A little bit of back dating....

I thought that since I haven't been blogging long (well, all of two days now!) I would show you a couple of places I've  been lucky enough to visit in the last year.

The first place I'd like to share with you is one my boyfriend and I found in New York. It's a little restaurant called Burger Joint which is remarkable for a number of reasons:

Firstly, you have to hunt to find it. It's encased in the four star Le Parker Meridien Hotel, hidden behind a heavy red curtain and then a short trip down a dark corridor, only illuminated by the neon sign of a burger up ahead.

Secondly, the burgers are amazing! They're cooked in front of you to your specifications, buried in a pile of toppings and tightly wrapped in brown paper. I am not a burger girl, but something about the ones here really is mouthwatering.

Thirdly, it's unexpected. Le Parker Meridien is a fairly opulent hotel. We felt rather silly walking in off the street in our touristy clothes, dusty and hot, only to start poking around looking for the restaurant we'd been told was in here somewhere. The decor inside the restaurant couldn't be more different- it's tiny and rather cramped, the walls plastered in signed posters and graffiti and people were slurping drinks out of paper cups. The whole place had an undercurrent  buzz of excitement, everyone rather excited to be there.

My boyfriend tucking in

Lastly, it was cheap! Easily the cheapest meal we had in New York and debatably one of the yummiest- I mean, we did go back a day or so later! If you're ever in New York, I'd definitely recommend seeking this  place out- it really was worth the hunt.

(Just a quick tip: try to avoid the rush at lunch hour- we found that when we left our second visit, a queue had formed which ran back from the counter, out the restaurant door, down the corridor and through the curtain. I think bumping in into this and then waiting so long in line may just steal some of the mystery away from your visit.)

Another place a bit closer to home I'd like to show you is the Hameau de la Rein (or literally, 'The Queen's Hamlet'). This is the little village Marie Antoinette had built for her within the grounds of  the Palace of Versailles, Paris. Many people visit Versailles each year and a few of my friends visited around the same time I did. However, I was surprised to learn that no one I knew had made it as far as the little village, which personally I felt was the highlight of my trip! It's apparently not on all of the maps of the grounds, so I'd recommend seeking a member of staff to point you in the right direction...

That's me and my hat- it was pretty windy that day so I was running all over Versailles after it!

The village is stunningly beautiful to walk around. There's a mill, a farm and even a dairy which all apparently used to provide produce for the Queen's table. I really enjoyed poking around the tiny houses and sneakily petting the farm animals (there were some adorable rabbits!) If you manage to go, don't forget to bring some bread to feed the giant coy carp in the lake!

So there we are, if you're ever in New York or Paris, these two places are (at least in my books) must sees!