PARIS....Ah c'est formidable!

Where's our Mama? Things are just not the same. After a smooth and early arrival to Paris we quickly headae to the market to stock up on some supplies...beer, wine, baguette, and cheese. (what else do you need) Fortunate for us the Marchée de Lévis is only a block away where we find a plethora of everything you can imagine. Including fresh from the oven croissants which "Super Julie" managed to bring home for breakfast.

So although we have a week in Paris time is flying. So many things to see. Thus far we have enjoyed a bus tour of Paris, visited the Louvre, the Musée D'Orsay, cruised the Seine at night, seen the Eiffel Tower (first night), visited some dead folks at the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, sampled some fine french pastries on Champs D'Elysée and enjoyed a real happy hour at a neighbourhood brasserie. Still to come is Centre Pompidou (heading there after our blogging), Chateau Versailles (tomorrow)and night at the Moulin Rouge. Friday free leisurely day to enjoy the sound, sight and taste of Paris. Our big bang finish will be to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower for a panoramic night view of Paris. Then sadly return home to Ottawa Saturday morning.

We are including a few pictures, for starters our first view of the Eiffel Tower...breathtaking. We all agree it looks more beautiful all lit up at night. And periodically it even twinkles. A picture of us standing inside the glass pyramid of the Louvre. And a night shot of the Arc de Triomphe. Ever tried crossing an 8 lane circle of traffic...IMPOSSIBLE!

Suffice it to say WE ARE LOVING PARIS!!! We hate the French keyboards at the internet café (which are difficult to find) but the people are friendly & accommodating.

This will likely be our last post before heading home. Thanks for checking in and sharing our journey. Aurevoir!

The Girls minus Mama.

Laura Home Alone

This is my last post until my next trip - wherever and whenever that may be. My final day in France was truly lovely. We visited three villages in Luberon none of which I had seen before. The first, Taillades, I can't even find on my atlas it was that small and sleepy - but picturesque! The other two of them are major tourist sites and I'm going to attach a picture of each one. I have to say that everything we saw was picture worthy. We could have taken thousands of pictures because it was all so charming, so historical and so different from what we have at home. No matter what though, our pictures don't do justice to what we saw. It really was absolutely beautiful. The first picture is of Gordes, a city built of stones and perched on the top of a mountain. Even the bird houses were built of stone! It was pretty spectacular to be driving a winding, mountain road to turn the corner and be faced with this. People have lived in that location since the neolithic age. The second village is that of Roussillon. It really made a distinct impression on me because it was unlike anything else we'd seen. The village is built in the heart of the world's biggest vein of ochre and the whole village was a variation of the colours of orange and rust and red. It must be unbelievable when the sun is setting. We didn't have the time to do a hike there but apparently there is a huge, almost valley, of ochre. Next trip I guess! From there, we drove up to the most famous wine making area of the region, Chateauneuf-du-Pape. We'd been trying to get to a vineyard starting in Italy and things just never fell into place for us. We stopped at one vineyard in Chateauneuf and sampled 3 red wines. Driving on into the village, we wandered into a wine cave, the Cave du Verger des Papes, that used to be a Roman quarry. My final picture posted was taken in this cave. Here, a handsome, charming Frenchman took us in hand and spent an hour with us showing us how to "taste" rather than "drink" wine. We sampled 8 wines with myself, the designated driver, reluctantly having to spit most of it out! Since we hadn't eaten in a single restaurant since arriving in France, we drove from there to Arles for dinner in a Provencal restaurant adjacent to the ruins of a Roman colisseum. I had rabbit but wolf and bull were also on the menu! Chicken#&*! Rhonda had a salad..... Then it was back to our cottage (which was fabulous by the way) to pack our bags and partake in my final nightcap (bottle of wine we bought at the cave) and recap.

We were up early on the 11th and my excellent navigator, Julie, got us to the Marseille airport in great time where we dropped off the rental car. The girls then caught a shuttle bus to the train station to connect with their train to Paris and I flew home via Frankfurt. I had an hour between planes in Frankfurt and I swear it took me that whole time to walk through the airport which went on forever and to spend my remaining 43 euros on a bottle of duty-free Scotch.

