Paris has some great little shops and lots of artists if you know where to find them or just stumble upon them while exploring the little neighborhood streets. While wandering not far from our apartment we came across this lovely little jewelry shop called lottadjossou Paris where the designer Clément Djossou creates his designs. His designs are…
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Estate of Versailles
Today we visited one of the most amazing disappointing places that we’ve been. We woke up early to try to get to the Estate of Versailles before the long lines. We actually specifically selected Thursday as our day to visit because it was supposed to be one of the lower traffic days to visit the estate….
Catacombs of Paris
Today we got up early to visit the Catacombs of Paris. Believe it or not this is a very popular attraction and you must arrive early if you want to get in. The line to get in wraps around an entire large Paris city block and beyond and they only allow 200 people at a…
Curious Bike Man
Today we did some more walking in one of the many interesting neighborhoods of Paris. As we were exiting the rue des Rosiers after partaking in one of the districts famous falafels, we ran smack dap into the “curious bike man” of Le Marais. He was an odd but very cool dude with the most…
Crossing the Pont Notre-Dame
Today we had crazy weather again in Paris. Wind, sun and rain intermittently throughout the day. Since we’d heard about the crazy long lines at some of the more popular Paris sites we thought we’d go check out how bad they really were before we opted to actually attempt to visit. We hoofed it on…
The Boulevard of Forgotten Photography Equipment
Today we spent the day exploring the area around our apartment. We ended up walking down the Boulevard Beaumarchais and found that instead of being in Paris, we had somehow been transported to “the Boulevard of Forgotten Photography equipment” the place where all cameras go to be re-invigorated. No kidding, there were probably at least…
Paris From The Montparnasse Tower
Today we explored the Paris metro system and took ourselves to the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, then walked to the Tour Montparnasse to get a view of the city. You get an amazing 360 degree view of Paris from the top of the building. While we waited for the sparkling light show…
Bridges Over The Arno River
As we leave Florence it seemed most appropriate to post a photo of the sun going down and the amazing view of the bridges over the Arno (yes that’s right “Arno”) River from the Piazzale Michelangelo. Florence really is a beautiful city with so much to see and a great place to just be out…
Beat The Heat And The Crowds
Today I was up early to beat the heat and the crowds. The light in the early morning and the evening is just so much better for enhancing the details of these intricate building and places and most of the wanderers are still tucked in their cozy little beds sleeping, so I can get to…
Rooftops and Antennas
Yesterday we made it to our last stop in Italy – Florence. We are here for 4 days and as our luck would have it the temperature has just reached the high 80s and will climb into the 90s before we leave. It’s a little too warm for my liking, but we are making the…
Our Last Night In Manarola
Tonight is our last night in Manarola. This gem of a town should not be missed if you visit the Cinque Terre. It’s so beautiful here and peaceful in spite of the tourism. There’s great hiking (whether you want to hike or not!), great views, a soft ocean breeze, clear blue pristine water for swimming,…
Colorful Manarola
Today we left Spoleto and took the train to Manarola, the second smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns on the Italian coast. I couldn’t really imagine that any place could be more beautiful than where we had come from, but low and behold “welcome to Manarola”. We arrived in time for a nice walk…
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
Today is our last day in Spoleto. While we’ve been here we’ve visited some amazing places, relaxed and met some very nice people, so it’s very hard to leave. The first historical mention of Spoletium is in 241 BC with the foundation of a colony here. It really is unbelievable how many cathedrals, basilicas, crypts,…
Beautiful Siena
Day 2 with a car we drove from Spoleto to Siena. It’s a town in Tuscany that get’s rave reviews from others who have visited so we had to see it for ourselves. The drive was approximately 2 hours each way which also allowed for us to see some of the Tuscan countryside. We only…
Visiting The Piano Grande
We made it to our next stop in Italy yesterday. A place called Spoleto in Umbria. Today we rented a car so we could finally get away from the city and see some countryside. Our host recommended that we drive to a place called Piano Grande, a huge 16 square kilometer plain surrounded by the…