Weekend Getaway: Bordeaux

Sometimes you just need a little vacation from your vacation, right?

When we decided to spend our weekends traveling, we knew we wanted to take some time to visit the south of France.  Many places were too far south to travel to for just 48 hours, but then we discovered Bordeaux.  Bordeaux is only a few hours away by train and just so happens to be famous for their wines. Jackpot.  Cara's parents were coming into Paris for a few days, so we thought, why not take a little vacation with them? They arrived on Thursday afternoon, and Friday morning we got on the train and headed to get our wine on.

We arrived in Bordeaux starving, and in need of some good food, per usual, so we got maps from the hotel and walked until we found the city center. On our walk we found cute gardens, tons of cafés, and rows of wonderful shops. With Cara being the foodie that she is, we read about 10 different menus before finally settled on Le Brasserie Bordelaise, an amazing wine bar and restaurant. Luckily, Cara's dad had done some research before the trip and had list of the top sites to see in the city. With the help of our map and talking to some very nice locals, we got to see The Place de la Bourse, the Notre-Dame church, and The Grand Theatre.

After a long day of exploring the city of Bordeaux, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and enjoy a glass of Israeli wine for "Shabbat" with Rabbi Greenstein. Dinner, of course, was one of the few things we actually had planned before coming on the trip. We ate at L' Oiseau Bleu, a fancy little boutique restaurant that presented us with works of art rather than food. Each course was so gorgeous and so delicious, and we would have never guessed what ingredients were in each dish if we hasn't known before hand.

Saturday morning we had some some girl time to drink coffee at a cafe and shop. These massive French sales are really killing us. If you are unfamiliar with these sales, they happen every year at the end of June and go on for a month. Every store has a sale (including all the designers) and most things go from 30% to 70% off. I promise I did not know about these sales when I chose to spend my summer in Paris! Needless to say we each left with a little "souvenir" from Bordeaux. For lunch we grabbed a cheese plate and cold gazpacho from Le Brasserie Bordelaise (yes, it was that good), and made our way to the tourism office for our wine tour!

We spent the rest of our day in the wine country in Saint-Emilion, tasting wines, visiting chateaus, and learning about Bordeaux wines. Rough life, I know. We all surprisingly learned a lot, and it's now safe to say that Cara and I are pretty much wine connoisseurs. We got to see two very different types of chateaus, a small family run vineyard and a large corporate vineyard. Chateau Mauvezin is winery that has been in the family for 400 years. We got to taste their three different blends of red wines, which is what the region specializes in. Chateau Soutard is a large, gorgeous chateau where we tried three more red wines. To our surprise, the wine tour also included a quick tour of the city of Saint-Emilion. We got to visit the largest underground church in Europe, which was carved out of a single stone, and is located underneath part of the city center. Our guide also taught us about Saint Emilion himself and showed us his place of meditation and the catacombs in which he was buried. The whole city is truly amazing because it is built on so much history, and has so much more to offer than just their wine.

Thanks to our food research that we did before the trip, we found the best little brunch spot in the city. We enjoyed our Sunday brunch at Plume Small Kitchen.  This place has such great reviews for a reason. It was a set price for a set meal, so we had a gorgeous feast before our train ride back to Paris. Our plate included yogurt with granola and fruit, a scone, cheese slices, strawberry jam, a lemon poppyseed muffin, a vegetarian scrambled egg sandwich, beans, and more. For anyone traveling to Bordeaux, this little place is very highly recommended, but make sure you have a very empty stomach!

Judging by the food, the wine, and the historical sites, Bordeaux was a huge success!

Foodies in Florence: Florence Food Tour

I know you think that all I did in Florence was eat, which I am not denying at all, but it was because we booked an amazing food tour of the city.  The best parts of our weekend trip were the tours that we did.  At first we were not sure if we should be doing tours both days, but our Florence Food Tour did not even feel like a tour.  Because let's be real... if we weren't on the tour we would still be eating all day anyways.  The food tour allowed us to experience the history and culture of the city as if we were locals.  We hit all the local spots and lived (and ate) like true Florentines do.

Our first stop was the ChiaroScuro coffee shop, where we learned about and sampled two different types of coffee.  Both were super strong, and took some getting used to.  Our frothy, foamy, milky lattes have nothing on these little espresso shots.  Woah, will this wake you up in the mornings.  The place was so cute and cozy that we tried to come back the next morning, but they were closed.  We have heard it is the best coffee in Italy, and can't wait to one day try more than what we sampled on the tour!

