Tasty bites and not so tasty andouillette

So I had a couple friends visiting from the states recently. I can't imagine a better reason to dine out than to show my friends tasty treats around Paris.

Where do I take visitors? First stop was L'as du Fallafel. Best fallafel hands down. Well at least the best I've tried and I haven't been to Israel. We also had authentic French bistro food, foie gras,  Bretagne crepes and cidre, raclette, and fondue. We also stopped by Laduree and Pierre Herme for macarons. If they haven't gained five pounds after their trip I'd be surprised. But we did do a lot of walking.

If all of these pictures are making you hungry, fear not... what I'm about to say will definitely eliminate any hunger pains. Thinking about it makes me want to wretch. What's so horrid and vile? Andouillette. And no, I'm not talking about the spicy cajun variety that some guy named Bruce Aidells sells. I can assure you if Mr. Aidell ever tried a French Anouillette, it would put him off the sausage making business.

Sure it looks fine. So whats so bad about andouillette? I made the mistake of ordering it at a French bistro and found out the hard way. The very hard way. Unfortunately I was kind enough to also share some of it with my visiting friends. Andouillette is an acquired taste. However, I don't think I'll ever want to acquire the taste of something that tastes as if it should be in the toilet, or as if its been rotting for weeks. According to Wikipedia, anduoillette is a tripe sausage made out of pork chitterlings and "the taste, as with all tripe sausages, is an acquired one. Andouillette has a strong odor, found offensive by many people unused to the dish (often thus described as reminiscent of feces)."

The smell was so bad that we had to ask the waiter to remove it from my plate, as no one could enjoy their meals smelling my main course. I try to pride myself on my ability to eat anything, but this, folks, is where I draw the line.