Heidelberg Weihnachtsmarkt

*I apologize for not editing my photos together to create a nicer, more balanced look but I'm pressed on time with other projects at the moment. 

Oh hello, it's been quite a while. I'll update you on the twists and turns in life later, so lets just jump in and get this show on the road shall we?!

I've been to Heidelberg at least 4 times since we've been in Germany and I simply can't get enough. This was the first time that we had the pleasure of experiencing Heidelberg's beautiful Christmas Market and I promise, it won't be the last time.

Heidelberg is already charming but it will lift you instantly into the Holiday spirit! They have 3 separate Christmas Markets. Ice Skating at one market with out of this world potato fritters, which if you're wondering going hand in hand with apple sauce, though if that is not your thing then the garlic sauce would be perfect too. Another at the Castle and another in the middle of the city. I missed the market that sold Dampfnudlen (I think someone lied because I looked all over and my dreams were crushed)...if you've never had one, well...you need to reevaluate your life choices and get one! It's that serious.

There is also a beautiful carousel and boy did my daughter have a blast riding on it! Lots of kid activities at this Market. So come, enjoy your Glühwein and let your kids have fun too. I make it a tradition to get at least one item from every market, this year I found a tent filled with the most gorgeous lights on strings and I nabbed quite a few for my home. No regrets!

While Heidelberg isn't in my top Christmas Markets, it's still a nice trip to make with family - which I did as my mother and my stepfather came out for 2 weeks and spent most of their time hogging my little one! First grandchild + living overseas = lots of time to make up. We had a blast. If you're looking for a fun market, this is one to visit!

Any other Christmas Market mug collectors out there? I MUST get Glühwein at every market and then I keep the mugs for my collection. What Weihnachtsmarkt have you visited and what items do you find that you've loved?

48 Hours in Paris!

Wondering the ins and outs if you only have 48 hours in Paris? Well, fear not. I have you covered, and it's filled with lots of delicious food, romance and many things to keep you entertained!

 Gerelynn Trisl Photography

 Gerelynn Trisl Photography

Gerelynn Trisl Photography

First things first, I do not recommend the Paris Pass, if you will not be there longer than 2 days. It was cheaper to buy all day Metro & Bus combined tickets for my husband and I. Including the tickets we bought at the Louvre. Don't waste your money unless you're going to be there for a much, longer time span.

Gerelynn Trisl Photography

Gerelynn Trisl Photography

 Frenchie to Go: 9, Rue du Nil, 75002 Paris

Metro 3, 4: Sentier, Reaumur Sebastopol

Now, lets get started!

Day 1: If you'd like to dive right in as soon as you get off the train, plane, or car, I'd highly suggest getting lunch at Frenchie to Go. This was a 5 min walk from the Montorgueil district, where we stayed in a lovely place we booked on Airbnb. You could also go to their other location called Frenchie, which is much larger, and more fine in taste, if you get what I mean. If you'd like a hip, cool spot that the locals love to frequent, with ingredients that are fresh, made right in the kitchen with a menu they try to keep farm to table....then look no further. It truly reminded me of little hole in the wall spots that I use to eat at all the time in Charleston.

We ate there, not once, not twice but 3 times on our trip. It was that good. My husband had the pulled pork and said it was the best he had ever had. Tossed in their homemade sauces, with fresh ingredients and bread, what was not to love? I got the lobster roll which was toasted, and the bread was stuffed with lobster, a creamy cheese sauce and a splash of citrus and other flavors. I will say it again, the food was so good. We also tried different things each time and I'll suggest trying : the homemade granola for breakfast, the bacon breakfast muffin, fish and chips, ruben and their delicious donuts, brownie and wild strawberry muffin.

Lively music, food made with a passion for cooking + fresh ingredients...you can't go wrong. I highly recommend picking up his cookbook as well! Lets just say, I have a lot of recipes bookmarked!

 Gerelynn Trisl Photography

After lunch, I'd suggest heading to the Notre Dame or heading to the lock bridge and either looking at the love there over many years or adding your own lock! There is a sign that says to not throw your key into the river - simple solution, make a travel frame and add the key as a piece to remember your trip by. (I'll be posting how to make them, and what you should think of including soon.)

