My Melange

World Blog Day 2007

My dear friend Melanie, was kind enough to recommend me to her readers for World Blog Day 2007.  Our story was a perfect example of how small a world it really is....and that people can make connections, no matter how many miles separate you.  Here are my 5 recommendations....a world away.

My friend Anne at Foodie Froggy, has the honor of being my first French friend.  Or vice-versa..it's my honor!  We met long before we started our blogs, through the internet.  She is a native Parisienne with a passion for food, travel and her family. She is such a great chef and has a great sense of humor. Tune in for her wonderful French recipes.

Corey at Tongue in Cheek shares her unique, amazing and creative life through her pictures and antiques.  She grew up in California, but moved to France, which is where she still lives 20 years later.  She is just a doll, and she is one of the most loyal and encouraging bloggers I know. 

Tara of Paris Parfait is also an American living in Paris and muses about antiques, culture, politics, travel and more.  She is also quiet a poet and journalist and she is in Paris writing a book.  Another loyal reader that I have become fast friends with.   

Bleeding Espresso is a blog written by Sognatrice.  You will remember that I interviewed her a while back.  She is an American that moved to Southern Italy and blogs about her life Italian, her fiance, her dog...and she has great recipes.  She is a sweetheart and she makes me want to move to Italy pretty much every time I read her blog.  It sure doesn't hurt that I won a free *surprise* bag from her contest either!

Merisi takes us on a virtual tour of Vienna with her blog Merisi's Vienna for Beginners.  Her pictures are breathtaking and I love her perspective.  She reminds me why I love Europe so much....and she has put Vienna on the map *as they say* for me.  I must visit one day...but if you want a tour you should visit her blog, now! 

There are so many good blogs out there....many, many more that I love to read.  You know who you are.  Happy World Blog Day 2007..to all you bloggers out there in the blogosphere.  From my blog to yours!

Your Paris...yes yours!

Today...it's all about you...my dear reader.  I have a special request.  It involves your input. For months now, I have been showing and telling you what I love about Paris. My Paris. Now that another trip is coming, I am interested in what you think.  I want to hear from you!  Yes, you!

1.  If you have been to Paris, what did you like the best?  What was your favorite monument or museum?

2.  What didn't you get to do or see that is at the top of your list for next time?

3.  And if you haven't been to Paris.....don't worry...I want to hear from you too!!  What is it that makes you want to go?  What's the one thing that you must see or do when you go...and why?

Thanks for participating...and you never know what pictures just might show up on my blog when I return from my trip....there may be a few dedications....if you know what I mean.  *wink wink*

Photo:  Life going by on the Left Bank, Paris

Three weeks and counting....

Until I leave for Paris. I really can't believe it.  Time flies. What I really don't understand though, is how it creeps up on you.  I am a self-professed anal over-planner....and you would think I am always ready for anything.  Months of reading, note scribbling, web surfing, checklist making *and remaking*, itinerary planning, reservation requesting...you get the idea...all boils down to sheer panic at the last minute. Some days I feel like Munch's 'The Scream' painting looks.  I realize that I am running out of time, a precious commodity around here these days, and I still feel like I have so much to do.

Wanna know what is stressing me out....well...here is just a sample of my to-do list...

