The Hotel d’Orleans, for a plentiful meal at a low
price ; the Restaurant Gilbert, in the Place de la
Prefecture, where the Colavery, the wine of the
house, is excellent ; and the English Grill Room of
the Hotel Florence, deserve mention.
AFTER DINNER
The Grand Theatre is a fine opera-house, and its
prices are a franc or two higher than those of theatres
in most provincial towns. Many of the great stars
of opera appear there. There are two other theatres
in Marseilles, and operetta is frequently sung at the
Alcazar, which is a . variety hall. The Palais de Crys-
tal is a music hall where the southern temperament
can be studied. In times of excitement a Marseilles
audience can be very noisy. For those men who
io 6 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe
hate the idea of going to bed before the small hours,
Therese’s Bar, which opens at midnight and closes
at early breakfast time, is a refuge.
Arles
The first town that most people go to in making the
round of the old Roman towns of the Midi is Arles.
Hotel du Forum An exceptionally shaky omnibus takes
Square du one through narrow streets in which
Forum the gj^opg are very much of the size
and type that they must have been in old Roman
days, and lands one in the little Square du Forum,
where are the two hotels. The officers mess at the
Hotel du Nord, but the Hotel du Forum has a highly
decorated dining-room which is kept fairly well aired.
There is little to choose between the feeding at the
two houses, the cookery of both being Provent^al.
At the Forum the soup will probably be found to be
a vegetable one with plenty of onions in it, and the
fish Cocquilages ; but the surprise of the dinner comes
with the tender slice of leg of lamb. To judge from
the mutton one gets throughout Provence the sheep
that pasture on its great plains must be very well
favoured. On the wine list are the wines of the
province — red St. Georges and white St. Gilles, and
there are also the wines of the Rhone, Chateau Neuf
du Pape, and the rest. Arles is celebrated for its
sausages, but I was not bold enough to try them.
The decorations of the dining-room of the Forum
Hotel appear at first glance to be Japanese, but they
are really large water-colour works of scenes near
Arles, and it is the appearance of the groups of
Arlesiennes in their bright shawls and chappelles, the
head-dress of black velvet and muslin bows, which give
the Japanese tone, the pretty girls of this old Roman
town somewhat resembling in their costume the little
French Provincial Towns 107
Japanese mousmees. Any one who wishes to study
Provencal local colour will find it in abundance in
this hotel. The manageress sits in a glass case in the
i hall, which runs up to the roof and a skylight, and
chats with or scolds all comers ; a pointer chooses
1 the centre of the hall floor as a sleeping place ; a pretty
girl with a shock head of hair arranges flowers and
eats her breakfast at one and the same time ; a cook
with a huge black moustache rushes in and out of his
; kitchen, and meals are continuous from sunrise to
sunset.
Nimes
Page 60
Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The Hotel d’Orleans, for a plentiful meal at a low price ; the Restaurant Gilbert, in the Place de la Prefecture, where the Colavert, the wine of the house, is excellent ; and the English Grill Room of the Hotel Florence, deserve mention.
The Grand Theatre is a fine opera-house, and its prices are a franc or two higher than those of theatres in most provincial towns. Many of the great stars of opera appear there. There are two other theatres in Marseilles, and operetta is frequently sung at the Alcazar, which is a . variety hall. The Palais de Crystal is a music hall where the southern temperament can be studied. In times of excitement a Marseilles audience can be very noisy. For those men who
io 6 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe
hate the idea of going to bed before the small hours, Therese’s Bar, which opens at midnight and closes at early breakfast time, is a refuge.
Arles
The first town that most people go to in making the round of the old Roman towns of the Midi is Arles. Hotel du Forum An exceptionally shaky omnibus takes Square du one through narrow streets in which
Forum the shops are very much of the size
and type that they must have been in old Roman days, and lands one in the little Square du Forum, where are the two hotels. The officers mess at the Hotel du Nord, but the Hotel du Forum has a highly decorated dining-room which is kept fairly well aired. There is little to choose between the feeding at the two houses, the cookery of both being Provençal. At the Forum the soup will probably be found to be a vegetable one with plenty of onions in it, and the fish Coquillages ; but the surprise of the dinner comes with the tender slice of leg of lamb. To judge from the mutton one gets throughout Provence the sheep that pasture on its great plains must be very well favoured. On the wine list are the wines of the province — red St. Georges and white St. Gilles, and there are also the wines of the Rhone, Chateau Neuf du Pape, and the rest. Arles is celebrated for its sausages, but I was not bold enough to try them. The decorations of the dining-room of the Forum Hotel appear at first glance to be Japanese, but they are really large water-colour works of scenes near Arles, and it is the appearance of the groups of Arlesiennes in their bright shawls and chapelles, the head-dress of black velvet and muslin bows, which give the Japanese tone, the pretty girls of this old Roman town somewhat resembling in their costume the little
French Provincial Towns 107
Japanese moussmes. Any one who wishes to study Provencal local colour will find it in abundance in this hotel. The manageress sits in a glass case in the i hall, which runs up to the roof and a skylight, and chats with or scolds all comers ; a pointer chooses 1 the centre of the hall floor as a sleeping place ; a pretty girl with a shock head of hair arranges flowers and eats her breakfast at one and the same time ; a cook with a huge black moustache rushes in and out of his ; kitchen, and meals are continuous from sunrise to sunset.
Nimes