In February 2017 I had an important decision to make - should I share a good deal ($385) on flights from Raleigh to Paris with Leandra? If I did, it would mean returning, and while it was nice...
Blog posts from France
France Nov 2014: Bordeaux food and drink
Bordeaux Beer Shop - walking down Rue des Faures toward the Basilica of St. Michael I noticed the word 'beer' out of the corner of my eye. Leandra was across the street and chatting with the...
France Nov 2014: Bordeaux sights
While we only had one night in Bordeaux, we found it to be a beautiful city with cozy side lanes, large boulevards, parks, and lots of shopping. As in Toulouse, there are a number of beautiful...
France Nov 2014: Toulouse evenings
In Toulouse we tried several restaurants plus two different Belgian beer bars. Le Point D'ogre - Eric's colleagues took us here on our first night, and it was Leandra's first 3+ hour French-style...
France Nov 2014: Toulouse sights
Eric was working during the day while when we were in Toulouse, so after putting in a few hours of work in the morning myself, I took advantage of some breaks in the rainy weather to explore the...
France Nov 2014: overview and hotels
I needed to go to France for business, so Leandra tagged along to explore the cities of Toulouse and Bordeaux. Getting to Bordeaux and back was quite easy via direct TGV train, which we booked...
Toulouse, February 2014
In mid-February I returned to Toulouse, France, on another work trip. Much of that trip I was quite busy, and given the early winter sunsets, I didn't manage much sightseeing. However, several...
Germany & France, July 2013: Toulouse sights
Work was my reason for visiting Toulouse, so my sightseeing was limited to two evenings. Still, I had several hours to wander parts of old town and thoroughly enjoyed the surroundings. On my first...
Germany & France, July 2013: overview
I spent the second half of July on a business trip to a conference in Berlin, Germany, and then a lab outside Toulouse, France. Unfortunately for both of us, Leandra couldn't go, so I was solo on...
wrapping up Paris
We only had four days, two of which we spent watching clay-court tennis, so to be fair, our experience in Paris was a brief one. We liked our hotel, it was a tiny, but clean, room on a quiet street...
Roland Garros!
A quick update while I am connected to some sketchy internet on the fourth floor balcony of our Barcelona apartment. Roland Garros was wonderful, we got to see several doubles matches but the...
Notre Dame
After a lot of flying, an easy transfer in Barcelona, and some trouble negotiating Orly airport, we are finally in the heart of Paris! We are both completely exhausted due to the car, plane, and bus...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London, UK (Dec)
Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)