Take the humble croque-monsieur, the French name for a cheese and ham toastie with aspirations. Just about everyone is familiar with the croque-monsieur – a griddled or toasted sandwich consisting of French ham, Gruyere cheese and bechamel sauce. It’s a nice little Parisian snack.

What I didn’t know until we spent a few hours in Montparnasse in Paris was the croque-monsieur can have its sex changed by the flip of a fish slice. Slip a fried egg on top and it apparently becomes a croque-madame.

Some say the reason is that a fried egg looks like a lady’s hat from the early 20th century when both his and her versions appeared.

Don’t tell the Parisians, but I prefer the over the top and magnificently messy Porto take on the croque-monsieur, the francesinha.

Jack is co-editor, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to online travel sites and travel magazines. Follow Jack on Google+

There was sound logic in my reasoning.

The brasserie was located on Place Jeanne Hachette. H-A-C-H-E-T-T-E; surely a connection and the inspiration for the name.

I didn’t know what a steak haché was. But it was late, we were hungry and I had to make a hasty decision as there was a definite vibe that the brasserie was coming to the end of its shift (it was only 9.30pm, but French town dining hours are a lot more restricted than we’re used to).

Anyway, I wasn’t disappointed with what arrived in front of me although I still wasn’t sure exactly what it was. A steak that wasn’t a steak or a burger that wasn’t a burger? I guess the answer is a bit of both. The block of meat was accompanied by chunky, crispy chips coated with a light dusting of paprika and a couple of pots of smoky ketchup and creamy mayonnaise with a side jar of French mustard to round things off.

The steak haché’s indefinable character fitted the ambience and décor of the brasserie in the Hotel Victor perfectly; pleasing to the eye and slightly curious.

A bit of digging has since confirmed that the steak haché was what it looked like. Minced beef that has been shaped into a patty.

This added to my belief that it was a local dish. Again, sound logic was involved. In the centre of the square stood a statue dedicated to the person it was named after; Jeanne Hachette (which roughly translated means Hatchet Jean). Jeanne was a peasant girl who helped, with the liberal swinging of her axe, prevent the town’s capture from invaders in the 15th century.

The axe made sense to me. Obviously after the battle Jeanette had gone home famished after the effort and, using her axe as a kitchen utensil, had chopped up some meat to make patties. Hey presto, the steak haché was born.

Except that’s all utter nonsense, the steak haché has no connection with Beauvais or the axe wielding freedom fighter and is available throughout France. I’d simply added two and two together and came up with a fictional number. But it seemed totally plausible at the time.

Despite its patty-like appearance, the haché is not a burger. It is a steak that has been minced and turned back into a steak again. I’ve read that no self-respecting French butcher would have mince or burgers on display. The discerning French shopper wants to know exactly what meat goes into their patties, so the steak of their choice is minced in front of them.

One of the main differences between a haché and a burger is that the beef in a haché shouldn’t be corrupted by seasoning or the addition of other ingredients, it should be 100% beef. Any seasoning takes place during the cooking process.

In the end, the question of whether it’s a burger or something else is a bit of a moot point. All that’s really important is that it tastes good. And it does. With a dollop of mustard to liven it up, this upmarket French ‘burger’ is merveilleux.

Jack is co-editor, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to online travel sites and travel magazines. Follow Jack on Google+

Anyone who has caught the Ryanair flight to Paris will know that it doesn’t actually go to Paris, it goes to Beauvais which lies nearly ninety kilometres away. Instead of jumping on a shuttle bus/train to Paris at 8pm, we’d decided to spend the night in the town next to the airport.

It meant in less than an hour after landing we were dragging our luggage through Place Jeanne Hachette to book into the Hotel Victor. Its cosy looking brasserie with funky jazz sounds looked exactly the sort of place we wanted to plonk ourselves down to enjoy our first taste of French food and wine. Hotel Victor fit exactly my idea of what a modest, French town centre hotel should be.

The Buzz Trips’ View
A friend who knows Beauvais very well describes it as bourgeois and smug. As we were only staying one night, we weren’t there long enough to be smugged. But as a convenient place to spend the night and explore for a few hours the following day, Beauvais fitted the bill. Within minutes of throwing our cases into our room we were back in the brasserie, perusing food and wine menus with equal vigour, feeling relaxed and happy. It was perfect for what we needed. Cutting out extra time to travel into Paris and find our accommodation in the busy city meant we were perky and fresh for our first full day in France.

Rooms

Our standard double was attractive enough – modern and economically furnished with parquet floor, pine headboard and bedside tables, a comfortable double bed, a small table and a flat screen TV.  A sloping roof and old iron radiator made it feel very French town house, helped by a small window that overlooked the old square. There was free wifi, although the signal wasn’t very strong. The room was very clean and comfortable; just what we were after. One thing to be aware of, Hotel Victor is an old building with narrow stairs and no lift. Getting to the fourth floor rooms with heavy cases might not be the sort of exercise that appeals to everyone.

Facilities

The Hotel Victor’s brasserie is what really makes it a pleasurable place to stay. It was the sort of place we’d have chosen to eat and drink even if we hadn’t been guests. The décor is warm and slightly off the wall and the menu full of enticing Gallic goodies, including coquilles Saint-Jacques (scallops) and steak haché – a dish that consists of beef that’s minced and then moulded back into a steak shape. Accompanied by a light and fruity Pinot Noir, it was a tasty introduction to French cuisine. The food had more flair and flavour than some of the other restaurants we were to try over the following three weeks.

