How to Spend a Day and a Half in San Francisco

After a fun few days in Napa, we wanted to make the most of our time on the West Coast so we opted to stay an extra night in San Francisco. After dropping Darlene off at the airport (which was thrilling since we were stuck in traffic and she came really close to missing her flight) we checked into our humble hotel in Chinatown and grabbed a bite to eat at Ramen Underground.

We started off with the rice balls which were huge! They look like mini-mountains!

Both N. and I got the tonkatsu ramen. I am by no means a ramen connoisseur, but I love all noodle soups in any which way or form (i.e.: pho, udon, ramen, etc.).

After our filling meal we decided to walk around the "varied" shops in Chinatown. I say varied jokingly because they were more or less the same store, selling the same things.

Us goofing around in Chinatown. LOL.

After we strolled through Chinatown, we headed to the top of Nob Hill (we literally had to climb some steep a$$ hills to get to this place!) to check out the famous Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel. Having drank wine for the past few days you could say I was wine'd out. I was excited to drink something different so I was happy to bring on the hard liquor, LOL. We started off with their signature mai tais. They were good, fruity and strong!

The band was pretty good! The fun thing to note is that every time the band went for break the barge the band was on would move back "in-land" and it would start to storm on the water--complete with rain and thunder sounds.

Selfies!

Cheers!

The next beverage we tried was the Smuggler's Golden Punchbowl for two. We saw that the bartender added bitters to the drink which made the cocktail a little too salty after a while.

We asked him if he could add something to it to make it less salty/more sweet. He then added some guava juice which made it a little better! ;)

Yum! Definitely more palatable!

After a couple of cocktails it was off to bed because we had a long day planned for tomorrow. We had booked this Hayes Valley walking tour so we were really looking forward to that. I had never heard of the Hayes Valley neighborhood or done a walking tour so I was excited to do something super "touristy" in the city!

I started off my morning the next day with the breakfast of champions, bahn mi! On our way to Hayes Valley I looked up a well-reviewed little food/coffee shop on Yelp called Fresh Brew Coffee and their bahn mi sandwich did not disappoint!

Derby Street! Too bad I didn't find a Louie Street!

Walking to across town we also ran into a farmer's market! We got to sample some fresh fruit and cheeses! So delicious! We also stopped by the famous Blue Bottle Coffee where I tried their New Orleans iced coffee. It had the perfect amount of milk with a hint of sweetness. Yum!

 

 

Now the tour! Luckily we didn't eat to much that morning because this foodie walking tour through Gourmet Walks required a lot of eating of which we were happy to oblige!

Our first stop on the tour was the Smitten Ice Cream Shop.  

The flavor we sampled was the cinnamon shortbread which was delicious! Smitten makes their ice cream differently in that they use CO2 to make their ice cream in small batches. It was pretty neat to watch them make it.

Our next stop was the Fatted Calf for some tasty charcuterie! Here's a picture of one of the employees telling us about the shop. At every stop an employee came out and told us about the restaurant/shop we were in and what they were serving.

For some reason this was my favorite place on the tour. I think it's because I'm a sucker for gourmet/artisanal meats!

This is Katie who was our Gourmet Walks tour guide, she was great!

After that, we visited DragonEats for some (more) bahn mi. Honestly, I could never tire of bahn mi so I was fine with eating it twice in one day.

Here is a shot of the chicken bahn mi we sampled. Compared to the one I had in the morning, I like the one at the coffee shop better. Honestly, this one had a bit too much mayonnaise and it wasn't served with the usual bahn mi baguette, regardless I'm sure it is still a nice addition to the neighborhood. 

Next, we went to Hayes and Kebab for some assorted Mediterranean mezze. Below is a shot of the store sign and a sampling of the pita, babaghanoush, hummus, and falafel.

By this stop I was starting to get really full. The next stop, Nosa Ria, offered a light sample of their Spanish olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Too bad there was no vehicle to sample them with (i.e.: bread, cracker). N. and I were secretly hoping for a sample of Iberico ham, but alas, there was none. wah wah.

After, the oil and vinegar sampling I was really excited for our next stop, Miette, for some macarons! If you don't know, I am a macaron fiend! And these ones were organic and tasty! In the picture below, the pistachio macaron is the left and the raspberry macaron is on the right, but I'm sure you couldn't tell since they don't use any artificial colors or preservatives. Their subtle tones definitely weren't what I was used to but they were yummy nonetheless!

A shot of the beautiful interior of the store.

Jars full of macarons!

After satisfying my sweet tooth, we went to Arlequin Cafe for some tasty nibbles of bread and cheeses. They had a lovely back patio which looked like it would be nice for chatting with friends in the beautiful weather. Here is a shot of the spread. They also served us a sample of Chardonnay, but as I already mentioned I was wine'd out so I barely took a sip. LOL.

The last stop on our tour was Noir Lounge for some beer tastings.

I obviously didn't like the hoppy pale ale, but I did like the chocolatey stout!

