I arrived in Paris yesterday afternoon and after getting situated in my apartment in the Marais, I set out to walk around and explore. I had zero plan, except I knew where I wanted to have dinner so I had a general direction that I was walking in.

 

I hadn’t had lunch because I was on the train but decided I would dive straight into macarons instead of anything actually substantial. As I was walking I came across Pain de Sucre, which was a place recommended to me for macarons, so naturally I had to go in. Mint was the flavor I was told was a must here, so I got one of those and a hazelnut. OMG – mint from Pain de Sucre has taken the lead! It tasted like it had fresh mint in it, in a way I’ve only experienced with the mint ice cream from The Meatball Shop in NYC. The cookie was perfect, the mint filling fantastic, and just a thin piece of chocolate rested on top of the filling. Divine! The hazelnut was a close second, but the mint was special.

As I walked around the Marais and got my bearings, I walked into galleries, christmas vintage pop ups, and other boutiques. I spotted a number of eateries that I will be going to this week, and basically just got a lay of the land.

As day turned into night I started to make my way east to the 11th, so that I could walk into 6 Paul Bert at 7:30, when they opened, in hopes that showing up early would ensure me a seat…and luckily that walk wasn’t for naught. I took a seat at the bar, and was actually seated next to another American, so I had a dinner companion of sorts for the night, which was fun. It’s also worth noting that I heard more English being spoken here, in one restaurant, than I’ve probably heard in one day anywhere else I’ve been this month. But anyway back to the food…

They do a set 4-course dinner, with choices for each course, for a really good price. I made my selections, got a glass of wine, and enjoyed the small plate of freshly sliced salami that they put in front of me. First up was a Sea Bream Carpaccio with a little bit of sea urchin, radish, and pomegranate juice. Wow! Second course was pork with a couple clams and fennel. Next up was the leg of lamb, off the bone, with clementines, chanterelles, pumpkin seeds, and almonds on top of a wedge (of sorts) of roasted squash. This dish was awesome, and quickly took me back to the first time I ever had lamb, which as I was eating I remembered was in Paris, with my grandparents when I was 11 or so. As I cut the fat away from my lamb chop I remember my grandpa telling me that lamb fat tasted really good and I should eat it…he was right, and I’ve been eating it ever since! Lastly, for dessert, I had the white chocolate yogurt cream with citrus sorbet, segments of orange and a financier. There was not a misstep here – each dish was seriously great and the plating so beautifully done. It was the perfect way to kick off my stay in Paris.

I walked all the way home, stuffed, and hoping to feel a little less full by the time I got home. Unsuccessful, I went to bed so that I’d be ready for a day packed full of museums in the morning. Slight change of plans, however, as I woke up to an unexpected email letting me know that L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon had confirmed my reservation for lunch that day. I had emailed asking for a reservation a few days ago, and there was radio silence, so I had almost forgotten that it was even on the table. But of course I was going to go – so I just reorganized my day around it. The only problem was that I was still full from last night’s meal. I decided I just wouldn’t eat until lunch in hopes that by then I would be hungry again :). And, luckily it worked!

Because of the location of the restaurant I decided I would start the day with the Rodin museum, followed by lunch and then Musee d’Orsay. I walked down from the Marais, passed the Louvre, walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, and then crossed the Seine to get to Rodin.

As I was getting close to the museum I had a strange moment of deja vu. Without realizing it I was walking up to the hotel I stayed at my first time in Paris, 22 years ago or so, with my grandparents. I wouldn’t have remembered the name, unprompted, if you paid me, but as I approached the hotel and saw its name on a sign overhead I remembered…it was crazy!!

I continued on to the Rodin museum, and this time was brought back to a seminar I took in college – an entire semester devoted to Rodin. I was reminded of not only how much I love his work, but also how much I enjoyed that class and all of the art history classes I took in college. I think this was my 4th time to the museum (last time was over 10 years ago though), and even though I knew exactly what I would find there today I was surprised by how new it all felt to me. Luckily I got to this museum before the rain sets in this week, so I was able to take my time in the garden and really enjoy.

 

I walked through St. Germain to get to lunch, and stumbled upon this crazy store housing a really fun exhibit. It turns out the store, Deyrolle, was actually in Midnight in Paris. It’s essentially a taxidermy shop, for lack of a better description. It looked as if it was an old-school natural history exhibit, with things in jars and behind glass, but then the exhibit is about fantastical creatures, like unicorns, etc. What an accidentally fun little stop to kill a few minutes before lunch!

