Category: France

France, Switzerland

Châtel and the Portes du Soleil: Where to Ski and Eat on the French and Swiss Ski Slopes

Hi friends!  I wanted to highlight one of my favorite ski areas, les Portes du Soleil and the French alpine village of Châtel.  We’ve been three out of the last four years and have gotten to know it well!  This last trip was such a magical time with days full of skiing and phenomenal mountainside restau,rants and evenings spent cooking in our apartment then snuggling up on the couch watching French tv over a bottle of wine. 🙂  If you know me well, that pretty much sums up my dream life, haha!!  The Chatel and the Portes du Soleil is […]

France

The Ultimate Paris Travel Guide

I present you the Ultimate Paris Travel Guide!  Based on my personal favorites from MANY Parisian trips over many years, if you stick to these suggestions I guarantee you’ll have the time of your life!  Just don’t blame me if upon return, you spend your free time trying to figure out how to move your whole life there 😉  Also, be sure to check out my personal interactive Paris map at the end (I’m very proud of this)!! Ok!  I’ve laid out this post into the categories below: Reading Paris like a Map City Views Things to Do Museums Shopping […]

France

Skiing Chamonix

We had a fabulous long weekend skiing in Chamonix Mont Blanc, France.  It was our first time to the famous mountain and we loved it! The Town Chamonix Mont Blanc is an Alpine valley town and has 4 main ski lift areas, spread about 50 minutes end-to-end.  Chamonix overall is a functioning town, which is different than many alpine ski locations we’ve been to that consist mostly of ski chalets.  There is plenty to do for non-skiers from shopping, exploring ice caves, viewing Mont Blanc from the highest platform of the area, at the Anguille du Midi, and even a phenomenal […]

France

Paris Medieval Tapestries, Carousels, and Sunshine along the Seine

After a fun Friday in Paris, we started Saturday with a delicious breakfast at Dose Rue Mouffetard, complete with the best looking avo toast and a fresh salad for him, yogurt with granola and berries for her, and cappuccinos and fresh pressed juice du jour to share.  If you’re in the 5th, it is an all star breakfast cafe!! We then headed to the Cluny museum, or the Museum of Middle Ages and one of my personal favorites.  It is currently being renovated through 2020 (much more modern now – hopefully the medieval building will be incorporated back in after […]

France

Paris Catacombs, Colorful Streets, and Art Nouveau Dreams

We headed to Paris for a long weekend, something we try to do each year to celebrate our engagement, and this time felt like the perfect mix of relaxation and culture.  The highlights for me included a very Art Nouveau lunch, seeing the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries at the Cluny museum, and soaking up some glorious sunshine along the banks of the Seine on Sunday afternoon. We arrived late Thursday night to our airbnb in the 5th arrondissement and grabbed a quick verre de vin Chablis at le Café Saint Médard before heading to bed.  Friday started with breakfast along Rue […]

France

Late Summer Getaway to Villefranche-Sur-Mer

We took a late summer getaway to our favorite spot in the French Riviera, Villefranche-Sur-Mer.  Just one town east from popular Nice, this small town has it all: a great pebble beach, azure waters, colorful pastel buildings lining the sea in front of rocky cliffs, fabulous food, and charm exuding from every corner.  When we had a few days off at the end of summer, there was only one place we knew we wanted to be: We discovered VSM last year, using Nice as a home base and each day I planned for us to explore a different town by train.  […]

France

Bastille Day in Paris

We had an epic Paris weekend recently celebrating Bastille Day on Saturday and Sunday France played in the World Cup championship to beat Croatia and become Champions du Monde! Paris is always magical but you guys… this weekend was epic!!! Bastille Day in France is 14 July and since this year it fell on a Saturday, celebrating it in Paris was a must-do for me! I had our trip booked about a year out 🙂 and it did not disappoint. If you can get to France for 14 July, do it! Paris has a spectacular fireworks show behind the Eiffel […]

France, Switzerland

Skiing the Portes du Soleil

|Location: Chatel, France| Skiing the Portes du Soleil is one of my favorite winter vacations living in Stuttgart.  The ski area is quite large with a lot of connecting villages.  You can even ski from France into Switzerland and back within the day which I think is pretty awesome.  The Savoy region is an easy five hour drive from Stuttgart (well… that’s assuming you don’t put the wrong hotel into Google maps and drive an extra 2 hours through snowy Alpine switchbacks fearing your death… then drive two hours backtracking through the snowy switchbacks.  Long story you’ll have to ask […]