Thanks to my travel mates. You were fabulous. Hope you have an extraordinary time in Paris and I look forward to reading the blog for updates.

Laura

Provence Countryside

Hi all,
We aren't going to say much today as we don't want to spend Laura's last day on the computer. Suffice it to say that Provence has been charming, Romanesque, and, for one day only, rainy. Today, we are driving through the countryside in the province of Luberon then we,ll take some gustations du vins at Chateauneuf du Pape.

We are attaching three pictures. One is of the four of us at the Pont du Gard and the other two are of the "girls" in front of the Palais des Papes in Avignon as well as the little garden there where we ate our lunch.

Until Paris and, for Laura, until home. Au revoir!

Bonjour from France

We have bid a reluctant farewell to Italy which we just loved. Spent the day in transit yesterday travelling from Cinque Terre to Marseille where we are picking up our rental car this morning.

Italy really was wonderful. The moment we arrived in Cinque Terre, we decided we wanted to stay more than 2 nights. Unfortunately, we were tied into the car rental and couldn't. We were walking to our apartment when we heard a voice call Laura's name and there was Steffi. It was like the last year just melted away. It was great to see her. We had two part and one full day there. Our pictures will not be able to do the beauty of the site justice but here's one to whet your appetite. Spent the full day walking the trail between Monterossa and Vernazza. It took 2 1/2 hrs to hike 3 km but believe us when we tell you it was a straight up and down 3 kms! For various reasons, (started late, long patio break on the seaside after the first hike and dusk coming on) we only completed the one section and will have to return another year.

We have been very pleased with our accommodations. In Cinque Terre we were literally beside the Ligurian Sea and fell asleep to the sound of the waves. Have been eating out a bit more recently due to lack of easy access to grocery stores. Needless to say the wine continues to impress us all as well. We will let you know how the french wines compare.

Ton, glad to hear that you made your television debut. I look forward to hearing all about it. For those interested, my butt is on the mend...finally. I think that the hiking,massages and of course, the wines, have all been very healing. Our colds are almost gone ...Julie started it...but all is well. Looking forward to sharing the memories with everyone when we return home. Give my boys a hug for me.

We will post when we have a chance again. Looking forward to the cottage in Provence and yes, enjoying wine by the fireplace...is there a pattern here?

The other pictures are from Tuscany and Pisa.
Enjoy
Au revoir for now from France

love from
The Girls

P.S. Laura & Julie are hoping someone is taping Grey's Anatomy for us.

Under the Tuscan Sun (corny we know)

Hi folks,
We've actually been out of touch with respect to internet and only have a moment now. Will post again in Provence with pictures. Tuscany has been beautiful - everything that Laura hoped for. We've been to Sienna, San Gimignano and Pisa. Not too much hiking going on but we are perfecting our gelato eating skills. The scenery is gorgeous. The driving is crazy. We've taken a gazillion pictures, especially of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Laura climbed almost to the very top before vertigo set in but the other three soldiered on and have photos to prove it.
We haven't said much but we are thinking of all our friends and family at home. Postcards have been written but not necessarily mailed| Laura sends love to her three sons and looks forward to seeing them. Julie says hi to her mom and dad. The other two aren't here but they say hi too.
As we said, more the next time we post. We leave tomorrow for Cinque Terre and are hopeful that Steffi will make it to be with us this time. Then, we head to France.
All for now,
"The Girls"

Arrivederci Roma!

We have had 4 fabulous days in Rome. The sheer grandeur, history and influence of this city have been awe-inspiring. We have seen the main antiquities but have had to walk by so many more spectacular sights than we can count. Places like the Trevi Fountain (picture attached) and the Spanish Steps were fun to visit but super crowded. Yesterday, we took the Hop On and Off bus around the city where we learned lots of fascinating historical details about Rome.

Weather has been superb, wine cheap and more than drinkable, food delicious and gelato to die for.