Across the street was L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, my lunch destination. The interior of the restaurant is mostly taken up by an open kitchen with 2 different bars enveloping it. I was seated at the bar, ordered the tasting menu and a glass of champagne, and settled in for a nice, long meal.

First up was an amuse of Crab with thinly sliced daikon and radish. So fresh and so clean, delicious.

Next followed a series of 6 appetizer plates:

1) Caviar on a potato chip sitting on top of a piece of crispy-skinned salmon

2) A soup of sorts, made of chestnuts with bacon smoke, celery smoke and finely sliced black truffles. This was outstanding!

3) Scallop served on the shell, with celery foam, potato with lime zest, and white truffles. The potatoes tasted like key lime pie, I loved it.

4) Foie Gras with a hibiscus drizzle, and a slice of young potato. Hard for it not to be great.

5) Chicken & Leek Gyoza in an Asian-style broth. Not my favorite, I’m not going to lie. It was okay, but didn’t have as much flavor as the color on the plate suggested.

6) John Dory served with droplets of sweet citrus and almond mousse. Fish was cooked perfectly and I loved the citrus mousse.

The entree course was baby lamb chops with thyme. Everything on the plate was miniature.

Dessert was comprised of two dishes:

1)Pink Praline cream puff with a square of citrus gelee. YUM!

2)Chocolate Ganache, Mousse, and 3 other forms of chocolate, all in one dish. The gold ring is also chocolate, so you break it with your spoon and it falls into the bowl. A rich and delicious way to end the meal.

A truly memorable meal and afternoon experience!!

I decided to digest while walking through the d’Orsay. One of the best looking museums around, with an amazing collection. I loved walking through the halls of Toulouse-Latrecs and Monets – it’s surreal! I could’ve stayed up on the 5th floor, where the Impressionism works are, forever, but unfortunately the museum was beginning to close and they start with the top floor. I have a Paris museum pass for the week so I might have to go back again before I leave.

From there I was in need of a break, so I walked back across the river, through the woods (or the Tuileries) and up home to the Marais. What a full day – I couldn’t even eat dinner tonight…just 1 macaron (another of the chocolate passion variety, from Pain du sucre this time). That flavor really blows my mind!!

2 days, 2 great meals, 2 great museums…not a bad start!

 

 

I’ve been in Bordeaux for 2 days and I think it is one of the most charming places I have been on this trip. I don’t know if it’s the cool bed and breakfast that I’m staying at, or the very hip and quaint neighborhood of Chartrons where my b&b is located, or the beautiful architecture and cobblestones everywhere I look, or the bridge, or the way the city looks lit up at night, or the wine…but I imagine it’s a combination of them all.

 

From the moment I boarded the tram to find my b&b I was immediately charmed. Bordeaux is a medium-sized city that feels small and manageable, and Chartrons, where I’m staying, reminds me of all of my favorite Hugh Grant movies. The tram ride took me through the city center, so I got a glimpse of what was in store. We passed the large Christmas market (that in itself had me at hello), a number of monuments and landmarks, people on their bikes, what’s not to love?!

I arrived at Ecolodge des Chartrons and felt right at home. It might have been the walk from the tram through the neighborhood square and down the main road, which is filled with antique stores and other little boutiques, but mostly I think it was the warmth of the Ecolodge and its aesthetic. When I first read about this place online, I was VERY confused by their outstanding reviews…I didn’t understand how an Econolodge was getting raves!! But when it finally occurred to me that this was called Ecolodge NOT Econolodge, I pulled the trigger. Housed in an 18th-century townhouse and renovated using eco-friendly materials, this place is everything I could have wanted and more. It feels luxurious but is very humble, friendly yet still very French, there’s a house cat, and Veronique who runs the place is more than helpful and terrific. This place alone makes me regret that my stay is so short in Bordeaux!

After settling in and getting a number of recommendations from Veronique for my day, I set out on the town. I knew I wanted to get back to that Christmas market, but first I wanted to see the sights and the city.

I stopped off for some lunch and was so happy that my vague knowledge of what I ordered turned out to be great. I knew I had gotten some sort of soup with vegetables and some sort of lentil salad, but I had no idea what was actually going to be put down in front of me. Luckily, even with a few ingredients that I wasn’t expecting, they were both terrific…and such a nice change from the heavier meals I’ve been having (note: both dishes, which I assumed would be vegetarian, obviously still had beef or ham in them, so the idea that this was a light meal is relative).

