New Article: Food Shopping for Vacation Renters in Italy by Pat Byrne of Italy Perfect.

You find the perfect vacation rental in Italy, you arrive and check in. Next you have to head to the shops for supplies and groceries. Pat tells you how to find the stores, what they are called and gives some food shopping tips. Pat, who runs Italy Perfect with her sister Lisa, travels to Italy frequently to look for new properties, check on their current properties and shop for groceries!

New Article: Lake Bracciano (Lago di Bracciano) by Fiorenza Rossetto of WelHome.

Rome is at the center of the Lazio region in Italy, but there is more to Lazio than Rome. Lake Bracciano is a beautiful area with lakes, hills, historic towns, Roman ruins and Etruscan remains. All less than an hour north of Rome. Fiorenza lives on Lake Bracciano and offers vacation rentals in the area, plus a cottage on the grounds of her villa. She shares her insider’s knowledge of the area with us.

Heidelberg, Germany

Germany was once the dividing line between Western and Eastern Europe, but now sits at the heart of the new Europe.

November 2009 is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. When East Germany was reunified, five new regions in the north-east became part of Germany.

We have added German vacation rentals to Slow Europe. We searched to find agencies with vacation rentals in Germany and good directory sites with rent-by-owner listings for Germany.

New Section: Find Vacation Rentals in Germany

I found only a few agencies based in the US offering vacation rentals in Germany. This is surprising when you think of the hundreds of agencies for Italy and France. I found a few local apartments and some good directory sites with rent-by-owner listings.

If you know of any good resources for vacation rentals in Germany please post here or email me. I am going to continue searching and will be adding to our database. 

More About Traveling in Germany

Bamberg, Germany

Too often we get distracted by national stereotypes and the recent history of the area and forget what an incredible country Germany is and how much it has to offer to the tourist – historic towns, beautiful countryside and exciting cities. A few things to do: explore the many rivers including the Rhine River which goes through some of the most historic areas, take the “Romantic Road” along the western edge of Bavaria, explore the National Parks. The Bavarian Forest is a popular destination for walkers and you can easily go into the Czech Republic from there.

Steve and I have been to Germany a few times. We loved the town of Constance (Konstanz) on Lake Constance in southern Germany on the border with Switzerland. We have friends near Stuttgart and have visited that area a few times. We love the historic towns and the walking trails. For me, because I am a vegetarian, the food can be too meat-centered and heavy, but we always find something good in restaurants. I still remember the incredible fresh salads served in Constance.

Read more about traveling in Germany on Slow Europe:

• The Bavarian Forest – Margaret who offers vacation rentals in Bayerisch Eisenstein (Bavarian Forest Holidays) tells us about this area.
• Alpine Adventures – Kathy Wood who offers small group tours of Germany and Austria (European Experiences) show us things to see and do when based in the German and Austrian Alps.

Resources

• Wikipedia – German Reunification
• Wikipedia – New Länder: The five new states in Germany, after East Germany reunification with Germany.

Photos are from my friend Joan who took a river cruise through Germany this summer.

Naunton and farm fields, Cotswolds

My favorite part of the English countryside is the Cotswolds, an AONB (Area of Outstanding National Beauty) in the heart of England, two hours west of London, between the popular tourist destinations of Bath (to the south) and Stratford-upon-Avon (to the north).

The Cotswolds has picture-perfect English countryside with gentle rolling hills, fields of crops, large wooded areas and valleys carved out by flowing rivers. Tucked away in these valleys are historic Cotswold villages, with golden Cotswold stone houses dating back hundreds of years and spectacular “wool churches” built when this was a properous wool producing area.

There are many things for the visitor to do in the Cotswolds.

• For the walking enthusiast there are hundreds of miles of public footpaths and several long distance paths.
• People who like to explore by car will love the narrow lanes that criss-cross the countryside.
• The historian can visit pre-historic stone circles and burial grounds, Roman ruins, ancient abbeys, medieval castles, historic houses and Industrial-era mills.
• Flower lovers will love the beautiful public gardens, many run by the National Trust.
• And for everyone there are charming pubs with real ale and really good food, farm shops with local organic produce, tea rooms with homemade cakes and scones, beautiful villages to explore, views that never quit.

