- Hi guys.
It's a gray morning here in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie,
but I'm headed to the beach anyway.
Because I wanted to show you what it's like,
to dine in a traditional crepery.
And the best way to get to the beach,
is via the Passeur.
A little boat that takes you right across the town.
Let's go.
(upbeat music) Looks like we made it
just in time.
People are already queuing up to get on the boat.
All aboard.
There isn't really a set schedule,
it comes every five to 10 minutes or so,
but it does only run during the months of July and August.
(people chattering)
You pay the man fare,
two Euro's,
going and (indistinct).
(laughing)
And we're off.
The port of Saint-Gilles still functions as a fishing port,
so it's fun to see all of the fishing boats
coming in and out with their daily catch.
Now, you also can ride bikes to the beach,
or you can drive,
but right now we are in high season.
It's so hard to drive and hard to park.
So, the best thing to do,
is to walk from town,
get the Passeur,
cross and walk the beach.
The funny thing is,
it's probably the shortest boat ride you'll ever take.
Once you leave the harbor,
you basically cross the channel to the other side,
and you're there.
(laughing)
But it's certainly quicker,
than walking all the way around.
Then once you get off,
it's a scenic walk to the beach.
You basically just cross the bridge,
and that will take you to a little dirt path.
And then you'll find another path that heads to the beach.
So, we have a group of people today.
We've got the family.
We've got Orilee.
This is what's happening in the month of July.
We start to have a lot of friends and family
that come to visit,
and we have a real international group today.
So, with us we have,
Susanna.
(laughing)
- Originally from Argentina.
But lives in Los Angeles.
(laughing)
- [Host] And then we have Diego.
- Diego, originally from Argentina,
and I live in Barcelona.
- [Host] Okay.
And then we've got Mavi.
- From Venezuela.
- [Host] Venezuela. - And I live in Barcelona.
(laughing)
- [Host] And then we've got Philip.
- Yes, originally from Canada,
but now in Geneva.
- [Host] Ah hah.
(laughing)
And then we've got my sister-in-law,
my brother-in-law,
and my daughter Orilee.
So, off we go.
And they are here from France.
And to eat at a crepery,
when you have a lot of people,
is really the way to go.
Because it's inexpensive,
everybody gets what they want,
and it's pretty quick.
This is another fun thing
about being in France in the summer,
is that we get to reunite with friends who are in Europe,
where it's just a quick trip over to France to come see us.
Then you take a nice little walk through the forest-
(giggle)
Up to the beach.
It's so beautiful and peaceful here,
and it's one of the things that I really love
about this region of France,
it's all the natural beauty.
It's so great.
Ta-Da.
We made it to the beach.
Even though it's a gray day,
it's still a beautiful place to come.
This boardwalk is know as the Remblais,
and this is where
you can find all different kinds of great restaurants
focusing on local food and seafood,
and each table has an amazing view of the ocean.
On a sunny day,
further down the Remblais,
is the perfect opportunity to take advantage
of all of the awesome water activities.
You'll see lots of surfing,
wind surfing,
paddle boarding.
You name it, it's all here.
And the crepery we're eating at today,
is called Le Cabines.
It's owned by a charming French couple,
Amandine and Francois.
Amandine takes care of the front of the house,
while Francois is in the kitchen.
Francois is from the Brittany region of France,
which is where galettes and crepes originated from.
He decided to bring the tradition here,
to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie,
which is in the Vendée region.
Most crepery's in France
will serve both galettes and crepes.
The galette is the savory variety,
where the crepe is the sweet one.
It's best to leave room for both,
'cause they're equally delicious.
Okay, now,
it's really traditional to drink cider with galettes.
And you can see the guys here...
Normally this cider will come in a big pincher.
Diego, show us your cider.
There you go.
Now, cider is traditionally served in bowls,
and I had to laugh because Susanna was asking me,
"Well, does it come hot?"
(giggle)
Because it's in this little bowl.
With the handle.
It doesn't come hot,
but it was an excellent question.
So, I wanted to know why the cider is served in a bowl,
and this nice gentleman is gonna tell me why.
(laughing)
(man speaking French)
So he explained that long ago,
cider was served in these little mugs,
or pottery,
because glass is a relatively new invention.
