A Day in My Life – Dog Sitting in France
What is a day house and dog sitting in the South of France really like? I thought I’d give you an example of one of mine, as most of them over the course of 3 weeks were pretty much the same, all wonderful… About 7am I awaken to the sound of doggie nails scratching on glass as the pups let me know it’s time to get up and take them for their walk. They sleep in their beds in the kitchen with a glass-paned door in between them and the hallway that leads to my lovely sun-filled guest bedroom. I roll out of bed, throw on some...
read moreHouse Sitting Heaven in the South of France
How would you like to stay in a beautiful home in the South of France for 3 weeks for free?! Lounge by a pool with a view? Is this possible? Yes, it is, through house sitting! House sitting jobs exist all over the world, and there are several websites on line dedicated to helping homeowners and house sitters find each other. It’s a win/win situation, as it gives homeowners on holiday peace of mind that their home and beloved pets are being taken care of, and they save enormous amounts of money not paying for boarding their pets. For the...
read moreTouring Tours, France
Tours, France is a great home base for touring the chateaux of the Loire Valley, but it’s also a nice city to visit in and of itself. It’s full of outdoor cafes, and amazing markets like Les Halles, with 10 million kinds of cheese (okay, I might exaggerate slightly) and the best cherries and raspberries I’ve ever tasted, along with everything else you need for a picnic. The cathedral, is magnificent, tall and gothic and imposing, and there are other churches to stumble upon as well. There’s also a small castle that...
read moreAnd Then There Were Castles – Loire Valley
The Loire Valley is covered in castles, and after my inadvertent indentured servitude, I set out to see several. With dozens of castles, how do you choose?! 42 chateaux make up this UNESCO World Heritage area. Without a car, I was reliant on either a tour, trains, or buses, so for my first foray into fairytaleland, I opted for a tour. I usually avoid them, but this was a small tour of just 8 in a mini-bus, which stopped at 3 castles, or chateaux, as the French call them, along with lunch at a small local spot. No prince or glass slippers, but...
read moreCinderella Story, a Cautionary Tale
As I sat in front of a cold, dark fireplace, in a dank, dark cave shoveling ashes, while all around me there were castles, I thought to myself, why does this scenario seem so familiar?! This is a cautionary tale. The name and exact locations have been changed, not to protect the guilty, but to protect me from the guilty, for telling the truth of my tale. The story does not include a prince or a glass slipper, but there is a fairy godmother involved. Also, please note that during many months of travel, almost all of the people I have met have...
read moreA Day at d’Orsay
Musee d’Orsay deserves a post of its own, not only for the beautiful architecture of the old train station turned gallery (it’s the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built 1898-1900), but also for the incredible contents within. There’s a reason d’Orsay plays host to over 3,500,000 visitors a year! Musee d’Orsay is known for its outstanding impressionist and post-impressionist collection, including paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Monet, Manet, Morisot, Lautrec, Renoir, and...
read morePerfectly Paris
Ahh, Paris! City of lights and romance, art and architecture, amazing food and wine. It’s one of my all-time favorite cities. There are, of course, the iconic sights, like the Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triomphe, the River Sienne and the Tuileries, and the Louvre, which is equally as lovely in rain or shine. Stick around for a day or two and you might get both! As a tourist, you’re sure to enjoy all of this. But as a traveler, you get to see even more! After such a great experience couch surfing near Venice, I thought I’d see...
read moreThe Most Beautiful Bookshop in the World
It may be self-proclaimed, but it may also be true! Who is to say, really, which is the most beautiful bookshop in the world? As a graphic designer and artist, I would have to say that their sign in no way indicates the beauty that awaits any book lover inside Alta Acqua Libreria, hidden somewhere in Venice… After all, how many bookshops display their wares in an antique gondola? And how many have a secret staircase out back, made of books, that leads to a classic view of a beautiful Venetian canal… Or a fire exit that looks like...
read moreVisions of Venice
How can you not love Venice?! It’s a magical place where you feel as if you’re walking through a dream. There are, of course, the classic scenes – the gondolas… St. Mark’s square (Piazza San Marco, the main square of Venice, which Napoleon supposedly called “the drawing room of Europe”)… The many famous bridges, like the Bridge of Sighs, which connects the New Prison with the interrogation rooms in the Doge’s Palace, the Rialto Bridge, and many smaller scenic bridges as well. There is the...
read moreCouch Surfing in Treviso
What do you do when you want to go to Venice, but the hotels are way out of your budget, and you’d really rather get to know the locals anyway, than stay in an anonymous hotel in a crazy tourist area? You try couch surfing! Couch surfing is more of a cultural exchange than a free place to stay. True, there is no charge (although it’s suggested that you bring your host a small gift, or cook them a meal). If you are not familiar with couch surfing, go to the website for all kinds of information. You become a member (free, or a...
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