Our Last Day

After a day of packing, the museums were calling our names. So we rose early, stopping at the boulangerie for our last pain au chocolat and croissant aux amandes before jumping on the metro. We got off at Saint Paul and walked up to the Musée Carnavalet. It is a beautiful old mansion in the heart of Paris that now houses numerous paintings and pieces of furniture from Paris between the 16th to 18th centuries. We enjoyed walking through the building, imagining what life was like in Paris. Lastly, we wandered into the outdoor courtyard.


Beautifully manicured, but we would like to see it in full bloom.

After leaving, we walked along the Seine, stopping at a few bookstalls. Although it was chilly, the sun kept up relatively warm. Plus the sunlight was stunning against the sights.








We walked all the way to the Petit Palais - a true gem of Paris. The architecture is amazing but also the artwork showcased inside and the interior courtyard are a must-see of the city.








After we met Aurora and Analuna at the Tuilleries Gardens where we had a picnic lunch at a fountain. We almost got attacked by seagulls when Analuna gave her last piece of bread to one. We walked the park, stopping at sculptures and play grounds. Analuna showed off her talents at the trampolines in the park. Completing such a workout, Analuna was in need of a refreshment, and so were we! Aurora took us to Angelina's, a famous Parisian tea room. We each enjoyed snack. Martin had a giant macaroon with raspberries inside. While Kate, of course, ate a chocolate dessert. Analuna chose one for Aurora (a cheesecake) based on the amount of gold leaf on the top. Here's a preview...


Completely stuffed, we walked to the Palais Royal to see the interior gardens, which Aurora regards as a secret of Paris. It was beautiful, even with bare trees.

We hopped on the metro back to Montmartre where Aurora showed us her favorite frozen food supermarket filled with delicious French cuisine that tastes home-cooked. It reminded us a little of the frozen section in Trader Joe's, but better and bigger.

Back at the apartment, we finalized our luggage and tested its durability. Around 10pm, we said goodbye to Analuna and Khalil then set out on our last dinner in Europe with Aurora.

Even on Tuesday night, the streets were lively and in full decoration for Christmas.


At the restaurant, we had the perfect table, intimate and right in the front. We enjoyed our last French dinner with traditional French plates; Martin had foie gras and Kate had escargot.

After an amazing dinner, we said goodbye to our incredible host for the past week. We really enjoyed living in Montmartre and spending time with family.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Paris, France

18 Bottles, 2 Magnums, 4 Bags

Decided to wake up early to see Montmartre before the tourists flooded the streets. We went to the boulangerie a brioche, pain au chocolat and a baguette for lunch. We went to the square at the top of Montmartre where we were planning to enjoy breakfast, but there weren't any benches and numerous artists were waiting for the troves of tourists. (We like to pretend we are locals.) So we found a lookout over Paris to eat our snacks.

When we finished, we continued our walk through the winding back streets and came upon a small park, hidden behind Sacre Coeur. The only sounds were of local children and elder men discussing neighborhood happenings. We sat here for awhile just enjoying the peace.

Since it was forecasted to rain, we chose to second this day (our second to last in Paris) to tackle the challenge of packing our suitcases. Not only did we have all our clothes and a few Christmas gifts, we, more importantly, had 2 magnums and 18 bottles of wine. We have 2 suitcases and 2 big backpacks. It was quite a feat but after many hours of organizing, we managed to fit it all. Now let's hope nothing breaks!

Later we joined Aurora, Khalil, Analuna and Khalil's mom for dinner. We had ratatouille and cous-cous, so delicious! And most importantly, fun conversation.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Paris, France

Exploring the Left Bank

Woke up early, walked down to the local boulangerie, grabbing a pain au chocolat and a croissant aux amandes, then hopped on the metro to the Tour Eiffel. Even though we have both been here before, we were still as mesmerized as the first time.





After admiring it for awhile and taking a number of pictures, we made our way to Boulevard Saint Germain. Knowing that the new Paris Ralph Lauren store was on this street, we made a stop to see how it compared to Greenwich. It's a historic building that he restored, so we walked each floor enjoying the interior architecture and merchandising. We also had a free snack here as they were passing drinks and small patisserie cakes.

