For those in the St. Louis metro area Ste. Genevieve is a fun day trip or weekend excursion! Additionally the city might be ideal for those who are driving down the Mississippi for a river trip or national park site enthusiasts, since Ste. Genevieve became a National Historical Park. When we visited we went for a nice little day trip!

We left in the morning and it was only an hour drive to Ste. Genevieve. We were most excited for the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park, so we started there first. The site explores the early French settlement and contains a few French colonial homes, which are considered some of the last, and best remaining homes in the country that utilize that style. The National Park Site consists of a visitor center with a museum and video, the homes that you can visit and tour, and then the streets themselves that reflect a French colony. We spent a couple hours watching the video, looking at the museum, and then exploring the homes. The architecture is quite unique and provided an opportunity to learn more about French settlements.

Afterwards we went by the Felix Vallé State Historic State. The site is another home that provides visitors the opportunity to learn more about French colonial homes and settlements. We stopped by numerous times to participate in the tour, but the door was regularly closed even though it was supposed to be open. Finally, when the door was opened, the park ranger wouldn’t give us a tour at the time because they notified us they were watching their dog and couldn’t leave it alone for the next couple of hours. So, we decided to just walk around the grounds, look in the open windows, and explore the gift shop that features French colonial items.

While we were waiting to get in the Felix Vallé home, we roamed about the streets and looked at the shops and restaurants, such as the Honey Bee that has an assortment of honeys for purchase and provides a honey tasting. For lunch we had the pleasure of going to Pat’s Pastries. The little cafe is run by a sweet woman who makes delicious pastries! The restaurant features old-style cafe food that is great for a non-pretentious, tasty meal. Everyone else who came in was a local and clearly a regular, so it was a pleasant experience to listen to them exchange greetings and catch-up with one another with updates. We both found it to be a pleasant experience. Additionally, the owner sells beers from Ebb and Flow Fermentation, because the owner’s son is the brewery owner, so we enjoyed trying a southeast Missouri beer with lunch.

Overall we both enjoyed learning about the history of the area and more about French colonial settlements. We found the architecture to be quite unique and enjoyed the opportunity to explore the architecture, while grabbing a fun bite to eat. There was very few people there, making it a relaxed experience and ideal for a day trip getaway that allowed us to see a new national park site and state park!