March 24th
Typically, our first full day at WDW would be spent at the Magic Kingdom, but I wanted to walk down Main St. on my birthday which happened to be the next day.
So, we strayed from tradition and went to Animal Kingdom.
After riding Expedition Everest (where we had 3 people try to cut in front of us in line to "meet up with their party"....our response was simply "I'm sure they will wait for you"
)
We love having breakfast in the little courtyard in Africa, I think it's called the Tamu Tamu courtyard? Anyways, it is very peaceful and relaxing before a ride of the safari.
Flame Tree BBQ
For lunch, our tradition is Flame Tree BBQ. I know there is much better BBQ in the south but up in Canada we can't get anything that comes close to the smokey and spicy flavors of Flame Tree BBQ.
DDad and I had the ribs and DMom had the BBQ Chicken Salad.
It was tasty as always and we love the seating area
Chefs de France
Chefs de France has been a long time favorite of ours. We have a particular love for Paris & french food so we are a touch biased, but the service and the food have always been consistent.
The one area that we have always felt was lacking was the bread. It was overly crusty - to the point of being near brick-like. Any true Parisian would be aghast that those rolls were being passed off as true french bread.
This trip everything changed! Shortly after we were seated and had placed our drink orders....this was delivered....
Freshly baked, straight out of the oven, hot, crusty on the outside and gloriously airy inside - BAGUETTE!
Good lord these were good! They aren't quite as good as real Parisian baguette, but they are a heck of an improvement over the former bread incarnations!
I think we polished off 2 easily
DDad & DMom shared a bowl of French Onion Soup and I ordered one for myself as well.
It never ceases to amaze me how different French Onion Soup can be based on a few simple substitutions. This one is "light" with a chicken based bouillon, white wine and lightly caramelized onions. It is also very heavy on the bread which has absorbed a lot of the liquid, and heavy on the cheese, never a complaint of mine
This type of French Onion soup is very comforting, and light enough to act as a starter. But an example of how it can differ is when it is made with a beef bouillon, red wine, even some brandy, with deeply caramelized, almost melting onions and crispier bread. It can serve as an entire meal because it is so rich.
DDad had the Duck Two Ways with Haricot Vert and Sweet Potato Puree.
This is delicious. The duck breast is cooked perfectly and the confit just melts in your mouth. The sweet potato is a great pairing as it cuts through the savory quality of the duck and the haricot vert are amazing! Crispy, garlicy and drenched in butter....as Julia Child would approve of...everything is better with butter!
DMom has the Salmon with Ratatouille.
She thinks this dish is perfect. DMom would eat salmon every day if she could and ever since we saw the movie Ratatouille we have been interested in trying different variations of the dish. In fact, I just found the recipe for the version from the movie
I had the Gratin de Macaroni
As always, this was delicious. It's really just noodles, bechamel sauce & TONS of cheese, what's not to like?
We were too full to order dessert, so instead we went outside and indulged in liquid dessert....Champagne for DMom, a Grand Marnier Orange Slushie for DDad and a Grey Goose Lemon Slushie for me
. I forgot to tell you before, but I adore your necklace - so pretty!
I love my necklace too!
There was definitely no need to pick a pearl this trip 
For a die hard planner like me it was just too stressful 
