Under the Tuscan clouds

The past two days have been amazing as we walked, talked and tasted our way through Florence.  We met some lovely (and helpful) shop owner and loggediles trying to become more familiar with Florence.  The weather has been touch and go so we cancelled our Vespa rental and tackled the city by foot instead.  Turned out to be a great idea since it started pouring at exactly the time we would have been on the Vespa!  For those of you who have been to Florence you know it's hard enough to navigate the narrow roads when they are dry so I was thrilled to be walking in the rain instead of scooting! We definitely got some pampering in at the hotel and were even treated  to anniversary massages thanks to Wendy and Dani!!! What a treat. Thank you both.  Our last night in florence before heading to the villa we were told that we must have a florentine steak (which we never have had). What a delicious dinner.

Florentine steak dinner 

At the Florence market 

Terrific meat, simply cooked and beautifully presented. Thankfully portions here are far more modest than at home and Howard and I have been sharing meals (albeit multiple courses!) so we really enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner with some great wine. One of the really fun things we did before leaving Florence for the villa was visit the outdoor market.  This time I was able to buy some things since we were headed to the villa today where I could finally do some cooking. That was exciting and we even found someone selling the last of the white truffles ( season ends in late January or February ) so that was exciting. After the market we headed out with way more bags than we arrived and off to the car rental.  We got an adorable car which was intended to hold 5 passengers (very small passangers!) and 3 suitcases.  With just the two of us and our bags we barely fit!  Luckily many of the items we brought with us from Florence will be consumed here before we leave!  The weather held out and we made it to Il Luppolo Nero by late afternoon and were able to get our bearing before dark.  It is a beautiful 1400's (renovated) farm house. It has a ton of charm and many (but not all) modern conveniences. Tonight I spent at least an hour getting the fireplaces going.  I'm sure it will get easier but I sure could have used a duraflame tonight!  After the fire was squared away I made a little pasta (fresh) along with our fresh truffle and a little olive oil from the grounds of our villa.  That coupled with a glass of wine which we bought in Florence and some great company made for a perfect first night is massarosa. Love to all. Xox

Outside of villa just as you would imagine it!

End to a wonderful day

Outside of the leather school 

Just a short recap of a great day and also to say thank you to everyone for the anniversary wishes, emails, notes and tokens of your love.  We definitely felt and appreciated you thinking of us so many miles away.  Our day was beautiful as we walked the Florence streets with absolutely no plans. We stumbled upon a beautiful "leather school" which was housed in an old convent.  In the surrounding area were artisan leather shops so of course I had to make a little purchase and as we all know, Florence is known for fine leathers so why not!  Back to the hotel at around 4 and then walked through the magnificent gardens on property.  Since the weather has been so warm we were lucky to see so many trees in bloom which would not normally be blooming for another month or so.  Tonight we decided to have a casual, authentic Italian meal which sounded way better to Howard and I than a formal dinner.  It was a great choice and wrapped up a really perfect day.  Tomorrow we are heading out on vespas to explore the outer areas.  Can't wait.  Xoxo

My handsome dinner date

A stroll through the gardens

25 years!!!!!

Our journey from Paris to Florence was a bit chaotic....while we thought we were doing so well with our baggage...someone forgot to tell us that in europe the carryon bag limitations are way smaller than the bags we had packed!  There we were reshuffling our bags at the paris airport and hoping that at least two of our bags would pass for carry on which they did...had to pay for two checked bags though...and endure the wait upon arrival

The image I was hoping to avoid!

 Our flight over was an easy 1 1/2 hour flight and we were thrilled to arrive in Italy! We were so excited to arrive at the hotel and upon arrival we were shown to a beautiful room with a veranda overlooking the largest privately owned park in florence.  How magnificent.  For dinner we were referred to a restaurant where Etty and Greg know the owners (of course!)
and what a perfect 1st meal in Florence.

Almost forgot to snap a pic of the pizza before I finished it...opps

 We were treated so well and had amazing food and wine. When we returned back to the hotel a beautiful anniversary amenity was waiting for us...so starts the 25th anniversary celebration! We had a wonderful first night in Florence and woke up to a sunny, unseasonably warm day.  Cant wait to enjoy breakfast on the veranda (hmmmm seems like all we are doing is eating and drinking???? Might need to give that some thought....tomorrow!)  Life is very good!

Doesn't get any better

 Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband.  Getting ready to explore Florence.  Love to all.

The "lock" of love...

Woke up to a magnificent Paris day.  Most definitely unseasonable and these two la peeps were more than ready for it!  Off we went (no umbrellas today!) to take on the city for our final day here.  We started out on the bridge Tuileries where many lovers place a lock to secure their love will last --a corny tradition but we couldn't miss it!  Yesterday at the marche we had purchased an antique lock (only us...esthetics esthetics!) and promptly found a spot to secure our lock an then toss the two keys into the seine as we each made our wish!  A great way to start the day!

"Lock" at us!! Paris has turned us into true romantics!!

