Food In Vegas

Recently, the husband and I went to Vegas to celebrate our anniversary. While we were there we enjoyed some amazing meals and shows. The following are my recommendations for doing Vegas right (and which don't leave you with a strange wife or disease.)

Food:

El Segundo Sol

This amazing Mexican restaurant is located across the street from the Wynn Hotel and in the middle of the Fashion Show Mall. You might miss it being tucked in the corner, but I promise you, you won't find a better Mexican restaurant in all of Vegas, or in the west for that matter.

First, you must start with their homemade guacamole and salsa. The guacamole is literally made to order and you can taste the ripe avocados, limes and cilantro. In addition to the guacamole is a salsa platter that comes with chips and offers awesome verde and regular salsa. Another amazing starter is the chicken taquitos. I'm not usually a huge fan of fried food, but this somehow comes off light and flavorful with the orange salsa.

Next, and I can't impress upon you enough, you must have the tacos. All of them are amazing. My husband loves the baja fish tacos, which again are fried, but come off just right, and I love the chicken tacos. The chicken has obviously been marinated over night and then grilled over a hot fire. It's so good that I could just eat without anything. However, as good as the meats are the tortillas make this meal. According to the manager, they literally have a woman designated as the tortilla maker and that's all she does. The tortillas are a perfect and made with a ground corn. In addition to the platter, you also get rice and black beans. Unlike other Mexican restaurants these sides are equal to their main courses.

Lastly, and again, you must somehow save room, you must order the tres leches cake. I'm not even a big dessert person, but this is insanely good. Again, somehow they manage to make a rich dessert so amazing and light.


Strip Burger
Next door to El Segundo Sol is a small outdoor eating area that serves awesome burgers, fries, sandwiches and shakes. It's the perfect place for curing a hangover and gaining some energy to go shopping. While we were there I had the California Chicken Sandwich and my husband had the Green Chili Burger. I love places that cook their burgers and chicken sandwiches on a grill and this was definitely the case. The portions were huge and warm as we sat outside. However, the winner of the meal were the sweet potato fries. They had some type of sugary taste to them and came with this amazing sauce. Every time we pass through Vegas I sort of crave those fries.



Mon Ami Gabi
First, this restaurant is amazing because of its location. It is located in the Paris Casino and faces the Bellagio Fountains. As you eat, you can perfectly see and hear the water show. We ate here once for my husband's birthday and it was so romantic to sit outside, enjoy a great meal and see those fountains.

As for eating, this place offers an amazing menu. To start I recommend trying either their French onion soup or the sea scallops. Both are cooked to perfection and show you from the very beginning what type of caliber this restaurant offers. I would however also mention for starters to stay away from their salads. I've had the house petite salad and the ceasar and found both to be very lackluster. They just don't seem to fit on the menu because of their lack of flavor and thought. Therefore, if you aren't a big starter hang with the delicious bread they provide and wait for the main course.

I've eaten at this restaurant four times and I've tried some of their specials. I've had a pot roast they advertised as being cooked for a few days, which was alright but I found to be very fatty, I've had a few fish dishes, that were amazing, but the real winners at this restaurant are their steak dishes. So, if you hear specials, close your ears and focus on the steaks. I recommend the classic filet mignon merlot. It is mouth watering good and the sauce...it's like butter. Also, what makes this meal are the frites that come on the side. They are the perfect compliment to add a little salt to the steak and soak up the juices and sauce. Another favorite is the bone-in ribeye. This is a monster dish, but again the ribeye is moist and juicy.

For dessert I'm not crazy about their selections. During the summer you get a lot of fresh fruit from California and the chef makes some amazing cakes and crepes with the fruit. During the winter months, they desserts aren't as amazing. We've ordered a few items, but were never overly impressed.

So, again remember come here for the steak and you will leave happy.

Lyon

From Chamonix we decided we didn't want to drive the entire distance back to Paris in order to fly home. Therefore, we decided to stop in Lyon, drop off our rental car, which was probably the hardest thing we had to maneuver since being in the country, spend one night there and then take a train directly to the airport the following day. We found this allowed us one more day to explore an additional city, and have a direct ride to the airport.

