Marseille

Marseille is the second largest city in France aside from Paris with a very large population. As avid market goers and rather competant shoppers, we have also noticed that lavender and soap can be bought almost anywhere and in rather large quanities. If i like you enough, you may find that you will too receive some aromatic soap from the region... we will see if i am capable of sharing...

Our hotel, while is in a slightly shady area, is rather nice and close to the port where there are many restaurants. We have learned to eat during the accustomed french eating times between 12 and 2 and after 7. Between these times the only things available are crepes and ice cream. While many would not think possible, it is entirely so to become sick of nutella after 6 weeks of indulging in the addicting spread.

On our second day in this city we had a tour arranged and enjoyed visiiting the town of Aix. We got to see some intricate medieval mansions and cathedrals and stroll the cobblestone paths. We had a few hours to eat lunch and enjoy the market with items ranging from fruit, cheese, bread and seafood to flowers and baskets to records, clothing and antiques. We even marvelled in trying some new flavours of macarons. They had some peculiar ones like dilled salmon and foie gras that we didn't dare try at the time and went with our favourites like salted caramel and lemon instead.

That is all for now friends. Our journey is almost complete...

Haiku Lane

Nice, France

Getting to Nice was quite a whirlwind. First of all, the day we left Paris just so happened to be Bastille Day, probably the largest holiday in France. We just so happened to be leaving at exactly the same time that everyone was coming to watch the parade on the Champs de Elysees. Trying to manouever our luggage down and up the stairs of the metro through hoards of people was a story in itself. We managed somehow with all of our luggage and found our way to the train station where we were pretty clueless having never been on one. We got on one of the carriages only to discover we got in the wrong one. A french man was yelling at us to get going because the train was leaving in two minutes and we still had far to go. We bustled out of there and ran as fast as anyone could with that much luggage, and found our way to our seats. Somewhere in the midst of that situation Mitch had found both my wallet and.passports on the ground of the first carriage. We are increidibly lucky that he noticed them!!

We made our way to Nice safe and sound where we spent the first day and a half at leisure.
Our hotel is close to all the restaurants, the shops and the beach. The weather has been great! Yesterday we took a tour to Monoco, Eze, the medieval village of St.Paul, Antibes and Cannes. It was a great way to see the french riviera in a short amount of time.

Today is our last day in Nice!

Haiku Lane
xo

Last days in Paris

While the weather has been slightly unpredictable, varying between bouts of sun and rain, Paris is a very dreamy place. Everywhere you walk screams romanticism with the beautiful gardens, charming carousels, intricate architecture of both the past and present and the obvious, of course, the eiffel tower.

On our last few days we got the pleasure to see the Palace of Versailles (one of the most beautiful buildings i have ever seen!!), Disney Paris (awesome but not quite as elaborate as ours back home) and Moulin Rouge.

Ohhh and how can i forget?....
We also went to the famous fleamarket in Paris. So many lovely things to be had
.. if i had the funds to ship furniture back to Canada i would in a heart beat.

Onwards to Southern France!

Haiku Lane

Bonjour

Bonjour !
We have been extremely busy in Paris. There is just so much to see and do that we have been using every waking hour to do and see as much as we can. Vacationing in Paris is quite different than in Greece. For one, Paris is a large city with large intricate buildings and monuments and well...rain and the Greek islands are known for their quaint villages, fishing
Ports and beaches and everyday was very very warm! Both countries require lots of walking! We love both countries very much.
Here is a recap of what we have been doing in the city of love
..

Day 1:
Mitch and I checked into our hotel which is located right by the Arc de triumphe and the Champs de Elysses (high end shopping area...so many ladies have given me bag envy...how i would love a chanel purse.. ). We walked up the street until we came upon Laduree (famous for it's macarons) we ate supper there and got macarons to go.

Day 2:
I dragged Mitch out of bed early to head to a breakfast joint called Claus. It is kind of hidden and took awhile to find but was well worth it. Little did we know how much food would be put in front of us. We started with freshly squeezed juice and a coffee,, followed by a basket of pastries and bread. Our main course was eggs and bacon
then came muesli with homemade yogurt and lemon cake. We wrapped up the lemon cake as a snack for later. After our delicious breakfast we went down to the famous Louvre Museum. It is huge!! At first i did not think i could convince Mitch to go. The line weaved in and around the building and looked as if it were 7 hours long. Luckily it was under an hour long and well worth the wait. After the Louvre we went shopping for some new clothing and shoes. We were not prepared for the weather in Paris! After our big day of waiting in lines and shopping we were very tired and rewarded ourselves with a very unhealthy supper- Croque Madam (cheese and ham toast with an egg on top) and a french hot dog (hot dog in a baguette with tons of cheese!). Our very busy night ended with a movie at the cinema where they laughed that we were going to see an american movie in France.... haha whoops...

Day 3:
Our day started in what they call Old Paris- Le Marais. Mitch and i walked in and around the unique shops, cobblestone streets and beautiful architecture. There happened to be an outdoor market in the area which I was very excited about. All the fruit, cheese, vegetables, seafood and bread you could ever want! We bought some raspberries and strawberries to snack on and a fresh peach, mango, orange juice. Afterwards we made our way to the Notre Dame. Words can not describe how beautiful this building is. I did not even bother trying to convince him to stand in line for this one. This wont be my last time in Paris i am sure! Mitch and i then got dresses up and headed to the Eiffel Tower restaurant where we had reservations. It is amazing to be back to the place where we got engaged, on our honeymoon.

Good night !

Haiku Lane
Xo

Paris: day 1

These pictures say everything that I cannot!

Rhodes

Rhodes was our last stop in Greece and probably one of my favourite islands. It is the only one that we visited that is not part of the Cyclades. We stayed neared Old Town which is full of medieval buildings, tourist shops and restaurants. Our hotel was right next to the beach which is covered in brightly colored umbrellas. It was a very windy island. Probably even more so than Santorini which can be known for heavy winds! Most of our days we spent wandering old town and the beach. We found a local family restaurant called Tanam which we frequented a few times. I definitely recommend it to anyone going to Rhodes. They are suvh a wonderful group of people and have amazing food!! On our second last day we took a day trip to Marmaris Turkey. We were very excited to leave the islands of Greece for a day to explore a new country. In Marmaris we visited a gold store, a rug store, a bazaar and a turkish delight factory. All in all it made for a great but expensive day!