On Thursday (March 2), we went to our favorite restaurant in Ensenada, El Rey Sol, for lunch.
El Rey Sol opened in 1947 and is the oldest French restaurant in all of Mexico. “The Sun King” was a title given to French Monarch Louis XIV. The founder, Virginia Geffroy, was born in Santa Rosalia and educated in France, including cooking school. We’re guessing that she was likely the daughter of a French mining executive. After returning from Mexico, some relatives in Ensenada invited her to open a restaurant in their motel. The restaurant grew from 10-tables to being an internationally venue with seating for 240-people.
The restaurant was decorated with gold and red wallpaper, copies of famous French paintings, and chandeliers, stained glass and dark, wooden chairs and tables. It was packed, as usual.
We ordered the table side Caesar salad, where the waiter makes it front of you. A small appetizer and soup was included in the meals.
The food was great, as always. Eric ordered a combo meal with quail served on potatoes with mushroom sauce, beef tournedo in Merlot sauce and shrimp cordon bleu with cilantro sauce.
After lunch, Christi went to a doctor appointment, while Eric and Keith went for a walk to see what has changed in the last 17 years since we kept Kosmos there. They headed over to Cruiseport Marina. Along the way, they passed a science museum that had been under construction in 2007 but had looked abandoned in 2009. They were was glad to see that it was open.
The security at the Cruise Ship Termina/Cruiseport Marina entrance has been significantly ramped up since we were there last. The security guards wouldn’t let them in. At the edge of the entrance was a new bridge over the river that hadn’t been there before.
The bridge led to a new malecon that had not been there before, either. This was the sign at the other end of the bridge, at the start of the malecon.
The malecon was definitely geared for the cruise ship tourists. It was wide enough to handle a crowd of people, and was lined with small vendor stalls.
There were carnival rides in the area near the giant flag. The was also a fountain for kids to play in, too.
At the end of the malecon was a statue of a boat
We were familiar with the area at the end of the malecon — it was where the Port Captain’s office was, so we’d been there many times (though we’d previously walked on the main road). We believe that was what was considered the north edge of downtown.
When Christi’s doctor appointment was done, the three of us met up and took an Uber back to the marina. We were still feeling off-kilter from the passage, so we had a mellow evening onboard. Here was the sunset
