All posts tagged: French Riviera

dog heaven in france and a few cats

I know I keep writing about my trip to France but there are so many elements of it that I just can’t let go of or want to forget, so I jot them down as they come to mind  in order to reflect and because telling friends and family about your travels can sometimes get boring, it’s best to write them down instead for those who care enough to read and enjoy. I think the hardest part of going on vacation is leaving your pet behind, in my case it is a dog. First the guilt trip, then the tears and then when you are on vacation, you can’t help wonder how your pet is doing, day in and day out. With that said, I have to say that while  in Paris we did not see too many dogs outdoors because of the downpour I suppose but when we got to the French Riviera, there was a dog on a leash on every corner in every town. The worst of it was that they were …

the french riviera in a nutshell

You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all goes the saying and if I were to sum up my visit to the French Riviera last week, it would be just that (not in a bad way). The French Riviera consists of seven major towns (Nice, Cannes, Monaco, Antibes, Menton, St. Tropez and Saint Raphael) and a dozen or so smaller ” plages” (Sea) access villages from the Cote D’Azur shuttle train. If you happen to have a Multi-country railpass (which includes France) or a French railpass, you can have unlimited rides on the Cote D’Azur shuttle train between the towns and the beaches. Our plan was to stay in Cannes for several days while we touched up on the towns to the west of it and then move to Nice for a few more days in order to access the towns on the East of Nice. So while in Cannes, we hit up Saint Raphael, St. Tropez and Antibes and when we stayed in Nice we touched up on Monaco/Monte Carlo, Villafranche Sur Mer and hopped over …

Challenges of Travel After 40

Recently my husband surprised me with a vacation to celebrate our union of 25 years and of course to take note of my unmentionable birthday. He asked earlier this year what I wanted to do to celebrate this glorious year and I told him I wanted to vacation with him since we hadn’t done so for over 9 years. First of all I want to say how I truly appreciated his plans and efforts to make the vacation happen. We were challenged throughout the year in more ways than one to materialize the getaway but in the end and I mean very end, three weeks before the actual vacation, he was able to put something together for us. I was hesitant and worried about making it happen because of the current “American dream/nightmare” we are all experiencing in this land of opportunity and with that in mind, vacation was the last thing on the list of issues to tackle in 2010. But he convinced me that it was important for us to do this in order …