Airport Food the French Way

Jet lag sucks, but I guess it goes without saying, is worth it!

We finally are finally settled in our hotel room in the center of old town Bordeaux. Groggy as hell I'm off to hotel breakfast (a full report soon!) and hope to get back up to blogging speed in the next few days.

During our transfer in Paris we had a few hours to hang out at Charles de Gaul airport in terminal 2. A very impressive and often beautiful structure that is already insanely over crowded and although the architecture is stunning, the 2F section, a large all glass spear feels a little bit like being in a slow cooker on a hot day. All that glass is nice but with the sun blaring in and the thousands of passengers crowded in (a lot with no place to sit) the a/c units don't even make a dent.

The most impressive thing to me about the airport was the food. No McDonalds or Starbucks here just healthy sandwiches, quiches, salads, high end artisanal chocolates, a vast array of colorful french macaroons and more baked goods than you could shake a croissant at!

Not to mention a ton of free newspapers in both French and English.

The "natural, fresh & ready" is the sign from the little cafe we had a snack in (photos below) the La Maison Du Chocolate store was on a different level and loomed large. I liked the juxtapostion.


French Macaroons are all the rage these days in New York, light, sweet and whimsically colored they are the perfect

Cheese, foie gras, bread, baked goods and wine all in abundance. I've never been to an airport where I wanted to do a serious food shop. It almost makes you long for a delayed flight so you could buy a picnic.
This made me smile - Fantasy Breads!

It's worth noting that La Maison du Chocolate has stores in NYC, they are however not at Newark or JFK airports you have to go to one of three locations to find their chocolate in NYC: Madison Avenue, Rockefeller Center or Wall Street. After waiting in line to order a coffee at the Illy Cafe the guy ahead of me orders a cappuccino and a pain au chocolate, the woman behind the counter informed him that they were out of pain au chocolate, he looked crest fallen, waved his hand in dismissal of her and this tawdry establishment and walked away. I mean, really how can one possibly be expected to have a cappuccino sans pain au chocolate, I mean it's simply not acceptable!