After finding the Budget Rental Car company, which was sandwiched between the train station and some side road, we took off to explore Lyon. According to Rick Steves' Europe travel book, he recommended walking through the Croix-Rousse district, which is the silk weavers district of Lyon. We absolutely loved walking these streets, which had secret passages, random off shoots and showcased gorgeous Italian architecture. It was slightly raining as we walked, but this little old part of Lyon offered many enclosed walkways and shops for us to stay dry.

Lyon, according to our research prior to traveling, was designated as the gastronomy capital of France, therefore we decided after exploring to treat ourselves to a very gourmet dinner. We decided on Le Winch, which was located on a quaint street lined with restaurants. My husband decided on an amazing dinner of duck and vegetables, and I finally, succumbed to steak and pom frites. (The first time I went Paris as a 13 year old girl I only order steak and pom frites, so this time around I promised myself I would try other things.)
After dinner we walked back to our hotel. We ended up staying at Hotel Central because of its location to the train station. Though this was a last minute decision, we were really impressed with this hotel. It has a very modern feel to it, the rooms are quite large and they offer a great breakfast in the morning.

Chamonix

From Annecy we traveled to Chamonix, which is located a little over an hour down the road. Chamonix shares the summit Mont Blanc, which is the highest mountain in the Alps, with its neighboring commune of Courmayeur in Italy, and has the appearance of a beautiful ski town like Aspen or Park City, Utah.

As we drove into the valley of Chamonix we were able to see several waterfalls coming down the mountains. Unlike Annecy, Chamonix was very easy to navigate and we were able to easily find our hotel. We ended up staying at the Hotel La Vallee Blanche. We decided on this hotel for its location, which was within walking distance of the Tourist's Welcome Center and the main streets of Chamonix for food. As for all our trips, we find Trip Advisor to be the best website to refer to for rates, reviews and recommendations. I have yet to find a hostel or hotel off this website we weren't completely satisfied with. As promised on Trip Advisor, the rooms weren't amazing, but the hotel is located next to a river, and while we slept, we were able to hear the river rustle by.

After quickly dropping our bags down, we headed over to the Tourist Welcome Center. I really enjoy starting a city this way because we find the best maps there and always get great recommendations on how best to see the city. (That's how we found out about hikes and bike rentals in Annecy.) After, learning a little about the city, we decided the best attraction in Chamonix, when there's no snow of course, is to take a cable car up to the top of Mont Blanc.

So, the following day we took the Aiguille du Midi cable car and traveled 12604 ft up into the clouds. It cost about 12,70 € per person, and it was completely worth the money. At the summit, are man made terraces that allow you a 360° view of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. While we were traveling up the cable car a cloud cover began to hide our view, but once we made it to the top the skies opened up and we were able to see everything.

At the top.
The terraces built on top of the mountain.
Separating each terrace and level were man made ice tunnels.
At the top an additional gondola ride can take you over Glacier du Géant to the Pointe Helbronner in Italy. We decided not to take this additional trip because of the cost, and we felt we had seen everything.
From the top people were taking off to hike down. They were equipped with ice cleats, tents and skis.

The cable car ride between Chamonix and Aiguille du Midi is broken into two stages. At the intermediate stop, at a height of 7, 578 feet, the Plan de l'Aiguille offers a departure point for individuals, who aren't equipped with ice gear, to hike the rest of the way down. We decided to get off at this point and walk the rest of the way down. The hike was long, but offered some amazing pockets of water left from glaciers, great views of Chamonix and different types of scenery from large boulders to forests.

Annecy

After six hours of driving we pulled off the highway into Annecy, which is located in the southeastern part of the country. (I should mention that we were not warned ahead of time, but Annecy is slightly confusing to navigate in a car. There didn't seem to be one main street, but a criss-crossing of one way streets. Eventually, we found our hostel, but I'll admit we drove around for awhile - and most likely drove by it a few times.)

