La Bords du Seine

Chateau La Roche- Guyon looking down on the village.  It has an interesting history, including being Rommel's headquarters during the Normandy invasion.

The first time Bill and I traveled to France, we spent our last night, before heading to the airport, in La Roche-Guyon, a small village on the Seine.  It was a logical choice, as the drive into Charles DeGaulle was about an hour.  It was also a choice of the heart, as I fell in love with the pictures of pictures on the Hotel St Georges's website.  Several years later, when we were traveling with our two children, we stayed again on our final night before driving into Paris.  Both visits, we ate at the restaurant in the hotel, La Bords du Seine.



The hotel with it's new name sign.

 The hotel name has been changed to La Bords du Seine, to match the restaurant.  There has been updating to both the interior and exterior, but what has remained the same is the quality of service and food.  Plus the prices on the hotel rooms still seem very reasonable.  When Bill and I took a day trip to visit M Monet's home in Giverny, it made perfect sense to stop in La Roche-Guyon for lunch, since it was on the way.  Ok, even if it had been a bit out of the way we would have stopped!

A swan on the river.  I always get such a thrill seeing wild swans.

Fishermen with their long poles.

We arrived early for lunch, which gave us time to take pictures and get a look at a few of the locals.  The Seine is big river, used for transportation of cargo.  There were men fishing, so I started looking for signs of fish.  The water was clear enough to see the smaller fish closer to the banks, as well as fish coming to the top to catch insects.  The flowers were in beautiful bloom after several days of welcomed rainfall.

I think he was looking for fish, too.  He was very well trained, responding to hand signals from his owner.  When it was time for him to go home, he sat for her and raised his paw.  She put a treat on it, which he held very still, then he was allowed to eat it off the paw.

One of the barges we saw pass.

It started sprinkling again just before lunch. Rather than get too wet, we sat on their front patio area while waiting for the dinner bell to ring.  Perhaps better known as the church bells.  We were the first customers, but were soon joined by about 40 others, all locals.

I wonder if Fiat will have this color when they start selling in the US?

This was our one 'splurge' French lunch, aperitifs, entre, plat and dessert, with rose wine to drink.  Bill's entre or starter/salad, was a dish with eggs, green beans, cucumbers in a white sauce.  Since he is allergic to cucumbers, those were piled on the side while he ate the rest; declaring it delicious.  I had the Salade du La Bords du Seine.  Green salad in the center topped with a slice of fois gras.  Around the edges were green beans, carrots, bacon, and walnuts, with a sprinkling of wonderful vinegrette. Our plats were roasted duck legs with roasted potatoes and tomatoes and a bit of green salad.  All of this was included in their Plat du Jour for 13euros.

Our lunch.  It's out of focus, but even fussy is makes me drool.

Desserts, again out of focus, but don't the pink glasses look nicely in focus?

 The server returned with the dessert menu.  What to do? What to do?  What could we do?!  We ordered dessert, of course!  Bill's was a creme brulee with a strawberry custard on top, all served to look like a sail boat!  I really splurged with the profiteroles; little puff pastries cut in half, filled with vanilla ice cream then alternately topped with chocolate sauce and whipped creme.  If I ever have to choose a last meal, these will be dessert!

Mary concentrating on her camera.  Didn't really help.  See above photos as proof.

On our way out of town, we passed by the troglodyte dwelling dug out of the hill side.  Originally, these were houses, but now are mainly used for storage and, in one case, a business that repairs furniture.  I stayed in the car while Bill stood in the middle of the road taking pictures.

Troglodyte caves carved out of the limestone cliffs.

Still in use hundreds of years later, thanks to the addition of electricity.