by Amber H. | Aug 9, 2017 | Europe, France, Transportation
This was a unique city break to Paris. We did absolutely none of the things that normally top a tourist’s must-do list in Paris. Instead, we spent a handful of days learning how to live like a local in Paris. And, this worked fine for us. This is my fourth trip to Paris, and Eric’s second. We’ve seen the Eiffel Tower, and the Musee d’Orsay. I’ve seen a lot more than Eric, but he’s okay with that. Instead, for both of us, this trip was more about living the Parisian life. We hoped a quick flight on Air France to Paris, and started to live the Paris life. Rent a Luxury Airbnb Apartment This was the first time we rented an apartment in Paris. And, when searching for flats on Airbnb, we choose the most Parisian one we could find. It was a little far to the north, in the 10th Arrondissement, or neighborhood, of Paris. But, it was Parisian, to the extreme. The apartment was in an old building, with wrought iron balconies, crown moulding, ancient hard wood floors, and a claw foot bath tub. The owners kitted the flat out with artwork from famous artists I had never heard of. And, like I imagine most Parisian apartments to be, it was filled with stacks of books, on politics, and travel, and famous art exhibits. It’s exactly how I imagine the French to live. Surrounded by art and intellect. If you’ve never stayed at an Airbnb before, try it out, and get a discount on your first stay here. Eat Like a Local in Paris And, because we...
by Amber H. | Aug 2, 2017 | Europe, France, Wine
Our experience traveling to Bordeaux was far from planned out ahead of time. Instead, we made our way to this world renowned French wine region to house sit, or more accurately, dog sit, for a friend. We had no idea what opportunities existed for wine tourism in Bordeaux, and we were indeed surprised. When accepting the invitation to take care of Emma for almost two weeks, we sort of assumed we could get some work done, explore a new city, drink Bordeaux wine, and eat cheese. After all, wine and French cheese, how could we go wrong? Without a car, and with needing to be there to take care of Emma each morning and each evening, I figured we wouldn’t really get to explore the region of Bordeaux, or to learn much about their famous wines. What is Bordeaux Bordeaux is on the west coast of France, and has one of the longest, and most prestigious of wine histories. The region surrounded the city of Bordeaux, and includes over 50 wine appellations, or wine regions, surrounding the city. It’s the largest wine producing area of France. And, other than Champagne, Bordeaux probably gives off an impression of wealth, of luxury, and perhaps in pretentiousness. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about wines, particular Spanish wines, Italian wines, and even Portuguese wines. But, I am a mere novice when it comes to any French wine, outside of Champagne. This is what I learned, at a very high level, about Bordeaux wines. Most wine produced in Bordeaux is red wine, which is also called Claret in Britain. It’s always made with a blend...
by Amber H. | Oct 27, 2016 | Europe, France, Luxury, Transportation, Travel Advice
Breaking Down 5 Cruise Misconceptions on a European River Cruise We’ve always prided ourselves on the fact that we’ve never been on a cruise. Technically, we can’t even make this claim due to a not so fab two night Yangtze River cruise we took in China back in 2009. But, I don’t think it counts. I mean a real cruise. One with a cruise director, buffet meals, and pre-arranged activities, on a boat with a bunch of other people. I’ve always stuck my nose up a bit at cruise goers, that was until our recent French river cruise experience. Yes, Viking River Cruises hosted us on this experience. And I’m glad they did. I never would have thought of doing this type of river cruise otherwise. We not only had a great experience, but it certainly dispelled some of the misconceptions I had about cruising in general. 1. Cruise Misconceptions: Cruise Ships are Crowded Close your eyes and say the words “cruise ship” and what images pop into your head? For me, it’s always been large cruise ships, the size of a small city, where it’s nearly impossible to find a lounge chair near the pool. Where I would be one of a thousand people clamoring for a server’s attention at dinner. I knew this wouldn’t be our experience on a European river cruise. First, the rivers can’t hold ships that big. There were less than a hundred staterooms on our Viking Buri longship. On our cruise, from Avignon to Lyon, I believe there were about 150 passengers on board. That meant there were always seats available at dinner,...
