Sharing 5 Delicious Secrets in France

A gourmet French dinner for little more than a cheeseburger, fries and shake at a fast-food restaurant? Simple. Visit the countryside of France and enjoy incomparable dining experiences that won’t break the budget.

Sampling regional specialties of France from the Loire Valley to Burgundy, from Alsace to Brittany, we were amazed at the quality and quantity of food we were served at reasonable prices at the most unassuming country inns.

These five gems rank as our top dining discoveries during four months in France.

--Creperie des Artisans, Dinan (Brittany), 6 Rue du Petit-Fort. What better place to sample the delicious Breton crepe specialties than Dinan, a well-preserved, medieval walled town on the Rance River with half-timbered houses, narrow streets and a huge fortified castle on the hill?

Creperie des Artisans is on a small, picturesque street off Rue du Jerzual, a steep, cobblestoned way winding down to the port. There are tables outdoors, but the atmosphere inside was far more enticing on a blustery autumn evening in September.

National Favorite

The massive stone-walled and wooden beamed interior with large stone fireplace, wooden tables and benches, and Breton folk songs for background music, offered a delightful setting for an evening dining with the locals on their favorite national dish.

Set menus at 24 francs and 34 francs (10 francs equal about $1) are both good value and include four courses: two main dish galettes (heavier buckwheat crepe) and two dessert crepes. There are many choices in both price ranges plus an extensive, reasonably priced a la carte menu.

The mushroom/egg and cheese/ onion galettes and the passion fruit ice cream and coconut crepes are delicious, but of the 14 varieties we tried during two visits, our favorites were the cheese/bacon galettes and the chocolate crepes.

Stove-Top Chocolate

The thick hot chocolate, kept in a huge vat on the kitchen stove, was spooned onto the crepes and then topped with toasted almonds or mountains of luscious chantilly , whipped sour cream that melts in the mouth.

Pitchers of hard apple cider or apple juice, both served from the barrel, are refreshingly appropriate drinks in this apple-growing region of France.

--Le Panurge, Chinon (Loire Valley), 45 Place du General-de-Gaulle. The colorful old town of Chinon, lying below an impressive fortified chateau, reeks of history. It’s fascinating to wander through streets where Joan of Arc met with Charles VII, and where Rabelais lived as a child more than 500 years ago.

Almost Bypassed

After a rainy Thursday afternoon spent at a colorful outdoor street market, we were hungry. Le Panurge, locally known as the Chocolate Snack, didn’t look promising from the outside. Without the guidance of friends living in Chinon, we would have passed it and missed one of the best meals we’ve ever had.

The dining room at the back connects with a bar out front in this small, family-run establishment. A welcoming fire in the large stone fireplace next to our table provided warmth and atmosphere that wet October night.

We ordered the prix-fixe menu at 45 francs, plus carafes of the potent red house wine. The menu selection was limited but the food was superbly prepared.

The platter of hors-d’oeuvres varies --marinated tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, beets and potatoes; an assortment of local sausages, and rillettes , a pate-like specialty of the region--served with a basket of crusty French bread was a meal in itself.

We feasted on the plat du jour , pepper steak, savoring every morsel of the large slice of rare beef, smothered in a delectable cream sauce with mounds of homemade pommes frites on a separate platter.

Missing Mousse

It was probably just as well for our waistlines that a highly touted chocolate mousse was unavailable that evening. Instead, we settled for the plateau de fromages and were introduced to a tasty fromage de Chevre , a regional goat cheese.

Amid the chateaux in the Loire Valley, we dined like royalty that evening for less than $5 per person.

--Auberge au Petit Gazouillis, Castelnaudary (Languedoc), 5 Rue Arcade. We made a special trip to sample cassoulet, a hearty white bean casserole, in Castelnaudary, a city that claims to be the birthplace of this delicious regional dish. We were not disappointed.

The auberge offers a large a la carte selection as well as several set menus in various price ranges. Cassoulet is offered on a four-course, 51-franc menu, but it was worth an extra 6 francs to try the cassoulet with confit de canard and sample the preserved duck that forms a basis for this tasty dish.

Our first course was a tray of varied hors d’oeuvres that included crudites--raw vegetables marinated in a vinaigrette sauce--as well as pate and paper-thin slices of local ham.

The cassoulet, served in large individual earthenware casseroles piping hot from the oven, was laden with pieces of duck and chunks of sausage. Each serving would easily have fed two.

Crepes in Rum

For the third course a large platter of assorted cheeses was left at our table until we had finished sampling. The crepes in rum we chose for dessert were nearly as good as those in Brittany.

We lingered for three hours over lunch at this delightful auberge , contentedly savoring the friendly service, warm country atmosphere and hearty fare.

One word of warning: Get into training for this meal. No need to eat the day before or after, and perhaps a long, long walk might be in order.

--Restaurant des Chasseurs, Ste. Marie-aux-Mines (Alsace), Place de la Fleur. We visited this small Vosges Mountain village on our way to Strasbourg. True to its name, which means restaurant of hunters, it is a small establishment rusticly furnished with heads of deer, wild boar and other game.

Surprisingly, there was no game on the menu the Friday night we visited. Instead, the evening was devoted to a tempting regional specialty, tarte flambe , a thin, pizza-like crust covered with a delicious combination of rich cream, tangy cheese, country-style bacon and onions, baked on a wood fire and served on a rectangular board.

All You Can Eat

We watched the residents and learned to eat the tart by cutting a small slice, rolling it like a crepe and eating it with our fingers. There is no need to order; the waitress will keep bringing the tarts until the customer asks her to stop. Sheer willpower made us call a halt after two.

After driving through Alsatian vineyards all day, we were delighted to try the local Pinot Blanc, which complemented the tart beautifully. We enjoyed the convivial atmosphere in this unpretentious inn and noticed how delighted the local patrons were that we liked their regional dish.

Our meal for two, including wine and service, cost us 50 francs.

--Hostellerie de l’Etoile, Dijon (Burgundy), 1 Rue Marceau. Famous throughout the world for its mustard, Dijon is also a gourmet’s paradise.

Our visit to the Hostellerie de l’Etoile was without a doubt the highlight of our four months of dining in France. It was also our most expensive; but for about $8 each, including a carafe of Burgundy wine and service, it was not a budget breaker. Although it’s easy to spend considerably more, the three-course prix fixe menu at 71 francs offered an excellent selection of regional specialties.

Our superb first course, oeufs en meurette-- two poached eggs served on French bread and smothered in a rich, deep purplish Burgundy sauce; and gateau de volaille a la mousse de canard-- layered slices of duck, pate and jellied meats in a tender pastry, were followed by la darne de lieu a l’oseille-- a choice piece of fish in a delicate cream sauce and rice pilaf, and Estouffade de Boeuf-- a beef braised in Burgundy and served with fresh pasta.

Quivering Desserts

But the high point in our evening was when a three-tiered pastry cart laden with seductively quivering desserts rolled to a stop at our table. The waiter smilingly assisted us and waited patiently while we made our selections.

The cassis mousse , a luscious black currant and whipped cream concoction, was complemented with a flavorful strawberry sauce. The chocolate mousse was rich and creamy. What a pleasant change from the apple tart, flan or ice cream, mundane dessert fare offered on most fixed menus in France.

The impeccably dressed waiters served us with a helpful politeness that made us feel warmly welcome in this small, tastefully decorated inn. Truly a dining experience we’ll remember for many years.

To enjoy a gastronomic experience par excellence that won’t deplete the pocketbook, although it may add inches to the waistline, visit the countryside of France. La cuisine Francaise, c’est magnifique .