Crazy as this may sound, when we finally get the Indian Summer in San Francisco, I cannot help but think of happy thoughts and I know I am not alone. So while I am in that frame of mine, I turn to what I call sexy appeal in photography to stay inspired while I am indoors 🙂
I had this bright idea of visiting London for a day, since I hadn’t been for 15 plus years. The reason for my madness was the fact I originally wanted to partake in attending the 2012 Olympic games in London but since I couldn’t manage such a trip a month ago, I wanted to be in London this year no matter what . So, from Paris we took the Eurostar early Thursday morning for our almost three-hour high-speed train ride to London. The important thing to remember is that although Gare de Nord (Eurostar station in Paris) and London St Pancras International Station (Eurostar station in London) are easily accessible and not too difficult to get around, consider showing up one hour before boarding the train to go through the customs lines and border control. It’s funny you don’t think there should be border control between France and England, but there is. The other thing to remember while embarking on such a journey is that the moment you cross border control and customs, the Euro …
The most amazing thing about Europe is the fact, everything is connected by train, so there is no need to stress about driving nor flying. One can simply book a point to point ticket or by a Railpass (Outside of Europe Residance only) and arrange to get from any number of destinations within Europe. The beauty of having a Railpass is that the passholder can travel on the TER train – which connects all the beach town along the French Riviera by an intrecit timetable and train schedule. So, basically in the morning you could be in Cannes and within half an hour to an hour you could be in Antinbes, Nice, Monte Carlo, Menton (depending on the stops the train makes). So, of course we did just that, hopped on the TER everyday and ended up in different parts of the French Riviera. Our stops, on this trip were to St. Tropez, Antibes, Monte Carlo (for the hubby man), VillaFranche Sur Mer and Nice. Now, although every town is almost the same in that …
I just can’t get enough. Here is my favorite picks for Donna Karan for Spring 2013 collection from here:
I love this part of our trips to Europe, the stop in the French Riviera. We took the slow train from Genoa (not intentionally) that was how RailEurope site booked it for me when I did my point to point reservation and within four hours pulled into the Cannes train station. I gladly jumped off the cart and walked to our hotel, which is always across the street from the train station. I prefer it that way. We wasted no time in freshening up and running to the promenade to walk along the shore before heading into old Cannes to have dinner. Cannes is an amazing place to stay, it has everything you need and not as chaotic as Nice is during the busy Summer season. You can spend the mornings, shopping, then in the afternoon sunbathing at a number of public beaches and then get dressed up and go to dinner at any number of indoor/outdoor restaurants along the promenade, followed by a walk along the shore. It’s definitely designed for the over forty …
Day three of our holiday, we decided to venture out to Venice for the day. Even though I have been to Venice a dozen or so times, this time I wanted to go there for three specific reasons. First, to get a glimpse of the Venice Film Festival. Second, to buy an authentic carnival mask for a holiday party back home (San Francisco) and three to walk through the back roads to capture photographs of Venice very few get a chance to see. The amazing thing about Venice is, you can easily get lost while exploring the back alley ways and I can guarantee you, that on my next visit, I will not even remember how to get to the places I ventured out to during this trip. {photos of the property of http://www.rawsilkandsaffron.wordpress.com and may not be borrowed without permission}
Day 1: We arrived in Florence city center late Sunday afternoon to torrential downpour and thunder storm and after checking into our hotel, decided to immediately tour the city on foot, just long enough to wean ourselves from the jet lag. Along the way and in between the downpour, we experienced the following: {Photos are the property of http://www.rawsilkandsaffron.wordpress.com and may not be used without permission}
Despite the fog throughout most of the summer in San Francisco, there are occasional days when the sun breaks through and everyone in the city heads out to the coast, just to get a glimpse of the ocean. Lucky for me, this once in a blue moon event happened on Saturday past and I was able to go on my usual walk along the coast and capture some breath taking photographs with my cell phone (of course). {click on the first photo to view the slide show and remember the photos are the property of http://www.rawsilkandsaffron.wordpress.comm – Thank you}
As I gaze at the heavy fog lurking throughout my neighborhood on a Monday evening after work, I cannot help but envision what heaven may look like.
We humans are conditioned to be careful as to how much time we spend in the sun on a daily basis. Now although the sun is good for us, in small doses, it is also damaging in more ways than one. I happen to worship the sun and while vacationing in the French Riviera, I must say, I have a difficult time staying indoors. So to avoid over exposure, while still enjoying the sunshine, I normally spend the middle of the day (when the UV Rays are the most damaging) walking through the backroads of the towns aligning the coast. Typically the backroads are (mostly) in the shade because of the narrow alleyway-like streets and the closeness of the buildings facing each other on either side of those “street”. This combination, not only makes for the best hideaway from the sun, but also gives me a chance to cool down naturally while enjoying the scenery. 🙂 Oh silly me. Here are some of my favorite (touched up) photos of our treks through the backroads of the …
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