Believe it or not, our upcoming trip to Paris was one of the most difficult getaways we’ve ever planned, simply because there was so much in France we wanted to see! When we first began laying out a general itinerary, Joe and I both hoped we’d be able to split half of our time in Paris, and half of it in Provence.

[I also slyly mentioned that we would still need to return to visit the Loire Valley, Bordeaux, the Basque region near Biarritz, and that, under no circumstances, could we leave this planet having never tasted oysters from Belon. Joe's response: We can't spend every vacation for the next 4 years in France! Me: Whyyyyyy?)]

The only problem? For this trip, we only had 9 full days in La Belle France. If we did the bi-regional trip, stays would be somewhat short in both places, which sounded less fun. If there’s one thing we both hate on a vacation, it’s feeling rushed, and like we got no sense of what a place is all about. I’m lucky that like me, Joe prefers to kind of park it in one place and hang out when he travels, spending as much time as possible getting to know it and just being.

So with heavy hearts, we had to forgo Provence this time. Having never been to France, we both figured Paris would be a great place to start (and spend nearly a week and a half!). Still, I think we were bummed that we wouldn’t be playing boules and sipping on pastis in Aix, or stuffing our faces with bouillabaisse in Marseille.

Another time, another trip. But make no mistake — not having the south of France on our itinerary has certainly NOT kept me from dreaming about it! (Recipe after the jump) (more…)