After our tour we did some retail therapy at San Francisco's own Marine Layer (they're products are so soft and cozy!) and Uniqlo! 

Our time in San Francisco was coming to an end so we had to head back to Chinatown to grab our rental car and things and head to the airport. But before we headed out, we stopped at Bite to grab a bite for the plane ride home! Pun intended...har har har. ;P Their artisanal sandwiches were huge and smelly (in a good way!) so we probably got the stink eye while we noshed on the onion-y goodness on the plane.

Whew! That is a lot of stuff! Although we only had a day and a half, we filled our short time in San Francisco with lots of good times and good eats!

Brioni European Vacation - Paris, France

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Here's the second installment of our European trip. Enjoy!

 

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Bonjour from Paris! After taking the high speed rail from London, we went straight to our hotel. We stayed at the New Orient Hotel and it was really cute! It was a little bigger than the hotel that we stayed at in London, with really nice inn owners.

Like London, we couldn't help ourselves and signed up for the two day pass for the double-decker tour bus. We waited until the next day to get started off for a full day of sightseeing.

First stop was Notre Dame Cathedral:

 

The stained glass in Notre Dame was breathtaking!

Our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe. There were a lot of tourists and street performers around that area. After snapping some pics at the Arc de Triomphe, we had to make our way to to Champs Elysees. Champs Elysees is such an amazing street full of shops and restaurants, which meant that I had to make a stop...

 

At the Louis Vuitton flagship store! I purchased a handbag and wallet, and after completing my purchase, (while they were wrapping up my items) they gave me a glass of champagne! #treatyourself

 

 A picture of of the sun setting over the Seine...

After a full day of sightseeing, we grabbed a bite to eat at one of the many Parisian bistros. The food we ate was good, but more or less the same, consisting of a protein/sandwich with fried potatoes (frites), and a side salad, like in the picture below.

And of course each meal was accompanied by cute cups of coffee!

The Ecole Militaire lit up at night...

Because there wasn't any room on the lower level of the bus, Justin and I made our way to the top...which wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't so cold, but Paris is super beautiful at night. Plus, it gave us an excuse to cuddle for warmth :)

That night we we went to the Louvre. I highly suggest visiting in the evening when at all possible. We were able to enjoy all the artwork without all the huge crowds.

Instead of showing you typical snapshots of the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, I'll show you works that I liked...like the picture below. It reminded me of me and my sisters, LOL...

 

Egyptian cats...

 

 

After a long night of sighseeing, we busted out our box of macarons from the famous Laduree. Can you believe we spent nearly $80 on macarons and pastries? Darn exchange rate. #Treatyourselfsomemore

On our second full day in Paris, we decided to wrap up our sightseeing tour by visiting some of the other well known attractions we hadn't seen yet.  First, we took our double decker bus to Pigalle, Paris' old red light district where Moulin Rouge cabaret is located.

We didn't bother going in, and took a few photos of the outside, as well as other nearby cabarets.  After being hassled by beggars, and other shady characters, we got back on the bus.  The next stop was none other than the Eiffel Tower.  Yes, it took us awhile to make it to this iconic tourist attraction, but there is so much to see in Paris.  When we arrived, we couldn't believe how tall it really was.  We decided not to go to the top of the tower, considering that the lines were pretty long, and we had many friends who have made the trip up that elevator say that it wasn't worth it.  Just seeing this thing up close and personal was good enough for us.

After the Eiffel Tower, we made our way to the Musee d'Orsay.  Here, we encountered our first "long tourist attraction line".  Although it was cold (as demonstrated by me being bundled up below), the wait was worth it.  Some of the notable works we saw were Seurat's The Circus, Whistler's Mother, and various works by van Gogh.

For dinner, we tried out a restaurant that I read about in my Frommer's guide book.  Upon our arrival, it appeared a lot more people got the same idea.  We once again were confronted with another line.  Le Relais de l'Entrecote provided a simple menu: salad, steak, and fries.  The steak came with a dijon sauce that went well with the meat.  When I initially read about this restaurant in the Frommer's guide book, it appeared that this place gave generous helpings of steak to its patrons.  I interpreted it as an "all you can eat" steak menu.  When I told Justin about it, he took it upon himself to "starve himself" for the day.  Unfortunately, "all you can eat" is not the case here.  They do provide patrons a second helping of steak, but no more.  When Justin asked for a third helping, our waitress was puzzled and finally broke the bad news that two was all he was getting.  Other than that, the food was great and would definitely say the wait in line was worth it.

Me realizing my "all-you-can-eat" steak mishap...

While we were walking around our neighborhood, we came across some electric car charging stations. As green as I think a lot of Americans are, I still haven't seen a car charging station in D.C. I know they exist, but I'm sure they're few and far between.

We had a blast in Paris seeing all of the wonderful sights, but after hitting up two major European cities, we were ready for a change of pace. The next city on our tour, Brussels, although metropolitan, isn't as big as London or Paris.  We're definitely looking forward to a little more relaxed schedule. See you Brussels!