Renting an apartment or villa while on vacation can bring happiness and superb memories. Marla loves to cook while on vacation so shopping at local markets and creating something very tasty in the kitchen is something she enjoys. My job is usually finding a nice wine. Renting on VRBO or…
Big birthdays require big celebrations and I had thought (or should I say, “obsess.”) about this one for well over a year! Nothing would make me happier than having our entire family together in one of my very favorite places,…Menton, France, a true gem on the Côte d…
“The French Riviera is a place where the combination of sea, sun, and the simple pleasures of life never fail to inspire.” – Brigitte Bardot British and Russian aristocrats started arriving on the Cote d’Azur in the 19th century. Its’ fame began not as a…
I love a wonderful beach with warm soft sand and many in the “Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur” are just fabulous! Marla and I have been visiting France for many years enjoying the culture, ambiance, the people, cuisine and wines…and of course fun in the…
We all have remembrances of dinners with family and friends over the years which we’ve kept in our treasured memory vaults. The key ingredients of those special times are often not the cuisine or the ambiance of the restaurant but the extraordinary people you were with. Going over…
Our family started taking vacations in Cannes years ago. I remember our friend Philippe Auzas once saying…”Dick, you need to go to Cannes because you would love it! I have the perfect beach for you!” It really was enjoyable and of course our daughters loved the…
Each January I go over the previous year’s images to find what resonated with me the most. I edited hundreds of photos to find the ones which grabbed me emotionally. It was a fun lookback as well as a difficult project. I begin with an August shot of…
When the Island of Guernsey and the UK essentially shut down for travel this summer I had to find a place in France which would accommodate us quickly for the dates previously booked. We were already at a rental in Bandol so I luckily spotted a VRBO villa rental in…
Big trips with the family are a rare event these days. COVID-19, business commitments, daughters and sons-in law schedules, and grandchildren’s academic and athletic programs can totally mess up grand schemes and best of plans. In 2020, I saw a window of opportunity and immediately began…
I can’t believe we are smack dab in a new decade! We grabbed at life the past 10 years knowing the fleeting nature of existence. Marla had gone through so much with earlier cancer treatments (multiple surgeries, stem cell transplant, radiation, & high-dose chemo) and almost counter…