Then I was off on a walk on the wide promenade along the Garonne River. I passed the Royal Square, which today is called Place de la Bourse. (At night this place is magically lit up,  but unfortunately my iphone camera can’t capture something that bright.)

and then Pont de Pierre, which connects the left and right banks of Bordeaux.

I walked down to Place Victoire, where the medieval gates of the city used to be but were replaced by an arch in the 18th century in keeping with the city’s golden age and new prosperity of the time. To my surprise I found a cool coffee truck, or rather a bus, parked in the square. Customers walk onto the bus to sit and drink for a few minutes, as opposed to ordering from outside the truck and taking it to go.

I walked through the arch and back towards the center, checking out shops along the main shopping artery, finding Victor Hugo’s house, the old synagogue, a handful of gothic, opulent churches and squares, before finding myself back at the Christmas market. Vin chaude was on everyone’s menu; chestnuts were being roasted, nativity scene figurines being sold; Santa even made an appearance.

All in all, I was having a great day! I strolled along the market and then decided to check out a wine bar that had been recommended. Knowing absolutely nothing about French wine, I decided to ask the bartender if it would be possible to do a tasting of some sort. He kindly poured me 2 half glasses, one from a major wine-producing area of Bordeaux called St. Emilion, and one from the left bank. Step 1 in my French wine education…and it only cost 3 euro!!

I took another recommendation from Veronique for dinner – a place called, Kressman. It’s on the main square of our little neighborhood and specializes in tartare. I sat outside next to a table of 2 french girls who seemed not so different from me, and I loved watching their reactions to all of the other people that walked into the restaurant, most of whom they seemed to somewhat know. It was a little chilly outside so the waiter brought us all matching red blankets for our laps, a very nice touch, and I proceeded to order the steak tartare, which had sundried tomatoes and parmesan cheese in it, and then the chocolate cake for dessert. Both my food and the people watching were great!

Day 2 was a day trip to St. Emilion, the wine-producing region mentioned earlier.

I had had and really liked a wine from there the night before so I was interested to taste some more. I took the short train and met a Colombian brother/sister duo outside of the train station. They spoke perfect English, so we immediately banded together in an attempt to find our way into the center of town and figure out which Chateaus we could visit for tastings. Unfortunately, without reservations this was harder than expected…and the one reservation I had made I learned was too far without a car of my own…but we still managed to take a couple cave tours and work in a tasting of some wines.

I had another deliciously “light” lunch – vegetable soup (this time, no meat) and a green salad with toasts and goat cheese – and then was on the hunt for some macarons. I had read that there was a place in town that was 150+ years old and specialized in the original macarons, not the brightly colored flavored version. I found this spot and had wonderful almond-flavored macaron cookies with chocolate filling – like a reverse oreo, macaron style. Obviously very different from the colorful, fruity or floral version, but really really good in their own right! On our way out of town we passed another place that I couldn’t pass up…so I tried the Mango and the Violette flavors, and the violette was outstanding!

The sun was setting in St. Emilion and it was time to catch the train back to Bordeaux. I got back to the Ecolodge, had a glass of white wine in the living room with Veronique and then went in search of a hamburger for dinner. Don’t ask me why but it’s what I was craving tonight. I found one on the square, despite Veronique telling me to check out a burger truck nearby (which I did walk by but decided I wanted to go sit somewhere instead of eating quickly on the street). This burger was a Basque burger -it had a red pepper spread, cheese, and some pata negra ham. The burger was fine, too rich to finish it all, and nothing to write about really, but it satisfied the craving which is what it needed to do.

My time in Bordeaux is coming to a close. Just one more delicious breakfast in the morning and then I take the train up to Paris for the remainder of the trip.

Never heard of it? Well, I made it up, but I think it’s a good one…

Now that I’m in France I’m embracing the patisseries on every block, and I vow to have 2 macarons every day while I’m here. I will try different flavors from different places, and I will come home knowing where to go for the best…I will also come home a few pounds heavier, I’m sure…but it’s all in the name of research!

I can tell you that so far the Chocolate Passion Fruit from Henriet in Biarritz is in the lead. I’ve been thinking about it for the last 24 hours, it was eye-poppingly good!!

I was in Biarritz for 2 nights. After leaving Tori in Bilbao, I hopped on a bus, re-immersed myself in the world of SERIAL (I’ve now listened to 10), crossed the border into France and arrived at the beach just a couple hours later.

