It’s been about a month since we returned from France and I have all our photos sorted, so it’s time to share our adventure! Instead of sharing day by day, as I did with our California trip, I’m going to share by location. First up will be Paris, then Versailles (it deserves its own post!), Provence, Cassis, and finally Mougins.

This was mine and John’s first trip to Europe, which meant it was our first trans-Atlantic (and overnight!) flight! We took off from Montreal around 10pm on Air Canada and landed at Charles de Gaulle around 9:30am local time. We stayed awake long enough to sample our hot airline dinner (surprisingly delicious), then attempted to sleep for the rest of the six hour flight. One tip: we packed a few Burt’s Bees face wipes as well as Wisps, and both helped us feel much fresher going to bed and then again in the morning!

From CDG we took the RER (commuter train) and then the Metro into Paris. This was easy – there was a kiosk to buy tickets right in the airport. The ride to Cambronne, our stomping grounds in the 15th arrondissement, took about 45 minutes. Once we hopped off at our stop, I was amazed when John strode confidently in the correct direction! His trick? He had “walked” the route from the station to our apartment on Google street view. That man is a genius! We successfully met up with our Airbnb host, dropped our luggage, and made outfit changes.

And then we dove in! We walked from the 15th toward the Seine, stopping at a stall along the river for a foccaccia, tomato, and mozzarella sandwich (yum!). Along the way, we saw the Invalides, the Ecole Militaire, and even got a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower!

Our destination was the Musee d’Orsay. We didn’t have a ton of time in Paris (really only two days, since most of one of our days was spent at Versailles), and we knew ourselves: while we appreciate art, we are not the biggest art history buffs. So instead of the Louvre, we chose the Musee d’Orsay, which came highly recommended by many people for its art, its architecture, and its more manageable footprint.

We walked the Orsay for about an hour. Sadly, we were feeling the effects of an overnight flight, 24 hours of travel, and the time change at this point, and were dragging pretty hard, so I don’t think we quite did this lovely museum justice. We did, however, love the observation patio on the top floor – the view was completely majestic! If I were to go again, I would listen to an audio tour while walking, because there wasn’t much context for the pieces from signage.

After exiting the Orsay we crossed over the Seine and wandered through the Tuileries. So beautiful! I would love to spend an entire afternoon reading in one of the reclined patio chairs that cover the grounds. One surprise: the Tuileries, as well as many other parts of Paris, were very dusty! The paths are mostly finely crushed gravel, and the wind really whips it into the air. Both John and I had mildly sore throats for our three days in Paris (a small price to pay, though!).

As we walked toward the Champs-Elysees, the crowd definitely got thicker and thicker, and a bit more touristy. But we didn’t mind, because we had a destination in sight: Laduree! We splurged on a sample box of eight, including lemon, chocolate banana, rose petal, and raspberry. The store was as elegant and lovely, and the macarons as delicious, as everyone makes them out to be! A little jewel box. I would definitely recommend a stop, though beyond that I wouldn’t spend much time on the Champs Elysees.

After a brief glimpse of the Arc de Triomphe, we hopped on the Metro (we had purchased unlimited rides, which I would also recommend) to the Trocadero. We got a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower from on high, and successfully avoided all of the selfie stick sellers!

From there, we walked down under the Tower to Cafe Constant, a restaurant that was one of the most often-recommended in our pre-trip research. We arrived right when they opened, as recommended, to avoid a long wait, and were seated promptly. The meal was very good and reasonably priced – classic French food (I got boeuf bourguignon). Our night ended with a walk back to our apartment past the lit-up Tower.

There’s that Paris light – this was taken at 9:30!

On Sunday we started the day with worship at Hillsong Paris. It was similar to the Hillsong NYC service we went to this spring (also in a theater), but a smaller crowd. The whole service was delivered in both French and English (aside from the songs, which were in French). Such a neat way to experience true Parisian life!

After church we headed to Versailles, which I will report on in my next post!

I do have to mention, though, that on Sunday we had dinner at Les Cocottes back in Paris, a restaurant owned by the same chef as Cafe Constant. We LOVED our late (10pm!) dinner at Les Cocottes – definitely one of our favorites from the whole trip. The vibe is kind of like an upscale diner, the food was absolutely delicious, and the whole experience felt very Parisian. Highly, highly recommended.