Once you're done, you should roam your way down to Ciel Patisserie, for an out of this world angel food cake! I've had many in my day, but none as fully, airy, and delicious as theirs. It is tiny, so try to get there early if you'd also like to sit down and have them serve you tea! The flavors that stood out to be were: Sakura (Yes, the actual flower), Yuzu - which is a Japanese lemon, it does not have the tartness of lemons I am use to, and it was actually rather sweet with a soft citrus taste, Fruit Rogue - it was a angel food cake soaked in a berry mixture, with currants, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, Vanilla was a bursting with vanilla beans and flavor, and last, but not least, Matcha. All are filled with a delicious cream and filling, whether that is yuzu lemon filling for the yuzu cake, or mixed berry filling for the fruit rogue. You get the point. They have more flavors, but these are the ones I truly, went back a second time for and it was worth it. They can be found at: 3 Rue Monge, 75005 Paris. Easy trip by metro as well!

If you aren't tired by this time I suggest a boat tour, or making your way to the Eiffel! We did a beautiful picnic and had pictures taken. This is the picnic basket we bought for the trip and it was perfect. I'll include the link for anyone interested. - Picnic basket

We did family photos with the amazing Gerelynn Trisl Photography and I have included some of them here. She is the reason I don't have many pictures from this trip, as she followed us around ALL day, and documented everything. She is an amazing person, and takes the most beautiful photos. She is heading state side for anyone interested in booking her!

I'd end the day here with a nice walk, or stroll from the Eiffel and all it's beauty as the sunsets and it lights up, giving off a really romantic vibe.

 Gerelynn Trisl Photography

Gerelynn Trisl Photography

Day: 2: I'd wake up and head straight for EXKI, which is a delicious organic place to eat, with everything made fresh, there that day or stroll down and find a cafe, eat a croissant and enjoy a nice latte with fruit! You cannot go wrong with Cafe Madame, which came as a recommendation from our Host and we truly enjoyed it!

After eating brunch, I'd make my way toward the Louvre. We saved this for the second day, as the first day was filled with lots of sight seeing, stopping by comic book stores, and food places so we wanted a bit of a slower day to relax and take the city in. No need to buy the tickets in advance on a Sunday. We went around 12pm and got in straight away and quickly acquired tickets. For those with children, you can stop by the information desk and receive a free stroller with your ticket. You only have to provide a form of identification. It made this mama happy, as I had been baby wearing my little one since day 1. We spent a good 3 1/2 hours there and still didn't even make it 25% of the way through, but it was worth what we saw and we will be back to attempt to finish it! The highlight for me, personally was seeing the mummy, the Egyptian artifacts, and mummified cats and animals!

Leaving, we decided to try Pierre Hermé. The macarons are to die for, and you'll soon figure out why. It was very different from Laduree. Pierre had very unique and out of this world flavors, that you'd have to see for yourself, and the chocolate....don't even get me started on how creamy it was, my taste buds died and went to heaven.

The macaron flavors we got were: Chocolate Passionfruit, Passionfruit Yogurt/Cream Cheese, Lime Yogurt/Cream Cheese, Rose Yogurt/Cream Cheese, Lemon, 70% Chocolate, Creme Brûlée, and Salted Caramel!

They were some of the best macarons I had ever tested. The rose and Salted Caramel, my husband and I weren't to fond of to say the least but everything else, did not disappoint! We also got to sample some of their chocolate and Chocolate with a passionfruit filling as a blast, even my daughter loved it! We also tried milk chocolate with a salted caramel filling and a few dark chocolates. Conclusion? I'll definitely be back.

And with that, we ended our day with some new comics we had acquired, a few polaroid pictures and getting food to go from Monthai Street Food, which was so good! Exhausted and defeated, we munched on our macarons, ate dinner, played with my little one, showered and hit the bed to catch our train back to Germany in the morning! It was an amazing trip. You don't have to do anything like my list, but for our family of 3, it was perfect for us! What do you have planned to see in Paris? Where are you going next?!

I'd love to hear some highlights of your trips and favorite things you've seen!

Metz, France

I highly recommend driving to Metz, from Germany, the scenery, windmills, and open space will speak to your heart in ways I never imagined. Everything is so different here from living in The States, whether the changes have been good or bad, it's definitely made me feel as if I'm growing as a person and helped me to appreciate the different paths of life. I've gotten the wonderful opportunity to live abroad for the next 4 years, and I'm not going to waste it. Adapting to German culture is interesting to say the least, but to also dive into French culture for a basic crash course is something different entirely. The most rewarding thing I've done since we've moved to Germany is found an love and interest in the everyday life of people who live and have customs, far different from mine. To me, that speaks volumes. Whether you're living in Germany or living back in the United States, here are my travel tips for you. This is definitely a city full of surprises.

Metz is a beautiful city. The architecture was mind blowing, it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my life. I marveled over these building quite a bit, and so did my husband. We stayed in a cute little apartment that had the best view that overlooked the river, and a wonderful view of the Temple, along with the Opera Theater. I didn't think I'd enjoy this random trip that we decided on within just a few days before, as much as I did. We were about 100 meters from Saint-Étienne de Metz, or better known as the Cathedral of Metz, along with having a huge array of restaurants, shopping and pastry places. Our apartment was in the best location to travel by foot, which was a huge bonus for me as I'm quite far along in my pregnancy.

