London and Paris Photos

Our photos from London and Paris are finally posted on our website here.

Thanks for your patience... I told you it would be a productive weekend!

Our Souvenirs

The last couple weeks have been super busy so I'm sorry for not updating the blog for a bit.  And although I had to work today, I am thankful that I have this Thanksgiving weekend to catch up with stuff!

Most of you know that Michael and I did not purchase formal china for our place settings.  We decided to collect place settings from our vacations so each of our guests could share a little memory and a little story at our dinner parties!

This place setting was purchased at Astier de Villatte.

Astier de Villatte ceramics are entirely handmade in Paris, France. Made of black terracotta clay, the pieces are extremely durable yet surprisingly light to the touch making them perfect for everyday use. The namesake tableware collection is inspired by 18th and 19th century designs and is glazed to create a milky white finish.

We LOVE it.  But unfortunately for us, we apparently have expensive taste and were not happy with any of the other place settings we saw at other stores in Paris.  Isn't it so unique and refined?  So pretty!  Can't wait to put it to use.

Ok, enough about the place setting.  We also got something much more practical for everyday use: Peugeot salt and pepper mills!  Rue de Rennes has fabulous little boutiques and we got a great deal on this salt and pepper mills.  Michael put them to use as soon as we got home!

And last but not least, we brought home a tub of Edmond Fallot mustard.  That's right... a TUB!  Mmmm... that's delicious mustard.  It's really THAT good... cross my heart.

So you've probably figured out by now that this will not be our last trip to Paris.  Can't wait to go back!

Incredible Last Meal for our Last Night in Paris

We just got home from the most amazing dinner of our trip.  Le Reminet is a cozy little restaurant around the corner from our flat.  We had the chef's tasting menu and it was totally worth every penny.  Two starters, two main courses, cheese course, and then dessert.  They even comped us a couple glasses of delicious champagne and I finished it all with a "day-cah" espresso.  And the ambiance - perfect.  We were even one of two couples left in the place and attempted to have a meaningful conversation (us with our broken French and them with thier broken English) and they were having us try their special plum wine or brandy (or something) from the southwest of France.  It was wonderful.  We really cannot wait to come visit Paris again and come back to Le Reminet.

And here are our other recommendations if you ever get the pleasure to visit The City of Lights:
Laduree - The famous macaroons are not overly hyped and well worth the wait (in the rain for us).  Just try not to eat them all before you get back to the hotel.
Jean Charles Rochoux - Do you LOVE chocolate the way Michael LOVES chocolate?  If so, this is the place for you.  They not only sculpt amazing chocolate, it's also amazing to eat.  It is expensive though... we got a few gifts for friends/family but also bought a "fresh" chocolate bar that had fresh pineapple in it that HAD to be eaten within two days (twist our arm a little, huh?) and yes, it was as delicous as it sounds.  Didn't even take us an entire day to finish it.
Astier de Villate - Expensive and beautiful china along with some other stuff.  We spent WAY too much money on a place setting here for our collection, but that's the price for one-of-a-kind.  Plus, it's right next to the Louvre so you have no excuse but to check it out.
G. Detou - Mustard.  Buy the most delicious Edmond Fallot brand mustard (for a reasonable price) and smuggle it home.  We're bringing a 2 pound tub home.  It's that good.
Rue de Rennes - good boutique shopping without the hassle of the Champs de Elysee or Les Halles.  In the neighborhood of Jean Charles Rochoux too but lots of cute home good boutiques, tea shops, and other chocolatiers without a huge mark-up.  We picked up a nice set of Peugeot salt and pepper grinders at a shop on this street at least 15 euros less (each!) than previously spotted.

That's it for now.  We need to get packed and back to London in the morning.  We'll be staying at the Landmark for the night before heading back to DC.  Hope it's all that it's cracked up to be!

Parisian Mystery Wine & Cheese

We're having a huge issue in Paris... drinking cheap, delicious wine and eating expensive, delicious cheese with no way of buying it at home!

Michael picked up a couple bottles for dinner last night at our neighborhood wine store around the corner and I fell in love with this Horeau-Beylot & Co. Bordeaux 2008 (Appellation Bordeaux Controlee - whatever that means) that I cannot find anywhere on the web!  I don't even like Bordeauxs usually... but love this 4 euro bottle.

We also picked up some cheeses at the cheese stall (right next to the wine store and the yummy boulangerie) and will probably never have that authentic gruyere cheese or that leaf-wrapped ooey, gooey mystery cheese again!

The only thing that I am not a fan of is the tea.  Paris is most definitely a coffee town and I do miss the delicous black tea in London.

Touristy Highlights:

Yesterday we did Notre Dame, Point Neuf, Sainte Chapelle (which was closed for renovations), and most of the stuff within walking distance of our flat.

Today we did Montmartre (and even walked up to the top of the dome... amazing), Eiffel Tower, Esplanade des Invilades, Musée du Quai Branly and a bunch of little things along the way.

Tomorrow we'll be spending a rainy day the Louvre or some other museum... we haven't decided yet.  Our vacation is turning out pretty random depending on the weather but it's still been great so far!

Bonsoir!

Brasserie Balzar

We arrived a few hours ago in Paris and checked into our super fabulous and authentic flat and decided to venture out and grab something to eat.  Brasserie Balzar was in our Eating & Drinking in Paris guide and seemed to be bussling with locals so we decided to check it out.  Here's the run down:

Wine: Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes Hermitage “Les Jalets” (Michael picked the perfect wine for our meal - we love their Côtes du Rhône Parallèle 45 in the states, but hadn't yet tried their Crozes Hermitage. Glad we did tonight... Yum!)
Appetizer: Escargot - Très bien!
Main course: Michael had steak and fries; I had roast chicken.  Both were good, but very expensive and on par with our favorite french restaurants in DC.
Dessert: Some sort of éclaire-like dessert with delicious chocolate sauce and I had a decaf espresso (oh, so good!)
Notes: Mustard!  We must find some of this french mustard to bring home... it's the most delicious mustard we've had to date!  Also notable was the cost.  It didn't look very upscale but cost us close to €100.  Yikes.  We'll be hitting the market tomorrow and scaling back on the food costs!

Daydreaming of Paris! Oui! Oui!

We booked our flat in Paris!  Our trip is finally coming together and we can't wait to explore the Parisian streets, eat the delicious Parisian food, and fall in love with the city!

We decided to rent a flat instead of booking a hotel so we could be in a neighborhood and have a kitchen.  We're right in the heart of the city, close to Notre Dame, and near an open air market.  All the details are on cobblestay.com.  I found this company on the NY Times travel site and bunches of people recommended it.  I hope it's everything that we're dreaming of...