Here are three ways to tour the Cotswolds with different levels of travel independence: an organized tour, custom day tours and resources for the independent traveler.

European Experiences – a small group tour

Chipping Campden, Cotswolds

You want to go to the Cotswolds, but don’ t want to spend hours and hours reading and researching? You don’t want to do the driving (drive on the left – yikes!!!)? Then a small group tour is the perfect way for you to see the Cotswolds.

Kathy and Charley Wood started out doing small group tours in the Luberon, their favorite part of France. Now they have added their favorite part of England – The Cotswolds Experience. Kathy and Charley are experienced European travelers and even spent more than a year traveling throughout Europe a few years ago. They have been to the Cotswolds many times.

They have designed a week-long tour, based in the charming market town of Chipping Campden, to show you the best of the Cotswolds. Their next Cotswolds tour is June 2010. Leave the planning and the driving to them!

We have known Kathy and Charley for several years, first meeting them in Europe during their year+ trip. I highly recommend their tours. European Experiences is part of Slow Travel Tours, a group of small group tour operators for Europe.

Tour the Cotswolds – custom day tours

Church in Swinbrook, Cotswolds

You are an independent traveler and enjoy researching and planning your trip, but want to get an insider’s view of the Cotswolds and maybe have a day or two off from driving (drive on the left – yikes!!)? Schedule a day or two for a custom tour of the Cotswolds.

Tim Harrison was born and raised on a family farm in the Cotswolds. He knows every village, every countryside lane, everything you would want to know about the Cotswolds.

Tim offers Tour the Cotswolds, custom driving tours of the Cotswolds. Tell him what type of things you want to see and do and he creates a personalized itinerary for you. Then he picks you up in his comfortable Lexus and shows you a side of the Cotswolds that many travelers never see.

Tim and his wife Jackie live in Sheepscombe House on the edge of Snowshill, one of the most charming villages in the Cotswolds, and offer B&B rooms.

We met Tim and Jackie at their lovely house during our trip this summer. Jackie fed us the best afternoon tea that we had on the whole trip. Tim took us on a short driving tour of the area. I highly recommend Tim’s custom driving tours, and their B&B looked like a great place to stay.

Cotswolder – travel guide for the independent traveler

Walking along the River Coln, Cotswolds

You are an independent traveler and love researching a trip? You are ready for the driving challenge (drive on the left – yikes!!)? Then I have the website for you!

Steve and I have been going to the Cotswolds yearly since 2004. We love this area! I took my detailed travel notes and turned them into a website -  Cotswolder, a travel guide for the Cotswolds. I describe the main market towns and recommend things to do and see, places to eat, places to stay and nearby villages to visit. Visit the site and use it to plan your trip!

This summer we spent five weeks in the Cotswolds and had one of our best vacations ever. We are both finally comfortable with the driving and we know the area so well that I hardly need to consult the map or GPS. But, after all the months we have spent in the Cotswolds, there is still more to see and do, so we will be heading back soon. And if we eventually see it all, we will just do it all again.

“I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way. ” (My Way)

Resources

• National Geographic Traveler, Waking a Sleeping Beauty, September 2009 by Steve McClarence. ”A Brit from the industrial north of England explores the storybook world of the Cotswolds, in a classic British sports car.” There is a good photo gallery.
• The Cotswolds, tourist office website. Order tourist brochures to be mailed to you.
• Visit Cotswolds, tourist office website with travel information, accommodation booking and more about the Cotswolds.

For this month’s profile we talked to Alice Tetelman and Martin Wenick of Italian Vacation Villas. They offer vacation rentals in Tuscany, Umbria and other popular regions in Italy – from large to small, budget to luxury – villas, farmhouses or apartments on wine estates.

Alice and Martin started the Washington, DC-based vacation rental agency in February 1999 after they retired from long professional careers. Martin lived in Rome in the 1970s as a Foreign Service Officer assigned to the American Embassy and is fluent in Italian. Both Alice and Martin have traveled extensively in Italy. Read more about them and their agency in our profile.

