Our big trip this year took us to France! 🇫🇷
We traveled with the same friends we visited Italy with last year, and this time we booked a good portion of the trip in advance. It was nice to have so much planned (and paid for!) so we only had to worry about meals and transportation once we got there. Oh and wine, lol 😂
Here’s what I learned: trip planning is fun, and you have great intentions about getting to all the places you pin in your Google maps, but once you’re physically there and the clock is ticking, you end up doing less (or something different) than you intended, especially when traveling with others who have their own ideas and agendas. It’s important to stay flexible…and be patient along the way!
If you know us at all, you know we’re not just food lovers, we love good wine, and France did not disappoint! We spent three nights in Bordeaux, three in Vouvray in the Loire Valley, and two in Paris. I’ve split the trip into three posts so you can jump to the part you’re most interested in, or follow along for all three!
- Bordeaux: Saint-Émilion and our private Médoc Châteaux touring day
- Vouvray: a helicopter ride over the Loire Valley with a châteaux wine lunch and more wine tastings
- Paris: Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and lots of walking
Sharing all of this in case you are interested in planning your own trip to France! Most of the pictures are slideshows, so look for the little arrows on the sides of the photos to swipe through and see them all.
Alright, let’s get into it!
🇫🇷 Bordeaux: Three Days of Château visits, gorgeous wines, Foie Gras, and sharing everything!
We flew overnight and got into Paris early in the morning, and had train reservations to leave pretty much right away, to Bordeaux. We didn’t know the Pope was visiting France that weekend until we got to the train station, where the crowds were heavy. It was also the beginning of Paris Fashion week…more on that later. With some time to kill, we grabbed a Canelé and wandered outside of the train station for a little bit, stretching our legs. I’d been looking forward to trying one, and honestly it was a disappointment, but maybe we should have tried a few from different places-outside of the train station lol!
Redemption came however, once back inside the train station, at a café, we stopped for coffee and I ordered what turned out to be the best Pain au Chocolat of the whole trip. My coffee tip: ordering “coffee” in France can be confusing, so be prepared to know what you want and how to order that.
Once onboard our high speed train to Bordeaux, we quickly realized that our car was full of pilgrims heading south to see the Pope, and we got music and entertainment for pretty much the whole two-hour ride. It was a fun way to start the trip!
🇫🇷 A detour and our first proper meal!
Once in Bordeaux, we caught a tram toward our Airbnb, but a few minutes in, we realized it had reversed direction. Protesters were blocking the original route. This was the first encounter of this kind on our trip, with just a small taste of the unrest that country has been dealing with. (and thankfully we came home right before things got really bad) The tram driver, who turned out to be from Ireland (and had the wit to prove it) took us as far as he could and sent us to the next tram.
Once we got off, we ended up right at the Miroir d’eau in front of the Place de la Bourse, which is apparently the biggest reflecting pool in the world. We then decided that we would just walk, as our destination wasn’t too far away at that point. That was again a reminder of how awesome it was to just have backpacks on our trip to Italy…as we ended up having to lug our carry-ons over different types of pavement along the way to our AirBnb.
Our Airbnb in the Chartrons district was super cute: two bedrooms both with ensuite bathrooms, a full kitchen, huge windows, and the wide plank floors…love! We picked rooms, dumped our bags and basically headed straight back out to find something to eat and drink.
We found a lively wine and tapas bar called L’Estanquet, and seeing that it appeared to be full of locals, we felt like it was a good choice. We ordered our first plate of saucisson of the trip (dry-cured French charcuterie sausage) and rillettes (traditional French charcuterie spread made by slow-cooking seasoned meat in fat until it is tender enough to shred, then mixing it with some of that fat to form a rich, chunky paste-this one was pork I believe) and that was served with hearty bread. My travel partners all had a local beers and I had a glass of white wine. We ate it so fast I forgot to take a picture beforehand lol!
While we enjoyed sitting outside in the fresh air, the music and ambiance with our food and drinks, we started discussing where to find dinner that evening. Arriving without reservations on a Saturday night was a gamble, but one place we really wanted to try, we were able to get on the waitlist at, so that worked out good. After wandering back home, freshening up a bit (espresso anyone?) we headed out to dinner.
The restaurant was called Symbiose, and they sat us up front by the bar and door since we had no reservation, but it was still a great meal. You’ll see a pattern in our orders: if steak tartare, foie gras and deviled eggs (they call them “œufs”) are on the menu, we get them. Oh, and we had a few different Croque Monsieurs throughout the trip as well. This was the most unique steak tartare of the trip (topped with bacon and cheese, which isn’t traditional, but it worked). Our steak was served as a little show, as the server topped it with a sauce right at the table.
After dinner we wandered back to our AirBnb because at that point, we had been awake for more than 30 hours and we all crashed. Unfortunately France was still experiencing a heat wave and our place was uncomfortably warm the three nights we were there. France, like many European countries, does not have AC in many places. I was thankful for the fan in our bedroom, but it was still hard to sleep.
🇫🇷 Saint-Émilion – wandering the day away!
