The Cinque Terre and Monaco

More adventures! An excerpt from our trip from Rome to Paris, via Monaco.

"We have arrived in the city of lights, and it's "tres magnifique!" We arrived late this afternoon via high speed train from Monaco - the train was a fun adventure in and of itself, weaving its way through the French countryside (from the arid Mediterranean coast to the green apple orchards of Northern France) at up to 160mph! It took about six hours to cross the whole country. The Eiffel Tower is only a few blocks from our hotel, so we took a brisk walk over in time to see it illuminated with a dazzling light show at 6pm - tres belle! Dinner is later here in Europe, so we'll head to a Rick Steves's recommended cafe for dinner around 8pm."

(Side note - that cafe became our favorite. Duck and Potatoes!! Enough said.)

"A quick recap of the last few days - Vernazza was a picturesque, rather remote fishing villiage on the sea, part of whats called the "Cinque Terre," or Five Lands. Five tiny villiages perch onto the rocks above the Medeterranean, and while bustling with tourists and hikers in the summer, was quiet and pretty much only locals and their families while we were there. I came down with a cold while en route to cinque terre, so I spent most of our time there lazily strolling or watching the sea."

Vernazza. 

Monterosso, the next town over. 

"While it was beautiful, I was excited to head for civilization (and proper Kleenex) when we left for Monaco yesterday morning. Monaco is a teeny tiny, extremely wealthy microcountry nestled within France on the Mediterranean. It is the cleanest, shiniest safest place I have ever been - there are security cameras about every foot, and it is said you could win a million dollars at the casino, walk down the street with it in the middle of the night, and have nothing to worry about. We only stayed one night in Monaco, but the hotel was fancy and beautiful and we ate a ton of amazing food there. We even ordered room service - soup and french fries - and had the tastiest breakfast of our trip at the hotel before we left this morning. Coffee here is amazing - even the tiniest train stations have espresso machines and make a better coffee than you can get anywhere at home."

"We will be in Paris for the remainer of our trip, and there is still so much to enjoy! La Lovre, shopping, Notre Dame, and I plan to visit the Eiffel Tower at least once a day!"

(I did manage to see the Eiffel Tower almost every day we were there. :))

Monte Carlo, Monaco. 

The casino in Monte Carlo. 

Monte Carlo harbor view from our hotel. 

Eventually I'd like to do a few-more trip related posts, on eating gluten free in Europe and recommendations on where we stayed...if there's anything in particular you'd like to hear more about, leave a comment! :)

Oui, Paris je t'aime

I've thought about it a lot since I've been back home, but it's really hard to describe why I loved Paris so much. It was just wonderful. Paris has wrought iron balconies, wide boulevards, an impeccably efficient metro and bus system, beautifully landscaped parks, and carefully preserved art. The city itself is beautiful in a poetic, romantic way, like one of the many smiling Venuses chiseled out of creamy white stone. But it's more than that.

Paris is the Eiffel Tower, shining and sparkling through the night sky. 

It's finding new purposes for beautiful old things, like the Musee d' Orsay beautifully housed in a defunct train station. 

It's the Louvre, once a palace that became the world's first public museum during the Revolution.

It's the opulence of Versailles, now on display for the masses. 

The dark, medieval alcoves of Notre Dame.  

And yes, the efficient and tidy subway and bus system. 

Paris is macarons and copious amounts of espresso. 

Window shopping on the Champs d' Elysee in the rain.  

Picnics in the park.

And more coffee in tiny cafes. 

I loved Italy and had a great time in Monaco, but Paris - even though it's been there for hundreds of years and has seen kingdoms rise and fall - Paris felt like it was built just for me. 

Oui, Paris je t'aime.

An American in Paris (and Rome)

Hey friends! So, blogging is the first thing to go when life gets busy, but it's for a good reason, I promise! 

Over Thanksgiving we went to Europe! Rome, the Cinque Terre, Monte Carlo, Paris - it was amazing! I'll be recapping little by little, but here are a couple summaries I wrote while I on the trip...accompanied by a few of the 700 + photos I took. :)

Day 1:

We're here in Rome!

After a long sleepless flight (at least for me - I read a whole book and watched two movies though!), we got into Rome about 8am local time, hopped a shuttle to our hotel/b&b, and met our very nice hotel operators Francoise and Melissa. Melissa is from the US, so she explained to us where we could find everything, gave us some restaurant recommendations, and off we went to see the sights! Cappucino, the Roman forum and ruins, tasty steak and veggies for lunch, more coffee, and the colosseum! Not bad for a sleep-deprived day! 

3,000 year old columns as benches. 

After a nap on my part, we're getting ready to head out and get a pinic dinner to bring back from a grocery down the street. Salami, anyone? Mmm...tomorrow, onto several more ancient things (fountains and markets, i think?), then the Vatican on friday!

Most of all today I was struck with how simiar things are to home here! Aside from the ancient ruins and collumns literally just lying around serving as 3,000 yr old benches, teenagers run around wearing leggings as pants, lots of people speak English, and the colloseum is basically the first giant sports stadium. They even had ticketed seating back in the day!

Colosseum. 

The Vatican.

Trevi Fountain.

Pantheon.

The Colosseum. 

Days 2&3: 

Whew! So much walking! :)

Walked everywhere yesterday, we calculated at least 10 miles!! Each morning we enjoy coffee (espresso or a cappuccino) and breakfast in a cafe down the street. They are very nice and made me eggs for breakfast in place of the customary pastry. "Io sono ciliaca" works wonders here - they're very educated on gluten intolerance and cieliac disease. Yesterday we walked to the Campio de Fiore, an outdoor morning market, then on to the Vatican. After a stroll through the Vatican museum, you end up in the Sistine chapel - it is truly amazing to think of all the years Michelangelo spent up on scaffolding painting that ceiling! After St Peters Square and St Peters basilica, it was off to find some gluten free pizza! It. Was. Amazing. We took the scenic route home through lots of piazzas and side streets - and the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, etc. the little side streets are my favorite, much quieter and less people! 

Today we went to a fun flea market, then had a picnic! I've eaten so much prosciutto and salami over the past 2 days I think I'm going to turn into a hunk of pork! But it is SO. GOOD. :) more wandering down side streets this afternoon, then we participated in the "passeggiata" - the evening walk! I have heard of this, when all the Romans come out each evening to walk their kids and dogs and chat - but it was amazing to watch! It seems every citizen of Rome was out strolling and chatting and "ciao-ing", and we got a little table outside at a restaurant to have gluten free pasta and people-watch. They even had gluten free tiramisu, and I'm officially stuffed to the gills. Good thing we walk so much!

Campo de Fiori.

Side streets are my favorite. 

Evening passeggiata. 

More passeggiata. 

The best gluten-free pizza ever. 

Tomorrow it's on to Vernazza, one of the 5 towns in the Cinque Terre. It's about a 3 hour train ride, then more hiking and exploring there! 

For now my feet are tired and my tummy is full, so I'm going to call it a night! 

From Rome it was on to the Cinque Terre, Monte Carlo, and Paris, so more recaps to come! :)