Vélib' Vendredi: the 10th

After our summer-like September, fall/winter is officially back in Paris, which meant that this entire week called for rain and cooler temps. So when I got called to sub for a class on Monday, and it wasn't raining, I decided to head out a little early for my weekly bike ride. {Of course, it rained on me by the end, and ended up being sunny toward the end of the week, but I guess I should be used to incompetent weather forecasters by now.}

Vélib' Vendredi: My 'Hood, the 15th

This week's ride took me through the lovely 15th arrondisement, also known as my neighborhood. We technically live in the 15th, but we're on the far edge of it, and while I often wander farther into the 15th for errands and shopping, I haven't thoroughly explored it like I should.

Vélib' Vendredi: 16th Arrondisement

This fall has been absolutely wonderful here in Paris, so it makes it very easy to get out and explore this beautiful city. This week I biked through the classy 16th arrondisement, which is just on the other side of the river from us.

Hiking the Dolomites

We just returned from a long weekend trip, which has climbed to the top five of both of our lists for favorite trips to date. And yet, there's a part of me that doesn't want to rave too much about this trip. Why, you might ask? Well, aside for the stunning beauty which will be apparent below, this area is relatively undiscovered by the English-speaking world, and I kind of want to keep it that way. Although the Dolomites are in Italy, it feels more like Austria or Germany, and the area still retains a traditional feel, where German is the preferred language, and the dress and music is still traditional, and not for the sake of tourists.

Vélib' Vendredi 2

This week's Velib' Vendredi is a bit of a random one. My original plan was to stay in the area around the Pont de l'Alma and Grand Palais, but turns out, I went a little farther than planned! And if those look like fall colors to you, you'd be right because it seems the trees are a bit confused this year with our pretty much non-existent summer.

Vélib' Vendredi

A new series...Vélib´ Vendredi! Vélib´ is the shared public bike system in Paris, and I've made it my goal to bike 'just because' at least once a week in a different area of the city. Vélib´ Vendredi (Friday) will include photos from said bike ride and highlight the beauty of this city.

Biking in Burgundy

And for a third consecutive weekend we set off for another adventure (don't worry no more traveling until July now). This time, we headed to the Burgundy area of France with my parents. It was a perfect weather weekend for biking, wine, and relaxation.

We stayed in Beaune, which I thought was a quintessential French town. Although much less busy than I anticipated, prices were not the cheapest we have seen in France. We spent a lot of our time at our hotel relaxing in the garden.

Most disappointing about Beaune is that their landmark building, Hospices de Beaune, is not able to be seen unless you pay to enter. At least the other buildings are still pretty!

After checking out Beaune's weekly market on Saturday and stocking up on picnic essentials, as well as local honey and mustard to take home, we headed out for a pretty full day of biking. 

We took the bike route south of Beaune, which takes you through the vineyards and through several small villages. We opted not to stop at any small wineries along our biking route as most had fairly pricey tastings, but we still had a great time enjoying the scenery. 

This is not a path for the light of heart...after 20 miles including tons of intense hills and biking into strong winds on the way back, we were pretty exhausted when we arrived back in Beaune!

Not so exhausted though that we couldn't handle a wine tasting and tour back in Beaune. We opted for the Patriarche Domaine because of good reviews. And oh, what an experience it was!  The 16€ price seemed a bit hefty at first, but at the end I considered it a real deal (especially when one private winery can cost 8€ for one tasting).

We began by touring the caves and bearing a bit of history of the winery. It was pretty interesting because it was self guided so we were in the caves all by ourselves! I wondered how they made sure no one moved any of the bottles around since we walked right next to them all the time.

Then it came time for the tastings, which was also in the caves which made for a pretty awesome atmosphere. We were told we would be tasting 3 whites and 10 reds, but I think it ended up being 4 whites and probably 12 reds and 1 rose (I kinda lost count by the end!). Not only that, but we were given a little metal tasting dish to pour our own, so if there was one you liked you could pour a second tasting. (And at 30€ a bottle, this definitely happened a few times.) 

Despite the awesome experience (and I still would recommend this visit), I reaffirmed the conclusion I had already made from grocery store Burgundy wine I have bought in Paris: this wine region is not for us. Most of the red wines are watery, fruity, and without much character. We prefer more full-bodied wines, which are possible to find in Burgundy, they just cost 30€+ a bottle for anything remotely sparking my interest. Even the "lower end" red wines start at 12-15€. I much prefer my 5-7€ wines I can get from Bordeaux and Cotes du Rhone at the grocery store, thank you very much. 

On Sunday we drove through some more wine areas before checking out the Chateau Rochepot on our way back to Paris. We are all castled out, but it was still beautiful from the outside. 

No blog post can go without mention of the food we ate, as you probably know by now! :)  The first night we ate the local specialty bœuf bourgnionon, which was delicious. But the real highlight was Le Goret (which means piglet) and serves only pig dishes. The chef comes out and explains the 4-5 daily pork specials to each table, in French.  (These are both good signs of a good local restaurant, in my opinion!) The real treat was watching the chef hack off your huge chunks of meat in the kitchen. 

No joke. HUGE chunks of pork...I'm not even sure how we paid enough money to cover the cost the chef paid for the pork at the butcher.  (Our meals were very reasonably priced.) The sauces and salads were to die for and we all walked out stuffed!  A definite visit if you're in the area...the chef is the only one cooking so they have very limited seating (book ahead if you can!)

Even Nick was in awe of how much pork he got!

All in all a great weekend and I'm glad we went. The biking is great and so peaceful and beautiful. Even though I'm not a huge fan of the wine, the area is worth a trip just for the biking in my opinion.  See all of our pictures here.

**Tips:  Stay at La Villa Fleurie. Much cheaper than anything inside the town walls but it's a short 5 minute walk to the old town. Eat at Le Goret. Hands down. Biking through the vineyards..you can't go wrong anywhere. 

Berlin: A little history, a little winter, and lots of fun

And for the second weekend in a row, it was a three day holiday weekend in France. How can you pass that up?  This weekend we went north and east for a winter weekend in Berlin. We had a blast exploring history and having many laughs with three other couples we are friends with here in Paris. Be sure to check out all of our Berlin pictures here.

Deutschland: Rhine Valley & Frankfurt

This past weekend was a typical "bridge" weekend here in France.  There was a holiday Thursday, so most everyone took Friday off to "bridge" to a long weekend.  We followed suit and headed to Germany.

Tour de France

The Tour de France arrived in Paris for the final leg on Sunday, July 21st.  My friend, Katie, arrived that day, and we were lucky enough to be invited to a rooftop office of a friend on the Champs Elysees to view the last 10 laps up and down the road.  (Poor Nick was on a business trip and missed out on all the fun!)

Brittany & Mont St. Michel

So, I'm very behind on updating trips and only have 2 days until we leave for our next one (first world problems, I know)!  So, back track a few weeks to mid-July when Nick's parents came to visit; we decided to get out of Paris for a few days and head to Brittany.  No, this is not some French friend we made, it's a region in north-western France known for their crepes, cider, and beautiful countryside!