Julie wishfully window shopped at Prada, Gucci, Dior, Jimmy Choo, Bulgari etc.

Today, we head to the tranquility of the Tuscan countryside and anticipate doing some hiking. We've rented a car and will drive to Sienna and Volterra, and go to a vineyard.

All for now! Off to the train station.

By the way, we haven't killed each other yet and think we'll still be speaking by the time we return home!

Laura, Julie, Rhonda and Nat

Rome - After Glitch #2

Hi all.

Yesterday, we hopped on the "fast" train to Rome in Florence which was supposed to take 1 1/2 hrs. But...... a train ahead of us "broke" so we were delayed by an extra 5 hours! The upside was that we were highly entertained by our Italian seatmates and a Brit. Upon arriving, because we were so late, we took a taxi to the apartment instead of a bus. The ride was absolutely wild and all of us had our feet pressing on imaginary brakes at one time or another. Our driver assured us he was the best driver in Rome. We arrived safely to find that we are located in a cool area full of restaurants, bars, students and a gazillion other tourists. Another bummer was that Laura's friend Steffi took ill and wasn't able to join us here. She is missed.

Much of today was spent at the Vatican. There are many words to describe it and yet none at the same time. It is overwhelming. Everything is done in such a grand scale it boggles the mind. We have lots of pictures but will only attach a couple from today. We took a break from Vatican City and went for a very nice, authentic italian lunch. We filled ourselves with pasta, pizza, wine, beer and of course...gelato.

Tomorrow we will be heading to ancient Rome and we had a quick peek at it from the taxi, on the way to our apartment. Although our vision was a little blurred because we were going so fast, it is breathtaking. We will have lots more pictures to post!

FYI, you will notice that we are not posting any pictures today with any of us in them. These pictures were taken by Julie and I guess that we are not worthy enough to compete with Raphael and Michaelangelo. She has only one thing on her mind...

We are all doing great, and continuing to keep up with our steps. Although we are tired by the end of the day, it is great to be able to talk about our daily adventures and discuss our "favourite part of the day". We may, or may not share this list with you at the end of our trip.

Thanks for all of the comments. It is fun to share our excitement with you.
Take care
Ciao for now.

"The" Girls

Florence ...Culture Beyond Imagination

Hey People
We have survived our second full day in Florence, and have the blisters to prove it.
It was quite a culture shock, arriving from the peaceful, tranquility of Venice, to the hustle and bustle streets of Florence. (Our first gypsy sighting) We were going to walk (with our luggage) to the apartment, but after a few near misses, we thought not. We took a cab.
We have seen The "David", the tombs of Michealangelo, Galileo, Dante and Machievelli. For those not familiar with these names, time to brush up on your history. We have seen more art than we can absorb and have logged more than 20 000 steps per day. Yes, my butt is very sore!! Laura has managed to drag us around to the markets long enough for her to do most, but not all of her shopping.
Yesterday we climbed 463 steps to the top of the Duomo to witness a spectacular view of Florence. So far, we have been cooking our own meals (except for one of us...guess who) Tonight, we are heading out for our first real Italian dinner, however, we have been able to familiarize ourselves with lots of fine, Italian wine. Florence is also special to us, as it was our first but certainly not last, taste of real gelato...and loving it!
We have especially enjoyed our Happy Hours (24 hours of the day) and our Night Caps.
We are posting a couple of pictures...a view from the Duomo taken towards Santa Croce & the area we are staying, a picture of the Duomo taken today from the Boboli Gardens and a picture of us in the Piazza della Signoria.
Tomorrow we head to Rome where Steffi (friend Laura met in South Africa) will join us. We will post again soon.

Rhonda & the girls.

p.s. Special thanks to Dave & Teresa for the card and gift it tasted GREAT!!!
Donnie thanks for the treats...but we need more.

Ciao folks...we have arrived!