The next morning, we all awoke (mostly) refreshed and ready for our first day of exploring the French countryside! Bordeaux is just a 30-minute train ride to Saint-Émilion, so after finding some coffee and pastries at a nearby cafe, we headed via tram back to the train station. Saint-Émilion is internationally famous for its world-class red wines, rich architecture, and status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Once you get off the train, it’s another scenic 15-minute walk uphill past vineyards and châteaus. By this point, we were hungry and decided lunch was our next move. We chose Le Jardin d’Amélie, and they seated us in a garden out back, which was perfect. We ordered a bottle of wine, and an order of saucisson (as one does), foie gras (same), baked camembert with little potatoes and crispy prosciutto to start our meal out. We then ordered another bottle of wine and the lamb chops and duck breast entrees. It was one of my favorite meals of the whole trip: a beautiful garden, our best friends, wine, and the smell of wood smoke from the outdoor kitchen. Très magnifique! ❤️
After lunch, we did a couple of tastings at a wine shop around the corner from the restaurant, picked up a few cans of foie gras to take home (haven’t tried those yet, but hoping they were worth the effort to bring home!) and after wandering a bit more, found a place selling wine sorbet, as it was yet another hot day in France.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Irish Wine Buff, tasting and chatting with the owners about their history in the wine world. They had a little wine tasting “cave” and at one point, they instructed us to wipe our hands down the walls and then taste our wine again, so we could experience the “terroir” of the region. They were extremely knowledgeable and we truly enjoyed spending time there! That was also our first wine order shipped home, and it arrived the day after we got back. Click through the slideshow above to see all the good stuff!
By the time we got back into Bordeaux the sun had set and it was time for dinner. We chose a place not far from our AirBnb called Ibaia. It was right on the Garonne River, with fun red lights, loud music, and a warm breeze. We ordered lots of starters to share and just sat back and relaxed. It was a fun way to end the night!
🇫🇷 The Médoc, our private tour day on the left bank~
We booked our private tour day with Decanter Tours and they were wonderful to work with. I was in charge of booking this day and was nervous I was going to pick places we wouldn’t enjoy. We are all more of the “off the beaten path” kind of people. They were great about asking questions about what we liked to do, drink and eat. And what we wanted our experience to feel like. Together we came up with the perfect itinerary!
After grabbing a few pastries and coffee, we were picked up promptly at 9:00am, in front of our AirBnb by our driver, Jeremy. We really enjoyed his company on that day. He shared that he was from a family of winemakers and plenty of history and wine knowledge on the 90-minute drive through the countryside. We would highly recommend working with Decanter Tours and Jeremy!
Our first stop was Château Larrivaux, which has been making wine since 1580, passed down from woman to woman. We toured the cellars and gardens, enjoyed a tasting in their beautiful tasting room, (you can tell there is a big female influence there!) then had lunch served to us, along with more wine, outside next to a big fallen tree. It was a beautiful lunch and afterwards we went back inside and ordered wine to be shipped home.
On our way there, Jeremy had mentioned that some of the small villages don’t have bakeries, so they have baguette vending machines. So naturally, on our way to the next stop, we begged him to find one! It took two attempts, but we got one: not the prettiest, but still fresh and delicious!
Next stop was to Château Giscours. We had booked their “workshop of the senses,” where we guessed different scents, played with blending, and sampled three wines. It was fun to see which one each of us liked best and to discover what our favorite grape varieties were!
We did a little shopping in their store and order more wine to be shipped home, as one does! 🤩
Cité du Vin and a wonderful meal to end a great day!
One place everyone says you have to visit while in Bordeaux is the Cité du Vin. Instead of trying to figure out when we might get there, I opted for the “anytime” tickets for just a few euros more, that allowed us to go anytime (within the next calendar year) And instead of having Jeremy drop us off back at our AirBnb, we had him drop us off there. It felt a bit like the Disney of the wine world, with lots of interactive exhibits and a tasting with a view at the top. If you go, definitely plan for a few hours of exploring all the exhibits. Oh and at the end, you get to go up to the top and enjoy one (or two, as we chose with our tickets) tasting of a wine from not just France, but all over the world. After that, it was just a couple blocks to the tram and we were back in our neighborhood, shortly thereafter.
Our last Bordeaux dinner that evening was at Moelleuses & Persilles, and they call themselves a steakhouse. The server comes to the table with the selection of steaks they have available that evening, as you’ll see in one of the pictures. We ordered a big steak to share and lots of other goodies that barely fit on the table. That’s my favorite thing we did all trip: a few starters, a few mains, and everything shared. Sometimes they didn’t understand what we were doing and we ate off napkins, until I learned the French word for plate. (“Une assiette, s’il vous plaît.”)
If you go to Bordeaux:
- Consider booking dinner reservations ahead of time. Or ask if they have a waiting list you can get on.
- Order a few different dishes and share family style. That way you can try lots of new things!
- Buy tickets for the Cité du Vin in advance and get the “anytime” tickets for more flexibility!
Next stop, the Loire Valley and our stay in Vouvray! See you in that post! ❤️
