I haven’t posted on this blog for the past two years, and so it felt only fitting that my first post in a while would be about my Dad. I was looking through my comments page, and a whole fresh wave of grief washed over me as I read all his messages. He commented more than anyone else. He was the sweetest. Here is one comment that is just the essence of him, from “Two Days in The Calanques” PiperWhat…
Cinque Terre is about wandering around and enjoying the sea. There isn’t a ton to do in the way of sightseeing, which makes it a relaxing respite after the busyness of Rome and other major Italian cities. In Cinque Terre if all you do is lounge around eating and sipping wine and looking at the water then you would have done it right.
One evening we watched the sunset at the Terrazza del Pincio with cheap wine in plastic cups, toasting as the sky turned coral over Piazza del Popolo and its Egyptian obelisk. Later, we bought Neapolitan-style pizza and ate it at midnight in front of marble gods at the Trevi Fountain. We talked often about how crazy it was to be in Rome without crowds.
Another day, another coronavirus-related restriction. President Macron announced last night that a curfew will go into effect in certain cities in France— including my Lyon adorée— from Saturday until at least the next 4-6 weeks.
I adored Nice. Being there felt so easy, as if the palm trees and sunshine and salty air give the place a natural effortlessness. A swim in the sea is just as far away as it takes to walk across the beach separating the city from the Mediterranean.
Visualize electric blue water so clear it hardly seems real. Chalky cliffs that cut a jagged line across the sky. A dry landscape of rocks and scrub that meet the vast expanse of the Mediterranean. These are Les Calanques. The Calanques aren’t super well known outside of France, which is surprising considering their beauty and majesty. “Calanques” means “rocky inlets” in French, and this is exactly what they are— peaceful coves and inlets. The water is calm, and the hills…
Yesterday I arrived back to Lyon after 41 straight days traveling. I am left wonderstruck by a trip that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to see Europe without tourists. It was absolutely wild. I mean, I saw the Roman Colosseum with just a couple of other people in the arena for company. Rome itself was empty compared to normal summers. I can’t emphasize enough how unique this was. Of course, there were other travelers, but they were mostly from fellow European…
A weekend exploring the French Mediterranean Friday night in Hyères, we arrived at the restaurant to the sound of live music as the sun was setting. We had to walk down a forest road for half a mile before finding the hip place, which sprawled over the beach and had tables a stone’s throw away from the water’s edge. I felt so happy: sipping cocktails, sharing tapas in the violet dusk, listening to a band, gazing at the twilit sea,…
It’s hard to imagine right now with all the social distancing, but just six short weeks ago I was squeezed shoulder to shoulder with glitter-covered people of all ages, sipping sangria and swaying to samba music. This was an innocent time, when the supply of confetti was more of a concern for Spain than face masks or hand sanitizer. During my Barcelona trip, my friend Ana and I took a day trip to Sitges for Carnaval. Countries all over the…
The Facts When I imagined my year abroad in France, I never once pictured experiencing a level 3 nation-wide quarantine. But c’est la vie, I guess. It is day two of the official coronavirus quarantine in France, and life feels unreal. All schools, restaurants, bars, cafés, cinemas, etc. are closed— even parks. Only essentials are open: supermarkets and pharmacies (and the occasional boulangerie because it’s France and bakeries are vital). Everyone who can work from home is doing so. If…