Slow Europe Article – Profile of Italian Vacation Villas

We came across this one early in our trip when we were staying in Windsor and touring some of the Thames Valley towns with our friends Wendy and Richard who live in the area (we met Wendy and Richard on the SlowTrav forums years ago).  

Ha-ha at Greys Court - now you see it

Ha-ha at Greys Court - now you don't

That is Richard in the second photo demonstrating the ha-ha. This one is in Greys Court, a National Trust house and garden in Oxfordshire, not far from Henley-on-Thames (between London and the Cotswolds). Visiting a National Trust property is a fun thing to do when visiting England. There are many of them in the Cotswolds and nearby. This property had a Tudor Manor (15th century), gardens inside medieval walls, a wisteria walk (still in bloom in late May when we were there) and a flat brick maze.

If you are looking for a ha-ha in the Cotswolds, there is a good one in Hidcote Manor Garden, another National Trust property.

Resources

Wikipedia – Ha-ha

But with a vacation rental you pay a 25 – 50% deposit on booking, sometimes a year ahead, then the rest of the payment 30 – 60 days before arrival. You stay in a house or apartment that has been set up as a tourist rental or a second home. It probably does not have internet access because it seems like most vacation rental owners assume you want to “get away from it all” (not realizing that the people who find and book your places online are online kind of people and want to be online even when traveling). You are one in a long line of people living there for a week. *

Doing a home exhange you are exchanging homes, trading places, switching lifestyles with your trading partner, maybe even taking their dog for a walk. Sounds like fun! And your accommodations are free!! And you don’t have to pay for a house-sitter!!

Laura Byrne Paquet, a travel writer from Ottawa, Canada, wrote about home exchanges for Slow Europe. She gives you the basics, tells you what to look out for and gives a detailed list of web resources.

Slow Europe Article – Home Exchange – Stay in Europe for Free!

Follow Laura on Twitter – @FacingTheStreet – and on her blog www.FacingTheStreet.blogspot.com. Thanks Laura – great article!

Home Base Holidays

Our recommended home exchange website is Home Base Holidays run by Lois Sealey based in England. She has been in the home exchange game since 1985. She also operates the home exchange service for Britain’s Guardian newspaper (my newspaper of choice when I am in England). Their website is great but will be even better soon – they are in the middle of a re-design. Membership is £29 per year (about $50) but you can look at all the listings for no charge.

(This is a Canadian-centric blog post. Laura is Canadian and lives in Canada, Lois is an expat-Canadian living in England, I am an expat-Canadian living in the US. What’s up with that, eh?)

* Vacation Rentals vs. Home Exchange

You would think that Steve and I would be naturals for doing home exchanges. We live in Santa Fe, not the most requested destination by Europeans but a popular destination and a great place to visit. We travel to Europe every year and like to stay in one place for two or more weeks. We always stay in vacation rentals.

This is why we do not do home exchange – we have a hard time planning six months to a year ahead. We are both self employed and if a good job or opportunity comes along, we drop everything to take it. But really, that is no excuse.

We frequently have friends or friends of friends stay in our house when we are away. Friends from Italy spent six weeks here this summer while we were in Europe. I have no problem letting other people stay in my house and drive our car. I have a better house book than most vacation rentals! I am all set up for doing a home exchange! But, I hesitate because we are thinking about moving (current plan – move to Boulder or move to England – can’t decide). And because we have been thinking of this for the last five years (we are slow to make decisions and we really do love Santa Fe), we have not attempted a home exchange.

We really should give it a try!

Haven In Paris Blog Interview – Slow Travels Through Europe

At the end of May Steve and I spent a week in the Haven in Paris Ecoles apartment (read my review on Slow Europe). The apartment was centrally located in the Latin Quarter (the 5th arrondissement), near all the action but peaceful and quiet up on the sixth floor. In minutes we could walk down to the River Seine or up to the Luxembourg Gardens. The apartment is in an historic 17th century building with the beautiful original wood floors and thick wooden beams. The views over the Cluny Roman ruins and the top of Notre Dame towards Sacre Coeur were stunning.

