Traveling

Gone home for a week to kiss hello the aging parentals and cuddle these little wonders.

Traveling

In Provence for a few days to eat, explore and relax. Staying at this heavenly place above! More pics upon my return.

image: pavillon galon

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Back in the beautiful Paris for a few days. Off to see the Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibition!

images: paris girl couture

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My last work trip this year before going home.

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This is my last stop. St Petersburg. Oh how incredible! Off to the Hermitage, the Winter Palace and Tsarkoye Selo, home of the former imperial family. I have waited my whole life to come here. It is a true gift. Thank you work!

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In Moscow! Home of Rachmaninov's vespers, potatoes and babushka dolls.

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Leaving Paris today for Stockholm! Never been there. Apparently it's on a series of islands and is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We're staying at the Hotel Skeppsholmen.

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Leaving tonight for a week in Paris - work, not play!

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going home today to see the fam and smell the gum leaves!

Hurricane Irene

Well, I never made it out of New York on Saturday. And Irene wasn't as bad as CNN made it out to be. A bit of flooding along Battery Park, a few tree limbs down and alot of closures and cancellations for a normal storm-level wind.

Well, ok. Maybe it was a little more serious than that, but it was all still underwhelming by the time Irene made its way to New York.  The grocery stores made a killing though. Try getting bread at 3pm on Saturday! And the city must have trucked  in the earth's whole water table. People were stocking up as if it were Armageddon! Meanwhile, I have spent the weekend trying to get on another flight to Shanghai. Wish me luck. The backlog is extraordinary. Who knew so many people wanted to visit China!

image: new York times

Traveling

Fingers crossed I get out of NY today before the hurricane hits!

Honfleur

Gosh, it's weird being back in this steamy city after 2 weeks away! I had forgotten how smelly it is here in summer - and humid. Apparently I missed a relentless bout of summer weather. Unfortunately, Europe was under rainy cloud for most of the last fortnight. But it was still lovely to be surrounded by languages other than english.

Honfleur was my first rainy stop. It is a lovely little fishing port on the coast of Normandy, slap bang where the Seine mets the ocean. It sits close to its larger, more famous sister, Deauville, but has so much to offer if you are looking for a charming, cobble-stoned medieval town.

Home to composer Erik Satie and painter Eugene Boudin, Honfleur has always been famous for its rain and light, which is why so many artists travelled here to paint. Monet, Turner and Courbert all set up their easels on the sandy shores of Honfleur to paint ladies in their feathered hats and silk dresses sipping tea and playing boules on the sand, or large cloudy skies under which sailboats gaily traverse the sea.

Boudin

Monet

One of the best things about Honfleur is the incredible, fresh seafood. All locally caught "that day,"  the shellfish practically jump off your plate and into your mouth!

And the other wonderful thing about this town was the B&B I found, thanks to the help of i-escape and Tatler Travel Guide 2011. La Petite Folie  is run by a gorgeous American woman who married a Frenchman, wanted to live in Provence but fell in love with Honfleur instead. She is passionate about old houses and consequently can't stop buying them to restore with beautiful antiques and original details. She had actually just bought her third house on the day I arrived, because she fell in love with the garden! Lucky for us travelers weary of chain hotels whose rooms all look the same.

This B&B is in a perfect position, has only 5 rooms with Pierre Frey fabrics and Porthault sheets. There is a fireplace for winter, afternoon tea in the drawing room and loads of shelter magazines to read on the sofa or in an armchair. And there's a friendly cat who will happily snuggle up to you if you are feline inclined. The owner is a veritable walking travel guide to Honfleur, sharing her favorite restaurants, food markets and more. Beware the restaurants surrounding the water!

But mostly I went to wander the cobblestone streets, smell the sea air and revel in the typical norman architecture. Definitely a worthwhile side-trip from Paris.  Just don't forget the umbrella!

all images mine except boudin (boudin galerie), monet (repro arte), la petite folie interiors (la petite folie)

Traveling

I am finally on my long awaited and much needed week's holiday with the anesthetist. We're in Mallorca for a week. I had to choose somewhere with sea. The sailor in him refused to be landlocked. Will share photos next week. x

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Off to Paris and Rome for a week for work. Yippee! I haven't been to Rome since I backpacked at 21!
I'm having a sneaky weekend in Honfleur this weekend. Lovely port town 2 hours west of Paris. Photos when I get back.

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Off to Grasse for 3 days for a product launch, then Paris. See you next week!

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Off to Antwerp, Madrid, London and Paris!

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PB Here I come!

OK. I am so excited. I never travel in the US and this weekend, I am going to Palm Beach! I am going to live the Slim Aarons lifestyle and dream for 4 days, staying here,

watching some of the best polo in the world,

shopping the famous Worth Avenue strip,

having a history lesson about America's gilded age at the terribly elaborate Flagler museum

recovering from the gilt overkill amongst the calm greenery of the Cluett Memorial Garden,

having a sundowner at the fabulous Breakers Hotel,

eating Americana at the notoriously-difficlt-to-get-into Palm Beach Grill,

fossicking through the 60's treasures along Antique Row,

visiting Palm Beach's oldest house house, Sea Gull Cottage,

then comparing to the insanely huge modern compounds,

and feeling nostalgic for the real Palm Beach glamour of the 50's and 60's, 

before hopefully skipping along these golden sands at sunset.

Phew! I'm exhausted already and I haven't even worked out my wardrobe!

images in order of appearance: current vintage; william waldron, elle decor; guardian, travel pod, miami unlike, the cr online, the breakers, real recommendations, new york mag, flickr,  michael emilio, vogue, destination 360

Traveling

And so it begins again. But I am not complaining. I'm off to Barcelona for 5 days and this is where I'm staying!