Upon leaving the Cinque Terre, we headed (back up along the crazy “roads” with the stunning scenary) to Lucca which is in the Tuscany region of Italy. But not before having a hilarious 5 minute stand off with a driver who refused to back up for the bus. Eventually, the bus won (pictured).

We had scheduled one day in Lucca – but for one day, we sure accomplished a fair amount. Upon checking into a beautiful hotel in the early afernoon we met a our guide Anna for a 2 hour tour of the town. Lucca is a fascinating place as it has three layers – the centre of the town is of Roman origin, the next ring of the town is Medieval and the third ring (which includes a towering wall of stone) is Renaissance. All three periods are reflected in the architecture of the town.

Anna was an amazing guide. She was really informative and never missed an opportunity to take a jab at neighbouring rival town, Pisa. There are too many interesting buildings in Lucca to mention, but I will mention a couple of my favourites.

Piazza Anfiteatro: This is a Roman colosseum which was transformed into a shopping district with apartments above (pictured).

Piazza Napoleone: Lucca was a fiercely independent city state throughout most of its history, until joining Italian unfication in the 19th century. There was a point though where the city was conquered by Napoleon, and his sister Elisa, who was the Duchess of Tuscany, lived in Lucca. She resided in a grand palace in the centre of town, and decided she didn’t like the view from the eastern side of the palace. So she had a centuries-old church torn down, created a piazza, and had trees planted around the perimeter. Must be nice to wield that kind of power. However, don’t fret: the people of Lucca still had at least 20 other churches and chapels they could attend.

Later in the evening, we attended our final group dinner at Buca San Antonio. We feasted on salmon carpaccio, ricotta cheese pie, pork in truffle sauce, goat and of course more delicious pasta. The next morning we headed back to Canada and since that time I trust everyone has been dealing with a bit of jet lag and attempting to detox from cheese, bread and wine Before signing off, I just want to thank everyone who was involved in this tour: Our travel agent Bonnie, super leader Terry Needham who showed me the ropes, and of course all of our guests who really made the trip. Everyone was very friendly, warm and made me feel welcome at all times! It was a really special group of people!

If you are interested in the repeat of this tour in September which is being led by Terry, please visit www.avidtraveller.com for more information.

Hello once again from the road! This time I am writing from Vence, France – “a hilltop refuge by the sea”. Since last writing we have seen a lot of really cool places. Speaking of “cool”, I need to start by thanking everyone back home for sending those good weather vibes our way, because they certainly have been working! The only rain we have encountered has been overnight while we have been dreaming of cheese and olives. On Thursday we set off from Cassis in the morning and made a couple of stops along the way to Vence. We stopped in Grasse, where we visited a perfumery and ate some lunch.

We stopped a little later in the medieval village of St. Paul de Vence. This gorgeous little place is surrounded by high stone walls which contains hundreds of artists and their galleries. It was really interesting to see a town embrace/ promote their local artists – in fact their were pieces of beautiful modern art everywhere you looked in amongst the stunning medieval architecture. One artist was kind enough to give me a small piece of her art as a present to take home. The gesture warmed my heart (Check out her work at www.anycriss.net ).

Just a few miles away from St. Paul was our final destination – Vence. We checked into Hotel Diana, (where everyone has beautiful views from their balconies of the surrounding cliffs) and headed to a wonderful dinner in a square in the old part of town. I had ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese, salmon, and fresh fruit. The next day was a free day in Vence, and guess where I ended up…..the market, obviously haha. This market was the biggest we had encountered and I picked up some presents for my family (if you are part of my family – forget you just read that). I explored the town and relaxed in the afternoon on the rooftop terrace of our hotel (the photo on the left is from the rooftop – where there is also a jacuzzi). Today was our full day excursion to Monaco and Nice. It was a spectacular day – about 27 degrees and sunny all day. We started in Monaco first where we saw the Cathedral of Monaco where Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III were married, and we also saw their tombs inside. Our guide Christine told us that we were very lucky that we could enter the Cathedral, becuase usually it is closed to the public.

Monaco is definitely a unique place – I am not sure exactly what it is, but it feels different than all the other places in that area – it has a magical quality for sure. We also saw the castle where Prince Albert lives (apparently one of our guests saw his driving down the street later in the day), Princess Caroline & Stephanie’s houses, the changing of the guard, the old port, as well as the newest part of the principality – Fontvieille which was started in the 1970s – all built on land “reclaimed” from the sea (see photo on the left). Of course, no stop to Monaco is complete without a trip to the Monte Carlo casino! On a side note, no one won enough money to keep all of us in Monaco for life

Afterwards we continued on to Nice where hundreds of travellers and locals alike were sunning themselves on the famous pebble beach and enjoying cool treats/drinks on the boardwalk. I climbed to the top of a famous castle and took an awesome panoramic picture (on the left).After this busy day we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the terrace back in Vence and we have to pack up as we are heading to Cinque Terre tomorrow in Italy!! Just a friendly reminder (if you are feeling jealous) that we are repeating this tour again in September – if you would like to join us on this adventure, or any others just visit www.avidtraveller.com or email avidtraveller@novacks.com for more information. Hooray for Italy………but just when my french was getting so much better……
LJ

Bonjour mes amis! Myself and 26 wonderful people are soaking up the sun in the French Riviera! We are in a charming town called Aix-en-Provence.