And we were right next door to the Cluny Museum (Musee de Cluny).

Medieval stained glass, Cluny Museum, Paris

The Cotswolds Were Heavenly

We spent a month in the Cotswolds and it was incredible. Perhaps the best England vacation we have ever had. We have never traveled to England in summer before (I don’t know why – it is a great time to go there!) and we experienced a side of England we had never seen – a warm and sunny side. We walked/hiked nearly every day, starting out the month doing shorter 2 – 3 hour walks and working up to 5 – 6 hour walks.

We had some good visits with friends. We explored villages, visited churches, saw more Norman doorways than I ever thought existed. Revisited favorite villages.

Our first cottage was near Burford, which is a great town that we had stayed near before. Our second cottage was near Stow-on-the-Wold, which we had not spent much time in. Stow is a great town – and the hiking in this area is fantastic. There are two good farm shops in the area – Daylesford Organic Farm near Adelstrop and Cotswolds Farm Shop just west of Stow. And Greedys, a fish and chip shop in Stow, has the best chips! We enjoyed going into Stow for groceries, the newspaper, etc. The Tesco on the edge of Stow is open until midnight (except Sunday when it closes earlier) which is amazingly convenient. Plus they sell those “Gu” and “Fru” desserts that we usually only find at Waitrose (thank you Jonathan for introducing us to them!).

The cottages we had were not perfect. The kitchen in the first one was not good, but was great in the second one (we cook most of our meals). But the second cottage had a damp doggy smell in the living room that made it not be a room you wanted to hang out in. Luckily the weather was fantastic and we sat out in the garden that was right on the River Windrush. The hikes were good from the Burford cottage but even better from the Naunton cottage – the Wardens Way passed by our cottage and several other long distance trails went nearby. We could just pick up our Ordnance Survey map and head out straight from the cottage and go walking for hours.

We revisited Winchcombe where we spent a month in 2004. Sue who runs The Old Tea Room remembered us when we dropped in a couple of times for breakfast or for an after-hike tea and cake.

The whole month was fantastic. I took hundreds of photos and kept notes so I can update Cotswolder. We even met owners of two other vacation rentals in the area, plus Tim Harrison who does car tours (Tour the Cotswolds). More about all that in more detail later. I did half the driving and now consider myself a pretty good England driver (but still nervous driving through Stroud where the streets are fast and there are too many parked cars taking up my lane!).

And Switzerland is Wonderful

We flew from Heathrow to Geneva, picked up a rental car, and drove about 20 minutes to Nyon, an historic town on Lake Geneva (Roman ruins). My friend Wendy had recommended this as a good place for one night and she was right. We had a hotel room looking right onto the lake and the French Alps on the other side. It was a busy Friday night and dinner took about three times as long as it should have, but everything else was great. In the morning we found a great food market going on and stocked up on local, organic vegetables.

Then we drove to our chalet apartment in the Valais. We have stayed nearby a few times, but have never been to Nendaz. The drive up was exciting with a good road winding up the hill at what seemed to be a 45 degree slope with a sheer dropoff on the side. By the time we reached the Interhome office in Nendaz I was pretty freaked because the whole town seems to be perched on a steep slope way up above the Rhone Valley. But you get used to it pretty quick.

Nendaz is a wonderful town with lots of shops and restaurants. Everyone is very friendly! They speak French here which is good because Steve speaks French well (I think he does, but he will say that he doesn’t). There is one gondola in town taking you up to a higher level hiking area, and several others in nearby villages. There are a lot of trails right from town.

And then there are the Bisses (read more on the Nendaz site). These are ancient man-made waterways, similar to our acequias in New Mexico, that bring water from high up in the Alps to the farm lands below. Many of them still have water in them and there are a series of trails where you walk along the Bisses. We did a long hike on two Bisses on Sunday and there were a lot of people out walking. The hikes are mostly through forest and are good for hot, sunny days. Some have great views. Sort of like walking beside small canals, but without the boats. (I relate everything to traveling in England.)

