France Travel Vlog - 7 days exploring Paris and the Loire Valley to celebrate my birthday!

For Christmas RJ gifted me a trip to France! We ended up planning it so that it was the week of my birthday so we could spend my birthday in Paris! We also explored the Loire Valley and stayed in stunning Châteaus throughout this wine region!

Paris
Where we stayed:
Hilton Paris Opera - Nice overall, beautiful hotel lobby, not the best walking location to be able to walk to things like the Louvre and Eiffel Tower, but it was an easy metro ride to get to anywhere we wanted to be.
Hotel Bel Ami - Loved, amazing location in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, great walking location to good restaurants, shopping, things to see.

What we did:
We walked all over the city, explored the Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Montmatre, had a picnic under the Eiffel Tower, walked through the Jardin des Tulleries, around the Louvre, along the Seine.

Where we ate:
Francette - super cute restaurant on a boat in the seine (the boat doesn’t move), it has a stunning view of the Eiffel Tower and we got to see it turn on and start to sparkle!
Pink Mamma - delicious for lunch, very filling, get there early to get in line even if you have a reservation, the best seats are the highest in the restaurant and they seat each level first come first serve.
Le Jules Verne - Michelin Star restaurant! INCREDIBLE experience eating in the Eiffel Tower! We loved the 5 course tasting menu, the food was to die for and the view was equally amazing. We went here on my birthday and it was by far the best birthday dinner I’ve ever had!
Find a local bakery to get croissants and espresso in the mornings!
Sit under the Eiffel Tower and have a picnic!

Loire Valley
Where we stayed:
Château du Grand-Lucé - AMAZING, best place we’ve ever stayed! The grounds, the rooms, the service, the food - all was five star! If you get the chance to go here… DO IT! Also, a stunning wedding venue!
Hôtel Restaurant Domaine de la Tortinière - Cute château, we stayed in the “pavilion” and the room was nice but nothing amazing. The restaurant was delicious though!
Chateau d’Artigny - Would have been really great had it been warmer outside so we could have gone to the pool and spend more time outside on the grounds. Restaurant was very, very good! Room was relatively small but the overall the chateau was beautiful!

What we did:
Château de Villandry - Gorgeous gardens that you can spend a long time walking around, also a very cute town where we stopped for lunch after touring the chateau and gardens.
Les Maisons Rouges - Very authentic wine tasting, the building looks nothing like americanized wineries, the winemaker was very french and was the one who gave us the tasting and explained all about the wines to us. We loved the wine and bought two bottles!
Château de Chambord - HUGE castle with massive grounds to explore. If we had more time we could have spent several hours exploring everything, they have food and drinks and lots of activities to do. This was one of the most touristy things we did in the Loire Valley. Get there early to beat a lot of the crowds!

Where we ate:
We ate breakfast and dinner every night at the restaurants in the chateau which were all incredible! We had amazing authentic french food and the most incredible french wines! Lunches we ate in smaller towns while we were exploring the chateaus and little french towns!

Видео France Travel Vlog - 7 days exploring Paris and the Loire Valley to celebrate my birthday! канала Lindsay Butler