Things that happen and things we seek out
It was a quick and easy train ride to Monaco from Villefranche-sur-Mer so we made a day trip out of it. Monaco has one of the most beautiful, modern train stations: The Monaco Opera House: The slowest corner in Formula One – the famous Fairmont Hairpin turn: We did a little shopping and James was…
We posted a few photos the other day from the Combat Naval Fleuri in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France but today we wanted to show you our video!
Join us as we walk around Villefranche and we stop at the Plage de la Darse in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.
The Plage des Marinières is right by the train station in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. When we arrived by train, we saw people playing on the beach with their kids and dogs. I was excited that the beach was dog friendly! We walked over there one day and the beach was empty. We saw a sign that…
The sun is out and we are finally getting a taste of Spring weather! We decided to head down to the Plage de la Darse in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. This is a small, hidden beach. It is behind the port and below the Promenade des Professeurs. The entire beach is pebbles, not sand. The water is…
We walked over to Cap Ferrat one day with James. We didn’t spot any celebrities (we were told Bono and Bill Gates have homes here) but we did enjoy the many lush plant-covered pedestrian paths. We stopped and took some photos along the water with James:
Villefranche-sur-Mer is a small town in France with big surprises! The water is so clear and beautiful and the train station is right on the water! It is a short walk through town and the heart of town is almost all pedestrian-only. We were there during the Combat Naval Fleuri – a part of the…
We decided to walk all the way up the mountain along the Escalier de Campo Quadro in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.
We visited the Fragonard Perfume Factory in Èze, France. Get a little peek at the tour!
We are loving Nice, France! I love the shopping and the Promenade du Paillon is such an amazing park! There are tons of kids and dogs running around. We also walked down to the Promenade des Anglais along the Mediterranean. My favorite store in France? Picard! I will do an entire post on Picard soon….
We took the train from La Spezia, Italy to Villefranche-sur-Mer, France and it was the most beautiful oceanfront train ride! James was nice and comfortable at our feet. It is so nice being able to travel around Europe by train with a large dog! James is one lucky Poodle! We had this whole train car…
We knew we wanted to visit Portofino, Italy, and when I was looking at the map I saw Porto Venere. I thought at first that Porto Venere was Portofino (sometimes the Italian name is different from the English name) and then I realized it was a different port town near Cinque Terre. I am glad…
We were really excited to see THE Portofino, Italy – not the copy in Orlando, Florida. Portofino is a really small port town and there are tons of walking paths all around that lead to beautiful houses and amazing views. We really loved SO many details that Universal’s Portofino hotel copied so well from the…
We are really enjoying La Spezia, Italy! We knew it was a port town, but we didn’t realize it was a cruise ship port town! We are already talking about taking a cruise in this area in the future. Our apartment is right in the heart of town where most of the streets are pedestrian-only….
The Ponte Vecchio in Florence translates to “Old Bridge” but it should really be called the Jewelry Bridge! It is a beautiful pedestrian bridge that crosses the Arno River. We were thinking maybe the buildings on the bridge used to be apartments. But once we did some research we realized they were always shops. They…
James needed to get groomed while we were here in Florence, Italy. We found a cute little grooming shop called Elisa Toilette just across the Arno River. We hopped on the T1 tram and headed over to get James groomed. Isn’t it funny that the grooming shop is called a Toilette? A dog groomer in…
We love walking around and exploring new areas with James. The Opera House in Florence, also known as the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, is just a few blocks from our apartment in Florence. We have walked around it a few times and one evening we decided to walk up to what we thought was…
In the heart of Florence, there is a sculpture called Il Porcellino (piglet in Italian). It is a tradition to put a coin into the boar’s mouth and make a wish as the coin falls into the grates below. In addition to being good luck, this also ensures a return to Florence. It is a…
Our Airbnb in Florence has a really nice book with recommendations on what to see, do and eat. One of the recommendations was for the 600 year old perfume shop in an old convent called Santa Maria Novella.
David of course is the centerpiece at the the Galleria dell’Accademia. But the museum had so many other pieces we enjoyed, too!
The Hall of Prisoners by Michelangelo leads up to the centerpiece statue