We continued our walk to the Luxembourg Gardens. There, we sat in the sun and enjoyed yogurts we purchased earlier.


Spent the rest of the day wandering the streets through the Latin Quartier, along the bookstalls on the Seine again, enjoyed a chocolat chaud and then back in along Rue Mouffetard where we found the hub of cheap crepe shops. We stood in line at a window and ordered a gruyere and egg crepe, sugar and butter crepe and an Orangina all for €5.50! Also all delicious!

Took the subway back to Montmartre and rested a little. In the evening, we went to Aurora, Khalil and Analuna's where we had drinks and snacks with some of their friends.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rue Berthe,Paris,France

Living Montmartre

We read about a flea market called Marché aux Puces which seemed to be nearby. So we woke up early in order to get the first look at everything. We've been searching all over Europe for cool vintage wine prints or tools, but haven't found any yet.

With pain au chocolats in hand, we walked (farther than expected and with a few wrong turns) to the flea market. We had romanticized about this market for awhile, but unfortunately we were disappointed since it was somewhat similar to the one we saw in Lisbon. It required lots of scavenger hunting. Some things had potential, but we have such limited luggage space that it had to be a true gem.

We decided to get lost in the streets of Montmartre taking random turns where ever we saw a cute street.


This led us by a tiny vineyard, just fun to see in the center of a city. We came across a marché and picked up a few things for lunch. Quickly ate at home and set back out to continue exploring the neighborhood.

We weaved through the streets, stairs and alleys. Eventually, we hiked to the top of the hill and stopped at Sacré-Coeur.


Beautiful view but we enjoy the streets with fewer tourists.

Just after, we met Aurora and Analuna. We dropped Analuna off at her gymnastics class and Aurora showed us some of her favorite shops in the area. After shopping for awhile and it started to rain, we popped into a cafe to enjoy some tea and madelines. At 5pm, we picked Analuna up and came back to the apartment.

Around 7pm, we went across the street to Aurora's for a glass of wine and hors d'oeuvres with them and their friend and his daughter visiting from Southern France. Later, we went to dinner at a restaurant close by where Khalil, Aurora's partner, was going to play jazz. We went around 9pm and had a pretty incredible meal of (somewhat) typical French cuisine. After filling our stomachs, we went to the cave downstairs and listened to some incredible jazz performed by a trio; Khalil played the guitar. Before the first set was over, the audience was treated to a special guest, Analuna joined her father on stage. (She is only 8 years old.) She played the violin, and it was impressive how well she kept up with the professionals. It was particularly moving to see the connection between her and her father while they played together. We were both so stunned by her talent. As Analuna was playing a solo, Aurora leaned over to Martin and told him she was improvising the entire solo! Our jaws just dropped. Unbelievable.


We stayed and listened to Khalil for awhile and then went home late.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rue Berthe,Paris,France

Mileage!

We want to thank those who participated in the mileage contest. We think the winner may have called the car rental place or done some extensive research on our routes because his guess was 6,700 miles, and we actually logged 6,759 miles. Congratulations Parke!


- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rue Berthe,Paris,France

Morning to Midnight in Paris

Woke up, unpacked. Then Aurora came over for breakfast, bringing a baguette, croissant and pain au chocolats that was from a boulangerie deemed to have the best pain au chocolat in Paris. We have to agree! They were delicious.

Headed into the city center and escaped the predicted rain by going to the Louvre.





We stopped at some of the iconic works and also explored many areas we had not been.


Spent many hours wandering the halls, visiting the ancient Egyptian artifacts ending with 18th century French paintings.

Walked along the Seine and made our way to Hotel de Ville where we met Aurora for lunch. She took us to one of her favorite local bistros where we enjoyed crepes. Very tasty. After, we walked the streets of the 4th arrondissement where she lived for eight years. She left to pick up Analuna from school, and we walked the banks of the river over to the Ile de la Cité, browsing some of the book stands on the way. Went into Notre Dame.


After warming up inside, we made out way to Ile Saint Louis where we couldn't resist ice cream cones from Bertillon, even though it was decently chilly. Martin had pistachio, and Kate chose chocolate. By then it was 5pm and we had dinner reservations near the Pompidou at 9:30pm. We decided that since we are in Paris for a short time, and we want to make the most of it, so we challenged ourselves to explore the area until dinner.

