Laura’s European Summer Vacation 2007

Jamie and I sadly left Capri and flew from Napoli to Paris. This was a very nerve-racking flight for us as we heard so many rumors about the baggage weight restrictions these smaller airlines enforced. (We were flying Meridiana.) So the night before we were throwing out every fool thing we could. I was dumping excess Listerine - she was giving up on random papers and toiletries. Jamie was intent on wearing every piece of jewelry and every heavy jacket and sweater she owned. I wish I had taken a picture in the taxi in Napoli… it was hilarious. She looked like one of those crazy bling-blanged women you see at casinos in Vegas.

And, of course, when we finally got to the airport, the girl who checked us in didn’t even bother to weigh our bags! All of that stress for nothing! This then liberated me to buy the one thing I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get before leaving Italy - Montenegro! Fortunately the duty free shop had some so I’m all good!

When we got in to Paris we were starving. We ordered up room service and two bottles of wine. Dave arrived (he came down from London) and helped us finish it off. Then those two slackers passed out! We’d all just arrived in Paris and they were already looking defeated. So sad!

I forced the crew to rally around 9 to go to dinner at Closerie des Lilas. This is the restaurant where Hemingway wrote “For Whom the Bells Tolls” and is my favorite restaurant in Paris. Just imagining him and George Orwell and F. Scott Fitzgerald, among so many others, sitting there chatting, thinking and writing is pretty awesome to me. Of course, with such fame comes high prices. We had a bottle of Chambertin - which we now know was Napolean’s favorite wine - some plates of cheese, crepes, soups, and salads. (And, yes, we had the obligatory vegetable plate which is all that the French seem to think vegetarians want to eat for dinner!) After stealing three ash trays, one for each of us, we were off and all ready to totally pass out for the night!

The next day we got up and headed out to Versailles. We’d have a lot more pictures for you except the damn buildling was largely under renovation so it really didn’t look as spectacular as it normally would. This is Jamie’s luck - every place she goes is covered in scaffolding!

Inside we did get to see the infamous Hall of Mirrors which is pretty amazing. Took some pictures, fought off the mobs of tourists and listened to the long-winded guided tour. Those recordings make a point of identifying every painting and piece of furniture in a room. When you’re talking almost 30 rooms, you’re going cross-eyed from all the references… And, thus, you tend to start skipping the audio guide and just taking pictures instead.

The weather in Paris has been complete crap for our entire trip. When we first arrived it was chilly and rainy and prompted a shopping spree for warmer attire. This return leg of our trip was no different. Rainy and cold - every day! That also make Versailles a little less spectacular - and inviting. I know from past experience that wandering the gardens of Versailles can be as interesting as taking the building tour, but with the cold and wind and drizzle, we cut that part short. Above are a few pictures we managed to squeeze in.

After Versailles we headed back to Paris to have snacks and wine with my friend Maina. She and I met at Coachella this past spring and so I had to make a point of seeing my only truly French friend in Paris while here. She was a wonderful hostess! She made us the most delicious sweet tart, bought a bunch of typical Parisian desserts and cheeses and we drank a bottle of sweet sparkling traditional wine and then a bottle of Bordeaux. All very fun!

After recovering from the Maina feast, we tool a long stroll from our hotel in St. Germain des Pres up to the Seine and then all the way down to the Eiffel Tower. We figured this would work up our appetites for dinner. The rain stopped for our walk and we got a beautiful sunset view of the city and the Seine.

After taking our obligatory Eiffel Tower pictures we strolled around the right bank looking for a creperie for dinner. We managed to find one and we stuffed ourselves on crepes dinners and desserts and wine. A very happy (and fattening) end to our long day!

For our last full official day in Paris, we went to the Musee d’Orsay - Jamie’s favorite museum. Because the tourists are everywhere, we sent Dave on ahead to get us tickets so we could skip the horrible lines. That worked brilliantly. We saw the Renoir, Cezanne and Picasso special exhibit and then strolled through the rest of the impressionist rooms. At the end we settled in to my favorite part - the fancy museum restaurant - for some wine and cheese.

This is Jamie and Dave at the restaurant. Jamie celebrates more great French white wine while Dave contemplates all the great artists he’s just seen.

After a quick bite we wandered over to Notre Dame - the last stop on Dave’s trip with us. Raining again, we stopped for a quick picture, went inside to take it all in and then grabbed more crepes and headed back to the hotel in the rain. There we saw Dave off and back to London.

One of my favorite parts of Paris is Sacre Coure. This church is absolutely breath-taking. I remember a few years ago when I went in spring and the steps up the hill to the church were lined with all different colored tulips. I went inside and French nuns were singing hymns and they sounded like angels!

This trip to Sacre Coure was not quite as nice. We took the metro and battled our way up approximately 10 flights of steps to get out of the metro. (En route I tripped and bashed my knee - the first and only official fall for me on this trip! Of course it was kind enough to wait until the last day!)

We got to the top and went inside. Very beautiful - but very hot. Outside is cold and raining and inside you are wet and humid and surrounded by a zillion tourists. Sacre Coure was a short visit for us - and then we were on our way to walk down through Montmatre to Boulevard Haussman for a bit more shopping.

After shopping we headed over to the Arc d’Triomphe for dinner at a cafe on the Champs Elysees. We found a great spot that had vegetarian French onion soup - a favorite for me! Had sandwiches and St Emillion Grand Cru to celebrate our last meal on vacation! Too much wine made us giddy and we had a fun and goofy stroll on the Champs Elysees!

So that’s the end of our combined tour! Jamie was trying to show leg and hail us a taxi in that picture but it actually looks more like she’s waving goodbye to Paris!