• Rework my itinerary, as other friends plans are changing
• Wait with baited breath to get a call that the  20" Tumi wheelie that will be my only source of luggage, has finally arrived at the store in the color I want
• Pack and unpack, several times...I am going all carry-on this time!
• Convince myself(and you guys now) that I am not crazy based on the carry-on thing
• Pare down my list of 500 cafes, restaurants and wine bars that I want to visit in my 10 days, to a more manageable list..like 250..tops!
• Uh, rework my itinerary...again!
• Compare noise canceling headphones to decide which ones are the best, without just dropping the ridiculous $300 for the Bose, like everyone else does.  Just-can't-afford-that!
• Purchase said headphones along with a tush-cush, inflatable neck supporter, travelsox, black mary-jane Crocs, solid shampoo and solid body butter and pray that they arrive within the next 2 weeks
• Jam 5 quarts worth of liquid cosmetics into a one quart clear zip lock bag
• Oh my god....I need a pedicure!
• Take a passport sized photo of myself for my Carte Orange
• Attempt to locate my converter for my digital camera battery charger *good luck*
• Buy an international phone card
• Practice my French..."je voudrais une carafe au vin rouge de la maison, s'il vous plait"
• Buy champagne to drink on our way to the airport *remember the $300 I am saving on the Bose headphones...that went to 'treating' us to a car service to and from JFK....you only turn 40 once ya know!*
• Taking the pooch to 'Grandma's' house
• Money... need I say more
• Uh, what are we he** doing with the mail?

Well, that's just some of my list.  It should be shrinking, but it is growing, taking on a life of its own!  As I cross something off, I think of four more things to write, and this doesn't even being to cover the added stress of worrying about how many hours I may be sitting on the tarmac.  Aargh!

I love to delegate and would love a little help at this point!  Who is gonna help me?  What are you gonna cross off my list for me??? What are the things that stress you out at the last minute when traveling?

Sacre Coeur

The other day, when I told you abut Rue Foyatier, I did not realize that I had not given you a tour of Sacre Coeur, which translates in English to Sacred Heart.  Most either love it, or hate it.  Personally, I love it. 

I love the view you get when you approach it from Rue Steinkerque.  This is what you see when you get off the Anvers metro stop...

As you walk closer, it magically appears out of nowhere...

Do you recognize this carousel from the movie Amelie?  She called Monsieur Quincampoix from here....

I love how the self-cleaning limestone gleams in the sunlight and looks so amazing against the Kelly green grass...

I really like taking pictures of the Basilica from different angels.  Don't you love the juxtaposition of the fence in this shot?  It is much softer than the starkness of the previous shot, non?

You don't realize just how high up you are....until you look back down...

You never see photos of the back of Sacre Coeur, but I am just too curious, so here it is...

No matter where you go in Montmartre, you can almost always see it peeking out from the rooftops.  You can see it here on the way from the Place du Tertre...

And here is another shot from the Rue Norvins.... this has been popular in pictures and paintings...have you seen it before?

Where is your favorite place to view it?  Are you in the Love it or Hate it camp?

Photos: shots of Sacre Couer in Montmartre, Paris

More Travel Favorites

Pick a Card...Any Card

Want to get to know the quiet side streets of Paris or a picturesque stroll along the Seine?  Hate the idea of taking a walking tour with strangers and wandering off because your not interested in part of the itinerary?  Then you will love these cards! City Walks: Paris is a deck of 50 cards, each with a different walking adventure.  The front of the cards have a detailed map and walk route, the back has a list of all things you will encounter on your walk....from museums, shops, cafes and secret historic landmarks.  Each card covers a different area of the city. Pick a card or two are explore your heart out..without lugging around a heavy book!  These cards are available in Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York and San Francisco.   They retail for about $15 and are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Moleskine to the Rescue

I am sure you have all seen or used a Moleskine at one time or another.  Personally, I love them.  Once again, they have come out with something I just can't live without.  It is a Moleskine City Notebook.  Basically, you can create your own personal guidebook.  It's a compact moleskine with plenty of blank pages(some are removable), a small pocket in the back for collecting business cards, tabbed blank sections for restaurants, favorite shopping spots, a street index, transparent sticky notes, bookmark ribbons...and it even has zone maps and a fold out metro map of the city in the middle of the book.  Retail is $17. To take a peek inside, get a complete list of the cities available or to purchase, visit the Moleskine   website.  I'll be making good use of the Paris notebook for my upcoming trip.

