France & Spain: Questions & Answers

Where did we go?
We went to Paris, France, Malaga, Cordoba and Barcelona, Spain.

Where is it and how did we get there?

We flew from Stockholm, Sweden to Paris, France on Friday, February 20th.  We had a nonstop flight which took about 2 hours and 40 minutes.

We then flew from Paris, France to Malaga, Spain which was a 2 hour flight.  We took a train from Malaga to Cordoba just for the day and then took another train from Malaga to Barcelona.  We flew back to Stockholm direct from Barcelona and that was a 3 hour and 40 minute flight.

How long were we there?
We were in Paris for about a day and a half but we spent two nights there.  We stayed in Malaga for 3 nights and Barcelona for two nights.  Cordoba was just a day trip.

What language do they speak?
In Paris they speak French :).  They speak Spanish in Spain with some varying dialects.

What currency do they use?
They use the Euro in all four cities we visited which was really nice so we didn't have to change currency from place to place.

Were things expensive?
Paris was the most expensive place, which isn't that surprising.  Malaga and Cordoba were both very reasonable as far as food and lodging were concerned.  Barcelona was more reasonable than Paris.  

Would we be able to live there for a year?
Out of all four places I would say Barcelona would come in first place.  It is a bigger city that is easy to travel from and the weather seems like it would be better than Stockholm.  I don't think I could live in Paris for a year.  It is just a little stuffy and the people aren't known for being the friendliest.  Malaga and Cordoba both seemed really nice but also pretty small.

What was the most memorable thing about the trip?
Biking down the Champs-Elysees definitely pops into my head as a favorite moment.  We also really enjoyed the Sagrada Familia Church.

What was the food like?
Tapas!  All kinds of tapas.  I liked having small plates of food so that if I didn't like something there was another plate of food on the way :).

Least favorite food?
Seafood.  We had a plate of tapas in Malaga and it was full of seafood.

Favorite food?
I had entrecote our first night in Malaga and it was so good I order a second one.  One big hunk of meat for this prego :).  Our dinner at Elsa y Fred in Barcelona was our favorite meal.  It was delicious!  We also had the best orange juice in Spain.  It was fresh squeezed at most places and was so sweet!

Would we want to go back?
Jake didn't have a huge desire to go to Paris so I'm not sure that is at the top of the list of places to go back to but we did enjoy our time there.  We would love to go back to Spain again.  Maybe another small city in Spain.

What was I most surprised by?
We were both surprised by how much we loved the Sagrada Familia.  It was beautiful!

Did we do anything we thought we wouldn't do?
I did not expect us to ride bikes.  We both heard riding bikes while pregnant wasn't the best idea because of the balance issues but I'm glad we did it.  We were also planning on going to Granada instead of Cordoba but we really enjoyed Cordoba.

What did I learn about myself on this trip?
This one is hard, probably because it was 3 months ago :).  It seems we both enjoy small cities where there isn't as much pressure to see and do everything.  Jake still really enjoys asking waiters at restaurants to just pick something for him . . . and I do not, especially while pregnant :).

Hope you enjoyed reading, a very late, questions and answers blog about France and Spain.  If you want to read about any of our other trips click on the #janzensonthemove tab at the top of the page.