Now it is Friday morning - day sixteen for me - and I have a few hours to go tour the Louvre before heading to the airport. Jamie has a quicker flight home while I have a long layover in New York City tonight. Going to Mexican Radio in Soho and going to catch some sleep at a hotel downtown before I fly back to Los Angeles - and back to the real world!

In a hurry since Capri’s Internet is even worse a situation than Rome’s, but here’s the stories from the past two days.

On Sunday Jamie and I wokeup early to take our train to Napoli. We were very nervous about the transfers we’d have to make to get to Capri.. Walk to the train, get on the train, get off the train, find a taxi, go to the ferry station, acquire ferry tickets, get on the boat, off the boat, then find another taxi to get us to the hotel. All of that worrying was for nothing. Of course the Italians took care of us! The train was super-simple, probably thanks to my experience understanding how trains in Italy work. The only annoying part was the loud obnoxious Americans sitting all around us. Yet again we understand why so many people hate Americans. They’re loud, they don’t try to understand or respect the people or culture or language.. Ugh. Very bad!

When we arrived in Napoli we went to the taxi queue and waited.. At the front of the line there was a guy shuffling everyone into cars.. When we stepped up, he says to us, “You two come with me!” He was waiting through the line to take the two blonde girls on a ride. Typical - and much appreciated.

He was super nice - a crazy driver, of course, as all men from Napoli are from my experience - and got us to Molo Beverello for the ferry very quickly. We arrived just two minutes before the quick ferry was to leave so he acquired a porter to take our bags and he and I ran to get tickets last minute. We made it on very quickly and relaxed, or rather basked, in the sun on top for the 40 minute ride from Napoli to Capri. We got off and unexpectedly found a driver waiting for us. We didn’t have to get a taxi - they took our bags and we were on our way to the top - Anacapri!

We arrived and the hotel, Caesar Augustus, and were given a quick tour of the facilities, the amazing panoramic views over the Bay of Naples and then shown to our suite. We have a huge terrace overlooking everything - it’s spectacular.

First stop was the infinity pool that we’ve seen so often in pictures. We grabbed our books and bikinis, parked ourselves under umbrellas and totally soaked up the good life.

After, we got cleaned up, order a bottle of wine and some cheese and sat outside enjoying the view. Then we were off to get a drink by the piano bar and on the terrace before our dinner reservation.

Of course, as fate would have it, we met some party playboys (so we’re guessing) who bought us drinks and invited us to dinner with them. (They are from California - well two were, one was from Melbourne, Australia.) We cancelled our reservation and went with them to La Capininna. First we have aperitivos, then one of the best Italian meals I’ve ever had. The best mozzarella yet on this trip - Perfectly crisp fiori di zucca - Jamie had her favorite bruschetta. The main course for me was eggplant parmesan - something I always hated until my last trip to Rome when I was sort of forced to try it. The Italians really do that well - and I don’t even like eggplant!

After dinner we drank more and returned to the hotel to look at the amazing moon lighting up the entire bay. This is absolutely, definitely one of the most beautiful places in the world!

Oh yes, and I almost forgot! Last night we saw Robin Leach staying at our hotel! You know you’re doing something right when you are staying at the same place as “Mr. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” himself!

After a late night, we woke up for breakfast before our private boat tour of Capri. We took our shuttle down to Marina Grande and met our captain, Giovanni. Got on his boat and he took us all around the island on a three hour tour. (No, we didn’t see Gilligan!) So many magnificent grottos with the greatest purple and orange coral! When we got to the Grotto Verde (Green Grotto) Giovanni let us jump off and swim through it. That was the best part! Jumping off and swimming through a grotto at capri! We couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces. So fantastic!

Our tour continued.. Seeing many other grottos and historical monuments and amazing sides of the island. Finally we go to the Grotto Azurra (the infamous Blue Grotto) and we got to go inside. Last time I was here, I waited for almost an hour and the water was too rocky for us to go in. This time - just perfect! Imagining the Romans two-thousand years ago swimming in that grotto was amazing. We saw one set of tourists jump in and we were very jealous.. It is not allowed, but we really wanted to do it!

After our tour we returned for lunch.. which is very hard to accomplish at 3pm in the Italian world. Finally we found paninos in the village of Anacapri, just 50 metres from our hotel, and returned to also order wine and have more mozzarella di bufala.

Now we’re off to our postponed hotel dinner. We have to get up early tomorrow for our flight back to Paris. It is so sad to leave Italy! I could stay here forever!

Oh, so sad! My last day in Rome!

As usual, I stayed in the room while Ray and Jamie and Anthony went out touring. They saw the Colloseo and met me for lunch. Boy was it hot! Just sitting out at lunch, under the shade, was making us all sweat.

  
After lunch we all strolled up to the Fontana di Trevi. I told Jamie that the Trevi Fountain is the most beautiful thing in Rome - and as soon as she saw it, she agreed completely! We pushed our way through the crowded chaos, settled by the water, took pictures and threw our pennies into the fountain. As is customary, you throw the pennies into the fountain over your shoulder wishing for a return to Rome.. Of course you know my wishes was extra concentrated.. I was tempted to through a few hundred Euro in, if only that would work!

After lunch, Jamie and Ray and Anthony went to see the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps while I returned to the hotel to meet up with Melanie for some more relaxing-by-the-pool time. Eventually Anthony and Jamie joined us and we spent most of the evening basking in the sun, drinking Pinot Grigio and snacking. Totally the life!

Finally we went out for our last dinner in Roma. Wandered over by the Colloseo and met up with Dario. Everyone was starving, as is our trend, and so we quickly found a spot. Had a wealth of food, chatted a lot more (I think I spent the whole time talking to Dario - surprise!) and then headed back home. A long late night walk - everyone exhausted!

Now it is Sunday morning and Jamie and I are off to Capri! It’s a long journey so wish us luck!