by Amber H. | Sep 6, 2016 | Europe, France, Podcast
The Culinary Travel Guide How does the daughter of a professional hockey player begin writing about culinary travel? After a solo trip to Paris, where Laura learned about French cooking techniques and took classes at the famous French cooking school Le Cordon Bleu, she became more serious about sharing her food travel tips with others. It’s one of the reasons why she ultimately created The Culinary Travel Guide. During this week’s culinary travel podcast, we talked about some of our shared food travel experiences. We have a lot in common when it comes to our experiences traveling in France for the food, although we were offering her some serious advice about planning her next Italian culinary tourism trip! More recently, she was the dessert and sandwiches judge at a cook off in Canada. That’s living the dream. You can follow Laura by checking out The Culinary Travel Guide, also on Facebook and Pinterest. Mentions in This Week’s Culinary Travel Podcast: Taste Florence Food Tours Viking River Cruises and the Silver Spirits Package Why We Can’t Love France Occupational Hazards of Being a Food Travel Blogger How The Sausage is Made – Mortadella Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe to the With Husband In Tow podcast on iTunes and listen to a new episode every Tuesday! If you like the podcast, leave a review! You can also check out our podcast on Stitcher here. And, we’re now available on GooglePlay! Check Out This Week’s Episode of the Food Travel Podcast http://traffic.libsyn.com/withhusbandintow/2_Ep_13_The_Culinary_Travel_Guide.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android |...
by Amber H. | Aug 4, 2016 | Europe, Food, France
I’m the farthest thing from a connoisseur of French food. I know the basics, enough to get me through a few weeks of traveling in France. But, when I walked into a French cooking class, with a group of bloggers, and learned I would be helping to make pâte à choux, my first reaction was “what the heck is that?” What is Pâte à Choux It was a bit chaotic when our group walked into the small demo kitchen just off of Place Bellecour in the heart of Lyon. We were traveling together on our Viking River Cruise. This was the last full day of our trip, and we had gotten to know each other pretty well. Perhaps too well. As we put on our aprons, and all wondered where to put the dozen or so cameras that joined us in our class, our instructor started speaking, very fast. It was all a bit confusing as to what was going to happen. Our instructor handed us a sheet up paper with the ingredients and steps to make pâte à choux. I slunk off to a corner to Google pâte à choux, not wanting to admit that, as the food blogger of the group, I had no idea what we were about to make. The choux part of the name is merely the light and fluffy pastry dough that is used to make loads of different French pastries, like eclairs and profiteroles. Okay, now I started to feel more in my comfort zone. In this case, we learned to make the pastry, the crumbly part on the top, and Chantilly cream for the inside,...
by Amber H. | Aug 2, 2016 | Europe, France, Podcast
Why We Can’t Love Traveling in France “No Matter How Hard We Try” We haven’t spent much time traveling in France. We’ve spent lots of time in Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, but not France. We’ve dipped our toes into the sea that is France in the past, but never dived deep. It was one of the reasons why were were so excited for our French river cruise. To taste French food, drink French wine, and hang out with some French goats. We extended our stay beyond the week long cruise, to spend time in exotic places likes Aix-en-Provence and Lyon. But, no matter how hard we tried to love France, it just didn’t take. Traveling in France is just not as easy as it’s neighboring countries. Part of it was due to language, part of it was due to what was going on in France this summer, and part of it had to do with French food, believe it or not. On this week’s episode of our culinary travel podcast, we apologize to the French as we admit how hard it was to travel in France. Check out our post that debunks 5 Cruise Misconceptions. Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe to the With Husband In Tow podcast on iTunes and listen to a new episode every Tuesday! If you like the podcast, leave a review! You can also check out our podcast on Stitcher here. And, we’re now available on GooglePlay! Check Out This Week’s Episode of the Food Travel Podcast http://traffic.libsyn.com/withhusbandintow/2_Ep_08_Why_We_Cant_Fall_In_Love_With_France.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android |...
