France

We came home from Paris with 9 new scarves, 6 dresses, 6 sweaters/tops and 4 coats between the 3 of us. I’m still so impressed at the new wardrobe that my friend Jackie assembled. She rarely shops in the US – being exceedingly practical and finding it annoying to match her petite hourglass figure. Practically…

The stages of Paris trip shopping grief: In the course of a few days, I went from full-blown panic that I purchased too much during our trip to Paris and it would never fit in my suitcase and we’d be barred from returning to America…to annoyance of hauling everything through the airports…to regret that I…

We woke up tremendously excited to have slept well the night before. For Jackie and me, parents of toddlers, it was a revolutionary feeling to have slept and woken up “on our own terms.” Our first full day in Paris was also the last day there were reported to be sunny skies for a while.…

We’re on a grand adventure! I’ve left darling Rob and Lucy at home and traveled to Paris with my two oldest friends: Jackie and Margaret. A 10 day vacation exploring the best of France from our charming apartment right in the middle of the 1st arrondissement. We’re just steps from the hub of Les Halles…

After six weeks of traveling, it was finally almost time to head back to the states. This trip had been eventful to say the least. There were so many great memories, and a couple really challenging ones. We need to get our mojo back after the dog situation. Rob decided we should finish strong. Time to take to the skies…

After our day of cheese hiking with the very fancy French cows in Semnoz, Rob and I set off on a new cheese-based adventure the next day. Our goal was to find an ideal specimen of tartiflette – a regional dish made with Haute Savoie’s reblochon cheese. We drove from Annecy into the mountains at the…

Rob coined the term “cheese hiking” to perfectly describe the experience of trekking across high alpine wildflower meadows dotted with farmhouse fromage shops. Welcome to Semnoz! This was one of my favorite days of our whole trip. Semnoz is just 30 minutes drive from Annecy – up a steep cycling route that Rob would tackle…

It was a cloudy, but still warm day on Monday in the Haute Savoie. Perfect weather to take a paddleboat out on Lake Annecy without burning up in the hot alpine sun. Rob and I picked a vendor right off the main town gardens. You leave your ID and pay when the boat is returned,…

Just south of the old city in Annecy, there’s a massive public green space called the “Foret Communale D’Annecy.” Apparently, after decades of cutting for lumber, the community felt bad about its ecologic misdeeds and replanted the entire forest by hand, resulting today in a lush hiking and mountain biking area for (mostly) locals. The red “vous…

Welcome to Annecy! After our very “eventful” stay in Geneva and the French suburbs, Rob and I rented a car and drove to Annecy for the last week of our trip. This small city is known as the “Venice of France” for its canals running through the old pedestrian city. We’re staying in a converted…