French and plant based - OUI !

Many meals with Erin
and Philip

Les Amantes du Marche - pumpkin quinoa
stew with cabbage salad
rolls and pesto dressing

OUI! you can eat completely plant based while traveling in France but you will not be experiencing the true French cuisine. Having language and custom as a challenge, we still managed to find delicious meals out and we made many ourselves at home, picnic or even traveling. One of my favorite parts of travel as I have mentioned before is searching for items in stores (here called Bio stores) or restaurants. With the internet it is easier and easier to find them.

La Fiancée du Désert - vegetarian plate

We were based in Pau, France for a total of 5 weeks with short side trips here and there (and our trip to Morocco in between) and so we got to know the culture and places that we liked. Our friends Erin and Philip were living a floor below and were great for helping us find what we like as well as many delicious meals shared with them in their contemporary apartment. Pau is a comfortable small walkable city. 

Eggplant and Artichoke salad at
Relais D'Alsace, Pau

Spa town of Loudenville in Pyrennes

We ate today at a favorite restaurant to celebrate my birthday a few days early - Les Amantes du Marche. We attempted several times before only to find them filled at lunch so reservations are definitely in order. Richard had the sample midday menu plate and I enjoyed a salad of beets and chestnuts along with pumpkin quinoa stew and cabbage rolls with pesto sauce. We also enjoyed a meal at La Fiancée du Désert, a Lebanese restaurant in Pau which also requires reservations. Twice we enjoyed a salad of eggplant and artichoke hearts at Relais D'Alsace Taverne, just downstairs from our apartment in Place Clemenceau.
We took several side trips during our stays in France. Off to the Pyrenees several times including a 
weekend in Loudenville where there was a spa. By asking questions I always managed to find 
an item that was plant-based, often a large salad. 

Olea Restaurant, Biarritz

Padrons in Bayonne

By train we traveled to Lourdes, Bayonne and Biarritz where we found several restaurants with vegan items on their menus.

And then there were our picnics and makeshift meals. With a little trip to a Bio store and a bandana as a placemat we are set to go wherever we are. To some it is a bottle of wine, cheese and bread and to us - rice cakes, hummus, carrots, fruit and treats.

Chestnuts roasting on the open fire.
Every afternoon in Place Clemenceau, Pau

Picnic in Parc Beaumont
Hummus, carrots, chips
and apple

Makeshift meal in Toulouse hotel,
on the way to Morocco
Tomato soup and endives

Food memories from Morocco

First meal at Restaurant Marrakech
in Fez

Cafe Clock in the medina in Fez.
Typical salads served before
a meal.

We have just returned from 2 amazing weeks in Morocco and had the good fortune to travel to many beautiful places. I have already written about the details of our trip on our travel blog at: http://mexicotravel-susan-ricardo.blogspot.com and now am going to show mostly with pictures some of the food adventures. Morocco is a land of smells and tastes as well as color and sounds - a feast for all the senses. Eating plant based was not the common way of the day as most restaurants served meat of many forms but as I follow my intention, I was easily able to eat everyday and many memorable meals for sure. Since I do not eat wheat products the breakfasts were sometimes scarce but there was usually fruit including dates or figs and various jams and spreads that were enjoyed by Richard. I always have a little stash of nuts and fruit for these moments when the options are not suitable.

Breakfast in Chefchauen - pea soup
and apples. One of my favorite breakfasts

Here are how dates grow.

We often ate our big meal in the late afternoon and then ate some snacks for dinner which was the very local products of figs, apples, dates, almonds and of course, olives - all grown locally. We even managed to pick dates right off the trees as we walked through the oases.

Olive stand in the medina.

Lunch in Ouarzazate

Tagine dish

Tagine in Meknes

Tagines are the main food of Morocco and we were able to get vegan tagines in every restaurant that we went to. On Fridays the tradition is for families to gather for giant bowls of couscous with either meat or vegetables and so often restaurants will provide couscous on Fridays. We enjoyed several meals of vegetarian couscous, one served with figs and one with dates.

Cafe Sofia in Chefchauen
Soup, tagine and aubergine (eggplant)

Moroccan salad served to us
in a Berber cave in the desert

Last days in Marrakech at
Ayaso Concept Store
Lentils, avocado spread, soup and salad

Sitting in a Berber tent in the middle
of the Sahara desert drinking
mint tea

We would recommend this country to anyone who wishes to learn of another culture. The people are so very kind and friendly and always try to please. The custom no matter where we went when arriving anywhere - shop, hotel or restaurant is to sit down and enjoy a cup (glass) of mint tea (san o avec sucre). Needless to say, we enjoyed many glasses of tea.