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We left the Loire and Renaissance France and headed south to Bordeaux. Again we tool the scenic drive- both for the journey and because we were too cheap to pay the 75 Euros in tolls! On the way we passed several more chateaus just littered about the country side and field after field of sunflowers! 

Eventually we made it to Bordeaux and happily met up with our favorite ‘Kiwi-sounding, living in New York but actually French’ friend Ben. We started with a walking tour of Bordeaux city and of course a beer/ glass of Rose…something that would become a theme during our time together. 

Over the next two days we enjoyed the incredibly gracious hospitality of the Simmers family and experienced the amazing beauty of Arcachon, a casual beach town in southwestern France. One day we took the ferry to Cap Ferret, grabbed a snack at the local market, rented bikes and rode to the beach, enjoyed fresh oysters and wine bayside, climbed a lighthouse, went for a swim and snagged a posh bottle of Rose at a cliff-side swanky hotel. And about a million laughs in between. AMAZING.  Me with the ‘Twin Towers.’     

Day two we enjoyed oysters and more wine at the local port. Oyster farming is a HUGE industry in the area so needless to say the oysters are fresh and abundant. While Ben and I sucked them down, Andy looked on with mild-disgust and enjoyed the bread.   And with a belly full of raw seafood, we then hiked Pyla, the second tallest sand dune in the world! Thank goodness they add stairs in the summer time to accommodate the tourists! 

We ended our ‘France in Five’ trip with a beautiful bayside dinner (and more Rose). Merci Ben for the great times, wonderful memories and impeccable tour guiding! 🙂

And that’s all she wrote! An early morning flight back to America and poof! We’re mommy and daddy again…which is pretty amazing too! But don’t worry, I’ve already started scheming for 2019! 😉

Warning: This post contains lots of non-Millennial (or at least really OLD Millennial) attempts at selfies. Andy’s artistic and professional photos to follow!

Andy and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary a little early with a week long trip to France! We jammed so much fun, new adventures and wonderful memories into our week-long, kid-free vacation! It summary: it was much needed and thoroughly enjoyed!

We dropped the boys at Grandma and Grandpa’s in Maryland and hopped the overnight flight to Paris. This is the look of two people who haven’t flown with just two carry-ons and NO babies in a LONG time. Bring on the in-flight wine and movies s’il vous plait!  We arrived early Saturday morning and of course our room wasn’t ready so we wandered around Paris. You can see that Andy is less than pleased with the early morning photo but who can complain when you’re sipping coffee, eating croissants and watching Paris walk by.  Working on our selfie skills at Notre Dame. C+ at best.    Our one day in Paris also happened to be Bastille Day. After a much needed nap, we boarded our evening boat cruise down the Seine, complete with PRIMO viewing of the famed fireworks over the Eiffel Tower. AMAZING. Best fireworks I’ve ever seen!  

While the French partied early into the morning, we retired at a respectable 1:30 am. We needed some sleep as we had Versailles to conquer the next day! [Side note: Andy and I have been mildly obsessed with the TV show Versailles so needless to say, we were very excited to visit the backdrop of a favorited flick.] We toured the palace, enjoyed its gardens and refreshed our knowledge of French history and all the ‘Louis’. Also still working on those selfie skills!     

As luck would have it, we were in France the day France played and WON the World Cup! We found a local bar, pulled up some seats and enjoyed ourselves (too much so! I was defenseless against one of my favorite beers served in bowl-size glasses) as they sufficiently beat Croatia! Allez Les Bleus!   You can imagine the excitement in the streets when a country obsesses with soccer WINS the World Cup! Honking, cheering and shouting into the VERY early hours of the morning!   

The next morning we picked up our rental car and drove to the Loire Valley via the scenic route. Thank goodness for Waze and Andy’s ability to drive manual! Next stop, a little country place called Chambord! 

After a tour we made our way to our ‘Chateau away from home’ in Amboise. We stayed at ‘Le Vieux Manoir’; an impeccably restored18th century French manor, turned B&B that was run by an 80 year old American who was AWESOME and certifiably bat-shit crazy at the same time. For example, we sat in her living room for 45 minutes when we arrived and talked about the world, politics, her unfiltered thoughts on the French, etc. She told stories about her 2-year process of restoring the manor and even telling the local workers that she was dying of cancer and they better hurry to finish the job if they wanted to get paid; all a ploy to make the laissez-faire French work faster. All this before being ‘allowed’ to go to our room! She made funny noises when she told stories but in the end provided us with a beautiful room, delicious breakfasts in the garden, insider recommendations and MANY memories!   

While in Amboise we toured Chenonceau and visited Clos de Luce (where Da Vinci lived his last few years). 

One evening- in a effort to buy a simple bottle of wine- we went into a local store and stumbled into a private tasting of reds, rose and scotch. It’s the only time I’ve seen Andy excited about shopping! 

In the end we never opened the bottles we bought and enjoyed cocktails along the river per the store-keepers recommendation. They were famous for ‘liter-size’ cocktails and the view wasn’t so bad. 

Next stop Bordeaux!