A Tally of Two Cities: Take II

Over the past four years, I've had one foot in Houston and another in Austin. If I had to choose one place to have two homes, it'd easily be Texas. But, Europe is a close second, so today we continue our tally of Paris and Sevilla.

fancy feet

bought black booties one month


Spanish sandals the next

+1 Paris 'cause I rocked the booty-booty-booties everywhere from Britain to Berlin

game-changer

French Open at Roland Garros


 bullfighting at Plaza de Toros

+1 Paris for one of the best Sunday Fundays I'll ever have
-1 Sevilla for scaring away all my friends away from this Spaniard tradition

quite the site 

Eiffel Tower


Plaza d'España

both designed for the World Fair
Tower's taller but the Plaza deserves more hype...win, win!

foulest dining

saucisson


hot dogs

French and Spanish need a lesson in true Texas hill country venison

-1 Paris for my friend coughing up 29 euros for this meal
+1 Paris because it was wash down-able with that wine
+1 Sevilla for serving it with ketchup with a bottle featuring the stars and stripes

finest dining 




La Dame de Pic



conTenedor

Jordan and I savored every bite at Le Dame de Pic where you are greeted with a glass of rosé champagne and scented menus. Like a perfume parlor, you pick your favorite, and your five courses match accordingly to the aroma.

conTenedor was a slow dining spot we happened upon while coming home from our 4th of July festivities. Intrigued by the façade, I turned to TripAdvisor only to find that it was one of the best and only farm-to-table style restaurants serving fresh and local ingredients nightly. IT ALSO HAD WEE-FEE. We dug into cheese and ham plates, shareable salads and several meat courses all until our hearts were content-edor.

+3 Paris for rosé champagne, perfect au revoir dinner for jourdain, death by chocolate dessert
+3 Sevilla for cava to start, charming chalkboard menus kindly translated, and our entire group around one table of food

incomparable, incredible dining experiences. many delicious points to both here, but a tie nonetheless.

be jeweled 

les bijoux


las joyas

the jewels were plentiful in both cities and always fun to look at since they won't burst your 50 pound luggage limit bubble

+1 Sevilla simply for good timing as July is the month of rebajas (sale) in Spain

we know fro-yo 

Le Paradis du Fruit


 llaollao & smooy


the 'we' refers to me and merl who have seriously considered global fro-yo connoisseurs as a fall-back career route. in any case, we know what's up and we'd both give the nod to Sevilla's Smooy, which fittingly, was my first tasty treat I had when reuniting with merl and caro in Spain.

+1 Sevilla

summertime sips 

rosé


tinto de verrano

both new favorite drinks sources from the vine but for the blush color in the summer, I gotta say rose´
+1 Paris

weather report 

partly cloudy with a chance of showers


really sunny with a slim chance of shade

-1 me for not packing nearly enough warm clothing for Paris
+1 Paris for the dreary days making the sunny ones something special

dress-up 

wedding gowns


flamenco dresses

A friend I met in Paris happened to just recently get engaged and invited a few of us to a fitting she scheduled in Paris for future inspiration. Fun fact: her fiancée had the same name as my boyfriend. Roca, my señora, insisted my friends and I try on her flamenco dresses.

+1 Sevilla since we all got to take part in the fun (and look like the emoji girl)

super salad!

Les Deux Oiseaux


Cristina and Co.

+1 Paris for what I told the server was mon déjeuner favori a Paris

you take me higher

Montmartre


Las Cetas

+1 Paris

on the menu 

La Faille


conTenedor

+1 Paris for the color scheme coordinating perfectly with my journal and pen


not-so-secret gardens

Jardin du Luxembourg


Maria Luisa Park

both relaxing refuges from the intercity chaos. another win, win.



Both cities stole my heart, but numbers speak louder than words today and Paris takes the lead by three.
Rosé isn't red and Sevilla didn't make me blue, but Paris, I'll always love you.