Just Back From Paris & Provence
Ross and I recently returned from our fall Art & Antiques trip to Paris. We had an absolutely marvelous time with our fun and adventurous group of 8 travelers! The markets were especially good this year and everyone - including Ross and I - found many great treasures! We also had lovely visits to the Musee Rodin and two decorative arts museums. We had a bit of rain the first day, but had perfect sunny, crisp weather the rest of the trip. Luckily for us, that meant we were able to enjoy a little picnic in a wonderful little park. While munching on croissants we enjoyed seeing the children of Paris ride past on ponies. Yes, this is true! On the weekends in this park children can do pony rides. Oh to be a Parisian child…
We enjoyed many great meals, some at our old favorites and some new discoveries. We will be adding a couple of these to our March tour next spring. Finally, by a stroke of wonderful luck, family friends of mine who have a beautiful apartment in Paris happened to be in town and invited our group over for cocktails. We were so happy to be able to share this experience with our travelers. Though I did not personally know all of the women on our tour before we left, I now count them as great friends. Ross and I are over the moon that we not only shared our favorite city with such a wonderful group, but that we all returned home with new friends (and very heavy bags!).
After our Paris tour ended, Ross and I headed south to the put the final touches on our Provence tour. We love Provence and it is always such a delight to visit this region. We were here mainly to scout hotels as many have opened or changed hands in the last few years. We were happy to know that our favorite hotel is still fabulous (it will be one of two hotels on next year’s tour). We also found two hotels that recently underwent massive renovations and are thrilled with the results of both. One of these (an 18th century chateau) will be the second hotel on our tour.
Between scouting wineries and restaurants, we of course managed to find time to visit our favorite antique markets. We thought our suitcases were full when we left Paris, but we managed to sneak a few more treasures home! (Ross and I both traveled with carry-on suitcases this trip - this will be the subject of a future newsletter!) The highlight of the trip for both of us through was a lunch on the Mediterranean to celebrate Ross’s birthday. We celebrated with wine and a fish that had been caught just that morning. Fortunately or unfortunately the restaurant’s espresso machine was broken, so we were given coffee-ish shots of alcohol to finish our meal instead.
For those of you who love the rugged Mediterranean coast as much as we do, fear not, this area is firmly part of Provence and will absolutely be included on our tour next year!