Even though people always split Paris into the Left and Right Banks, we split our days a little differently: on Saturday we stayed to the West of the Louvre, and on Monday, we were mostly to the right of it. We started our second day in Paris (third day in France) with an escargot (not the snail – a pistachio pastry that looks like a snail!) and a pain au chocolat from Du Pain et Des Idees, another boulangerie that had come highly recommended. We ate them on the bank of the Canal St. Martin, then wandered Le Marais until it was time for lunch. (Can you tell our days were structured around food and sights? But what else is there??)

For lunch, we split from the French fare we had been enjoying and indulged in street-style tacos at a true hole in the wall, Candelaria (recommended by our friends as well as Anthony Bourdain). The “kitchen” was a teensy galley on the other side of the counter from the bar stools where we sat, and the food was delicious.

Fortified, we walked across Pont Neuf to Ile de la Cite.

For our first foray into a Paris historic site, we waited in line for about a half an hour to see Saint Chapelle. It was most definitely stunning, with more than 1,000 Biblical scenes depicted in stained glass!

However, for me, our next destination, Notre Dame, was even more beautiful. Even though the line outside looked long, it moved briskly (we probably only waited five minutes), and there is no entry fee. They’ve done a wonderful job with signage and description inside, and I loved learning more about the cathedral’s history as well as drinking in the amazing architecture.

What’s that? Time for a snack! Next up was Berthillon ice cream, on Ile St. Louis. Warning: as you approach the actual Berthillon location, you will see signs for many, many other shops advertising Berthillon. It’s like the ice cream district! These other shops actually do sell Berthillon, but if you want it from the original location, keep walking. It’s delicious – more icy than creamy, and very intensely flavored.

With our ice cream in hand we strolled around the Jardin du Luxembourg area (beautiful! I liked it better than the Tuileries) before heading back to our apartment to clean up for dinner. En route, we stumbled across a Longchamps store, and I was able to replace my seven-year-old bag (tip: the same bag goes for MUCH less when bought in France!).

Dinner was at Le Coupe Chou, a perfect date night spot. From the outside, it looked like it belonged in England; the inside is a maze of cozy rooms with fireplaces galore.

These two city skeptics were completely charmed by Paris — John especially. Despite the Parisian reputation, everyone we met was INCREDIBLY friendly; there was beauty and history at every turn; and we loved walking everywhere (45 miles in three days!). I also loved that all of the stereotypes about French people and baguettes are 100% true – there was one sticking out of almost every tote bag we saw, or being munched right on the sidewalk! To conclude, we would go back in a heartbeat.

Even though this is a long post, I left out a lot of detail, so please ask questions about specifics if you have them! And if you have been to Paris, I would love to know: did we make it to one of your favorite spots? And if we didn’t, what did we miss?

Before Memorial Day fades too far into the past, I wanted to share our weekend trip to Bald Head Island and Wilmington, NC! Neither John nor I had spent any appreciable time at either location, so we were excited to explore both over the long weekend.

We drove down to Wilmington (about two hours from the Triangle) on Saturday morning. There are lots of beautiful old houses in Wilmington’s neighborhoods and some really neat businesses. I convinced John to pull over and take a photo of this one: an old fire house converted into a home decor store! It wasn’t quite open when we visited, but looked fantastic from peeking in the windows. I found this article after some Google searching. Worth a visit on a future trip!

Instead of eating lunch, we stuck it out until 2:30, when we met up with our group for a food tour of Wilmington! The tickets were my birthday present from John. Neither of us had been on one before; it was really fun. We visited six stops in about 3.5 hours. Highlights included:

— braised pork belly and pimento cheese grits at Pilot House
— zucchini noodles with delicious marinara sauce, sausage, and wine pairings at The Fortunate Glass
— oysters Rockefeller, a mini lobster roll, a pickled shrimp lettuce wrap, and an AMAZING flourless brownie at PinPoint. This restaurant, which had only opened the week before, was the unanimous group favorite. The chef, who has worked with John Fleer and Hugh Acheson, was SO impressive, and obviously very talented!
— macaroni and cheese, brisket, and homemade pickles at Fork n Cork
— mixed drinks at speakeasy The Blind Elephant
— four types of chocolate fondue at The Little Dipper

Needless to say, we were stuffed by the end! We took the long walk back, along the riverfront boardwalk, to our accommodations for the weekend — the genteel Graystone Inn. It was a very nice example of a bed and breakfast. After dropping our things, we hopped back in the car to drive the half hour or so to Wrightsville Beach to see the sunset. So beautiful!