We causally strolled back to the 4th arrondissement and went into the Pompidou. We particularly enjoyed their bookstore where we spent about an hour browsing through various books. Then we walked along the Seine and saw the Tour Eiffel sparkling at 7pm. Magical! Continued along the outside of the Louvre and past the Tuileries Gardens.


As we reached the Place de la Concorde, it started to rain fairly hard.


Huddled under an umbrella, we looked for a cafe in the direction of our restaurant. We walked through Place de Vendome, window-shopping and saw the Opera house from afar. Eventually we stumbled upon a tiny cafe. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by the one waiter and an interesting gentleman sitting at a corner table. As we sipped our coffees, we realized this man was the owner. Just so you can picture him, he was about 70 with a long grey beard, black beret and a Hawaiian shirt, all the while reading French philosophy and interacting with the restaurant goers. It was a tiny cafe with only locals who seemed to know each other just from coming here. It was fun for us to watch the life of the locals.

After finishing our coffees, we resumed our walk slowly to the restaurant, and arrived there just before 9:30pm. Together, we shared a fondue and a bottle of Bourgogne red wine. The cheese was delicious and particularly comforting after a long day of walking in the cold.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rue Berthe,Paris,France

Bye Car! Guess How Many Miles We Drove!

Woke up before the roosters at 5:45am so we could get an early start to Paris. It was dark for half of our drive but by the time we arrived in Paris, the city was bustling. Martin even made to battle some crazy drivers. We met Aurora, Martin's cousin, in Montmartre, and she showed us the apartment we are staying in... Own last home in Europe. It's a big studio with a beautifully kitchen and bathroom.

After dropping off our bags, Aurora invited us to breakfast at a local boulangerie/cafe. Martin pulled the ultimate Parisian... Parallel parking in a spot just barely big enough. But he managed by doing as locals do, bumping the front car, twist the wheel, bumping the back car. There was about 4 inches on either side of the car. Somehow he was able to squeeze the car in and out. Breakfast was typical French - baguette, croissant, coffee and tea. Delicious!

After, we drove to the car return location and said our goodbyes to our trusty wheels who never failed us, even though some French people doubted her capabilities in completing a five country European adventure.

Here are some statistics of our travels.


58.8mph!? Where can we find a car like this in the US?



Average speed... Not sure why it's so slow because Martin did pretend he was a NASCAR driver occasionally, but we did drive through plenty of small towns.





One last look at her...


We will reveal the mileage later, so for those of you who want to guess, please submit your estimate in the comment section, email or Facebook us. We are eagerly awaiting, and we will announce the winner when we share the mileage.

It was bittersweet dropping the car off. Now we don't have to find parking for her every night, but it feels like leaving a friend behind and it's the first sign that our trip is coming to a close.

Saddened by this, we slowly walked towards the closest metro stop, and we came upon an impressive piece of architecture, the Arc de la Defense.


In front of this was a large Christmas market where we strolled the aisles but we resisted all urges to get a raclette sandwich.

Purchasing ten metro tickets a piece, we jumped onto the 1 line to the Arc d'Triomphe. As we climbed the stairs out of the metro, this was our view.


This is when it finally hit us... We are in Paris!


We did a little Christmas shopping on the streets nearby and then made our to the Champs Élysées.


We saw another Christmas market here where we tried vin chaud (hot wine cider).





It's definitely winter here! Taking gloves on our next outing.

From here, we went to meet Aurora and Analuna (her daughter) at her school. It's located on the perimeter of a beautiful park, Parc Monceau, and in an amazing Parisian building. We were both jealous to say the least.

Sat in the park while Analuna and her friends ran around. Took the metro back to Montmartre where we relaxed at the apartment before going to Aurora's for dinner. Her apartment is just across the street and has the most amazing view of Paris through their huge skylight - Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame, Louvre, everything. Just unbelievable. Like out of a movie. She made a delicious dinner; it was very nice to eat a warm, homemade meal and great conversation.

Went back to our apartment for a good night's sleep.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rue Berthe,Paris,France

Châteaux, Caves, and Rainbows

For breakfast, we walked to a boulangerie across from the abbey (using our special gate code). We bought two croissants and a baguette, intended for lunch. Found a place in the abbey gardens to enjoy our breakfast, accompanied by a delicious jam Sylvie gave us.

