A hidden gem in Paris

If there is one thing the French are great at it's cooking (and eating!).  There are many places in Paris where you can enjoy traditional French cuisine, especially at the sidewalk cafes.  But my favorite place we ate all week was at L'Entrecôte near the Champs-Élysées.  When we mentioned we were heading to the area for dinner our apartment manager tipped us off about this place.  She warned us to arrive before 8:30pm.  We arrived at 7:30 and were promptly seated.  Shortly after a waitress dressed in the traditional french attire of black and white asked us how we would like our steak cooked and brought us salads of greens and walnuts.  They are so well known for their contre-filet that they don't even present a menu.  And just when you think it's over they refill your plate with another serving!  If you find yourself in Paris craving a steak this place is not to be missed.  Just don't tell too many people ... the line was around the block by the time we left.

On a side note, I am a big supporter of the vegetarian lifestyle and think meat should be eaten sparingly, but I don't feel bad about a changing it up every once in awhile either.  Think of it as being a Flexitarian.  Good for your health, good for the planet, and good karma :)

Check out the website of L'Entrecôte by clicking here.

Insider tip: Locals know to eat at the one on Rue Marbeuf.

Another delicacy I couldn't get enough of.
I made sure to try as many varieties of Macaroons as possible!

Great museums, long lines

Paris is of course, amazing.  There are so many beautiful historical buildings that have been very well kept up and the museums are fantastic. Unsurprisingly I have been eating way too much bread and pastries!  But, the lines!  If you visit Paris be prepared, you will wait in line for everything.  To buy a drink, to use the toilet, and for every museum and tourist attraction you visit.  The French do not rush.  That said, there are a few things you can do to avoid wasting too much time getting tired in the sun.  Did I mention you'll be waiting in all these lines in the sun?  First, get there early, as in before they open.  Second, consider buying either the Museum Pass or the Paris Pass, the latter of which we had.  These passes wont get you out of every line but they do help a lot and are a pretty good value if you use them in enough places.

View from the Luxumberg Gardens, taken this afternoon.

Dinner Friday night, near our apartment.

We've been here for 10 days and have seen a lot of the city.  Today we walked around the 6th arrondissement and ate lots of delicious food there.  Asia has really rubbed off on me because I always find myself wanting to take pictures of food now when I travel.  Tomorrow is our last full day in the city so we'll try to squeeze in the last few things we'd like to do. We have been very lucky with the weather here - lots of sun all week so far!

A few more suggestions if you'll be traveling in the area.  Say hello!  This is a big one here and if you can manage a few words of French when you greet someone your service will improve 200%.  Also, don't miss the Musée de l'Orangerie.  They have two large oval rooms containing Monet's beautiful water lily paintings.

My Mom and I before the tour of Opéra Garnier.

Leaving Taiwan was a bit of a mad rush the last day, because although I was very organized and started preparing to leave more than a month ahead I seriously underestimated the amount of things I had to wrap up before departing.  And in the end I missed my flight and wasn't allowed to bring any luggage on the plane!  So, I'll be going back for a visit in the fall to collect my tax refund and the rest of my stuff.

After Paris, I'm heading to the Visayas which will mark the beginning of a four month backpacking trip around Asia.  Two summers ago I did a similar trip but did not have time to visit all the countries on my list.  This time around I'll be heading to the Philippines, Singapore, Bali, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and finally India.  Im looking forward to diving the South Pacific, yoga in Bali, and volunteering at Navdanya near the Himalayas in northern India.

Under the Tuscan Sun

When we left Rome we rented a car to drive through Tuscany to our apartment in Loro Ciuffenna.  It was a charming town with the typical small, winding, Italian streets.  We stayed there for a week and took day trips to Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Cortona, Castelina and the Chianti area.  Between the steep hills, our standard car and the occasionally inaccurate maps I think we did pretty good navigating our way around Tuscany.

I was very excited to visit Florence again, and it was the first time I had been back since studying there in college.  Firenze has always been one of my favorite cities because it is not too large and very easy to walk around. Kindof like Boston! :)  I took my parents to the sandwich shop that used to know my roommates and I by name because we ate there so often and the panini were just as delicious as I remembered.

Here I am on the Ponte Vecchio, down the street from where I used to live.

We have eaten at some incredible restaurants while we’ve been here.  I had been expecting the food to be more expensive (it costs about $1.30 dollar to buy 1 Euro) but most of out dinners have averaged between 50EU and 80EU for the three of us.  At home, I dislike eating out mainly because I am quite picky when it comes to where I will eat.  I prefer restaurants that cook with local products; which is nearly impossible to find at home and I don’t like spending $30 for an entrée, which eliminates most of the choices.  There has not been one dish I have eaten here that was subpar and I have also mostly been eating vegetarian dishes!  *With some exceptions, more on this later.  The food has been fantastic, and most of the menus actually indicated the few items that are not locally sourced versus an American meal, which is usually entirely comprised of food flown in all over the world.  I have to say you can really taste the difference; the food here tastes fresh as if it had just been picked from someone’s garden (it probably was). 

I waited an extra 15 minutes for this chocolate souffle because it was home made and it was well worth it :D

Hopefully the local food movement will take off in the Boston area sometime soon.  Until then I will have to stick with The Independent (my current favorite restaurant – located in Union Square).  Some of you may wonder, why eat vegetarian in Italy of all places?!  I’m not completely abstaining from meat, but I am trying to reduce my consumption as much as possible in an effort to start eating a healthier diet.  I recently finished reading In Defense of Food by Michal Pollen, which I highly recommend; and it has really impacted my outlook on food.

Tomorrow is our last day in Italy.  It has been a great vacation, but I am already thinking of all the things I have to do in the next 5 days to prepare for Taiwan.  When I arrive in Kaohsiung next weekend I will be very busy searching for an apartment, working out the details with my job, and buying a bike to get around.

I am really grateful that I had the opportunity to return to Italy (it’s my third time here).  I can still confidently say this is my favorite country, and every time I visit I find more reasons why.  My top two right now are the food and the people.  But I think those are probably the reasons why I like every country I visit J who would want to visit someplace with bad food and unfriendly people?  Oh, wait that’s America! Haha jk ... well sortof ;)

Did you know you can click on any images in the blog to see a larger version?

When in Rome ...

Sitting by the Trevi Fountain

Our apartment in Rome was in a great location; we were right down the street from the Trevi Fountain!  I visited Rome on a high school trip but I didn’t really remember too many details so I was happy to go back.  Four days was enough for me though.  Rome is probably one of my least favorite cities in Italy just because it is so crowded with tourists.

It was nice to be staying so close to the Trevi fountain because we were able to enjoy it without tourists the morning we were up early for our tour of the Vatican museum.  I had never done a guided tour inside a museum before and it was very fascinating but I’m not sure if I would have preferred just wandering around the Vatican by myself.

Our guide was great and provided a lot of interesting information about the highlights of the museum but by being in a large group you don’t get a chance to really observe the individual pieces of art and go at your own pace.  The reason we booked the tour in the first place was to avoid having to wait in the mile long line to get into the museum, which was definitely worth it.

In front of the Colosseum with my parents