My husband and I live in France, where our two children were born.  Both of our extended families live on another continent.  This makes it very difficult for weekend getaways with just the two of us.  In fact, it makes it impossible.

Until last weekend…

My parents were visiting from Canada and for the first time since we’ve had kids, we had the opportunity to leave them with my parents overnight.  We jumped at the chance and snuck away to Paris for the weekend.  We had the ultimate date night! It was unbelievable!

Our dinner was planned for Le Lobby in The Peninsula Hotel, so we dressed to impress, knowing there wouldn’t be any sticky fingers around.  The hotel was amazing upon arrival.  Our taxi pulled up and the doorman promptly opened my door, covering me with an umbrella to shield me from the rain.  The pampering had already begun and we hadn’t even entered the building.
And a beautiful building it was.  There were attentive staff waiting to walk us through to the restaurant where we’d be dining that night.  As we made our way there he pointed out a few highlights about the gorgeous hotel that had recently gone under full renovation.
We started with Champagne, because, when in France you always have an aperitif!  Not long after an amuse-bouche arrived and we were left to peruse the menu.
Our waiter was very friendly and perfectly bilingual, which is always a bonus in France.  After a bit of consulting with him I went with Le Tourteau Breton to start, followed by Filet de Boeuf.  My husband started wtih Salade Peninsula(which I admit I was jelous of because it looked amazing) and Onglet de veau de lait as his main.

Before we saw the bottom of our Champagne flutes, the sommelier came over to the table to discuss wine with us.  He already knew what we ordered and came to inquire about our wine preferences, and from that, let us know what paired best with our meals.  He was bang on!  We enjoyed an amazing bottle of wine that he left ‘breathing’ on our table until our Champagne was done, then came over and poured it for us; never letting our glasses get low without a top up.  I was quickly making a new BFF!
Our entrees arrived and the eating began.
While we ate there was a pianist playing what seemed like all of my favourite songs in the corner of the room. My husband looked at me puzzled, wondering why I was smiling to myself.  Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was just the excitement of being in such a great Parisian restaurant sans enfants, but my husband didn’t pick up on what I found so funny.
“Don’t you recognize the song he’s playing?” I said grinning.

He met me with a puzzled head shake, to which I then felt forced to sing along with the piano, “Let it go, let it gooooo” and just to make his smile a bit bigger, I waited a beat and then hit him with it in French, “Libérée, délivrée.” I sang, just as our daughter does throughout our house.  The song obviously reminded us of our kids.  Yes, of course we missed them, but we were in Paris!  In that moment, we also realized that had our lovely children been with us, by now we’d probably be trying to pick up the pace of our meal before things got crazy.

Not tonight though.  It was date night in Paris.  I took another sip of wine and relaxed back in my chair.  My husband did the same, shooting me a knowing grin.  This was a perfect night!

Our dinner arrived and although I didn’t feel very hungry from everything I’d already eaten, I somehow managed to eat every bite of my cote de boeuf.
I’ve lived in France long enough to know that even though we were finishing off our main dishes, we had a ways to go in our dining experience.  I smiled as my friend the sommelier reappear and impressively fill our glasses without missing a beat.If you’re not accustomed to the French meal, you might think dessert was coming next, but by now we knew better.  The manager of the restaurant came over to say hello and asked if he could choose an array of cheeses to bring over, and of course we said yes.
My husband was thrilled because his favourite cheese, Comté, was among the spread.  It’s become a household staple since moving to France.  You can easily get your standard 12 or 18 month Comté at our local cheese shop, and sometimes you can even find a 24 month.  But this!  This was a 36 month Comté. Almost unheard of in our cheese world!Dessert was ordered and as we waited the chef came out to pay us a visit.  We were getting the royal treatment!
With a full belly like mine, a digestif was in order, and since we were in Paris, I went French and ordered a Grand Marnier.
The French would also have coffee right about now, but I’m not a coffee gal, so I stuck to the Grand Marnier.

Just when you’d think we were finished, or that we didn’t have room for a single thing more, a final dessert, after our dessert was delivered to our table.

An array of macarons, chocolates and jellied fruit appeared in front of us.  Thankfully I wasn’t on a diet, so I tried them all.  And even if I was, it would have been worth every bite!
This meal was amazing!

I was only left with one question.  Since The Penninsula Hotel is in many major cities across the world; were they all as amazing as the one in Paris?  I guess there’s only one way to find out!Thank you to Le Lobby for having us as guests.  All opinions are my own.