Show me the Money

With the dollar getting weaker and the Euro getting stronger, it gets increasingly hard to plan how much you will need for a trip to Europe.  I rely on the xe.com for all my currency conversions.  They give you so many options, it's not even funny.  And they update their rates every minute...can't get more accurate than that!

Just in Case

Have you found yourself in the hotel room, packing for the return trip home...only to find that your suitcase zipper ain't gonna make it?  All of your new purchases are taking up much more room in the suitcase than you thought, huh?  Maybe you have been in the check in line at the airport and your luggage is overweight.  What's a girl to do?  Well, don't worry.  Tumi has come out with the Just in Case Tote * love the name* for just such occasions. The lightweight case folds square and flat, and even snaps down in the folded position to take up next to no room in your luggage. When opened it is a sturdy, high quality nylon spacious tote that can take all of your suitcase overflow.  It also has a really cool sleeve sewn on the back, that ingeniously slips over the telescoping handle of your wheeled luggage, making it effortless to carry roll around.  It will set you back $50, but it's a Tumi, which is a great product and comes with a warranty.  A must have for me.

What are some of your favorite travel items?

Photos courtesy of Chronicle Books, Moleskine and Tumi, respectively

The things we do for love

Before I left for my first trip to Paris, solo, I asked Chris if there was anything special he wanted me to bring back for him.  I was expecting a beret, a bottle of wine, cheese, or something chees-y like an Eiffel Tower t-shirt.  But non, he surprised me.  He wanted some pictures. And not just any pictures.

There is a famous picture by Brassai, called ' The Stairs'.  It is a truly lovely black and white photo and one of Chris's favorites.  So, his souvenir was for me to find and recreate this picture.  Uh, ok, no problem.  I didn't know a tiny souvenir would turn into a project. ~The things we do for love~

So, I sat at the computer and let my fingers do the walking.  After tons of web surfing...at last I found that the photo was taken in Montmartre.  Hmmm, ok, so I need to look for a large staircase in Montmartre.  Shouldn't be too hard.  Well, since Montmartre is on a hill, called the butte, there are stairs all over.  Back to the computer.  More research, more websites.  Finally, I narrow down my options, go to Google Maps and discover...' The Stairs ' is actually a staircase that runs alongside the funicular that takes you to Sacre Coeur.  The staircase is actually named...Rue Foyatier. Viola!

When in Paris, armed with the address and approximate location, I head to Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.  Mind you, this is several days into my trip and my tootsies have never done so much walking, hurt so bad, or seen so many ugly looking blisters...but off I go to find and climb a staircase. ~The things we do for love~

When I arrive at Sacre Coeur, I head to the left and there I see the funicular, which is like a giant tram that takes you from street level, to Sacre Coeur at the top of the hill. 

To the left of this, I see some stairs.  I move closer, and sure enough...the street sign says, Rue Foyatier!

At last...I am so excited!  Until I see how looooong the staircase is.  It seems to disappear in the clouds. And that motorized tram is looking mighty fine to my feet, that are on fire now.  But...I promised.  ~The things we do for love~

So I trudge up the stairs, turning back to look down at every landing to take a picture.  Part of the problem is that I don't know the exact angle or how far up or down the stairs the picture was taken from.  So, I just keep snapping, and snapping...from the left, from the right to get the best shot. 

The Brassai picture, has no people in the shot, which presents a problem.  It is really busy when I went.  Just when I have the best shot lined up, people are walking up or down.  It was very frustrating for me.  Needless to say..I took at least 50 shots, some with people, some without.  In total, I spent about 1 hour at ' The Stairs'.  ~The things we do for love~

When I arrived home, we went through the photos.  Chris loved all the shots and chose the one he liked the best.  We blew it up to an 11 x 17 black and white and we can look at it often.  Though it will never be as good as the original Brassai, especially since the conditions were not the same, it does serve as a wonderful reminder of my first trip to Paris, a sign of accomplishment, and above all it represents..the things we do for love.