Day 1 was a long day……we boarded the plane at around 7pm and arrived at our first destination (Charles de Gaulle Airport) at 8am Paris time. We caught our next flight at 11am and arrived in Marseille around an hour later. There we were met by our guide Nathalie who helped educate us about the Provence region while we travelled to Aix-en-Provence.

Aix, which is pronounced like an “X” is a beautiful town and traditionally it was the meeting place of the roads from Marseilles and Paris. The Romans originally founded the town and named it Themus Sextius after the hot springs they discovered. There aren’t any Roman ruins, but the city is full of Medieval, 16th and 17th century statues and architecture. There are over 3o fountains in the city, and the most famous is La Rontonde (pictured right).

After checking into the hotel we met another guide named Caroline, who took us on a tour of the city. Caroline’s expertise was art history and she was a great guide because she was very passionate – A great story teller. She took us to the main church in the city which was gorgeous (see below). There was a wedding happening in the church at the same time we were sightseeing, and I think a lot of people found the wedding more interesting than the church itself.

Caroline also talked about how Paul Cezanne has been adopted by the town, but mostly because of the tourism benefits. Cezanne was born in Aix and loved the city, but Aix was much too conservative, and didn’t appreciate him. Even to this day, there are only six of his paintings in Aix on display, and those are on loan from private owners. On some streets where Cezanne would have spent a lot of time, they have little “C” symbols which are supposed to symbolize “the footsteps of Cezanne”. It was neat to see the little “C” under your feet every so often, expecially around the Law school that he attended or his favourite bar of his (which is now owned by the French mob).

After a lovely group dinner (I had goat cheese with puff pastry, roasted lamb chank, and home made creme brulee) we returned to the hotel for some much needed shut eye. The next was a free day in the city. I spent most of my time at the local markets.

I LOVE local markets, so do not be surprised if you hear me mention markets again while on this tour. This market had fresh fruits, veggies, honey, bread, lavender, herbs de provence, olives and more. We explored the town some more and in the afternoon, everyone gathered for a pre diner happy hour. The hotel allowed us to gather in a garden on their property and we enjoyed wine and snacks which everyone had bought at the market.

The weather—which remained between 20C and 25C—was perfect for garden party, and was a great opportunity for everyone to bond. Afterwards, we split up into two or three groups for dinner. I knew it was going to be very difficult to leave such a charming town, and it was. Stay tuned for my next blog from Cassis (unless you get jealous easily). Bye for now!
LJ

Hey Everyone!

Tomorrow is the Bruce Trail Hike weekend and I am super stoked! (Yes, that’s right – I said “stoked” but don’t worry I won’t say tubular or cowabunga any time soon) I just finished creating goodie packs for our 24 wonderful hikers and now I just have to charge up my camera battery before we leave in the morning. The other thing I have to do is call Mother Nature and ask her in a kind but firm manner to hold off on the rain she is supposedly going to dump on us all weekend.

I learned a lot this week about how to prepare for a hiking trip, especially when there is rain in the forecast, and I wanted to share some of what I discovered with you. I love to walk, but I haven’t done a lot of actual hiking in the past, so when I told my fellow tour escort Nancy Chapman that I didn’t own any rainwear or quick dry pants, the look on her face said it all. That was when I learned a very important lesson:”There is no such thing as bad weather….just bad gear”. So, Novack’s Mike and Cheri helped me find a fashionable and rainproof outfit for the weekend in the women’s wear section. These two are so good at what they do, so the whole process was really quick and easy. I ended up purchasing the first jacket I tried on: a Sierra Designs Cyclone jacket (which is coincidentally the same jacket you can potentially win when you fill out a survey at www.avidtraveller.com).

Mike told me to choose a colour other than black, because black would attract blackflies – go figure. I am not a huge fan of red/pink, but this fuschia colour is a lot of fun and I don’t think anyone is going to lose me on the hike while I’m wearing it! I also got two pairs of hiking socks, a pair of LOLE shorts, a Novack’s bamboo long sleeved shirt and a pair of black rain proof pants. Black pants are apparently ok, because the blackflies don’t notice them as much, and pants tend to get the most dirty out of all the gear. Ultimately, I am really happy that I got different layers of clothing, so I can mix and match as I go along depending on the conditions.

A big special thanks to Nancy, Mike and Cheri for all their help. Now that I feel fully prepared, I can’t wait to get out on the Bruce Trail – rain or shine! Next time I write, I will have pics from the trips and hopefully some funny stories to pass along.

Have you ever been out hiking in the rain or a storm? What was it like? Do you wish you had different gear? What are some tips for hiking and clothing you have heard in the past? Please let me know what YOU think!

LJ