After arriving, and settling - I got the recommendation to head down to L'Assiette Au Boeuf. I highly recommend a french phrase book if it bothers you not to know exactly what you're eating, and to of course, try to speak a bit of the language to the locals as much as possible. Not many people here speak much English, if at all. We're the adventurous type, so we did not have a phrase book, we brushed up on what we could and headed out. To our luck, the waitresses here did speak English fairly well, with that being said, for dinner we simply asked what was what. She told us which section was beef, chicken, seafood and so on. We randomly selected and laughed about not even knowing what we were eating, but who cares? We were in a new place to experience new things, so why not live a bit on the wild side? Before our food arrived they give you toasted bread pieces with a sauce that I can only describe as tasting like pizza. We munched on that along with a salad that was brought out. We fed the swans, laughed, and my husband bought me a rose from a man who was selling them. Our food arrived and I was delighted to see cut up steak pieces, with shrimp - to my surprise they bring out a tray and give you a nice serving of frites, I'm sure you can figure out what that is. My husband reserved a burger patty with a very interesting shaped bun, and of course he was given frites as well. The dinner there was so outstanding we decided to also stay and try their dessert. The waitress came and explained what the desserts on the menu were, and we just randomly chose again. He ended up with whipped cheese cake, crumble topping all drizzled in strawberry syrup with fresh strawberries to top it off. Let me just say, I strongly dislike cheese cake, but this cheese cake, I would eat over and over. It was creamy, soft, full of flavor and definitely did not remind me of cheese cake in The States. I had gotten a baked apple brûlée, with a cinnamon crumble, that had caramel, fresh whipped cream and ice-cream at the bottom of the glass. Long story short, we left more than satisfied. I had fallen in love with this place. In France, eating is not rushed, people spend hours just sitting around talking so to Americans the service may be slow, but that is not the case, everyone just takes their time here to enjoy their food and the company of whomever accompanied them to dinner. Even after we were finished with our meal, we sat, talked and fed the swans who came to say hello. It's a beautiful place to eat right on the river. Don't miss this spot.

Oh, before I forget, dinner starts at 7pm in France. Make sure to not miss lunch which starts at 12pm until 2pm. Breakfast, well you'll figure out, to do what the French do. There is no real breakfast places, most French people went to pastry shops. They ate pastries and tarts for breakfast with a hot glass of tea or coffee. 

While L'Assiette Au Boeuf was an amazing recommendation. I also highly recommend Bistrot de G. The food was out of this world. We had a 3 course meal there for 20€ each, which included an appetizer, meal, and dessert. It was a great deal for the portions we received. I can not express enough to not miss out on either of these food places. If you're a pastry lover, I would go to Patisserie Jean which is within walking distance from the Cathedral. Lets just say, they were so good we bought a whole cake covered in macaroons, a strawberry tart, the french version of Quiche which didn't have eggs, but it was stuffed with pork, potatoes and green beans on a tart, which was to die for. Another great pastry place was Claude Bourguigon, it's a little bit of a walk, but you won't be disappointed.

Enough about food, I'm making myself hungry. Things to do while in Metz: Do not pass up seeing the beauty of the Cathedral, take the tour to the underground cave they offer, admire the stain glass and the blood, sweat, and tears put into building this breath-taking Cathedral. Make sure to go to the Temple, feed the swans and if you have the time rent a small boat and take a ride down the river. The museum was a bit too far to walk, but if you can drive there, or take a cab of course. Visit all the shops, and go to the market that they have on Saturday mornings! Filled with great finds. Last but not least, just get lost. Seriously, get lost and find things you'd never find without doing so. Take walks and explore.

This is a great trip to take for 2 or 3 days. You won't be disappointed by anything this city has to offer. I'd say it's a very romantic place, especially for a couple who need a good get away without spending the expensive price tag.

*Be warned, the French come out to play at night, and they can get a bit loud. Okay, more than a bit, more like we didn't sleep much at all because there were drunk people screaming, and partying on top of an Elvis cover band playing at the Opera Theater. 

I hope to hear about any travels you've taken, or places you'd like a detailed outlook on. Next stop, is the Star Wars convention in Cologne this weekend coming. You'd better believe I'll be writing a review for then. If the baby permits then we'll also visit Belgium and our trip to Greece will have to wait until the baby has arrived and has her passport. Safe travels everyone and explore that wanderlust burning within us all! Get outside and experience new things!