au revoir, Paris!

I got to take one last trip to Paris before we move, and it was such a great day! I went with my friend Becky, and her husband took the kids (thanks, Johnny!). We had no agenda so we just enjoyed being in Paris, which always involves eating great things. :)

Maybe my entire aim of the trip was to eat as many macarons as possible. I did the essential Pierre Hermé versus Ladurée taste test. Mine was a chocolate versus chocolate, and Pierre Hermé won there. But I still love Ladurée!

middle right=licorice and violet macaron (definitely a fave from the day)

ispahan macaron=rose-flavored macarons filled with rose cream, lychee and raspberries
(topped with a real rose petal, topped with a little drop of fake dew)

our second trip to Ladurée for the day--left to right: licorice, salted caramel x2, blood orange, green apple, violet

enjoying the ispahan

lamb chop with ratatouille 

And here are a few additional Paris photos, just because I love the place so much!

Notre Dame Cathedral (the Seine side)

at Shakespeare and Company bookstore

Thanks, Becky, for helping make the day so perfect!

Unforgettable food

A series of blog posts from one of our trips just wouldn't be complete without the requisite post about all the great food we ate. This trip was full of incredible food, including the above raspberry macaron and pastry. We discovered that the only sure way to keep Gavin happy at all times was to give him bread (his father's son). I'll always look back on this trip with a mental picture of Gavin with some bread in his hand or mouth.


In addition to bread and pastries, we ate A LOT of sausages. With great mustard.

There was a Ladurée shop in Lausanne where we got some macarons (we also ate some in Lucerne).

Our host in Switzerland made the most amazing meal of papet vaudois, a meal original to that region of Switzerland. It was outstanding, and I would try making it myself except I don't think I can find sausages quite like these.

We enjoyed a meal of cheese fondue while we were in Switzerland. It's a cheese-lover's dream. ;)

Schweinehaxe (of course)

Schupfnudeln (potato noodles) from the Heidelberg market

Cordon bleu and croquettes

A real show-stopper: Spargelschnitzel (asparagus Schnitzel in hollandaise sauce, covered in cheese)

Gavin is enjoying a freshly-made Stroopwaffel

raspberry tart

Apple tart

Something yummy with potatoes and lardons

And the item from the trip that Jacob found life-changing (and the rest of us enjoyed too)--a nougat log covered in delicious dark chocolate and pistachios

Christmas markets 2011

Jacob's brother Jared and his wife Ashley came over from Maryland, and we took a huge road trip through Europe visiting lots of Christmas markets in several countries. Here are a few highlights from the various markets we visited.
France
We started our trip with a little stop in Lille, France, where we met up with a few friends.
We visited Strasbourg a few years ago, but this time it was decked out for the holidays with a fantastic market. Colmar was the big surprise from the trip--we're not sure why millions of tourists don't flock there. It's an unbelievably adorable town in the Alsace region of France. It's incredibly picturesque on any day (plus it's the birthplace of the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, Frédéric Bartholdi), but their Christmas market was adorable too.

Belgium
We stayed in a little town called Hasselt, and we didn't expect them to have a Christmas market at all, let alone a great one. We had fun and amazing food.

Germany
Our absolute favorite market was again Aachen (as was the case in 2008). It's in a gorgeous location between two big churches, and the food was incredible. This time we tried something new and delicious--fried cauliflower (which Jacob is excitedly purchasing in the next photo). Mmmm.

We also visited Christmas markets in Cochem (not pictured, but we visited the town a few years ago) and Heidelberg (below).
Switzerland
We were disappointed that markets in Bern and Lucerne were not scheduled to open until this weekend, so we missed them. We did, however, visit the markets in Montreux and Lausanne.