I just returned from a lovely two-week vacation in France, and I’m already suffering from croissant withdrawal! We spent a week in Paris and a week in the south of France. I have much to share, but for now I’ll leave you with this top-10 list of my favorite memories:

10: The perfect lazy Sunday in Aix-en-Provence.


9: Boeuf bourguignon and cozy seats next to the radiator on a chilly, rainy afternoon in Paris. Plus, hot coffee and molten chocolate cake for dessert!


8: Discovering that I love sheep’s milk cheeses. I’ve really taken to Perail as well as Tomme de brebis (brebis refers to sheep or ewe). (I didn’t happen to get a photo of one, but below is a Reblochon, usually a cow’s milk cheese.)

7: All the amazing markets!


6: La Patisserie by Cyril Lignac, our default patisserie because it was at the corner of our street in Paris. Only now am I realizing that it’s a destination in its own right.


5: Sunday picnic brunch from Marche Richard Lenoir: anchovy-stuffed olives, St. Marcellin cheese, bread, Portuguese custard tarts, and oysters from Normandy.


4: Our landlady had breakfast waiting for us when we arrived in Paris. It was the sweetest welcome, topped off by the fact that the pastries were from La Patisserie.


3: Bistrot Paul Bert, where we had our favorite meal of the trip. (More on this in another post.)


2: Our neighborhood in Paris. We lived in the 12th [update: make that the 11th, aka the Bastille Quarter] and loved it. It was out of the way of the usual tourist sights and was more residential, which is what we wanted. But there were still lots of gems here, as we learned during our stay.


1: Our apartment in Paris. I think I could’ve stayed in the whole week and still felt like I was in Paris. It was my very favorite thing out of the entire trip.


More details to come!