We arrived after 18hrs. in transit to a glorious day in Venice. We took the vaporeto (water taxi) from the airport to our apartment where we dropped our bags and headed to the market for some groceries and wine. Got 3 litres for 6euros siphoned from a big jug into a plastic bottle nothing but the best for us EFACE gals.
Needless to say we all slept well.

The main attraction for today was a walk to some of the main sites including the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco. By the way, we weren't the only people visiting these attractions. It was PACKED! We needed a kick start to the day (no coffee in the apartment...but does anybody know what Orzoro is?) The alternative was an enjoyable caffe americano, cappucino & velvety smooth hot chocolate at an outdoor café. The weather was cooler than anticipated today but we haven't been rained on, so all is well.

Venice is awesome, historic, romantic, picturesque and post card perfect. You be the judge. (Above picture taken by Julie)

It's now 9pm as we sit at the internet café on our way for a night cap or gelato...hell we're on vacation we may do both.

Tomorrow we go to Murano hopefully to see local artisans blowing glass. After this far too brief taste of Venice we continue on to Florence.

Arrivederci from all of us.

Final Night Before Departure

So, the time has actually arrived. Hard to believe that we first started talking about this last Feb. Then, we started to count down the days at 160! I still have to pack, do last minute stuff at home, and make myself pretty. Tomorrow, I'm putting in most of a full day at work and then leaving straight for the airport. I think once I'm on the plane, I'll be able to relax. We're being met in Venice by the owner of the apartment we've rented and then we'll hit the town, stock up on groceries and probably fall into bed. Until Italy!
Laura

3 more "dodos" to go

You know Julie's excited when....it's 6:00am and I'm wide awake, posting my first entry on our blog. (if you know me, that's a rare occasion...I'm soooooooo not a morning person) Although there are only 3 more days to go, it hasn't really sunk in that I - Julie, will be in Europe THIS WEEK END. WOW!!!!!...that sounds so cool! Visiting Europe has been a lifelong dream of mine and standing at the edge of the realization of that dream feels pretty amazing. The great thing is that I get to enjoy it with 3 fabulous ladies whom destiny has brought together.
Wonderful adventures await...no doubt.

Jewels

A Temporary Glitch

Yesterday the EFACE gals got together for what may be our last planning session. We mostly sampled Italian wine but we did get dinner made for us by guest Pat and we did book a tour of the Vatican! Plus, we got a picture of the elusive Rhonda - posted here. There's also a picture of the four of us.

Today was pretty rough. After last night's high, it was devastating to learn that the airline that Rhonda, Nat and Julie were flying with, Zoom Airlines, went belly up this morning! We scrambled around, spent a lot of time on the phone and the internet tonight, but ended up coming out smelling like roses! For only a few (hundred) dollars more, the ladies booked the same flight that I was already flying on with Air Canada. This actually works out really well for us because 1) now I'm not flying all by myself, 2) we are all flying out of Ottawa rather than Montreal and 3) we arrive in Paris at a better time of day to make our connecting flight to Venice. So, all's well that ends well.

Only 22 more sleeps and 15 more work days!!

Laura

The countdown is on - less than one month to go

Julie, Laura, Nathalie and Rhonda are busy preparing for their trip to Italy and France. We've booked our accommodations, booked flights, reserved a car. Here's a picture of three of us taken by Rhonda as we ponder our choices on the Internet. So far, Rhonda's been the official photographer so we don't have any pictures of her. Next time, girl!

We've been shopping like crazy. I've (I'm Laura) bought four different suitcases so far! My travel companions have been taking me in hand to get me ready.Here's a picture of me reading the appropriate literature. Geez, I still haven't learned how to put the pictures where I want them to go. Taylor, where are you when I need you?

All we have left to do is decide what entrance tickets we want to pre-order on the Internet. This last picture is Nathalie avidly researching Paris where I, sadly, will not be going. I'm leaving my friends in the south of France and they'll spend a week in Paris without me.

We'll keep you posted as we go along. What's really cool is that Steffi from Germany, whom I met last year in South Africa, is going to come and stay with us in Rome for the weekend. I just love this world!

Laura