As we were walking down to the champs we came across a little known museum (musee de l'orangerie)which houses some of the best impressionist works in Paris. We were able to see Monet, Picasso, Renoir and Cezanne all before lunch!  Pretty incredible. Hours of walking and we found our way to the champs for people watching and lunch. Logged about 6 hours of walking today but I didn't mind a minute of it.  The streets were filled with Parisians and tourists enjoying a perfect Sunday afternoon. Back at the hotel now resting up before our last night in Paris. Heading out to Florence tomorrow -- can't wait. Xo

A little post shower/ pre -dinner champagne!

The perfect morning stroll along the jardin de tullerues 

Marche' for the day

Before I talk about our day I  have to talk about last night.  Howard surprised me last minite wih tickets to a play "how to be a parisian in one hour". It was a one man show by a parisian who lived in florida for a while before returning to paris. Upon his return he wrote and starred in a play about the differences between parisians and americans.  It was a riot. At the end of the show he needed an audience volunteer and u guessed it...he picked howard!!! it was so funny.  Howard actually became a part of the show.   Only sorry i couldnt get his off broadway debut on video but trust me it was hysterical. After the play we went to a wonderful dinner and then some more walking and back to the hotel to pass out! .

Shop till you drop

Started our day today with an insiders tour of the marche.  What fun. Hours and hours of walking through vintage  collectibles (and some junk) trying to find a perfect keepsake. Can't say that I really found a "must have" item that I could transport back home but we had a great time looking!  Saw the area where Woody Allen shot midnight in paris   Very pretty part of the marche! The

Beautiful view from galleries la fayette

 tour guide gave us some great tips like where to find the best view of paris...can you believe it. Its at the top floor of one of the biggest department stores in the city...and its free!!!  After walking all over paris we headed back to the hotel and had our first french martin in france!  Dont get me wrong.  We have done our share of drinking but mostly wine not cocktails since the wine is almost the same price as bottled water (and far better!) Tonight we went to a great dinner and saw a group of friends our age laughing and having a wonderful time  eating and drinking. Made us miss our friends. Came back to the hotel after a night walk and a nice surprise was waiting for us..an anniversary gift from the hotel manager. Beautiful French macaroons, champagne and spa products. So sweet. Does she know us or what!  Love and miss all of you. 

Ok. Fine. I'll eat them!!!

Bubbles and more

you can almost smell the roses

Yesterday we hit the "jet lag" wall so I was way too exhausted to write but we had an amazing day.  Felt like real Parisians walking to the marche in Bastille and tempted by all of the incredible things to buy/cook/eat. Unfortunately we couldn't buy much since we have nowhere to cook, our hotel room is miniscule and our suitcases don't have anymore 

Breakfast of champions!

room at all......(not even another toothbrush would fit) until we unload in Italy!  So for now we were just taking it all in!  We logged over 10 miles walking around yesterday from the Bastille to lunch at "le soufflé" to the Orsay to see some magnificent works of Monet!  All of that walking probably didn't make a dent on our "consumption" as we had hoped but it definitely wiped us out!  Today we were up very early and took an 8:30 train to Epernay (the capital of the champagne region). Had a wonderful tour of the Moët & Chandon "house" where we learned so much about

my new job may be a sommelier

champagne production and how labor intensive it is to make a fine champagne (now we know why it's so pricey!). Any good tour ends with a tasting and Howard and I drank more champagne before lunch than we usually have in an entire year! But to keep things going, we had the wine/champaign pairing at lunch.. uy. Better slow things down on that front!  Needless to say I slept the entire train ride back to Paris. Now we are about to take a walk down the champs de l'elysee and take advantage of the unseasonal Paris weather. Miss you all!!

Streets of Paris

What a great first day. We lucked out with the weather. A bit of rain when we arrived but cleared up and warmed up allowing us to walk the entire city. At night we walked to the left bank for a terrific traditional steak and frittes dinner (what could be bad..thanks for the recommendation Etty!) by the way frittes sound way less guilty than saying French Fries...right! The city is so quiet but Relais de l'Entrecote had a 45 minute wait!  Well worth it.  Walked past the louvre (will hit the museums today!) and along the seine.  Such a great walking city. I love that it is so quiet here given that its not peak tourist season. Today looks a bit more chilly and wet.  Won't let that stop us!

View from our room

Finally a French body I can relate to!!!

The City of Lights....

Ambien + White Burgandy= 7 hours sleep!!!

When in paris....

Air France sure knows how to soften the blow of a 10 hour flight...pretty (and nice) flight attendants and plenty of great free flowing vino...hardly needed my meds to help me get some sleep!  After walking the streets and having our first (obligatory) french onion soup, we headed to the hotel and only had one room change! Would have tried for a third room but Howard calmed me down and convinced me that this room was perfectly fine for 5 nights! I agree....tonight its more walking and a dinner of steak and pomme frittes! XOXO

So Simple...leave LA...wake up in Paris!

here we are with our regulation carry on luggage!

Howard looking very metropolitan and ready for the flight!

And we're off!!!!

I can't believe our journey is about to begin.  We are so excited.  Packed in our regulation bags and are tucked in ready for our 10 he flt to Paris.  No wifi.  Pics to come. Xox