Dear Family and Friends –
I can’t believe we only have a few days left before it’s time to fly home. We had just arrived in London when I ended my last edition. I had long dreamed since learning I came from English blood to visit England and bond with my heritage. Umm…perhaps London wasn’t the right place to initially bond though…LOL! London is a very bustling and intense city, yet full of history and beauty. It would be nice to return and come as a tourist to truly enjoy the pleasures it holds. I did however, get a chance to spend an hour in the British Museum and look upon the Rosetta stone!
The Decanter Fine Wine Encounter we attended was absolutely incredible. Not only did we taste outstanding wines from around the world, we had the privilege to listen to famous wine makers such as Christian Moueix, Michel Chapoutier and Louis Roederer describe their wines as we tasted them and learn about the history of their estates. Those of you who are in the wine world will know who these people are and what a fabulous treat we had!!!
We then took the ferry back to France and spent a couple days in Paris. We stayed in our friends’ lovely penthouse flat…on the 8th floor huff, puff…which overlooked the Eiffel Tower. The tower is truly everything people have said it is; it exudes both power and gentle grace. We only saw a fraction of the city and it rained the entire time we were there so we didn’t get the chance to explore much. However, the people watching from the covered brasserie is certainly worth it all!!!
After leaving Paris we spent a couple days in Beaune. What a beautiful and incredible city, with its architecture and history of all the wine caves and auction. We stopped in one of the chateaus where you could taste all their wines from the many famous vineyards of the area. The gave us our own tastevin to taste the wines (too funny) but the experience helped to sink in the markers for the different vineyards.
From Beaune we spent last night again in Avignon…for some reason I do love this town, although it isn’t much associated with wine. We will be in Italy today. We plan on following the coastline of the Mediteranian sea to as far as Genova, and hopefully find a nice place along the sea to spend tonight. Our plans of visiting Venice has been changed, with all the rains it is almost completely under water and no one is visiting at the moment. It shouldn’t impact our flight out on Monday though since the airport is on the mainland.
This edition is short and my last until I return back to California, but my message is still the same – life is what you make of it, so always live each day to the fullest and with passion. This European journey has been fabulous and I will definitely return with a completely different perspective than when I left. I know…blah, blah, blah….!
See you all soon!
Cheers!
Nancy
