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An Afternoon with Art: Visiting the Matisse Museum in Nice, France
Matisse Museum Visit Every year for my birthday since I had moved to Philadelphia I made the tradition to commence the celebration by spending an afternoon at the Barnes Museum, taking in the innovative mixed of styles of art, an amazing aesthetic of early modern and impressionist paintings alongside American antiquities, African art and Asian sculptures. It’s a place of contrasts, the quiet calm of Albert Barnes’ home turned museum alongside the wild back story which leaves the history behind the art maybe more interesting than what is framed on the walls. (If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend watching the documentary, The Art of the Steal to…
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Snapshot Sunday: A day at the Louvre
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European Winter Travel
Winter Travel: Three Ways to Embrace Europe’s Winter As winter approaches, whispers of dread can be heard flitting from place to place throughout Northern Europe. Locals pull out their scarves, down jackets, and feather collars, while travellers, who tour in droves around the continent during the summer months, pack up their sandals and head for the tropics, chasing the carefree ease of warmer temperatures. While winter does bring snow, freezing temperatures, and reduced daylight to the majority of Europe, it also brings an entirely different experience of the continent: things slow down, become quieter. The evenings lengthen, the wind whistles through, and people move indoors, looking for ways to brace…
- Asia, California, Canada, Europe, France, Ireland, North America, Northern Ireland, Pennsylvania, Scotland, Thailand, UK
My 13 memorable moments of 2013
It’s the last day of 2013! Â What an amazing, exciting and rewarding year I’ve had and I can’t wait to see what awaits in the coming year. Â Until then, here is a list of my thirteen best moments of 2013 in no particular order! Â Enjoy and have a happy new year! 13. Â Behind the scenes at Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco, California. As a child you dream of being an oceanographer, a Sea World employee (until you watch Blackfish) swimming with the dolphins or in a job surrounding yourself with wildlife for your 9 – 5. Â The Aquarium by the Bay in San Francisco makes you feel like…
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World’s Most Famous Cemeteries
 Why are we so interested in cemeteries? That eery feeling, the tragic stories or the spooky architecture? Whatever the reason, people have been intrigued by cemeteries for centuries and we have been visiting famous grave sties so frequently that the term “tombstone tourist” was coined to describe the millions of grave goers each year. Peruse through my personal list of the world’s most famous cemeteries. Père Lachaise, Paris France “We die only once, and for such a long time.” — Molière Located in one of my favorite cities, Paris, this is possibly one of the most well known cemeteries around the world.  Famous musicians, writers, politicians and thousands of others…
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Finding peace in Nice
Why have I not been to the French Riviera yet?!? After having an amazing time in Paris, I said adieu to the City of Light and headed south for the city of sun, Nice the beautiful. Hugging the Mediterranean Sea, Nice has it’s warm tangerine and saffron buildings tipping their terra-cotta roofs towards the calm blue sea and the alps in turn peer from a distance over the town. In close proximity to Italy, Nice reminded me of Cinque Terre, a small area on the Italian Riviera. Founded by the Greeks, inhabited at one time by the Romans and then later vacationed by English aristocrats, there is a little splash…
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Let Me Eat Cake: My Day Trip from Paris to Versailles
The Palace of Versailles is a beautifully massive structure surrounded by extraordinary gardens, out buildings, a farm and public park.  I budgeted enough time in my itinerary to spend a full day here and I’m happy I did because this once humble hunting lodge expanded by Louis XIV could take you the whole day to explore. I’ve broken down everything you need to know about a day trip from Paris to Versailles. How to Get to the Palace of Versailles I took the RER C (Versailles Rive-Gauche) and it was a quick and easy way to get to the palace from the city.  Paris Metro has a great app for…
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Napoleon Dynamite: Visiting Napoleon’s Tomb
You could spend weeks in Paris and still leave not seeing everything so this time around I decided to visit some of the things I missed the last time around and they did not disappoint. The first thing I’d recommend is to go buy a Paris Museum Pass. If you plan on doing a lot of sight seeing during your visit it is worth twice what you will pay for it. The museum pass enables you to have access to sixty different museums and monuments. Not only do you have unlimited entry to places like the Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Truimph, but the best part of all is you…
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Paris is always a good idea: A visit to the Rodin Museum
Paris is Always A Good Idea ~ Audrey Hepburn Ahhh, such wise words Audrey. Â Before heading down to Nice to meet up with friends and see the Tour de France, I decided to extend my trip and spend some time in Paris. Â I’ve been to the city before and loved it so I was excited to be back. Â My french a little rustier and now traveling by myself I was a little worried about getting lost and having a hard time getting around but once I got here all of my fears melted away like butter on a baguette. Â Yum. Â I took an overnight flight and arrived in the morning…
