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Published: April 30th 2016
SOFITEL SAIGON
The Club bar overlooking the Saigon skyline9.00a.m. kick off at hotel to drive to Danang Airport...1hr...which gave us two hours to check in etc..to be told when we arrived that our flight would be delayed by another 2 hours, so now a 4 hr wait...not impressed but the time did go fairly quickly. Ended up getting to Sofitel Saigon at 5.00p.m. so there was a day just gone travelling. What a day to spend our 36th wedding anniversary...can only get better from hereon. The hotel is just lovely and we were just in time to freshen up and hit the Club Lounge from 6.00p.m. with two hours of free drinks and nibbles...what a happy hour...incredible array of wines and spirits! Then taxi to La Villa for the most amazing meal and wine we have had in a long time. We chose one of the chefs menus at around $76 head...as well as the 5 courses listed we received all these little bits and pieces in between courses...the food was delicious! Crab ravioli, scallops, fillet with foie gras and with a side of the most tasty beef and veg type soup we have ever tasted...then comes around the cheese trolley just chockers with the most gorgeous array of
SOFITEL SAIGON
Nice array of drinks! french cheeses, then dessert chocolate encased with pastry, when you cut into the pastry the chocolate just oozed out with banana icecream....all washed down with a great bottle of french plonk and a couple of glasses of dessert sherry from France...as I said to John we have just died and gone to heaven. The head chef came out for a chat at the end of the evening..lovely french guy!
Wednesday sleep in and then down for breaky..fabulous breaky with about 5 different cooking stations with everything you can imagine from an amazing array of breads, cheese, asian, western, pizza, yoghurts and it goes on! Took a walk to the market to pick up John's jacket and shirts...all beautifully made and fitted perfectly but now he has decided to get the pants as well...and I decided to get a linen top made too! Then walk back to enjoy the rooftop pool and read a book for the afternoon....the heat is stiffling 39 degrees and humid..you walk 100 metres and just a sweat ball! You really have to be in and out of the pool all the time as it is very hot poolside with a very hot breeze blowing! 6.00pm
LA VILLA SAIGON
The amazing cheese trolley Club time for their happy hour again and we are making a meal of this one as there are so many nice nibbles don't need dinner. Its such a small world got chatting to another aussie in the Club lounge who has lived in Bendigo for the past 13-15 years but was a farmer from Boort and knows the Lanyons, Bett and Muz and Muz's brother Ian...you just can't go anywhere without meeting someone who knows someone. A lovely annivesary cake awaited in the room when we got back...could not look at it so had it with coffee in the morning...chocolate mousse cake....how are ever going to lose any weight!!
Thursday took a look at Diamond Department Store...bit expensive for us. Walked past Notre Dame such a beautiful church remembering it from our last visit. Back to the backpacker area and we really feel so comfortable here, lots happening all the time. Met a couple from Jersey in channel islands, about our age and staying at the same hotel, have been to Australia/New Zealand and doing Vietnam on their way home, shared dinner at our fave Bun Cha with them, had a lot of laughs exchanging stories about both
LA VILLA SAIGON
That beautiful dinner place! our adventures.
Friday back to the market to pick up more goods we had made and then went on the prowl to find Pasteur Street Brewing Company, you find the most amazing places down lanes and alleys in this town and if you had blinked you would have missed this little gem, run by a lovely American guy John from Portland Oregon and the most amazing array of beers...after a few of the Mexican Chocolate one 13% alcohol...we were feeling quite warm and fuzzy!!! This place was absolutely heaving over the lunch period 12-2, after it had all settled down John said they had never had the bar so full. We then proceeded to Shrine a bar/restaurant near the Skydeck...run by an aussie guy from Tullamarine..watched the footy, few more beers and cocktails, and got talking to a couple from Moama, and walked a few hundred metres to our dinner spot Chanh Rooftop Bistro..directly opposite the skydeck..had a lovely dinner of baked oysters, John needed a burger to soak up some of the alcohol and I had the confit chicken which were all delicious. The navigation back to our hotel was interesting but we did get there in the
end about a 2 1/2 klm walk through all the little lanes and alleys. Bit of a sleep in Saturday and back to the market for our last purchase and check out our last little restaurant, so hard to fit all of them in but had heard good things about Cycle Resto a modern Vietnamese place, it was great, cooked to perfection and so fresh and healthy, we let them feed us typical Vietnamese family meal and rice paper rolls all for $17, finishing off with an egg coffee, another place tucked down a little laneway, you would never just come across it, before heading home tonight at 9.30p.m.
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Norma
non-member comment
Interesting
Loved your blog ,interesting country . Can't see me going there though ,too old now ,worse luck...! ! .... Catch up soon ,looking forward to it .thanks again ,for sharing your travels with me , great reading .cheers Norma .