Biarritz is an adorable beach town that was once the vacation spot of Napoleon and Eugenie Bonaparte – they even built a Palace on the beach, which today is a beautiful hotel. As you walk down the coast, there isn’t a moment where the view isn’t dramatically beautiful.

I lucked out as far as the weather on my first day. As soon as I arrived I walked up to the lighthouse and made my way along the boardwalk from there. It was a great way to get my bearings and an introduction to the town. Unfortunately on day 2 I wasn’t as lucky, so I tried to squeeze everything I wanted to do into the first part of the day before the rain started up. Biarritz has a great food market (Les Halles) which is open every morning and closes at lunchtime. You can do your daily shopping there, or go to one of the mini restaurants within the market. As luck would have it, when I arrived there were a number of local chefs and restaurants set up serving free samples of some of their dishes. It was like a gourmet Costco – amazing!!

After the market, I just wandered up and down the little streets of town, walking into shops and boutiques (where the friendly shopowners enthusiastically greeted me, only to met by my blank stare of having no idea what was just said), checking out the local pharmacies for French beauty products (thank you, Alexis), and just enjoying the sleepiness of winter in a surf town.

I popped into another well-known local bakery for some lunch and views of the Grand Plage Beach just as the rain was starting. I had a delicious leek and vegetable quiche (with a side salad, the first actual green salad I’ve seen in weeks!), and the most expensive mint tea I’ve ever had in my life (chalk it up to a language barrier on the menu).

I sat and read for a while as the rain started to pour. (Sidenote, I recently finished Amy Poehler’s YES PLEASE, and I’m not sure if this is a normal reaction to the book but I was literally laughing out loud at moments and then tearing up in others. A little embarassing when you’re in public…has anyone else had that reaction?!? Either way, I recommend it). And then I slowly made my way back to my little apartment (thank you, Airbnb) in the quaint St. Charles neighborhood of Biarritz. I used the rainy evening as a way to plan ahead for Paris, which is right around the corner, and to get ready for another train ride…this time 2 hours north to Bordeaux, which I will tell you all about tomorrow.

Bonne nuit!

Today marks the end of my time in Spain, and the beginning of France for me. Spain has been amazing, and it’s crazy to think that my trip is so close to being over already. Although, I will admit that just in the last couple of days I have started to tire of the clothes I brought – I packed unbelievably well for such a small bag and long trip, but longing for my Free City sweatshirt or just a little more variety was bound to happen eventually! Im in the home stretch though, so I can make this wardrobe work just a little longer :). And while I’m talking about my wardrobe, I have to give the VIP award to my Rebecca Taylor leather jacket. In my very nerdy tourist outfits (read: skinny jeans with big running shoes), that jacket is keeping me looking cool and on trend. Thank you, Rebecca Taylor!!

Speaking of wardrobe, now that I’ve left Spanish Basque Country, I have some new trends to share. All of those from my last Sartorial post are still holding true, but Basque country brought about some very distinct aesthetic changes…

Man Piercings- All Shapes (Typically of the hoop varietal) and Sizes

Older men in berets

The beret has deep roots in Basque culture, and is/was actually sometimes referred to as a Basque beret.

Clunky boots

Doc Martens of all colors, Timberlands, you name it 

And speaking of shoes…platforms are all the rage

A Spanish thing, not just a Basque thing…male bike shorts, or leggings, for working out

Fur Everywhere

Seriously, I’ve seen so many women in fur up here – but this is the only one I have a good picture of…

And last but not least, the Selfie Stick is STILL trending…

France, my eyes are open…reveal your trends to me…

This is going to be a long one – I was sick for a day and then internet has been really bad in Bilbao, so it’s been a few days since my last post…

 

With another day left in San Sebastian, we wanted to make the most of it. We visited the food market that August, our pintxo expert from the night before, told us about. He had mentioned that you can tell which vendors were the best by the crowds of grandmas standing in line for them. Apparently, while at work or busy with life otherwise, the locals send their grandmas to the market for them for fresh ingredients for that night’s dinner. August was right, we spotted them immediately!!

Unfortunately, I spent our last day under the weather and we actually had to cancel a major lunch reservation, but we went with the flow and spent more time walking around the city. It was pouring rain so we decided to go to the San Telmo Museum to learn more about Basque history and culture. And then we wanted to put our new knowledge of pintxos to good use, so we pintxo-hopped on our own for dinner. And I’m pretty proud of the way we walked right up to each bar and ordered like pros!