And you would use these mugs for just about anything
you would drink.
Funny thing is,
is that the tradition of the cider in the bowl
just sort of stuck together,
and we still serve it this way even today.
(speaking French)
(wooing in excitement)
In France, often times restaurants will serve
what's known as a Amuse Bouche.
Which is a complementary little snack,
that's served while you wait for your meal to arrive.
Right now, Susanna is trying the galette with butter.
- So good.
So good. - [Host] is it good?
- Amazing.
- [Host] Galettes are made with a very earthy flower,
called Ble Noir.
Which is very similar
to our buckwheat flower that we get in the States.
If you wanna learn how to make them,
I have a recipe on this channel,
that will show you how.
But you can see how he's folding them into a square,
that's the traditional way to fold a galette.
And you can usually tell that it's something savory,
when you see it folded that way.
And the of course the finishing touch
is always a little bit if melted butter.
It's so good.
What I love about Francois style,
is that he makes the classics,
but he also makes some really gourmet looking galettes.
This one was the galette of the season.
Ham, pesto and a little bit if melon sorbet.
Susanna, that looks amazing.
- So good.
- [Host] Susanna got an open faced vegetarian galette,
ans I was very happy with my choice too.
It is a galette,
with potatoes, cheese, caramelized onions and local ham,
from Vendée.
And then you also get a cute little salad on the side.
All right,
well I'm gonna give it a try.
Let's see.
This does look pretty amazing.
The caramelized onions look so good.
This is certainly hearty.
(giggle)
I have to pace myself,
'cause I definitely wanna save room for dessert.
(little girl speaking foreign language)
So good.
What did you get baby?
- A galette.
- [Host] A galette?
Usually in France
the galettes for kids are just ham and cheese.
Right?
- Yeah. - [Host] That's a popular
choice?
What do you think?
- [Host] And Bruno.
(speaking in a foreign language)
And for desert,
I had to save room for the crepe of the season.
A strawberry crepe.
Francois was sweet enough to invite me into his kitchen,
to see if I could make the crepe
on one of his fancy griddles.
He told me that sometimes
he's got all five of these griddles going at once.
This is amazing.
(speaking in foreign language)
Okay, here's the thing,
you're gonna take it with your left hand,
and then spin it with you right hand.
This, I think is gonna be...
Okay.
(speaking foreign language)
Okay, here we go.
Oh my gosh.
(speaking foreign language)
Okay.
Oh my gosh.
This is hard.
(laughing)
(speaking foreign language)
(laughing)
Well, then you know he's a sweet guy,
with that kind of encouragement.
Then he came over to show me how to actually fold them.
So, the crepes are typically folded in a triangle.
So, he does the first two corners,
and then he flips up the bottom.
His looks perfect, right?
(laughing)
Wait 'till you see mine.
Then of course he goes in
with a little bit more of the melted butter.
And then it was my turn.
(speaking foreign language)
There we go.
Okay, things are looking...
My crepe was a bit of a floppy mess,
burnt on the outside,
and undercooked on the inside.
(giggle)
I was amazed at how hot those griddles were.
It was really hard to control the heat.
They're much easier to make,
I think,
in a pan at home.
Okay, I think I'm gonna keep my day job.
(laughing)
However, he did take his fabulous looking crepe,
and put the rhubarb ice cream and strawberries on it.
Added some of that delicious strawberry sauce,
and then of course
proceeded over to the whipped cream machine,
for the final flourish.
I mean, look at that machine.
Wouldn't you love to have that at home?
How easy is that?
And then the finishing touch,
was some of their delicious homemade crumble,
that he put all over the top of this crepe.
I mean, was this not the most fantastic looking thing?
Oh my gosh, with the crumble,
(indistinct) a little bit of the rhubarb ice cream,
let's see.
That's amazing.
So good.
Well that was super fun,
and so delicious.
Again, I think I'll keep to the videos,
and not be a professional crepe maker.
(laughing)
I don't think I've got that in my future.
If you guys come to Saint-Gilles,
you definitely have to check out the crepery.
And Amandine and Francois
cannot be more gracious and hospitable.
Oh, and I think the sun is coming out.
Yeah.
Time to head to the beach.