Our next stop was the Procacci Company, which is well known around Florence for their creations made with truffles.  We learned about truffles, where they come from, how they are used, and that they are considered one of the most historic delicatessens in the city.  We each got to enjoy a small truffle sandwich that was so phenomenal I could have eaten five.  I even left with a small bottle of truffle olive oil as a souvenir.

From the truffle shop we walked through the San Lorenzo Market to La Divina Enoteca, a small food and wine shop that has been around since 1895.  The shop started and was famous for being a fish shop where people could get fresh fish from beautiful marble tubs.  After being closed for about a decade, the shop was restored and now has a focus on wine, homemade pasta and cheeses.  We were lucky enough to have a wine and food tasting that consisted of two different cheeses, two different wines and two different meats (salami and prosciutto).

 

From La Divina Enoteco we went across the street to the San Lorenzo Food Market.  Once again I was blown away by the easy accessibility that the people have to such fresh foods.  We made three different stops inside the market.  Our first stop was at Nerbone, known for their traditional Florentine dishes.  We each got a plate of the freshest, most beautiful bruschetta I have ever had.  I am proud to say that I did not even enhance the colors in the photo below, that is how fresh the ingredients all were.  The bruschetta was probably the highlight of the food tour for me.  

Next stop was some salty bread from another little stall in the market.  Our tour guide passed the tray of bread around while explaining to us why most breads do not use any salt.  I can't tell all of their secrets, so you will have to go on the tour yourself to figure out why!

We then moved a few booths over to Marconcini Company, a family owned business that focuses on wine and olive oil.  This is the stall where we literally (and gracefully) stuffed our faces.  It was brutal fighting off market-goers who were trying to get in on our private tasting.  We started with bread and two types of olive oil, then had fresh strawberries and cheese with balsamic (so amazingly good), and finished it all off with biscotti and dessert wine.  I loved this because I have never had dessert wine, and it was even better than I expected.

 

The last stop was, of course, something Italian and sweet... gelato at Antika Gelateria Florentina!  Apparently you cannot go anywhere in Italy without getting gelato, and we learned this the hard way.  Our guide explained the tips and tricks to picking the best gelato, and took us to one of the best places in the city!  Cara clearly enjoyed her gelato...

Ciao!

Weekend Getaway: Florence

Our weekend getaways the past few weeks have made me realize that, if all else fails, I could be a travel agent.  But just don’t ask me to book the hotel, because I will probably book the wrong one in the wrong city, like I did this weekend.

I would usually write about the highlights of a trip, but this entire trip to Florence was a highlight, with our hotel being the only “lowlight.”  Florence is absolutely amazing, and I am so glad that we chose to spend one of our few weekends in Europe there.  It was worth every penny and every pound gained (as my pictures will show).

When we landed in Florence on Thursday night, we were excited to stay at the Together FLORENCE Inn (note that ‘Florence’ is in the name of the hotel) located .3 miles from the city center.  To our surprise, the hotel was located .3 miles from the city center of Bagno a Ripoli… outside of Florence.  Oops.

So we made the trek out to the hotel and tried to convince ourselves that our hotel didn’t matter because we would not be spending a lot of time there.  We threw our stuff down, freshened up, and headed out to explore the city, but first we had to take a 20-minute ride on the public bus to even get to Florence.  Needless to say, by the end of the weekend we had mastered yet another European public transportation system.  When we got into Florence we stayed on one the "local" side of the river where we ate at a packed little restaurant called Gusta Pizza.  The pizza not only tasted amazing, but also came out in a heart shape.  We then followed the tradition and used our receipt to write a little message to stick under the glass table.  We sat at a table with a man from Florence and his lady friend and ended up talking to them for an hour.  He gave us the names and locations of the best restaurants and gelato places in town.  We finished the night with gelato (duh) and roamed around “the square” where all the locals all sit and drink on the steps of an old building.

Friday morning we woke up to a little surprise- no water.  Yes, you read correctly, the hotel did not have running water.  This meant no showering, not brushing our teeth, and no going to the bathroom.  Great.  Luckily we were ok with not showering because we were about to spend the next six hours horseback riding through Tuscany.  We got on the city bus, which we thought was the wrong one, so we got off and ended up running through the city in order to make it to our tour on time.  What a lovely start to the day.

We made it to our Horseback and Vineyards Tour and left in the van that drove us to the Chianti region in Tuscany, where many world famous wines are produced.  The next few hours were some of the most amazing in my life.  We rode horses through the hills and vineyards in the hot Tuscan sun for a few hours.  The views were unreal and unlike anything I have ever laid eyes on before.  We rode to the Principe Corsini private estate and ate a traditional Italian lunch, did a wine tasting of the Principo Corsini wines, and toured the wine cellars and estate.  Everything was perfect!