Anyway, we ended up staying at the Alexandra Hotel. This place was perfectly located in the middle of town, close to restaurants and provided free parking underground nearby. We also really enjoyed this hotel because of the amazing service and the very filling breakfast they provided each morning.

Now, the reason we chose to stay in Annecy was strictly because of the beautiful Lake Annecy. Lake Annecy is the second largest lake in France and deemed as the cleanest lake in Europe. I can't describe how beautiful and blue this lake was. In order to truly enjoy the the lake and the surrounded trees and hills, we decided to go hiking our first day. According to Rick Steves' France guidebook we were able to find a trail and followed as it winded along the lake.
After hiking for a few hours, we decided to try one of Annecy's favorite meals: Raclette. I'm not sure how to describe this meal, other than I sort of want it to be my last meal if I'm ever on death row. It was amazing. Raclette consists of Raclette cheese being heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto your plate with small potatoes, ham and a small salad. In addition, to this delicious meal is always bread that is by far the best in the world. We enjoyed not only eating this meal, but preparing it at our table and taking our time enjoying the experience. If you travel to Annecy find Chez Mamie Lise Restaurant, which is right next to a beautiful canal and try Raclette. You won't be disappointed.

Here you can see the stove you are given to cook the cheese. On top you cook the potatoes.

Our last day in Annecy we decided to rent some bikes and ride around the lake. I can't remember the exact company we rented from, but I do remember it was near Chez Mamie Lise Restaurant, and it wasn't expensive.

Again, I can't emphasize enough how beautiful Lake Annecy was, and how fun it was to explore the surrounded towns and farms along the way. If you decide to rent bikes, don't feel like you have to be an expert rider. There's a very smooth bike path that travels almost half around the lake. It provides about an hour ride, and there are restaurants and picnic tables along the way.
If you are looking for a change from museums and large cities, Annecy is the perfect stop.

Get Off The Highway and Explore

Before we arrived in Annecy, we randomly chose a town off the highway and decided to do a little exploring. The city we chose was called Beaune, which is one of the key wine centers of France. In addition, Beaune is a fun stop because in the center of town are electric and quaint little stores, and around the city is an ancient wall and moat. It's not a huge city, but definitely a fun stop to just see a little French history.

Center of town is about four blocks of criss-crossing streets full of fun stores and shops.
Before we left we enjoyed some wonderful ham and cheese sandwiches at at Brasseire Le Carnot. The interior of the restaurant has the original wood and counter from the 1920s, and outside you sit where the roads of shops intersect into a quaint square. If you are looking for a short stop to break up the trip, grab a glass of wine, pull up a chair and enjoy an afternoon in Beaune.

Part II of Dos: Rent a Car

From Paris we decided to travel across the country and visit the cities Chamonix and Annecy. Initially, we thought we might be able to travel by train or by plane, but we ran into a few problems. One, unlike our experiences in other European countries, we were unable to find a sleeper train that traveled to the southeastern part of the country. The closest we could find was a train that took you an hour outside Annecy and then it was up to you to make the final part of the trip. The cost for this was absolutely ridiculous and would require a day plus of travel. Secondly, a plane ticket to this part of the country was equally as expensive and again you were left with finding some type of transportation to the your final destination. Therefore, we decided to rent a car. I can't express how much fun this was to have our own car and the freedom to go explore.

So, after four days in Paris we rented a car, quickly remembered how to drive stick, conquered a French roundabout of seven lanes and set off across the country. The French highways were easily marked, clean and interesting to travel on. I say interesting because unlike America, French drivers are weird. For one, it seemed like we were the only ones going the speed limit, and while we were traveling at the speed limit in the RIGHT LANE, a car would come speeding up on our bumper, ride it for a few miles and then finally we would get out of the way. Now, I should mention that there were usually no cars in the left lane. So, I'm not sure why one, a car would come up so fast on us in the right lane, not use the left lane and make us get over? Interesting right? The other interesting part of the French highway are the immediate changes in speeds. It seemed like through the whole stretch the speed limit, for no apparent reason, would shift from 70km to 40km without any real warning. And, then to compound the drastic shift in speed, there would be a traffic camera to take a picture of you being an idiot. To be honest, I'm pretty sure we got our picture snapped, but have yet received a ticket.

