Paris for a day on our way to Germany

We traveled from Spain to Paris on Thursday afternoon.  San Sebastian was such a great place we we're a little sad to leave, but travelling to Paris is always a good thing.  The Ryder Cup and fashion week were happening in Paris at the same time so hotel rooms were very expensive.  We ended up back at a hotel we had previously stayed at, Hotel St Paul Rive Gauche, but this time we were in the smallest hotel room ever!  The staff was very nice and it was really clean so that made up for it.  We had an excellent dinner at Arnaud Nicholas.  He is a master at making pates and has been awarded the highest award for craftspeople in France.  The place lived up to all the hype!  The next day we went shopping to fill our suitcase with some french ingredients to take with us to Germany.  Yes, we bought 2 packs of french salted butter.  We caught the train to Heidelberg and arrived 3 hours later with our 6 bags. This weekend we're settling into our apartment and soaking up the neighborhood.  This morning we headed to the farmer's market, which was really fun.  Great produce and much cheaper than the ones back at home.  We also needed to make sure we made it to the market since it won't be open tomorrow.

Coffee in Paris, Friday Morning

Pate, dinner on Thursday night.  Excellent!!!

Crepes for lunch before leaving Paris.  Don't worry Paris, I'll be back in a few weeks

I fell in love with this dog at lunch and made Don take a picture of him

We made it!  Heidelberg, Germany-Home for the next 2 months

Farmer's Market on Saturday Morning. Heaven!   

Don trying to decide what yogurt to try.  As you can see, there are too many choices

San Sebastian

We had a perfect day yesterday.  Breakfast, 3 mile walk along the beach, followed by great food!  We had lunch and dinner at Pintxos Bars-Tapas Bars in the rest of Spain.  But here, in San Sebastian, they are called Pintxos.  You just walk into the bar/restaurant and help yourself to platters of the food.  Then there are dishes you order from the bartender.  After you're done eating, they add up your bill, you pay, then you head to the next one.  There are hundreds of them up and down the streets.

Pintxos lunch consisted of a Spanish Tortilla with potatoes and eggs, a tomato salad and a plate of chorizo.

One of the Pintxos bars is famous for their cheesecake, which was excellent

We made it to 3 different Pintxos Bars for dinner before we threw the towel in

Roasted Peppers

Sauteed Cepe Mushrooms with olive oil, herbs, salt, and an egg yolk.  This was so good, we went back today and got another

Pigs in a blanket "Spanish Style" with puff dough and chorizo. Yum!!!

Fried Potatoes with Aioli and Spicy Tomato Sauce

Foie Gras

Suckling Pig

Today we checked out the cathedral, walked around, and shopped for some Spanish ingredients to take to Germany with us.  Back to Paris tomorrow afternoon! 

San Sebastian, Spain Day1

We arrived yesterday by bus from Biarritz.  The trip just took under an hour.  We both love it here!  The beaches are beautiful and the city has a great feel to it.  The hotel is unbelievable.  It has only been open for 2 months and is very luxurious with a perfect location right in old town with a perfect view of one of the beaches. 

Hotel Lasala

 View from our room

 View from our room at night:

  After checking in, we headed to restaurant Zelai Txiki for an unbelieveable lunch.  The menu looked so good it was hard for us to choose what to order. 

In house made sausage

 Grilled Gambas

 Rice with Clams-a dish they are known for

Hake Fish with Clams in Green Sauce.  This is a traditional dish from San Sebastian

 Spider Crab with tomato, armagnac, garlic

 
And finally a puff pastry shell filled with the best pastry cream with coffee ice cream and glasses of sauternes.

 We ended up being there for 3 hours.  We really weren't hungry for dinner so we strolled around town and ended up at the bar back at our hotel for a drink and a snack.


****I forgot to post this picture from Biarritz.  On Sunday Don picked up food from the market hall so we could have a picnic in our hotel room.

Biarritz, France

We've had a great couple of days here in Biarritz.  The weather is perfect, great hotel right in town and close to the beach, and it's not too crowded.  We're crossing the street to the market hall for lunch today.  Tomorrow we'll move on to San Sebastian, Spain.

First dinner out at Bar Jean-Tapas, Padron Peppers, and Calamari.

 The beach here is beautiful!  Water is clear and warm. 

 View from our hotel room

Paris

Bonjour!  We had a fun first day in Paris.  We ate great food and ended up walking 5 miles in the afternoon and evening.  This morning we made our way to the train station and we're headed to the coastal town of Biarritz for a couple of days. 

Aperitif Time

Some of the beautiful artwork in our hotel.

Leaving Soon

BON VOYAGE!