By the time we got back to the hotel we were so exhausted and decided to lay by the pool for an hour.  In the mean time, the water came back on and we were all ready to shower- but oh wait, our shower didn’t work.  The next hour we had to deal with the hotel staff and the maintenance guy, and ended up having to switch to a different room.  Strike two.

Friday night’s dinner was at Tameró, a local pasta shop that came recommended from the man we met the night before (who we ended up running into there).  We really enjoyed the “grungy chic” décor, wine, fruit and cheese tray, and our homemade pastas.  We finished the night with wine and dessert at Golden View Open Bar that over looked the river.  Our night was spent eating, drinking, and reminiscing on how amazing that day was.

Saturday morning we woke up and made our way to a Florence foodie tour with Florence Food Tour.  This tour was far better than any museum tour because we got to experience the history and culture of the city through the eyes of a Florentine.  In a few hours we hit a coffee shop, truffle shop, meat and cheese shop, the San Lorenzo Market, and a gelato shop.  We got to try every type of traditional Italian food and wine that you could possibly imagine.  The tour far exceeded our expectations, and if I ever return to Florence, I would book this tour again and again.  To read more about our day, check out my Florence Foodie blog post [COMING SOON].

From the food tour we went to explore the San Lorenzo Market, which has tons of leather goods, clothes and jewelry.  Each of us left with a little something as a souvenir from Italy. We decided we should probably do a few touristy things, so we explored the Duomo and later made the hike up to the Boboli Gardens.  Our next stop was Piazzale Michelangelo, so we stopped and got a bottle of wine from a little wine shop to drink at the top while we overlooked the entire city.  The view was absolutely amazing, and we found a cozy little bench in the rose garden where we sat and had our own little happy hour before dinner.  Of course we had to cheers to yet another amazing day!

Thanks to Trip Advisor (the most brilliant website ever invented), we had the best Italian dinner at an adorable family owned restaurant called La Cucina del Garga.  This was by far the best food of the weekend, and they treated their customers like royalty.  We started with an amazing sautéed calamari and avocado dish, each had different seafood pastas (mine was the best pasta I have ever had), and finished with cheese cake and chocolate cake.  They even brought us Prosecco, tomato focaccia bread, and a slice of lemon cake all on the house.  We were so stuffed we pretty much floated home.

And guess what happened when we got back to the hotel?  No water... again.  This hotel made me seriously doubt my trip planning skills.

Luckily our flights left Sunday afternoon, so we had the morning to check a few more things off of our list.  Our first stop was the Accademia Gallery to see the one and only, State of David.  We had all of our bags with us, so afterward we schlepped to a small cafe and bakery to have our morning coffee and do yet another recap of our amazing weekend.  We walked around a little more, ate lunch at a cute little restaurant that looked out to the Duomo, and then enjoyed one last baby cannoli in the Republic Square before we had to head back to Paris.

Now we are back in our dorm rooms, missing the many highlights of our weekend getaway in Florence, Italy.  

A Week of Day Trips: Giverny & Versailles

If you are given the opportunity to explore Giverny, take it.

I have never seen something as beautiful and breathtaking as Monet's gardens.  I have also never seen so many flowers and plants in one garden.  It is truly amazing.   After a long trek out to Vernon, we got to explore Monet's home, garden, lily pond and everything that inspired him.  We chose a great day to go because the weather was sunny and hot, and the lines were not outrageous.  

Saying that everything in France is breath taking is an understatement, even though I know I am being repetitive.  Everything is breathtaking in its own sense- Monet's gardens were a quiet and relaxing kind of breathtaking, while Versailles was phenomenal in an architectural and conceptual sense.  Anyone who knows me knows that I ask a lot of questions, many of which remain unanswered.  So here are my questions that my mind could not grasp about Versailles...

How did someone build Versailles?  How much work and money went into it?  How did Louis XIV justify spending all of the people's tax money on such a palace?  Why did Marie Antoinette need her own "mini Versailles" down the road (which was gorgeous, by the way)?  And lastly... Who needs gardens that go on forever?

All I can say is that Versailles is absolutely a sight to see.  Even though there was a torrential downpour on our long walk through the garden's to Marie Antoinette's estate, we still enjoyed every second of it.  Anyone who travels to Europe should set a day aside to visit Versailles. 

And of course we go to Versailles and find the food.  We had a nice little afternoon snack at Angelina, and by afternoon snack I mean their famous iced hot chocolate, a fruit tart and a carmel and creme pastry.