Oui Out Here

I went to France!!!!!!!!

What. The. Hell.

It was wonderful! It was exhausting! I need more time! I'm glad I'm home!

If you get the chance, go.

That's what they always say, right? Right.

But truly, truly, I mean it. Growing up, I was that cynical little shit that "didn't see the appeal" of France. Literally, I have said that.

And that's stupid.

It is wonderful, and I need at least another month of my life to be spent there.

So, here is the low down.

The Brother moved to Bordeaux last summer (fall? Whatever. The end of my trip to Florida, he was headed to France. Talk about a dichotomy of locations.) Anyway, he went to France to attend graduate school for a degree in wine management.

What's that? We still don't know.

And he moves home in about a week, so it was high time we Fields hiked our hineys across the pond to see his insanely tiny apartment and eat so much food.

So that is what we did!

We spent half our time in Bordeaux, eating at Brother's favorite spots, touring around like nerds, and trying to figure out this whole jet-lagged-but-gotta-see-stuff thing. Then we spent the other half of the trip in Paris. Which, no matter what you've heard, or seen online, or on TV, you definitely have only seen about 2% of the magic of that city.

Absolutely far and away the dreamiest trip I've ever been on.

I would go 100 more times.

I don't have too many details about where we ate, or what we did. Because a lot of it was in French, and while I felt.....competent, while we were there, much French is actually tres bad.

A couple things - if you do go to Bordeaux, and you should, really. Take the advice of the locals when it comes to food and wine. Because Bordeaux is no where near as touristy as Paris, many of the folks we encountered were Bordeaux natives, and really really wonderful.

If you go to Paris, it is completely and totally worth it to wake up early and go to the main sites. The Eiffel Tour at 7 AM on a weekday... it is like nothing else. The Luxembourg Gardens at 2 PM on Wednesday, so wonderfully calm and inviting in the middle of the city. Make the time, take the time, it is so worth it.

Also - for Disney people - yes, we went to Disneyland Paris.

And wowie wowie wowie - the level of detail and thought that is in this park is unlike any other Disney property I have been to.

There are a lot of cultural differences that I was not expecting (cast member involvement and responsiveness is so so much less than in WDW for one.) But I do think, if you're there, you should go. (You could feasibly do it all in one day!) 

Finally - there are a couple meals that blew my freaking mind.

Karl.

It was our first meal in Bordeaux after we got off a transcontinental flight (and sprinted through Charles de Gaulle to catch our flight to Bordeaux) but it was unreal. I genuinely ate more in that meal than I ever have before.

Al Karam.

Our favorite dinner in Paris was in a tiny, family-owned, gloriously tucked away Lebanese restaurant.  Insanely flavorful and traditional, with two kind and helpful owners, it was such a perfect experience.

Oh, and last last thing - check out my IG story highlights for some of my other favorite spots, pics, etc.!

Okay, bye, gotta go sleep!