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France, Paris: Fixed Price Meals in Montmartre
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Behind Sacre Coeur Cathedral there is a touristy restaurant zone where you can enjoy a typical French meal before getting your spot in front of Sacre Coeur for the sunset. 3-course prix fixe meals are well priced at 16 – 23 euros (around $22-$28US) and are actually pretty tasty. Expect to find classic onion soup, beef Bourguignon, coq au vin, salmon, and apple tart for dessert. Don’t order any soda – that’s where they get you.
US: Florence, SC – Go Nuts for Pecans in Florence and Snag some Free Swag
April is National Pecan month so why not celebrate by following a culinary trail dedicated to the pecan.
Florence is home to the South Carolina Pecan Trail, showcasing 17 local restaurants and specialty shops offering pecan dishes or products, putting pecans in the spotlight. From pecan-encrusted grouper to pecan pie martinis, those venturing on the trail will experience a variety of originality.
Pick up a passport at the visitors center, 3290 W. Radio Drive, or any of the participating restaurants to start the journey. Earn a stamp in the passport by feasting on the featured pecan item at each establishment.
Return your passport to the Visitors Center in person or by mail for some sweet Pecan Trail swag. Show up with four stamps, and receive a charming metal nutcracker. Eight stamps will get you a drawstring bag and the nutcracker. Present a fully stamped passport and walk away with a T-shirt, drawstring bag and the nutcracker. 
Get your stamps and enjoy tasty pecan offerings at these restaurants and specialty shops:
Block and Vino: Seasonal praline pecan cheesecake; candied pecan brie-stuffed chicken
Clay Pot Coffee Shop: Signature BIG cookie: Southern Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookie
Dolce Vita: Double chocolate chip pecan muffin
Freeman’s Bakery: Assortment of baked goods, including cakes, Danish pastries
Julian Belle’s: White Russian pecan pie
The Library: Bourbon pecan pie
Rebel Pie Wood-fired Pizza: Danish pizza
Red Bone Alley: Chicken salad with pecans; apple crisp; chocolate chip cookie pie
Seminar Brewing: Pecans Gone Wild smoked brown ale
Struttin’ Turkey: Turkey salad with cranberries and pecans
Top Hat Special-Teas: Top Hat Pecan Scones
Town Hall: Braised oxtail ravioli, local sweet potato puree, espelette-spiced pecans and sage oil
Tubb’s Shrimp and Fish Co.: Sweet potato cheesecake
Venus Restaurant and Catering: Pecan (Belgian) waffle, Southern pecan pancakes
Victors: Pecan pie martini
Wholly Smokin’: Goat cheese salad, features warm goat cheese patty encrusted with local pecans
Young Plantations: Variety of flavored pecans
Location: Visitor Information Center, 3290 W. Radio Drive, Florence Center Upper Level, Florence, SC 29501
Time: Daily 9am – 5pm
Tel: 800-325-9005
visitflo.com
US: Annapolis, MD – Binge on Chocoholic Sushi with Chocolate Martinis at Annapolis Festival
Under the warm glow of lights you’ll be served a FREE toasty cup of hot chocolate while you enjoy listening to music. Indulge in some family-fun, there is something for everyone including shopping, art, drinks, food, prizes, and fun for kids of all ages and did I mention chocolate.
Take a chocolate tour along West Street with a dozens of vendors selling various chocolate specialties , including chocolate caramels, bars, truffles, fudge, cookies, rice crispies, fondue, chocolate fountain, candy apples, chocolate sushi, and even chocolate martinis. Chocoholics, get ready to binge!
Entertainment includes: Moon Bounce, Balloon Sculptures, Face Painting, Meet Santa, McGruff the crime fighting dog, and Sparky the fire department dog, Music performances, Comedy, Ugly Sweater Contest, holiday shopping, the lighting of the West Street Light Canopy. You can roast marshmallows and make s’mores at the fire pit in the middle of West Street sponsored by the Annapolis Fire Department.
Chocolate, holiday vendors, music, family friendly entertainment and holiday light canopy. All this makes for a great street party in Annapolis. Support the local arts and and We Care and Friends . Suggested $5 donation to the Annapolis Arts District-Kids are free with a paid parent donation.
Location: West St and Calvert St (Intersection) ,Annapolis, MD 21401
Date: Sun, Dec 4th, 2016
Time: noon-5pm
Tel: 410-858-5884
annapolischocolatefestival.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitannapolis.org
Canada: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia – Typical Meal in the 18th Century
In the eighteenth century at Fortress Louisbourg, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the lower class diet included locally prepared bread, spruce beer, meat or fish. Staples like butter, cheese, and rum were imported. Here I dined on pea soup and an apple tart for dessert. They ate with spoons. Gathering for a meal was not only for sustenance but also for news, companionship and games of chance.
Belgium: Farm to Table
Michelin listed Ghent restaurant t’Pakhuis (www.pakhuis.be) takes the concept of farm right to table so seriously that they bought the farm – in Bresse, France. So now they breed and serve famous and flavourful Bresse chickens, guinea fowl, Hampshire down lambs, and Bayeux pigs. From home in Belgium, they get special tomatoes, their herbs, and even “lost and forgotten” vegetables
Located in a former ironworks factory with painted cast-iron pillars and a soaring wrought-iron balcony now filled with light from the huge roof skylight, the noisy chattering happy diners, both inside and out might be enjoying the beers and fancy cocktails at the bar or on the large terrace. In keeping with it’s slick metallic theme, it has the coolest bathroom lock I’ve ever encountered and I challenge you to try to turn on the tap without having to ask!
And the food – my liver screamed for mercy but my mouth was bathed in smiles. Though you could start with a lighter lobster soup or beef carpaccio, if you dare, the foie gras plate had the most generous hunk of silky foie we have ever encountered accompanied by sage apple cream and dates. Had I stopped there, it would have been a perfect dinner.
But yet we ventured on to the grilled duck breast in pea cream with baby veggies and mashies that were so smoothly whipped that they could have been served for a dessert sorbet. The asparagus risotto with lemon butter was so yummy, it alone could turn me into a vegetarian.
We could have ended the meal with a locally favorite flavor, gingerbread, in cheesecake with vanilla sauce or gone lightly with some sorbets, but we took it to the max with a silky creme brûlée. Sigh.
FL: Frog’s Leg Festival
In Fellsmere FL the annual town fair has the usual hotdogs, fried dough, turkey legs and candy apples but here the main feature is the frog leg and gator tail dinners. There’s rides, games, and stage entertainment: rock, country and blues bands. For those that enjoy browsing and shopping they also have about 100 booths of crafts. There is a free shuttle bus that will take you from Mesa Park to the festival.
Location: Exit 156, go west about 3 miles until you see the traffic and signage
Hours: Jan 19: 10-11, Jan 20: 11-6
Frog Leg & Gator Tail Dinner Hours: Sat 11-9, Sun 11-6
(click to enlarge)