Photos:  Rue Foyatier, Montmartre, Paris

Art in the heavens

There is something so wonderful and magical about art on inside ceilings or domes.  Something about it just speaks to me.  Could it be all the gilted gold?...

Photo:  Doge's Palace, Venice

It could be the design and the vibrant colors...


Photo:  Doge's Palace, Venice

or it could be the art is bathed in natural light...

Photo:  Duomo, Florence

I stare in amazement, it looks so far away, so intangible.  No matter how far I reach, I'll never to be able to touch what's at the top.  I like to see what is peaking out of the hole at me...

Photo:  The Pantheon, Rome

There is a certain mystery about it.  I like to imagine how this work was completed.  How tall was that ladder?  Perhaps I like it because it looks so dreamy, so heavenly.  As you look up at the work, you are looking up to the heavens where magical things happen.  I love the peach and robin egg-blue colors and cherubs with their plump round tummies and bottoms...

Photo:  Napoleon's Tomb, Invalides, Paris

or perhaps it is just the blood rushing from your head while your neck is craned at a 90 degree angle, admiring it that really makes me dizzy...


Photo:  Galerie d'Apollon, Louvre, Paris

The Big Four-O!

Or should I say the big four...oh no!  Yep, it's true.  Though I am having a difficult time believing it.  Today, I turn 40!  My 40th Birthday.  40, forty, it feel weird saying it, even weirder seeing it in print.  I will no longer be able to say I am in my thirties.  I didn't blink an eye turning 30, but for some reason, 40 is a bigger pill to swallow.  I know everyone says that forty is the new thirty, but forty feels like forty to me, not thirty.  Thirty rhymes with flirty, Forty sounds like farty or worse yet, fatty. 

Well, I suppose it could be worse.  I'll stop whining and get over it!  At least I still look 30!  I am happy that my anti-aging moisturizer is still staving off the wrinkles, and I will always be young at heart.  I usually get the 'you are not 40', response, when asked my age.

So, what was it like when you turned 40?  What was the 'toughest' birthday pill for you to swallow? 

My Italian Favorites

Oh Italy how I love thee...let me show you the ways....

• lemons the size of softballs
• that make limoncello
• biscotti
• to go with the robust espresso
• served on Italian pottery
• Deruta is my fav
• the history, especially Rome
• and the Colosseum
• Florentine leather shoes and gloves
• the green rolling hills
• dotted with cypress trees
• cafe life
• the people, so welcoming
• and the sound of the language..when spoken sounds like angels singing
• speaking of singing...the opera
• speaking of hot gorgeous men(oh, I guess I wasn't speaking this one out loud) Raoul Bova
• Raoul Bova, yes he deserves 2 entries
• and the bright sunshine
• that sets over the Mediterranean Sea
• Palazzos and Piazzas
• and frescoes
• in Venice, the only city of its kind
• listening to Vivaldi
• sipping Bellinis
• villas
• in Tuscany
• with terraces full of olive trees
• that produce lots of cured olives
• and the nectar of the Gods, known as olive oil
• the best of which comes from Lucca
• fresh basil in fragrant bouquets
• used in pesto
• Vespas
• and the stylish women driving them
• all dressed in the best Italian fashions
• going to Enotecas
• or Osterias
• and Trattorias
• to eat fresh pasta
• an sip the wine that is so red and inexpensive
• and the creamy gelato
• my new Italian blog buddies
• visiting
• and dreaming of staying there...

What are your favorite things about Italy?

photo:  Small cobbled entryway off the beaten path in Montefioralle,Tuscany

La Notte Bianca

The White Night.  In Rome, Italy on Saturday September 8th, the 5th annual event called Notte Bianca will take place.  Museums, cafes, concert halls, art galleries, theaters and more, will stay open from dusk to dawn.  All of the festivites are free, with the exception of any food or wine that you may buy.  Public transportation will also be free after 10pm.  You can check here for a full listing of participating venues, events and times. 

Photo: Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, Rome