal length, that required knees tucked to chest in order to fit into it. We still laugh about it. We are now priced out of this establishment and are no loner willing to risk a night on the street, so we book ahead these days. We did go back once, when they were offering lower rates for three or more nights. HOTEL CLAUDE BERNARD was discovered the same way on our next trip, and we are also unwilling to pay their regular rack rate, so if we can find a special we would go back, but not until then. Both hotels were comfortable, clean and had their own distinctive style.

   

HOTEL FAMILIA is also on Rue De Ecoles in the 5th and becomes a convenient location for exploring the Latin Quarter and Contrescarpe, as well as Le Cite and Ile San Louis . HOTEL PALYM is half a block from Gare de Lyon, the train station we use for traveling to Italy from Paris, and has been a great hotel to stay in when exploring the Bastille and Marais areas of Paris. LE 300 is also good for exploring those same areas and offers one added bonus, it has a kitchenette. Rather than being a classic hotel, it is a building of short term rental apartments. That is a wonderful opportunity for those of us who go to the markets, and dream of trying some of the specialties that must be heated or cooked. Finally there is HOTEL DES GRANDES ECOLES, located on the Contrescarpe. We had tried to book it on several occasions, but they were always fully booked. We got lucky in our last effort.

 

At 114 euro per night for a double, Hotel Familia provides good value. Outfitted with a desk, luggage rack, air conditioning and television, their double rooms are cozy and many have either stone walls or hand painted murals of Paris. Their breakfast is an additional 9 euro for the standard croissant, pain au chocolate, juice and coffee, tea or hot cocoa. You can save money and not overeat by going across the street to a patisserie and just having a croissant with your coffee for almost half of that price.

  

Hotel Des Grandes Ecoles has a lovely garden courtyard with two large buildings encircling it with a loving embrace. Some of the rooms in the main building that houses the breakfast room can be small, but all are quaint and charming and meticulously clean. Views onto the courtyard are especially nice, and the garden is furnished with tables and chairs, offered to guests to use for impromptu picnics. The cool shade from the garden is also a natural means to cool the rooms on hot days. They offer neither air conditioning nor televisions, setting the stage for daydreams of Paris in an age gone by. They had rooms I actually wanted to spend time in, writing my travel journal.

 

We, along with many other guests, took great advantage of the courtyard, bringing in cheese and wine that we found along Rue Mouffetard, the hotel provides the glasses and corkscrew. They also serve a nice breakfast for 9 euro, but with all the cafes, brasseries and patisseries in the area there were many other options. I paid only 6 euro for basically the same breakfast at Le Petit Cardinal a block down the street.

   

While Le 3oo had the least appealing look with a very thin lime green bed cover and flat pillows, they made up for the lack of ambience with that little kitchenette. I intend to go back there on a subsequent trip and make better use of it. Their bathroom was spacious and the shower was large with plenty of hot water. It's located just yards away from a lovely elevated park built along old railroad tracks, no longer in use. There are also many restaurants in the immediate area and you can easily walk to Chez Paul from this accommodation.

    

Hotel Palym came as a complete surprise to us. The room was much larger than we had hoped for with the low price of 105 euro per double. Like the others, the location was convenient, especially for anyone traveling to Italy, but mostly because it was only half a block from the metro. It is a great example of why one should not rely solely on booking agencies and websites for hotels. It was found by accident on the Internet and it was not from a popular booking site.