 

The next day we were back in the car and headed to Bilbao, with a lunch stop in the coastal town of Getaria. We parked at the port and walked up into the town for a delicious lunch of fresh grilled sea bass. Simple but great, and just what we needed after the richness of the Basque food we’d been eating.

In continuous rain, Tori was the ultimate pro in getting us to Bilbao. Just before you enter the city you go through a long tunnel and all of a sudden you come out the other side and the Guggenheim is staring you in the face. It’s pretty incredible!

 

Our hotel is literally across the street from the museum so each time we come or go we get a new glimpse from this angle or that…we have re-embraced our high-school-photography-class history together and taken every photo op that we possibly can!!

 

We visited the museum, or El Goog as some refer to it, and learned a lot about the actual structure as well as the collection.

Now let’s talk about the food…

Our first dinner in Bilbao was at Zortziko – modern Basque food in a funky, yet formal, lavendar and peach 1920s-style dining room. Their tagline says “El placer de descubrir,” meaning the pleasure of discovery…so as you can imagine we had some interesting takes on the traditional. We arrived to find a line of chestnuts laid out on the table and I knew immediately that I would like this place.

We were first brought a little amuse bouche of potato and bacon cream, which we devoured as if it were gelato. Next I had “wild mushrooms served in its habitat” – the grilled mixed wild mushrooms from the night before were so good that I had to go for mushrooms again. The habitat consisted of some crumbled biscuits mixed with truffles (the dirt/earth), an egg (it’s Spain, so of course an egg) and some mushroom jus…it was fantastic! Next up were scallops with liquified potato and truffle. I don’t have a picture to share but it was almost like having mac and cheese with my scallops :). And for dessert, Tori was getting the molten chocolate cake, so I went the opposite direction and decided to try The Forest – mushroom ice cream, truffle sand, chestnuts and red fruits. The ice cream was kind of blueish and I felt like I was eating something out of a fairy tale, but it was really subtle and really good. Lastly they brought some extra little treats for us while we digested.

 

Lunches have been more casual – mostly pintxo hopping. We went to Plaza Nueva to test out a few different places there, and had some really different pintxos from anything we tried in San Sebastian.

We had a really good sweet pork dish, some Basque cheese grilled and served with an apple marmalade, as well as a pintxo of hummus with a slice of smoked cod on top…surprisingly light and delicious compared to everything else we’ve tried. And most importantly, we had some sidra (cider) to wash it all down.

          For our 2nd dinner in Bilbao, we headed to Serantes 3, a prestigious seafood restaurant with 3 locations in the city. We had a really lovely waiter who was pushing the empty glass bottles from our water on us to take home…and we still aren’t sure why?!?! He even brought us a plastic bag to put them in so we could carry them home. Very strange, but clearly well intentioned. Anyway, for dinner we started with pulpo (octopus), Galician style – with paprika and potatoes. And then we split clams in a garlic salsa verde, and a sirloin steak. It was all really classic and simple food. We ended the night with some chocolate cake and a local digestif.

Our last dinner in Basque country together, and since it was a national holiday (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) many restaurants were closed so we went upstairs to the terrace restaurant at our hotel, famous Spanish chef, Martin Berasategui’s restaurant, Doma. We ordered the tasting menu and had a really good, very quiet (only 2 tables were full), very brightly-lit meal. The Rioja was one of the best we’ve had while we were in this region, and the food was solid.

First up were 2 small appetizers – a marinated salmon with cucumber sorbet and pistachio milk, followed by Pumpkin and Orange cream. I don’t eat salmon normally, but I decided I couldn’t pass this bite up…and I’m glad I didn’t.

Next we had an assortment of winter vegetables (with a little bit of Jamon Iberico of course).

And then a squid dish that mimicked pasta – Squid false risotto, sea tagliatelli and dried pepper powder. Small pieces of squid made up the “risotto” and thing shavings of squid took the place of the tagliatelli noodle. One of the best on the menu!

Steamed Hake fish with broccoli cous cous and tomato air, and Venison with figs and chestnuts were the 2 entree dishes. The fish was fresh and tasted great, but the venison was by far one of my favorites of the night (clearly it was so good that I couldn’t be bothered to take a picture before eating).

Dessert was a Foie Gras nougat terrine with a red-wine granita, black sesame and apple. Really light and refreshing, actually!

For an after-dinner drink Tori had one last humongous Gin & Tonic before leaving Europe, where they take their G&Ts very seriously (so seriously that they have kits that they sell for different flavorings, etc.)

