Flashback: Paris 2011

If you have ever spoken of city breaks with me you will know that I don't particularly prefer Paris...It just doesn't do it for me. I guess if you have never traveled to other cool cities than I can see the greatness of it but its not for me.

I hadn't been since I was 14 so when a Thailand honeymoon we planned had to be cancelled we decided to do a proper Parisian break. Our honeymoon is New Years Eve so we figured Paris for New Year must be lovely. It was, it truly was. The fact that we were celebrating our first year anniversary made it all the better. I loved our time there but I still didn't change my opinion of Paris hehe. They light up all of the Champs-Elysee and there is a little holiday market lined up on the pavement. Up in Sacre Coeur they also had a christmas market. The frosty grey sky line was actually still beautiful from up there. I originally went in the summer so I have gotten to see it on a glorious clear day. 

Anyway, we stayed just off Champs-Elysee and it was a great location. Mind you, we payed pretty good money for our hotel and the rooms were tiny! Nice and clean but sooooo small. Doug and I are weird travelers. We love nice hotels because we actually spend good time in them. We dont like to do the typical touristy things. Paris however, is one of those cities that you kind of have no choice! Monuments are everywhere and when you are so used to seeing them in movies and magazines its hard to not want to enjoy them with your camera. So we spent a whole day walking all of Paris. It was a great time, the weather was so nice. we expected it to be freezing but I didnt even need a coat in the day time. Here is a few pics of our Monumental Stroll....

I cant remember what day exactly we went to see The Palace of Versailles.  I imagined it was a busy time of year so we pre-booked our tickets before going, they were around 20pounds each. We take the train ride out there and as we arrive the line smacks us in the face with horror! Doug and I do not stand in lines haha, it was almost like a mutual prenup agreement... I knew I found my soul mate when we both agreed lines are rubbish. Mind you, the line to pick up your pre-booked tickets was an hour long. Plus another hour or two for the line to get in!!!! to see the inside of a palace?! So luckily the garden is open to the public and we decided to call it a loss and a tleast enjoy the surroundings. It was absolutely glorious.It is unfathomable how a garden is kept so pristine. And the palace in the background is immense. To even comprehend that it was built in the 1600's is just beyond me. LOOK AT IT! it is simply gorgeous. Random fact about the palace: it has 2,153 windows...think about that for a second -_-

It was a nice little stroll through the gardens, and then off to the city we went. We didn't document much of our food on this trip but we did have some incredible dinners. Our first dinner night was at Pershing Hall. A gorgeous restaurant and delicious food. Paris is super expensive but one thing we came to find is that it is more expensive to eat at normal level places. Nice restaurants are actually extremely reasonable. Considering the difference in cuisine and service. Another was L'Avenue. Very chic and fabulous!!! I loved pretending to be super chic in Paris hehe.

So now for our New Years Anniversary dinner...

I loved this show called Made in Chelsea. The girls on the show went to Paris and ate at a restaurant called Konfidential. I begged Doug to take me there and he arranged our 9 course meal. They drank champagne from a glass Louboutin stiletto!

The food took forever, we had planned to be out by 11 and head to a nightclub for midnight but we were only on course number 5 by then. We made the best of the situation and brought in the new year with the 14 other people in the small cave of a restaurant. 

I loved all the lights and decorations, it was so beautiful at night!

Doug and I planned to lock our love on Lovers Bridge. I know its silly but we thought it was such a sweet idea that we coincidentally gave eachother padlocks with our names engraved on them! hehe so we have two locks of love on the bridge!

Overall it was a nice little holiday and a beautiful first anniversary. 

Aurevoir!

Directions from a Woman

It is definitely no secret that women and men have a different way of thinking. I don't really need to get into the details because we have all been through the funny arguments with a man that we end saying 'UGH MEN'. This little post is more about understanding something that I assume most women do...

Scenario: Man is driving, woman is in passenger seat. Woman is giving the directions because man has never been to the 
destination.

Woman describes every turn with a 'this way' and 'that way'.

Man breathes heavy trying to not get mad, says 'left or right?'

Woman has to process her left and right for a split second...then blurts Right! I mean Left!

Man just hits brakes and stares at woman with a blank look...

The funny thing is, if a woman is in the car with her girlfriends no one argues about how to get anywhere. It is an understood language of This way and That way. 

Womans logic: Man is in driver seat, therefor he is on the left side of the car. Woman is on right side. In her mind SHE is this way, because this way is closer to her. HE is that way because that way is further therefore NOT her side....duh. So boys, THAT way is left, THIS way is right =)


All the guys have a face like huh?

#Caicos Crew day 3 and 4

For being only four days, our holiday went by decently slow. When your day is made up of seeing how much sun you can catch without burning, and wondering when your going to eat next, its not hard to see why it felt longer. I started my mornings with 15spf and once 11am came around I wacked on the 30 for extra protection. I love getting color on my skin so I cant say I am a safe skin care role model, but with age I have tried to keep my face out of the sun as much as possible. I have TONS of freckles and the sun attracts them like a magnet. I always say I look like a ripe banana in the sun hehe.

