I thought the same about continental breakfasts, until I stayed in a hotel near Paris, where they did them properly.
Each morning, at around 5.30am, one of the two 60 year old sisters who ran the place would go to the local boulanger. The boulanger would give them a huge bag of freshly made croissants, chocolatines (known as pain-au-chocolat up there) and baguettes, as they'd been doing for the last three or more decades.
(Incidentally, you couldn't actually buy most stuff from this boulanger by just walking in off the street. It was all reserved for regular customers, and there was usually a line out the door anyway.)
You'd come down for breakfast, and get a basket with an entire baguette cut into sections, an enormous croissant, and a similarly sized chocolatine. You'd also get four or five pots of home-made jam, fresh butter, and a pot of coffee (or tea, or hot chocolate - the French have something of a sweet tooth) that would fill twice over the half-liter bowl that they drink coffee from up there.
It was satisfactory, is what I'm attempting to express.
Sadly, this Parisian ideal has been corrupted by the lazy and criminally insane of the hotel world into one supermarket croissant and a slice of toast, with a little plastic tub of jam if you're lucky.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-15 09:50 am (UTC)Each morning, at around 5.30am, one of the two 60 year old sisters who ran the place would go to the local boulanger. The boulanger would give them a huge bag of freshly made croissants, chocolatines (known as pain-au-chocolat up there) and baguettes, as they'd been doing for the last three or more decades.
(Incidentally, you couldn't actually buy most stuff from this boulanger by just walking in off the street. It was all reserved for regular customers, and there was usually a line out the door anyway.)
You'd come down for breakfast, and get a basket with an entire baguette cut into sections, an enormous croissant, and a similarly sized chocolatine. You'd also get four or five pots of home-made jam, fresh butter, and a pot of coffee (or tea, or hot chocolate - the French have something of a sweet tooth) that would fill twice over the half-liter bowl that they drink coffee from up there.
It was satisfactory, is what I'm attempting to express.
Sadly, this Parisian ideal has been corrupted by the lazy and criminally insane of the hotel world into one supermarket croissant and a slice of toast, with a little plastic tub of jam if you're lucky.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-16 09:40 am (UTC)