New in shop...travel photos

I have been wanting to offer these in the shop for a while now.  As I go through the 1,500 plus photos we took in France, there are so many I would like to share.  I chose a few to get started and we are offering them in our Etsy shop and on our website in some really cool barnwood frames. I will also carry them without the frames and will be getting more frames in additional colors as well. These have been slightly altered digitally with a little texture added.

Hope you like them as much as we do :)

"La Chouette"...the house in France

It's over 5 months since we were in France and boy do we miss it. I look at my photos a lot!  The first, very busy week was in Paris which I posted about HERE.

Our second, very relaxing week was in Semur en Auxois, the French countryside, Bourgogne region.

Semur is a small medieval village. I think what surprised me the most that people still live in villages like these. Reminded me so much of the village Belle lived in the movie "Beauty and the Beast".

The sound of window shutters opening in the morning and closing at night,

the constant smell of wood burning.

We found less english speaking in this area but we did ok, I think :)

Would love to be back!


Here are a few pics of the home we stayed in.

Love the tiny door, some of us had to duck our heads to come in.

Such great details

The front door view from the inside - such a cool old door.  All of the window treatments  were the same throughout the house and puddled on the floor.

This is the entry with the most beautiful old spiral staircase which went up to the 3rd floor.

Our "wine cave". I think every house in France has one.

Our living room. Love the neutral decor.

That owl painting on the mantel was made by a local artist who had a shop in the village square.  That was one of my souvenirs...the house had a name "La Chouette" which means owl.

Loved the doors throughout.

This is what we saw across the street.

And up the street.

The dining area.

The kitchen. Yes it's built into a huge granite wall.

Our bedroom.

More great details. I love all of the wood beams.

We really enjoyed spending time here.

I have lots of pics to share so I will post again when I'm having withdrawals of France. 

Enjoy your week!

Paris...continued

  During our stay in Paris, we celebrated Easter. Just had to go to Notre Dame on Easter Sunday.
What a beautiful church. So much to photograph. We waited on line with hundreds of others, just to walk the perimeter of the inside during mass. It was really unbelievable!

Crossing the Seine - the Love Locks.

Easter dinner was at Le Procope - the oldest restaurant in Paris. Our dinner was delicious and we sat for about 3 hours! I love how you are never rushed in a French restaurant. 

We walked off dinner and took pics of this beautiful bridge on the way to the Champs Elysées. 

I couldn't believe how busy it was on Easter which is one of the biggest holidays in France.

The day before we were leaving Paris, we went to Versailles. It was immense. Raining. Gorgeous. And incredibly crowded! Here are just a few pics I managed to take between all of the people.

The ceilings and the chandeliers...trés belle!

Marie Antoinette's estate.  Truly out of a fairy tale.

And finally, one last visit to the Eiffel Tower. 

Up next:  a week in the French Countryside.
Read Paris (part 1) HERE
Read Paris (part 2) HERE

Paris (part 2)

I had been meaning to share these posts sooner but the time is flying by with all of the end of the year events in school, dance and sports.

I gathered some of my favorites from the next couple of days in Paris and created a few mosaics for you.

Les Fleurs...the markets and the gardens...ooh la la!

Parisian life...signs, the cafés, the bicycles you can rent all around the city, the market streets, the scooters and one of my husband's favorites - the woman sweeping in front of her building entrance.

I love the street signs on the buildings.

The Architecture's dream...so much to admire...the colors, details, the courtyards.

And last but not least!
The food...we thoroughly enjoyed, the wine, the cheese, the pastries, the baguettes! Never tasted a baguette like the ones we had (daily) in Paris.

to read Paris (part 1) click HERE

next post: Easter Sunday in Paris

Paris Flowers

A pretty display from Paris to brighten this rainy day here in NY!

Paris...part one

We arrived in Paris around lunchtime at our adorable apartment on Rue de Sevres (on the border of the 6th and 7th arr.), such a great location. We had many markets, bakeries, etc. within short walking distance, the metro was across the street and the boys could see the tippy top of the eiffel tower from their loft bedroom.  After we carried our 12 bags up 4 flights of spiral stairs, we passed out! That night, the first thing we did was take a walk to the eiffel tower. Did you know it sparkles? 

On the hour - it was beautiful!

The agenda for the following day was a full one.

The Louvre

Such a gorgeous museum.
We saw the Mona Lisa and a special Leonardo da Vinci exhibit that was there.

After spending a couple of hours at the museum, we headed through the Jardin des Tuileries.

So pretty and peaceful, I could have spent hours in one of these chairs.

It looked like spring, but didn't feel like it. The weather was a little cool most of our time in Paris.

We continued our walk to Place de la Concorde and stopped at our first crepe stand in Paris.

One very happy girl!

Beautiful architecture along the way!

The Laduree on the Champs Elysees

Arc de Triomphe




284 steps to the top...we made it!

Wouldn't want to be caught in that traffic circle!

We began heading back towards the apartment and stopped for dinner. The kids (only 2 out of 4 of them would try it) had their first taste of escargot. They loved it.
Me? I couldn't do it - it's a texture thing.

Pretty flowers on the way home...

to be continued...part II HERE.

Our French Adventure

We have just returned from 2 weeks of heaven in France. Our first time there and it was just perfect.
It was my daughter's dream to go to Paris for her Sweet 16.  My husband and I are also celebrating 20 years of marriage this June so we thought it was the perfect time to go.  I have so much to share and once I organize the 1,500+ photos we took, I will be posting about our adventure in the next few weeks.

Such a beautiful city and country!