**** Just a croissant in this one, in case you just want to come back tomorrow!
Our next destination after leaving Mendocino was the actual city of Napa. But first, I wanted to stop at a bakery that folks I know have been raving about in Yountville. Back in 2003, the one and only Thomas Keller opened Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, to reside along his restaurant Bouchon…all of which has become part of the kingdom that includes among others, the French Laundry, which I’ve had the pleasure of dining at a bajillion years ago and Per Se.
So, after a three hour drive, we made a stop in Yountville, which is quite a lovely and artsy town.
We found some parking up the street from the bakery and had a lovely little stroll down Washington Street. Van De Leur Park is a small, but quaint park…..and the flowers were in bloom, which JJ enjoyed.
We arrived at Bouchon Bakery and the Missus and JJ had a seat at the bench outside; while I went in.
Yes, of course I got the butter croissant, which looked fairly good.
Not overly laminated and while the ridges didn’t fall off, it lacked a nice crispness. The interior was on the doughy side and definitely needed more butter for my taste.
Overall….meh. And the funny thing is; we’d actually get a better croissant aux buerre later on this road trip, in Santa Cruz of all places!
Bouchon Bakery
6528 Washington St.
Yountville, CA 94599
We took a short walk after having the croissant.
Yountville seems nice to visit; though all the folks we saw seemed like tourists. I’m fairly certain it’s pretty expensive to live here as well.
From Yountville, it was about a twenty-five minute drive into the city of Napa and our accommodation, the Napa River Inn. Located in the Hatt Building, once the location of the Napa Mill, the hotel is located right on the riverfront.
It’s a historic property…..just look at the lobby.
The rooms are spread thru three different buildings on the property. The entrance to where our room was on Fifth Street.
And it actually had a view of the riverwalk from the patio, though it was discreetly bordered by plants for privacy. But, one of the main reasons we stayed here was how dog friendly the place is.
Look at how JJ was greeted!
I guess there were three pups staying here on this day!
And they had the room nicely set-up for him as well.
There’s a bakery; with free pastries delivered to your room each morning; 2 restaurants, a cocktail bar, and a sweet shop located on the property.
And lots of artwork everywhere.
Napa River Inn
500 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559
After settling in, we headed on out to explore a bit. We crossed the Napa River on the Third Street Bridge.
And went to explore the Oxbow Public Market.
There wasn’t anything at the market or along the walk that caught the Missus’s attention. So we headed back to the room.
It was kind of strange as this would basically be the main theme of our stay for the Missus as She seemed kinda bored with Napa…..
But at least JJ was a VIP!