Breakfast is held in the brasserie and consists of fresh croissants, breads, jams and coffee. I think we must have been early breakfasters as the cleaner/breakfast waitress was still hoovering the bar’s floor. It wasn’t something that bothered us, we ‘d been charmed by the casual friendliness of Hotel Victor. It was unfussy and relaxed.

Basically, Hotel Victor is a unpretentious town centre hotel without any frills that has comfortable rooms, friendly staff and a great brasserie.

Hotel Victor; 15 Place Jeanne Hachette; tel: +03 44 10 00 59 ; double rooms with breakfast cost from around €60 per night.

Jack is co-owner, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to online travel sites and travel magazines. Follow Jack on Google+

There is a reason for this; we were only passing through on the way to Bordeaux. Still, there is a lesson to be learned.

A train from Beauvais had dropped us off at Gare du Nord, from there we were to take the Metro to Gare Montparnasse where we’d catch another train to Bordeaux. We had no idea how long this would take and subsequently didn’t allow for any time for exploring Montparnasse.

In reality, the journey across Paris took no time at all and we found ourselves with three hours to spare.

Stepping, like naïve Paris virgins, out of Montparnasse train station to be faced with wide, café-lined avenues heading in all directions was overwhelming. I imagined a large clock beginning to clunk down the seconds.

2 hours, 53 minutes and 0 seconds left.

Where to start?

A small tourist information kiosk seemed like the sensible option.

A request for information was met with a handful of mini-guides to shopping and sightseeing in Paris. A second request for specifically information about Montparnasse was met with a resounding ‘NON!’.

2 Hours 45 minutes and 10 seconds remaining.

So we struck out on our own, turning up the first side street we came to on the grounds that… well, you never know.

Narrow, cobbled, Rue du Maine instantly felt less frantic. It was packed with intriguing little restaurants whose menus elicited a ‘sacre bleu’ thanks to their prices. The rue was home to the curious Maison du Kilt. Even with the ‘Auld Alliance’, a kilt shop was the last thing I expected to find on a Paris street.

We passed a small park to link up with a network of other small streets and alleys, more cafés and a tiny theatre or two. Over the length of one street, we’d left a bustling urban scene for the sort of Paris I’d hoped we’d get a slight glimpse of.

The area was named Montparnasse in the 18th century (a reference to the Greek Mountain favoured by Apollo and the Muses) due the fact that students gathered in the area to recite poetry beside a hill made of old rubble; the Parisian Mount Parnassus.

Lying outside of Paris’ city limits, Montparnasse was exempt from alcohol tax and subsequently bars, restaurants, cabaret halls and theatres sprang up. A Bohemian element was drawn to the area; it was the quarter to hang out in if you were a struggling writer, poet, artist or anarchist.

Wilde, Hemingway, Chagall, Man Ray, Picasso, Lenin and Trotsky all had their creative and political juices inspired in Montparnasse, whilst singers like the little sparrow, Edith Piaf, warbled in the district’s dance halls.

Montparnasse still gently hums a Bohemian rhapsody.

As it was lunchtime, we made a beeline for a restaurant that had a theatrically kitsch vibe going on, Le Tournesol on Rue de la Gaité.

Online reviews of Le Tournesol are mixed. Some people really don’t like it; others love its retro, arty atmosphere. There’s a sparkly little stage where who-knows-what goes on which fits the area perfectly. We liked it a lot and immediately felt chilled. The staff were friendly, particularly a waitress who laughed and joked with us and corrected our bad French in a friendly way – she winked a lot.

We wanted something Parisian, so ordered a croque-monsieur and a croque-madam (same as the monsieur except with a fried egg on top) with a brace of Amstel beers. The French ham and cheese toasties were around €7 each, whereas the beers (half pints) were €4 a glass. Expensive, yes – mais c’est Paris.

Lunching in Le Tournesol ate up the hours and once the croques were devoured, there was barely enough time to complete an artistic triangle by strolling along Boulevard Edgar Quinet, another favourite haunt for the artistically minded set.

We detoured into Monoprix to grab a couple of bottles of vin rouge for a friend who was picking us up two trains further down the track.
How do you choose wine when you’ve only got a few minutes and you’re faced with an army of the stuff? Answer – pick the ones with little recommended labels around the neck (both lived up to the promise).

After that it was a brisk pace back to the station and onto the Bordeaux train.

As the train pulled away from the station, there it was in the distance; the biggie of Parisian icons – the Eiffel Tower.

I guess I sort of told a white lie when I said we didn’t see any Paris sights.

Had we Researched Montparnasse
Right opposite Montparnasse train station is the Montparnasse Tower whose panoramic floor and roof terrace is said to have the best 360 degree views of Paris. Entrance €13.50.

Montparnasse Cemetery is just off  Boulevard Edgar Quinet; it’s the last resting place of  Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Seberg, Man Ray and Susan Sontag.

Montparnasse is famous for its Breton creperies.

Jack is co-owner, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to lots of other places. Follow Jack on Google+