Anyway, after starting both mornings off with our daily mini photo shoot, we ate our super yummy breakfast. I ordered these buckwheat pancakes with caramelized bananas. It was from the Como menu (remember, the healthy one) They were delicious after I bathed them in the maple sauce. They were topped with coconut cream (whipped), dried cranberries, apricot and pecans... yum, yum, and yum. I love anything pancake related. Doug went for his daily omelette. The last day I ordered a coconut waffle topped with strawberries and cream....heaven =)

We created our own hashtag and decided that everyone on the island should know...#caicoscrew

We took advantage of our private living quarters by throwing  a bit of a party both days. We enjoyed drinks, music, sun, and pool for the majority of the afternoon. On sunday morning Doug and I got a couples massage. It was the best massage I have personally had. My Thai man was great with his hands and his energy was so lovely. Doug had a little Thai woman and he was so relaxed I think he fell asleep. It was a great little treat to ourselves. The resort toiletries are the best in the business. They have their own line called Invigorate. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion are replaced twice a day so you can never get enough of it. We all loved it so much that we smuggled as many as we could (like typical tourists) come on, don't act like you've never stalked the maid service cart at a good hotel to snag a few extra lotions.... hehe. I've never done that.

Leo and I in the locker room before our massages. ZEN heaven.

An example of what good smuggling gets you...I wont say whose job this was, we didnt manage to get that many!

Saturday nights they always have a bbq out by the pool with a live band. They grill lobster and steak under the stars. It was a beautiful night and the breeze kept the mosquitos off of Doug. We sipped on great wine, had good laughs and were much louder than every other guest....thats the Miami in us!

Leo claims this is the reason she returned....Mango Cheesecake. It was delish!

The last day we all decided we would treat the love birds to a beautiful dinner at our home. We formally invited them to the other Villa for a dinner. Little did we know, we were all going to be blown away by our private dining experience. With the help of the amazing Ary and Jonson we arrived at the house to be WOWED by the incredible romantic set up.

Family style...there was so much more food than this picture. It was all so incredible, we had a bit of meat, fish, salads, veg, risotto, you name it they brought it. We couldnt even eat half of it!!!

How gorgeous is this picture?!?!?!? LOVE

Our butler Jonson

and their butler Ary

Thanks to Larry and Brenda, Doug and I got to try some amazing wines. Between Larry and Al we had the best drinks service! Al is quite the mixologist and Larry is so generous with his wines. CakeBread is their fav and we are now part of their team.

Turks and Caicos was genuinely an incredible experience. We have now found new friends to travel with and explore new countries. We are already trying to plan our next adventure. Thank you to Leo and Frank (or as i dubbed them long ago, Freo) for inviting us on this soul changing, sun worshipping, zen adventure.

I will miss Parrot Cay!!!

AMEN!!!

#Caicos Crew day 2

After a gorgeous night sleep in a bed of cloud-like cushion, we could not wait to wake up and get to the main part of the hotel for the big breakfast that has endless choices. Doug and I started every morning with a little beach front photoshoot. (before I lost the flat tummy from eating).

This is one of my fav morning pics.

The butlers gave us their number to call them whenever we wanted a ride somewhere. So off we went with Jonson. He was actually our waiter as well. They pretty much did everything we needed and wanted. Como Shambhala is the name of the Resort. Its very Zen and very peaceful. They have a whole menu based on that. They also have a normal menu for those who dont really care what grain or how much sugar goes into their bodies. So they had a bucket of freshly made smoothies. All with some sort of cleansing power in it.

Before we headed to Turks, we were warned of a hurricane in our path. Lucky for us, our positive energies formed some sort of shield around us to push any bad weather away. We didnt get any bad weather whilst being there. LOOK!

Being on Holiday mode we all decided Pool side drinks were a must. Off we went to the main pool to get our tan on and enjoy fresh made drinks.

Now I will pretty much let the pictures do the talking.

My very own paddle board yoga.

It was time for our beach photoshoot

 Frank and Leo went on a bit of a sail.

Chilling was our goal. To just laugh, relax, tan, eat, and enjoy eachothers company. I think we truly accomplished that. The age difference between me and the rest was alot, but no one could ever have imagined. We meshed so well and I truly felt welcomed as an adult, and not as a kid. We all bonded as well as gave eachother space so everyone could enjoy their spouses.

After a long day of sun, and our daily sunset party at the Villas, we went in to chill before dinner time. 

Dinner was inside Friday night. Doug and I dressed exactly the same without planning it....but since we were on an island I figured it was unnecessary to change haha.

This right here was the best piece of meat I have ever had. Braised Short Rib. SUPERB. I cant even stress it enough how incredible it was. Oh and it came with truffle mash.....yup, I know.