Our chalet apartment is fantastic. Thank you Ivona and Interhome for recommending that we try Nendaz and helping me pick out a great rental! We have the top two floors of a new wooden chalet. We have two balconies, both looking north to the Rhone Valley and Sion below, and across to the mountains. We can see some of the same mountains, but from the other side, that we looked at from Leysin two summers ago. The apartment is beautifully furnished, very comfortable, spotlessly clean and the kitchen is great. It is a bit of a narrow and steep road to get to it, but you can’t have everything.

I think we wore ourselves out a bit in England because we went hiking nearly every day, not wanting to waste the good weather. The good weather is continuing here, but we took a few days away from hiking this week and yesterday had a day where we just hung out and looked at our views or read – and watched the Michael Jackson memorial on Swiss TV – they talked over everything in French :).

I am also spending a bit of time trying to figure out where to spend our last two weeks in July before we head home. I am still considering a last week in England, but probably we will pick two places in Switzerland and have a week in each. Current candidates are Grindelwald and Champex. I think we will drive to Champex tomorrow (just an hour away) and maybe Verbier to see if the hiking looks good. Then it will be back to hiking in Nendaz – still a lot to do here.

The short version – fantastic trip, very relaxed, everything great! If I was not so lazy, I would attach my hard drive and upload a photo – but I am too lazy.

Le Potager du Marais in Paris

We spent a week in Paris at the end of May. I am a vegetarian (but not vegan), Steve eats fish (but not much dairy). We have trouble finding food that we can eat in “normal” restaurants in France but thankfully there are many vegetarian or vegetarian-friendly restaurants.

Here is my list of restaurants, sorted by arrondissement (neighborhood). I found these restaurants from a variety of resources which are listed at the bottom of the article. We did not get to many of them (must return to Paris, more research needed!), but I included my notes on the ones we visited.

Slow Europe Article – Vegetarian Restaurants in Paris

My favorite restaurant was Les Cinq Saveurs d’Anada (in the 5th), followed closely by Le Potager du Marais (in the 3rd). And I loved Maoz for a quick lunch or dinner.

This article is formatted so that you can easily print out the list. Just click print and the page prints without images and sidebars. (All Slow Europe pages are set up for easy printing.)

This is a ten week trip, arriving and departing from England – a week in Paris, June in the Cotswolds, July in Switzerland.

Pre-Vacation and the Flight

Sun on the 17th century floor of our Paris apartment

Because of a great British Airways sale (you can only purchase tickets from one of their hubs) we were flying out of Phoenix, so we started our vacation with a pre-vacation. We rented a car in Santa Fe and drove to Sedona, spent the night, then drove to Phoenix airport for our flight.

We love Sedona and this time we saw a rainy and overcast Sedona, which was delightful. We stayed at the Amara Resort (have stayed there several times) and this time had a riverside room. Had a lovely evening and next morning in Sedona before leaving around 2pm for Phoenix.

British Airways flight was wonderful – we were in First! We were in First on the last trip because they offered a paid upgrade on checkin and we jumped at the chance (it is not easy to get into First on BA). This time I bought Club World sale tickets and upgraded them one way. So we flew to England as if flying in our living room. We both slept well.

Part 1 – Arrival in Windsor

Windsor Castle and St George's Chapel from our hotel balcony

We spent our first three nights in Windsor, only 20 minutes from Heathrow (used a car service). We stayed at the Harte and Garter on the High Street, looking at the Castle. We were there for a Bank Holiday weekend and Windsor was packed. Many visitors liked to stand outside the castle and scream late into the night. Why? No idea. But I did like standing on our balcony and seeing the church where Henry VIII is buried.

Windsor was a good arrival town – lots of restaurants and cafes, great walks along the River Thames and our friend Wendy and Richard live nearby. We had two wonderful days with them, including one day with Richard taking us on a tour of the towns along the Thames. The weather was hot and sunny. We had a picnic of Waitrose sandwiches sitting on a bench beside the Thames. Went for some lovely walks and visited a National Trust garden.