Sufficiently full, we hopped in the car and drove to the town of Samur. Our first stop was Cave de Ackerman, founded in 1811. The draw to visit was that the cellars are in 7 kilometers of caves. We took the audioguided tour and learned that the caves here (along with many other wineries in the region) were originally limestone quarries. The stones, in turn, were used to build the famous Loire Valley châteaux as well as town buildings.








This winery specializes in sparkling wines, so it was interesting to learn a different process. When we finished the tour, we tasted four different sparkling wines, varying in grape varieties, dryness and even trying a red sparkling wine.

For lunch, we took our picnic to Château de Samur, which is perched on a hill, overlooking the Loire River. Beautiful scenery and we even saw another rainbow.


After, we stopped at two other wineries, but their tours had finished for the season. We enjoyed driving through small towns on tiny country roads (even dirt sometimes). While searching for one of the wineries, Nancy, the gps, demanded we turn right on the below "road"...


If you can't see, it's just a grassy area meant only for a tractor.

We wanted to see a few other châteaux, so we stopped at Château de Brézé. This has the deepest dry moat in all of Europe.








Next up was Château de Montsoreau. We couldn't see much because the front gates were closed for the season.

Saving Kate's favorite for last, we checked out Château d'Ussé. This is where the author of "Sleeping Beauty" got his inspiration and where he wrote the tale.


We headed to the abbey and debated the whole way as to whether or not this one was better than the Carcassonne castle where "Puss in Boots" was inspired. You can guess who was on each side. No definitive conclusion though.

Today, we also saw about three more rainbows... About seven in two days. That's more than we have seen in the last five years.

Back at Fontevraud, we cleaned the car in anticipation of her return tomorrow in Paris. Later in the room, we did some planning for the last six days of our trip, all to be spent in Paris.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rue Saint-Lazare,Fontevraud-l'Abbaye,France

Guests of an Abbey or Prison

After a long, good night's sleep with our new companion, Porto


(He looks just like Martin's cat.) we had breakfast and then drove towards the Loire Valley. We can tell we are getting deeper into the winter as we head north. It rained for quite awhile, although luckily most of it was during our drive.

When we arrived in Fontvraud, we chose a picnic spot with a beautiful view of the old abbey (or prison depending on what time period you are looking at) where we are staying for the next two nights.


We drove on tiny roads through the area to explore the small, quaint countryside villages.

Then we checked into our hotel, which is located in the old hospital of the abbey.


We dropped our things off and toured the grounds. It was hard to imagine it as a prison. The architecture and gardens were stunning. We checked out their museum and exhibit on a previous prisoner who wrote a book called "The Miracle of a Rose" about his time in Fontvraud. It was known as one of the most notorious prisons in France - maximum security for long term sentences.





Being hotel guests, we have a special gate code to come in and out of the abbey at our leisure. Having an urge to see the town, we wandered the streets around the abbey until the cold eventually got the best of us. We did seek out a boulangerie for breakfast the following day and saw a beautiful, a rainbow over the town.








We had an amusing night trying to decipher what the French broadcasters were reporting on.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rue Saint-Lazare,Fontevraud-l'Abbaye,France

A Quest for Espadrilles

Checked out of our hotel and headed up the coast, crossing back into France just 30 minutes later. On a quest to find the typical Basque espadrille shoes, we stopped in two towns, St-Jean-de-Luz and Biarritz. Adorable towns, but every espadrille shop was closed for the winter. We did enjoy lunch overlooking the ocean with a delicious French baguette.


Continued a long drive north to Bordeaux. When we reached the outskirts of the city, we encountered heavy traffic that delayed our plans. We were hoping to check out the Christmas markets and a few other shops, but instead we slowly drove by them.

We arrived just after 7pm at Ludovic and Sylvie's in Géssinac. He is a former intern of Hafner Vineyard. We had a delicious dinner with them and two of there boys who clearly enjoyed English speaking visits, asking us all the questions they learned in school, such as what are favorite color is. The younger boy also showed us all their photos from their last visit to the States. We spent the night there.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Géssinac, France