My Trip to Italy and France

Hi, Thank you Sonoma Harvest, aka Lynda for letting me blog today about our trip. My family and I spent ten days in Europe. The first stop was to Rome and Frascati, Italy. Then we spent time in Paris, France. Here are pictures from our journey. Bb

Roman Ruins:

Our trip to Rome was primarily for a sporting event, however getting the chance to visit the Coliseum, the Pantheon and the Forum and other ruins were but a few of the sites we gazed upon while contemplating what great people built them and what tragic events led to the fall of the Roman Empire. That said, it is still unbelievably beautiful and lends great thought to the imagination of who could create such colossal architecture and what will become of all that we know now around us in our great civilization today.
In the end, what remains are stories told by historians, paintings left in the Vatican, and ruins and relics of yesteryear. As you look upon these photos think of what you see around you today, be thankful, and realize that all that is green is not here to stay...and soon it too will fade away...leaving only memories.

Frascati Fresh:

Frascati is a village of gastronomic delight, more than what feeds the appetite and not less than what feeds the soul. Walking around the courtyard in front of the church in the city center or along the promenade that over looks Rome one gets the sense of walking back in time where three generations of Italian families have found a way to stave off the fast-paced fury of life that consumes most of us on a daily basis-no multimedia, iPod, iPad, computer, laptop, notebook, cell phone or television is needed here. Certainly there is no need for texting either. No, all you need in Frascati are a few euros, a fresh crepe with Nutella from the midnight vendor, or a gelato and a smile, and the time to watch their elders smoke cigars, while the teenagers move around the square sizing each other up, a first glance, a first kiss, or just hanging around, eyeing one another, all the while the young children scurry about making up games to play while the tourists meander around them obliviously disconnected from the bond that allows this to happen all at once...

Yes-spending time in Frascati will help you remember, or not if you never experienced it, what it used to be like when people enjoyed spending time with each other, three generations, all in the same house, and in this case the same village, in a warm winter night with laughter in the air....

Parisian Pleasure:

Paris certainly is busy, and offers many places to visit, but what stands out among the other places to visit is the Rue Mouffetard, in the Latin Quarter, a place for young writers, lovers, artisans, paysans, Parisians, tourists and the like.
What makes Rue Mouffetard special is not the dining pleasure and patisseries on every corner, which are beyond the norm of what culinary delights cross the palate, but a sense of walking into one of Monet's impressionist paintings. Every light, store front, alleyway, bicyclist, and passer-by could be the next impression imbued on your mind which becomes a memory not to be forgotten.

Louvre Love:

If you are a romantic then you must spend some time in the Louvre where you will fall in love with the artists ability to capture every breadth and brush stroke of beauty that crossed their sight.
Art is an imitation of life, and life is present in art!
Bb