Part 2 - A Week in Paris

View from our Paris apartment over the Cluny Roman ruins

Next we took the train to Paris! We used a car service to take us from Windsor to St Pancras station in London (because it was not much more expensive than the train tickets). Windsor Cabs was great at giving us an airport pickup with a fragrance-free car but failed miserably at this one and we rode in a scented cab. I assumed they had told the driver of my request and we were smelling leftover air freshener but towards the end of the ride we saw an air freshener in the front. Argh!! Should have taken the train.

The Eurostar from London to Paris was fast (under 2 1/2 hours) and easy. It was not that comfortable – sort of like flying Southwest but at a lower altitude. Arrived in Paris, got a taxi to our apartment, met the representative from the agency at the apartment and were checked in. The apartment was fabulous (I reviewed it on Slow Europe). The only problem was that the bedding was scented. They had washed everything for us in unscented laundry soap but they usually use a soap with a strong scent, so the scent was in the pillows and comfortor. I rewashed the sheets about four times and then it was mostly okay.

We were in the heart of the Latin Quarter, a block from a Metro stop, with a great cafe beside our entrance, but were up on the fifth floor, above the noise (except some jack hammering from street work on a couple of days). The apartment was spacious and two walls were lined with windows. From some we look down on the Medieval Cluny Museum – looked right at some of the gargoyles. From others we looked north and could see the top of Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur sitting on its hill. We had our binoculars and could see the people sitting on the steps.

We loved being in Paris (our last visit was 21 years ago) but it did not capture our hearts the way it does for many people. It was cool for half the the week, hot and sunny for the other half. We spent most of our time walking around the city. We went to only one museum (the Cluny since it was next door) and we spent most of our time in the 5th or in the Marais. It was a very easy city to deal with. People were friendly, the Metro was easy to use, there are lots of vegetarian restaurants. We ate in restaurants, but cooked several meals at “home”.  We spent one evening with Dana who I know through SlowTrav and Twitter. We spent a day with friends from Germany who we have not seen in the past few years, but have known for 20 years. I will write more about our time in Paris later.

Part 3 – June in the Cotswolds

Walk near Eastleach Turville in the Cotswolds

After our eight nights we took the Eurostar back to London, got a cab from St Pancras to Paddington, then took the train to Oxford. Took a taxi from the Oxford train station to the Europcar office (1/2 mile away) and got our rental car. Drove to our first cottage in Fulbrook, just outside of Burford.

We were both thrilled to be out of the big city and back in the English countryside. We have been in this cottage for over a week now and on Friday we move to another cottage about 30 minutes away for the next two weeks. The weather has been heavenly – most days sunny and warm and some even hot! A few cold days (when we realize we had no idea how to heat this cottage).

We have spent a lot of time in the Cotswolds, but usually in May. June is a whole different story (either that or we have just been lucky with the weather). It is warm and sunny and it is light until nearly 10pm. These long days explains why I have not been blogging or getting much work done.

I love the Cotswolds! Wendy and Richard stayed in a cottage nearby for our first weekend here. We had a fabulous pub lunch with them at The Swan in Swinbrook (near Burford). The next day we all went to Snowshill Manor and then drove around a few towns, followed by a lovely dinner in Broadway.

We have done some exploring around and some fabulous walks. I started driving in England on our last trip (January – February 2008) and easily picked it up again on this trip. Now we share the driving! I feel like we are really staring to know the Cotswolds. Burford is a fabulous town and this is a great location. There is only one good hike that we can do from our doorstep, but others are a short drive away.

Summing Up

Buddy sleeping on our bed in Santa Fe

So that brings us to where we are now – sitting in a cottage with a rose covered doorway on a quiet lane in a small village near a lovely market town. If I were to stand, the ceiling would be only six inches above my head. This is an old cottage and people really were shorter a few hundred years ago. I have learned to duck.

On vacation everything takes longer – grocery shopping, cooking meals, working on the computer – because it is not what you are used to. Laundry always takes longer. So the days are fuller just with day to day stuff. Then there are all the things to do and see and I never want to miss out on things by spending time organizing my journal or blog or photos. Usually I manage to post to my blog, but I think the long days – or short evenings - are influencing that.

