Foodie Failure?

Let me start by saying one of the goals of this trip was to develop a more sophisticated palate for me and especially for hubby.  The developing of hubby's palate seemed 'the heavy lift' since he had declared earlier in our lives at a local deli that he just wanted a sandwich with "American bread, American mustard and American turkey"...whaaatttt?  I took a step away from him and acted like I didn't know him, seriously I did. 

I don't remember where I saw this little wit, but it is so true!

On this trip he has shed the shame of the deli incident and then some.  Me on the other hand have discovered that there appears to be two obstacles to me personally becoming a 'foodie' and therefore  I hang my head in 'foodie failure'.  Obstacle number one, my mind is much more adventurous than my stomach, no other details needed.  Obstacle number two, and to this I am assuming that there is a protocol to take pictures of the delightful meal you are about to consume, well when I am particularly hungry I consume first, like a child there is no holding me back.  A picture of a very clean plate is not a good testimony to the actual epicurean delight that was presented.

It is a really good thing to have a 'sponsor' to give you an assist when a momentary lapse of one's commitment to the art of dining well occurs.  My sponsor is my hubby and he packs a camera everywhere we go.  Last night we were having dinner in Nice, the beautiful salad below is my testimony.  There is also surprisingly a capture of the incredible risotto parmigiana and veal Milanese, I do remember hubby saying something to the effect that there were children present and I should stop moaning with every bite.

Even the carrots and cauliflower was good,

We are lucky to be in Nice, France as they celebrate Carnaval with a theme of ''Gastronomy of the Provence.  Although, other than seafood, I am not sure that the area has a clearly defined cuisine. To this  newbie one does have to sort through the 'tourist-ed menu's' with diligence. We have never attended a Carnaval parade and evidently Nice is the oldest celebration in the world? The floats were unique, extraordinarily detailed and celebrated the art of cooking, dining and of course 'the drink'.  It also had a smoke blowing dragon, not sure why except it is a old grand tourist resort after-all. There are probably lots of stories of 'smoke blowing'

This is a balloon celebrating those who serve the dishes

One must celebrate those who have joy in the drink

This huge balloon with a levitating multi tasking chef was eye popping

Gigantic smoke spewing dragon

The parade became the star of this post only because it happened to be today.  There are so many food happenings which I will try to post by city tomorrow from Paris, Venice, Barcelona and Turin.  You will notice that there are very few dessert pictures and that is because of 'foodie failure'.  I assure you that they were wonderful, the pastries are demanding of ones attention and extreme need to walk more.