A friend recently told me all she wanted from her first trip to Paris was a picture of the Eiffel Tower.

My last visit was at least fifteen years ago and when friends (non-French) request a visit I tell them they are on their own to wait in the long lines to visit Gustave Eiffel’s iron lattice tower.

But this visit I couldn’t get away from the structure and I loved it.

With perfect weather I bicycled by it everyday and by chance enjoyed a dinner party in an apartment that not only overlooked the tower but had an open terrace that ensured a clear shot – fortunately I wasn’t the only one snapping photos.

If you have never seen the Eiffel Tower in person I hope these pictures inspire a visit. To view more photos visit my Flickr pages.

Enjoy!

Leslie

There are a lot of reasons to visit Italy.

The food, the history, the culture…

But after conferring with French friends there is another reason to visit il bel paese (beautiful Italy)…the beautiful views.

Enjoy!

Leslie

In Rome fare niente (doing nothing) equates to spending time with friends, eating and sending a lot of text messages.

The city slows you down, there is no rushing.

Compared to New York the pace is a snail’s race…

It doesn’t take me long to master doing nothing.

It’s wonderful…

Enjoy!

Leslie

In addition to enjoying a lot of coffee breaks, I have been speaking a lot of Italian and of course…eating a lot of cibo (food).

Plainly put I’ve been letting myself go.

It’s not that I haven’t been eating fruit and vegetables but they have been overthrown by pizza bianca (long rectangular slabs of fresh pizza dough seasoned with salt and brushed with a high quality olive oil), pizza al forno, cornetti (sweet croissants), fresh buffalo mozzarella, gelato and some…

With all the elasticity rooted deep in Italian culture the one constant is il cibo (the food) and mangiare bene (eating well).

Their is a freedom here to enjoy food and as you can tell I’m taking full advantage.

What would you love to eat this weekend?  If it involves anything Italian I have probably had it in the past 48 hours.

Enjoy!

Leslie

I have been taking extended coffee breaks this week…mostly because this coffee is the best and because coffee breaks here mean stop for a moment and do nothing.

The local response to doing nothing is “brava” (good) or “hai fatto bene” (you did well) and whatever needs to be done today can be done domani (tomorrow) or dopo domani (after tomorrow).

There is a constant elasticità (elasticity) to life here.  The future tense (I will, I’m going to…) never seems to be used, advanced planning is more of a concept than a plan as an 8am store opening could easily sway to 8:15am.

The rhetorical question that often follows this elastic planning is…“Che devo fa?” (What can I do?).

“Niente” (nothing)…absolutely nothing…other than enjoy another coffee.  Sounds good to me.

Enjoy!

Leslie