The last thing you should be prepared for, while traveling by car in France, are the tolls on the highway. These tolls can be slightly expensive, but when weighed against a train or plane ticket, they are still the less expensive option. The only truly expensive part of the tolls are the fact that, if you miss a turn off or decide to get off the highway, you have to pay a toll. We thought we missed one turnoff, and as we doubled back, we had to re-pay the toll. So, just make sure you are truly prepared to get off the highway, and literally, pay for any mistakes.

Check out http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/routes.htm if you want to calculate your costs for gas, tolls and get directions. We found this website to be very helpful in comparing prices against train and plane travel.

Normandy

My next recommendation for any trip to France is to take a day and travel to Normandy. There are many options in getting to Normandy and here's what I found:

1. There are many tour groups that organize train tickets, pick ups and informational tours of the various sites. Tours can be great, but also more expensive than if you did it on your own, and also strap you to a particular schedule. The experience of Normandy is not just about historical sites, but also exhibits a beautiful rural countryside. Therefore, as interesting as the historical facts might be, I think it's also worth it to have the time to just sit and enjoy the landscape.

2. There are several trains that leave Paris and travel to various cities in Normandy. The center of the D-Day attractions is a city called Bayeux. When I looked into booking a train to Bayeux I ran into a few issues. One, the earliest train I could find out of Paris left around 9:00 and took about two hours to travel to Bayeux. (Check out this website for train information.) This wouldn't be a problem, but once you arrive in Bayeux you then have to find a bus or taxi service to take you to the D-Day attractions. Again, this causes a bit of a scheduling issue, because you either have to pay the taxi to wait or wait for another infrequent bus to travel between the rural towns.

3. Eventually, we decided the best way to travel to Normandy and experience the sites was to rent our own car. We found a very cheap car rental place near our hotel and by 8 in the morning we set off for Normandy. Having the car allowed us to follow our own path through the attractions, spend as much time as we wanted and to fully enjoy the countryside. And after we priced everything out, the car was only slightly more expensive than a train, but the flexibility was invaluable.

D-Day Attractions:

Start your exploration at the seaside resort of Arromanches-les-Bains. This is a cool little fishing port that still exhibits wreckage of the man made harbor the Allies built in 1944. Next to the beach is a museum that houses maps, videos and photographs of the building of the harbor, but I wouldn't recommend paying the money to enter. Just buy or check out Rick Steves' Book on Paris and he'll give you the full historical background.

While you are at Arromanches-les-Bains walk up the hill and see a short, but very well done video, called Arromanches-les-Bains 360. As indicated in the name, the video is shown on screens around the entire room and show real footage of D-Day.

In the background you can see the port of Arromanche-les-Bains.

From Arromanche travel down the coast to Omaha Beach. Covering almost 173 acres is a fantastic and humbling museum of the events leading up to the D-Day battle, leftover lookouts and artillery from the Germans and the Normandy American Cemetery. Save yourself a considerable amount of time to fully experience this site.

At Omaha Beach.
The American Cemetery.

From Omaha Beach we traveled farther along the coast until we came to Pointe du Hoc. This was probably the most breathtaking site I had ever visited. To see the real effects of war and the destruction it can cause was incredible.

That's me standing in the middle of a crater from a bomb.
More craters.

I should also state that there are many other attractions in addition to the ones we saw. However, we felt like these three major sites told the story and allowed us to take our time and fully absorb the historical event that took place. So, don't feel overwhelmed when you start planning your trip. Touch on the highlights or spend a few days. Either way you'll still walk away with an appreciation for this monumental battle.

To finish our trip to Normandy we drove into Bayeux, which is an adorable town, and had our first real French meal at a Michelin starred restaurant called Le Pommier. My husband chose the set menu with Foie gras and an amazing apple pie, and I had a deliciously prepared cod. After dinner we walked the streets and enjoyed this charming little city.

Me after being very well fed.