Summer Vacation: Montpellier & Eating Too Much in France

I admit I slacked off with the pictures the last week of the vacation. A majority of it was spent reading on the beach while enjoying too many baguettes and croissants washed down with Orangina.

Here are a few of my (mainly food) recommendations if you plan on visiting the Montpellier area or actually France in general:

1. Get a fresh baguette early in the morning from a boulangerie.

2. Do a pain au chocolat taste test. We tried three in one morning, oops :)

3. ^^Get a Giant from Quick. It is so good. Skip the fries though, they aren't as good, just get the burger in my opinion.

4. ^^Have a crêpe with nutella and banana. 

5. Eat at a typical bistro. I recommend La Cocotte in the city center of Montpellier.

6. Explore different beaches and bring a cooler, umbrella and beach towels with you. Use this beach guide for the Languedoc area. Espiguette and Marseillan are a couple of my favorites.

7. Stay at an apartment rental rather than a hotel. You'll have the freedom of cooking dinner when you want (^^like the above salad I made) and even doing laundry (which is especially useful if you are on vacation for more than one week!) I recommend Smart Living if you are staying right in Montpellier.

8. Try speculoos ice cream (or biscoff to those in the US).

9. Buy fresh fruit and vegetables at the weekly open market.

10. Have a classic jambon, beurre, fromage sandwich with an Orangina.

Summer Vacation: The Black Forest & Switzerland

After Munich, we drove directly to the Black Forest, to a small town called Enzklösterle which is where A found a campsite. I was a little hesitate as we were headed towards nature and away from a big city, but it was a nice little break. Although the town was tiny, it did have a few restaurants, and cafes (with really good black forest cake!!) plus the campsite was very nice. I tried to plan out our entire route before we left for vacation and was going to book campsites in advance, but I'm glad I didn't because we ended up changing our plan a few times and the campsites were never fully booked. 

^^Above is on our first walk through the forest. It was a beautiful sunny day and the perfect walking temperature. 

^^More of the forest. 

We didn't stay in Enzklösterle for long as we had to head down to Switzerland. After Enzklösterle, we drove South towards Freiburg and stayed in Kirchzarten just a short train ride away. One great advantage to staying in the Black Forest area is the free transportation you can use, from buses to trains. The campsite in Kirchzarten gave us a temporary card valid for the duration of our stay which allowed us to hop onto the train to Freiburg for free. 

 ^^We stopped by Cafe Schmidt in Freiburg center to have some cake! 

^^After the cake, we walked around and all of a sudden the smell of fried onions and sausages caught our attention. We couldn't resist and each had a sausage with fried onions, ketchup and mustard on a soft bun. It was so delicious. 

^^The next morning, we had drive back to Switzerland to A's parent's chalet. We had a day or two to get ready for a week of beach and sun in France next. 

^^I was excited to get do some grilling since we don't have an outdoor space in Modena. Sliders, hot dogs and zucchini. 

^^Another grilled meal of steak, corn on the cob, potato salad with olive oil and parsley and a few cherry tomatoes. 

^^And lastly, I had a small obsession with s'mores this vacation. Though I couldn't find the perfect graham cracker, I made it up by using fleur de sel dark chocolate. 

Last recap of vacation coming up: Montpellier then on to a few recipes!

Summer Vacation: Munich

^^Walking around Marienplatz in Munich

After a few days in the campervan, I was ready to sleep in a big comfy bed. Since we were ready for a little exploring in Munich, we thought splashing out on a hotel would be a good alternative than dealing with the campervan outside of the city center. We drove to Ingolstadt from Fussen to check out the outlets first. After discovering there was free WiFi, I immediately logged onto Hotwire to see what deals I could find in Munich for the next two nights. We lucked out with the Sofitel which was walking distance to the main attractions in the center and right next to the central train station. This was perfect because we planned to park right outside the city center and take the train to the hotel.

For those with a rental car and planning on driving to Munich, I highly recommend parking at one of the Park and Ride garages. The only one we could find open for overnight parking was the P+R Messestadt Ost. It was free for the first 24 hours and then only a couple of euros for each day thereafter. We arrived on a Saturday and did not have any trouble finding a parking space. It was very secure and had easy access to the train right to the city center.

^^First thing on our to do list, eat (and drink!) at a beer hall so we were off to Augustiner. You seat yourself, eat a pretzel or two while the waiter brings you liters of beer and you order sausages, lots of them. It was all delicious. One small tip about tipping in Germany: you don't leave the tip on the table, but you round up and maybe leave a euro or two when the waiter brings you the check. You just tell the server how much change to give back to you.

This was my first time in Germany and I really enjoyed Munich. The general atmosphere was so nice, to walk around, hear live music everywhere, and not to mention the perfect temperature. After resting at the hotel and then walking around again, it was already time for dinner.

^^We had dinner outside at Paulaner Im Tal. I opted to go pork-free for one meal and had the cheesy spaetzle. It was the perfect amount of cheesiness, served with a side salad with a scoop of potato salad hidden underneath, a nice surprise! A opted for the pork knuckle and potato dumplings which looked very good as well.

The next day we got up early and decided to go on a guided tour of Dachau concentration camp. We went with Gordon Hogan's tour and I also recommend this tour for anyone interested. You don't need to book in advance, you just show up in front of the flower shop at the main entrance of the central train station. The tour takes all morning through lunchtime, so it is suggested that you bring some food with you. The price includes transportation and a guided tour at Dachau (I think it was around 20 euros, but I can't remember exactly!). I thought Gordon was great compared to some of the other tours I saw, which seemed like they were just reading from a script. Gordon't tour felt like a conversation and he provided insight on the history and emotion of the time.

We headed back to the hotel after a tiring morning and got some rest before we headed out again. Next was my favorite part of the trip, walking around the English gardens and having a meal at the Chinese pagoda with a band playing in the background.

^^Walking through a pretty garden on the way to the English gardens. 

^^So many choices, roast chicken, roast potatoes, currywurst, ribs, sauerkraut....!

^^I opted for the currywurst, roast potatoes, a huge pretzel (so good) and a big mug of apple juice :) A went for the currywurst, sauerkraut and side of potato salad, which was really yummy.  

^^A wonderful setting for a lazy Sunday evening of relaxing, eating and hanging with your best friend. 

^^A cool Swedish band called Tammy we came across during our walk. 

After wandering around Munich for the rest of the night, we had a good night's sleep at the hotel and got up early so we could get back to the campervan and drive to the Black Forest! We originally we going to drive back down to Switzerland and visit a few places around Zurich, but since we already did Switzerland in the Gstaad area last summer, we decided we needed to explore more of Germany. Most of all, I was excited for the Black Forest cake! We found the campervan safe and sound at the parking garage and were off to the forest.   

^^One last thought, you need to have a pretzel croissant when you are in Germany. They are one of the best things ever. 

Next post, the Black Forest and a few pics from Switzerland.