London, England

London, England

My husband is from England sooooooooo I made the "sacrifice" to him that we would go every other year to the mother land. Wife of the year, hold your applause..

This was our trip from 2012. 

Where we stayed: 

Islington. It is where it is at. We stayed at the Premier Inn and could not have loved it anymore. It was a fabulous price and very London but not in the busy busy busy part. 

Where we ate:

• Roti Chai- HOLY AMAZING. Make sure you come hungry, you have not had authentic Indian like this in your life! 
• The Angelic- if you are looking for great good, great bar, and right near your hotel then this is it. It is rockin with English peoples who just got off work and want to go to the "local"
• Jamie's Italian- Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Islington is great food. We went with a large group of friends and had the best time with not too shabby food

What we did:

• Bourough Market- THIS IS WHERE LIFE COMES TOGETHER. Make sure that you take about 3 hours for this market. You can literally taste everything there, there are hundreds of booths and it all taste like the King of Kings moment you have been searching for in your life. FYI, in the back of the market there is an oyster/champs bar that I hear is unreal but will let you know on our trip next week the verdict
• St. Pancreas Champs Bar- this is the local train station where you go in and out of to get to major cities/countries but they have the "largest bar in Europe here" I dont know about all of that but we had champs and lunch at the restaurant and loved it
• Buckingham palace, Big Ben, London Bridge... blah blah blah. We did all of the touristy things, they look like the pictures, are great. etc. etc. etc. 
• Regent Park- take time to walk around and stroll, loved it here and the rose gardens

Looking back:

No need to look back, I married English so every other year you will have recs. You're welcome in advance. 

Paris, France

Paris, France

The city of love, lights (?) whatever it is known as it is essential that you go here in your life. Jaggs and I flew into London and hopped on the train as soon as we got there and headed to Paris. It was a wonderful thing to do as we slept on the train to get used to the no sleeping on the airplane thing I have going on... then as soon as we got to Paris we hit the ground running.


Where we stayed: 

As always we rented a little apartment off of VRBO (email me if you want the info meredithjaggard@gmail.com). Just as an FYI, all Paris apartments, hotel rooms, stores, anything are SMALL. So dont think that you are going to get a huge bang for your buck on space, good luck with that. Plus you shouldn't be in your hotel room anyway! Our place had a little kitchenette, a bed, and a bathroom... o yes and a view of the Eiffel Tower that would make the coldest heart melt. We were in a real Parisian neighborhood and it was so great to see what the peoples of Paris were doing every day.

Where we ate:

• Cantin- Cheese Shop. My motto is "If it is good enough for Tony Bourdain it is good enough for me" and this is his favorite cheese shop in France. Not to mention the little area around it will make you want to move to France, so stop, have a drink, get some cheese, and thank me later

And that is it. You are thinking, what in the hell Meredith, I need more food recs! Well I dont have them because it is Paris and it is perfection. Every where is good. Every thing is perfect. So just stop, sit, and sip.

 Bikes, they are everywhere! See how easy it is! 

What we did:

• Rented Bikes- Folks, this is THE WAY to get around Paris. There are bike stands everywhere and you just pay for the bike for the day and then go to your next destination and put the bike in the little stand. IT IS SO EASY! It is the best way to get around and burn off the baguette at lunch time. 
• Notre Dame- Saw it, went there. Check.
• Lock and Key Bridge- saw it, tied something on the bridge for our long last love. Check.
• Luxembourg Gardens- Now this is nice, beautiful, and sort of takes you away from the hustle of Paris
• Louvre (did I spell that right)- yeah you know I dont do museums, but I do do Louis Vuitton exhibits there. Game changer
• Montmartre- What a fabulous area of Paris. Check it out
• Eiffel Tower- Went there. Saw it. Wish I would have brought champs and cheese to enjoy on the lawn

Looking back:

I wish I would have had longer. PARIS IS HUGE. Like massive. And we didnt even scratch the surface. But it is romantic, and I am not a romantical type of person. It feels like love. And taste like heaven. You need a week. But if you only have two nights then rent a bike and get moving. You can see the city best this way and taste it, eat a lot of cheese. You're welcome. 

Bar Harbor, Maine (#JaggsMoon)

Honeymoon Part I

Bar Harbor, Maine

This has been on my bucket list for ages and we thought it would be romantical and Maine perfection. It was.

Where we stayed: 

Primrose B & B, so Bar Harbor is made up of bed and breakfasts, that is why it is so damn great. Each room at our B&B had a fireplace, which is always a game changer for me. The food was great, the coffee was even better, and the location could not be beat. 

Where we ate:

• Mache Bistro- this is prob. the nicest place in the small town and for good reason. We ate pate after pate after pate. My lord it was so good. The ambiance is dark and romantic and the food matches that

• Side Street Cafe- good, not great, but good

• Cafe This Way- Y.E.S. Yes. Locals on locals hang out here. I balsamic glazed fried brussel sprouts and thought I was in heaven

• Cottage Street Pub- all I have to say is Blueberry Mojitos. My goodness they are over the top good. Man

• Thurston Lobster Pound- THIS IS A MUST. O my lord the lobster is fresh, good, tasty, over the top perfection. It was rainy when we went and it is a good drive out of town but worth every freaking second. Do it. Please. For real.

What we did:

• Walk around town. It is so cute. Lots of shops. 

• Rent Bikes- Arcadia National Park is in Bar Harbor so there is lots to hike and see if you are into that. It was rainy so we were not into it at all but people spend a whole week exploring the park
• Bar Harbor Cellars- The wine is okay. But fun to taste and pretty vineyard for Maine
• Atlantic Brewing Company- DO THIS. It is good food, good beers, and just a fun place with live music
• Bar Harbor Inn- If you are not staying here (which you can) it is a FABULOUS place to get some champs and see the sunset