Since the food tour kind of awkwardly segmented our day in terms of meals, we finished our evening with some pizza from Slice of Life and ice cream from Tar Heel Creamery. Yum :)

While walking the boardwalk on Saturday, we spotted a sign for The Anchor church, a United Methodist community that meets on a barge. So cool! We try to worship with local churches when we travel (we always learn something!), and this was definitely a neat experience.

After church, we drove down the coast to Southport and hopped on the ferry to Bald Head Island. It was such a beautiful day! After the 20-minute ferry ride, we arrived on the Island and immediately picked up our rental bikes from Riverside Adventure Company (it’s about a two-minute walk from the dock). Then, we moved one more door over to Mojo’s for lunch. It was yummy – a fairly typical example of a casual seaside lunch spot.

There are no cars on Bald Head Island (only golf carts!), so it was quite relaxing to ride the length of the island out to the beach on the far side. There was a pretty severe undertow going on, so we mostly just waded, but it was delightful!

After a few hours, we hopped back on our bikes and completed our circuit of the Island. Before dinner, we strolled around a few of the neighborhoods closer to the marina. These people know how to do blues and jasmine!

Our last stop of the day was dinner at Delfina Cantina. It was delicious and really hit the spot after all of our activities! Because it was Memorial Day weekend there were lots of community festivities going on (hula hoop contest, DJ, pinata) and therefore lots of good people watching. Just FYI, almost every lady was wearing a romper – the BHI summer uniform, apparently. We caught a fiery sunset on the beach before taking the ferry back to the mainland.

Could that sailboat be more perfectly situated? I don’t think so. I would highly, highly recommend a trip to Bald Head Island – either a day trip or something more extended! It would make a great family vacation for sure!

Before departing Wilmington for home, we spent the morning touring the USS North Carolina Battleship. I think it’s important to honor — in some intentional way — days like Memorial Day, instead of just seeing them as a free day off for picnics. It was neat to learn about the battleship, and now we’re so curious to see how a current ship compares to this one that was decommissioned in the ’60s!

Have any of y’all been to Bald Head Island? Wilmington? Do you try to recognize holidays like Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day in some way? I’d love to hear!

Loved hearing your thoughts on last week’s camping post! Looks like we have some other outdoorsy gals in the group :) Like I mentioned in my last post, once you have a basic stock of camping supplies it’s a delightfully cheap hobby, but it can be intimidating and expensive when you’re just starting out! We collected our supplies over several years and learned a few things along the way, so I’m sharing a few tips and favorites today!

As a note, many of our supplies were purchased with backpacking in mind, where lightweight items are worth their weight (and more!) in gold. You’ll pay for excellent construction, so if you’re not at all interested in backpacking, you could probably find heavier/less compact versions of many of these items for less money!

For each couple or person, you will need:
— Sleeping bags. My sleeping bag is by Feathered Friends and I love it! It is extremely lightweight and warm. Also very expensive. John’s bag is by Coleman and is less expensive. Buy a version that comes with a stuff sack for easy packing. I like to bring my own full-size pillow when car camping while John uses this one.
— Sleeping pads. For several years I slept directly on the ground and lived to tell the tale, but no more. John and I both have inflatable sleeping pads and they make a HUGE difference in our comfort and ability to fall asleep. Highly recommended if you camp at least once a year.
— A tent. Our tent was less than $100 on Amazon and we’ve been happy with it. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like it’s available anymore, but if we were to purchase a new tent, it would absolutely be the Half Dome 2 by REI – it’s legendary for a good reason. Update: With our growing family, we received the Kingdom 6 as a gift and we LOVE IT!
— Hand warmers. Better to be over-prepared than cold, I always say. Very nice down by your feet in your sleeping bag :)
— Head lamps. Better than flashlights because you don’t have to hold them while building a fire or carrying things. We have one of these and one of these.
— Warm clothes. It probably goes without saying, but bring comfortable clothes you can be active in and don’t mind getting dirty! Leggings and a sweatshirt is my go-to, with sweatpants for later in the evening when it gets colder. I also love SmartWool socks and always pack a pair of slip-on shoes (my Toms) for around camp in addition to my sneakers. If you’re at a site with a shower, bring shower shoes.

