France

Every time we visit Paris, we always make a point of spending some time at the Louvre. It is one of the best museums in the world, and no matter how many times we visit, we always find something new, whether it is a piece of art, a floor we missed, or sometimes even an entire wing we overlooked.

But the Louvre is also somewhat infuriating.

As the most visited museum in the world (and also the largest!), with a capacity of up to 30,000 visitors per day, you can certainly feel it here- and not just at the Mona Lisa. From lines at the art to crowds in the galleries, and even lines to get in the door despite holding timed-entry tickets, saying the Louvre is very, very busy is an understatement.

By the end of every visit, you’re going to be tired of people just as much as being overloaded from seeing world-class art. The latter is a good thing. The former, not so much.

So in this one, we thought we’d share some thoughts to help get the most out of your visit to the Louvre despite some of the challenges!

Read more

When we booked our trip to Alsace, we admit that we were visiting the wineries first and foremost. But given that our visit coincided with the holiday season, we planned to spend a great deal of time at the Christmas markets as the region is home to some of the most famous markets in the world.

With the popularity comes the crowds, and Alsace was busy!

So after exploring the Alsatian Christmas markets in Strasbourg and Colmar, we wanted to take a look at the two famous cities and share advice on what to consider when choosing which to make your base during a trip.

While we personally trend to Colmar, as you’ll read about below, there are pros and cons for each that we’ll discuss!

Read more

One of my favorite things about Paris is the bakeries: they lure you in with their yeasty smells and their beautiful displays of croissants, baguettes, and sweets that are downright works of art.

On our recent trip to Paris, we made sure to visit as many bakeries as possible to scope out the best French baked goods.Usually we stuck with sampling traditional croissants and baguettes, partly because I have attempted to make baguettes and croissants at home before and know they can be somewhat tricky; therefore, these two ostensibly simple baked goods seem a perfect test of a bakery’s merit. 

We set out on our research phase in Paris to hopefully enlighten and inspire us to improve our homemade versions of these baked goods.

Read more

When you think of Bordeaux, you may think of a city that is overflowing with wine.  A place where you can walk down any street corner, find a vineyard’s storefront, and have a chance to try as many different varieties as you would like. 

We did.

It is a common thought for such a famous wine city to boast its creations everywhere you see.  In many cases this is true.  But if you’re visiting Bordeaux, do not expect that.  To truly understand the region’s love of wine you need to get out of the city.

If you don’t, you won’t be seeing much of anything.

Read more