We decided to venture into nearby St. Dizier to see if we could find a nice place for lunch. St. Dizier is a small commune with about 26,000 residents, located not far from where we were staying. It has sort of a grimy look to it and, if I’m honest, isn’t a very exciting place. However, we did manage to find a great lunch spot. We were lucky we got there right at noon, too, since almost every table in the place was reserved!
The restaurant we chose was called Le Gourmet du Jard. Besides traditional French dishes, it offers pizzas and “plats du jour”. I was glad to find it, because we had looked at a menu at another place and I said, “That looks too French for me.” The menu was loaded with fois gras, escargots, mushrooms, and andouillette. Bill had a bad experience with andouillette in Burgundy, although I know many people love to eat it. Le Gourmet du Jard had more things on the menu that I recognized and knew I’d want to eat.
Outside of the restaurant.
We shared our table with a French couple. Yes, we were the only Americans in the place, and no one spoke English. Still, I managed to order a lovely salmon and cod en croute. Bill had a salad with shrimp, smoked salmon, hearts of palm, and artichoke hearts, among other things.
We shared a half bottle of red wine…
The place is obviously still decorated for Valentine’s Day.
I had a lovely salmon and cod dish, enrobed en croute (in pastry), with mixed vegetables, rice, a potato, and a savory sauce. It was very good, and I was relieved that there was nothing originating from intestines on my plate.
Bill had a Salad Pacifique, which was quite a production with shrimp, smoked salmon, and a variety of fresh vegetables. He said it didn’t really stay with him, although it tasted great. We got bread and a snack mix made of crackers and peanuts, too. This salad also was part of a three course meal that was available for a reasonable price. This restaurant had a number of such three and four course deals going. I didn’t want that much food, but if I had been hungrier and more daring, I might have tried one.
For dessert, I had a huge cup of chocolate mousse!
Bill had the tart of the day, which was cherry. It was excellent!
Le Gourmet du Jard was staffed by a group of hardworking teenagers. The dining room was small, but busy. They did a great job of making sure everyone was happy. Service was friendly and professional. We’d go back.
After lunch, we walked around the town and I took a few photos, before we had to head out to take care of a special errand for my sister. Here are a few photos of St. Dizier, in all its glory.
I liked this statue, too.
The cathedral was kind of interesting. It looked sort of “mod”.
This ad with the piglet caught my eye… especially since it mentions Vegas.
Yeah, there isn’t a whole lot to this town. It was sort of sleepy. But the weather was so pretty that if we’d wanted to, we could have gotten a table on the square and people watched for awhile.
We decided to leave and hit the grocery store. My sister, Becky, had asked me to find her French laundry detergent called Mir. That chore actually took some time, since the first store we went to was closed and the second one, a Lidl, didn’t have what we needed.
No Mir in the laundry aisle…
But we did find booze. Actually, the Lidl was stocked with all kinds of weird stuff. They had things like gifts, tights, clothing items, and toys, but the selection of things like food or detergent was pretty slim…
And worst of all, they had no public restroom.
Yes, there was beer and we brought some back with us.
This abbey– Abbaye Trois Fontaines— is very close to where our rental house was.
Bill eventually dropped me off and went to a larger store, where he did manage to find the Mir for Becky. It will get mailed to her at some point.
I PM’d this photo to my sister and she was very happy. I may have to try it myself, to see why it excites her so much… Interestingly enough, it looks like it’s made by a German company.