Napa Anniversary -- Day 2

Quick recap of dinner last night: Bouchon Bistro

Ben ordered the lobster bisque to start and for the entree, "steak frites" which came piled high with french fries. I ordered the mushroom cream soup to start (incredibly delicious) and had leg of lamb on a bed of veggies and chikpeas for my entree. We had the "bouchons" for dessert which were little brownie truffles. Overally, our meal was very good, but Bouchon might be a tad overrated for what it is. They do have an extensive oyster/mussel bar if that's your thing.

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For our second day in Napa, we ate breakfast on the terrace at the hotel again and headed over to the the wine train station (within in walking distance of our hotel--sweet!). The Wine Train had a brief tasting in the station before we left. They were also heavily advertizing their "lock of love" program where you buy a lock from them that symbolizes your love. You then lock in the chain linke fence on the 'bridge of love" and toss away the key -- symbolizing that your love is locked forever. LOL I thought it was really cheesy/funny, so Ben and I did not partake in this lock of love business.

Once we boarded the wine train, they started taking our orders for lunch. The wine train is beautiful on the inside -- definitely a luxury train. I felt like I was seated in a fancy banquet hall. Ben had let the staff know ahead of time that it was our anniversary, so they all wished us "happy anniversary," which was nice. For lunch, Ben had a salad to start (arugula, goat cheese, and walnuts) with fish for main course. I had the shrimp bisque (heavenly) to start and the beef tenderloin for my main course with the complimentary wine pairings. The meal was VERY good. We then moved to the back of the train for dessert and coffee (and an optional wine tasting). It was so relaxing to just sit back, enjoy the food/drink, and watch the beautiful Napa Scenery go by. I would highly recommend doing the wine train if you're ever in Napa.

Once we got back to the hotel from the wine train, we took a brief nap before heading over to Mondavi Winery for the "twilight tour." Robert Mondavi is one of the big guys in Napa. He owns A LOT of land and has contributed vastly to the wine production methods of the valley. He believed what was good for one winemaker was good for everyone because it would increase the worth of the Valley's wines -- very unusual business philosophy, but it seems to have worked! The winery tour was great, and we got to relax in the tasting room at the end with food pairing available to taste with the wines. We enjoyed the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon reserve very much (the price -- not so much, haha). So, we decided we wanted to taste a wider selection of their wines, so we decided to come back the following day as well when more would be available.

After the Mondavi tasting, we rode on the scenic Silverado Trail for a while before heading to dinner at Travigne. We sat on the patio overlooking the beautiful courtyard at Travigne, which really set a great atmosphere. We had their specialty, fresh mozarella, for our appetizer (incredible!). Ben had beef short ribs with polenta for his entree and I had rabbit papperdele. Ben's meal was delicious. I unfortunately got a bone in my first bite, which made my meal less enjoyable. I also started thinking about the pet bunnies I had in South Africa, which also made it little more difficult to eat rabbit. We both got really good desserts as well, so overall, we enjoyed Travigne.

View from Silverado Trail

Travigne

Ben's Meal -- Beef Short Ribs

Day 2 -- very relaxing!