For the group, you will need:
— Food prep supplies. A little forethought avoids a lot of frustration. Think through every tool or supply you will need to bring your menu together. A knife for cutting, a mixing bowl, a pot for bowling water, a spatula, etc. We try to do as much prep (cutting vegetables, washing tomatoes, etc.) before we leave to make this easier. John’s parents gave us a set of Kuhn paring knives with sleeves that are great (and safe!) to pack.
— Cooking equipment. If you’re not planning to cook all of your meals over the fire, you’ll need some additional cooking equipment. Our normal camping accomplices, the Rays, usually bring their gas griddle and we bring our Pocket Rocket.
— Serving pieces. Cups, forks, utensils, plates, etc. You can go paper/plastic or something sturdier here. We like to go sturdy and have a set of enamel coffee mugs that are lightweight and feel very camp-y :)
— Fire supplies. Most campsites have reasonably-priced wood for sale. We bring matches (in a nifty match safe) and firestarters. Will loves his axe for chopping firewood into kindling. You should also include s’mores supplies on your packing list. Obviously.
— Camp life items. In addition to your head lamp, a lantern that can sit on a picnic table is great for after dark. Camp suds for environmentally-friendly dish washing. A few trash bags and paper towels. Bug spray and sunscreen. We always bring seating for everyone, too – we have stadium seats, folding chairs, and this minimalist stool.

To keep everything corraled in the car and easily accessible throughout our trip, I like to pack in the largest size Bote & Tote (it’s enormous) as well as big Rubbermaid tubs.

I think that about covers it, my friends! For camping and hiking reviews and ideas, you can check out John’s blog (he doesn’t update it regularly but the archives are great!). In the meantime, here are a few spots we’ve camped in NC!

Carolina Beach State Park
Hanging Rock State Park
Blue Bear Mountain Camp
Boone KOA
Stone Mountain State Park

Any questions, just let me know! And local friends, I’d love to hear any of your favorite camping or hiking spots in the Southeast! We are always looking for new spots to explore!!

I did not grow up camping. (I would famously sign up for girl scout camping trips, get all the way to the parking lot, then refuse to get on the bus with everyone else.) NO ONE would mistake me for a tomboy (even though I grew up playing outside most of the time). So when John first started expressing an interest in camping, hiking, and backpacking our junior year of college, my first thought was, oh HECK no. No, thank you. You go do your thing; I’m great right here.

However, a hallmark of our relationship has always been quality time together. We do almost EVERYTHING together, minus the eight or so hours per day we’re at our jobs. If John is mowing the lawn, I’m probably out weeding something. If I’m working on stirrers, John is probably researching a trip in the chair beside me. We do have our own interests and hobbies, but we love being together and try to maximize that as much as we can. So this new activity that I was vehemently not interested in caused a tiff between us for awhile… until I eventually gave in :)

And gosh, I’m so glad I did! We’ve had some amazing adventures over the last few years and seen so many beautiful things by traveling on foot and sleeping away from civilization. By far the most impressive was our post-graduation hike in the Presidentials, summitting Mount Adams (the second highest peak in the Northeast!) and Mount Jefferson.

Yes, that photo is showing you we hiked on our own two feet ABOVE the clouds!! The beautiful thing about camping and hiking, though, is that you can have equally fun, challenging, and inspiring experiences closer to home and without as much time commitment (or sweat!). We’ve had some great adventures in North Carolina, too:

These days, we do less backpacking (where we carry everything on our backs and hike out to a campsite) and more car camping (which still involves sleeping in a tent, but there are usually bathrooms and running water and you don’t have to carry all of your supplies with you!). Both are fun; the main trade-off is convenience for breathtaking vistas! If you want to spend quality time with friends, I can’t think of a better bonding experience than sitting around a campfire with no distractions and hours together stretching in front of you. It’s like the grown-up version of a sleepover!

I wonder if any of y’all were surprised when I mentioned camping on EFM for the first time. Either way, I hope my experience encourages you to give camping and hiking a try if you’ve been hesitant in the past!

In my next post, I’ll share some of our camping favorites. Once you have a basic stock of supplies it’s a delightfully inexpensive and beautiful way to travel, but it can be intimidating and expensive when you’re just starting out!