All in all it was a really good last meal. Tori and I have the first half of the day together tomorrow and then she heads home, as I begin the last leg of my trip…I’m crossing the border into France and will spend a couple nights in the coastal town of Biarritz, and then a couple nights in Bordeaux, before finishing up the trip in Paris.

Tori, thanks for coming to visit…it was a blast, filled with lots of Michael Jackson tunes (and Taylor Swift of course)!

Quick shout out: welcome to new readers Norah Scarlett and Harley Faye 🙂

With my last days in Madrid I wanted to make sure to hit a few restaurants that my local friends had told me about. I sat at the bar at Bar Tomate for a light-ish dinner of Spanish Tortilla and a spinach salad with goat cheese and mangos. Great restaurant, really good food and atmosphere.

My friend Tori arrived on Tuesday morning. I knew she would probably be jetlagged so we took it easy – walking around Madrid, visiting the San Miguel Market, the Christmas Market in Plaza Mayor, going for a rooftop drink for great views, and then dinner at Ten Con Ten, another restaurant I had heard great things about. The food was standout, the people watching amazing, and the Michael Jackson cover tunes unforgettable. We especially loved the Squid Ink and rice, and the vegetable terrine with fried egg.

After Tori’s first day in Madrid, we rented a car to head north. We decided to spend a night in Rioja, a wine region, on our way up to San Sebastian and Bilbao. We got a late start, realized that this dummy left her drivers license in LA, and then had your typical navigation issues, which led to a much longer day of driving than expected, but all good fun nonetheless. We have a very cute VW Polo accompanying us on our drive and Tori is handing the drive in stride!! Unfortunately our long drive meant no wine tastings for us – just a walk around the walled city of Laguardia (yes, like the airport) and dinner in a local tapas bar with some locally-made wine.

We visited the Frank Gehry designed hotel, Marquis de Riscal as well as the Ysios vineard, all very cool looking buildings that we were very excited to take lots of pictures of!

And today we headed to San Sebastian, with a short stop in Pamplona. Yesterday’s navigation issues were a thing of the past as we made our way from one city to the next like true Spaniards…a real feeling of accomplishment!!

As soon as we arrived in San Sebastian we both fell in love with it. It is the most charming beach town, with down to earth people and truly amazing food. We signed up for a tour of the Pintxo bars (think tapas, but these are unique to the Basque region of Spain), and got lucky – it ended up being a private tour for the two of us. Our fantastic guide, August, showed us the best pintxos in Old Town and enlightened us with other fun facts and history of the city. August gave us insight into the Basque culture, including the local cooking clubs that are very similar to country clubs that we have back home, only for cooking and entertaining. We went to 6 bars on the tour, had 1-2 pintxos per bar and a glass of either wine or cider at each as well. Needless to say, I’m now writing on a very full belly!

The photos above speak to the order that we had each pintxo . We started with some grilled shrimp topped with an amazing sauce that had onions and bacon in it. And next we sampled the first-ever pintxo to be created – a skewer of olive, a green pepper and an anchovy, meant to be one bite and named after Rita Hayworth’s provocative movie, Gilda. I hate olives and somehow I thought this was delicious! Next up was a plate of Foie Gras with a grilled onion and a peach puree, followed by a scallop in a cream sauce flavored with coffee and topped with dried seaweed. At our third stop, Zeruko (coming to NYC soon apparently), we had the most inventive and molecular pintxo of the night – eel with trout roe and rosemary smoke. You can see in the pictures that it was first served with the glass dome to hold in the flavor of the smoke, and then we lifted it to eat our 1 bite (it took me two) of deliciousness. Our fourth stop felt like a sleepy little place when we walked in, but quickly turned into a hostpot. It was the only bar we went to that didn’t have its offerings on the bar for your taking, but instead had a chalkboard menu on the wall to order from. We had a veal cheek with sea salt and a chickpea puree, as well as duck confit with artichoke and mushrooms. Our last savory stop of the night was for a risotto with a Basque cheese and mushroom, followed by an amazing sirloin steak bite with a little mild pepper on top. Lastly, for dessert we went to a bar where you apparently go to see and be seen. Cinnamon Creme Brulee, Bread Pudding and a dessert wine, followed by a Gin & Tonic for Tori (the biggest G&T we’ve ever seen mind you). Our tour was now complete and August bid us adieu.

In our best Basque, we thanked him by saying “Eskerrik Asko” and waddled home stuffed to the gills.

Tomorrow we have a day of a lot more food planned in San Sebastian. Not quite sure I’ll have digested in time, but I’ll have no choice but to push forward.