We only planned and booked the first six weeks of this trip. The day before we left I booked an apartment in Switzerland for the first two weeks of July (in Nendaz, in the Valais). From here I booked a flight from Heathrow to Geneva and a hotel for one night in Nyon, near the airport. That reminds me – I have to book our rental car!

In summary – having a great time, England in June is fabulous - why didn’t we think of this before?, I miss my comfortable bed, and I really miss Buddy.

On Thursday evening we met Dana (@danamac) who I know from the SlowTrav community and from Twitter. Dana is the person who got me to join Twitter. Via Twitter we realized we were both going to be in Paris at the same time, so we arranged to have dinner one evening. Dana is a foodie and Steve and I are pretty much anti-foodies, so it was hard to agree on a restaurant, but we finally picked Pulcinella, a new Italian restaurant in Montmartre (the 18th).

We met at our apartment, talked for an hour, then took the Metro to the restaurant. As we were sitting down the two women and the next table bonjoured us. Then one of them asked if we spoke English, if we were American, if I was on Twitter. We were sitting beside @louloufrance who I had just started following a few weeks before!!! She recognized me from my Twitter photo (hers is a group of figs, so I did not recognize her) and she sort of knew me from the SlowTrav community.

LouLouFrance (not her real name!) is an American who lives in the south of France. She knows everything about cheese and desserts too I think. Her blog is: Chez LouLou.

Reading her blog I find out she knows David Lebovitz whose book “The Sweet Life in Paris” I downloaded to my Kindle and read in our first few days here (great book with lots of good information for Paris, plus recipes). Wow!!

Isn’t that an amazing coincidence? That we were at the same restaurant. That I was seated beside her (and facing her). That she recognized me from Twitter. I will be talking about this for years. In all the time that I ran the SlowTrav community, only once has someone ever recognized me on the street – and it was on my street in Santa Fe and was back in the very early days. I always heard about other community members running into people in Italy, but it never happened to me (well, it did happen in Savannah, but there were 100 of us there for that party and it is a small town).

And the Tweeter on the other side of me at that dinner, Dana, is no travel slouch either. She runs a great travel blog, The Traveling McMahans (she was in Morocco for a week before coming to Paris) and writes for Food Connect!

It was a lovely evening – but I can’t even spare the time to upload a photo of our amazing apartment view (we look over the Cluny rooftops to Notre Dame and Sacre Cour) because we want to do an early evening stroll down Boulevard St Germaine!! Hey, we are in Paris!! (Leaving for the Cotswolds on Wednesday.)

We rented a lovely apartment in the 5th (in the Latin Quarter near the Sorbonne). I love to stay in vacation rentals in historic buildings and this one looks like it will be interesting. It is on the 5th floor of a 17th century building with views of Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. When I was using Google Maps Street View to “walk” my new neighborhood, I saw that there is a cafe beside the entrance to the building. How perfect is that?

Of course, I do have a bit of nervousness about being in a big city (we tend towards small towns and countryside these days) and am anticipating a breathtakingly tiny elevator to take us up to that 5th floor - we may be hoofing it instead. I also figure everyone in Paris wears perfume (we are allergic to the chemicals in fragrances), but we will be able to escape up to our 5th floor nest to breathe in some clean air – won’t we?

I am making my restaurant list for Paris. I am looking for good vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic restaurants. So far it is looking great. I found three macrobiotic restaurants within a few blocks of our apartment. If anyone has any suggestions, please post them. Also if you have anything to suggest that we should do in Paris, please post.

Resources for Vegetarian Restaurants in Paris

• Happy Cow – France - Vegetarian restaurants and natural food stores by city in France.
• Happy Cow – Paris – Vegetarian restaurants and natural food stores in Paris.
• ParisVegetarian - Reviews of vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants.
• VeganParis - Descriptions and reviews of vegan restaurants, including an up to date list of vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic restaurants.
• Veggie Places – Paris - List of vegetarian restaurants and a google map showing locations.
• Venere Travel Blog – How to Eat Organic in Paris by Barbara Diggs. Not all organic restaurants are vegetarian, but they are likely to have vegetarian options.

The water at Pelosa on Sardinia

On any map of the Mediterranean, the Italian island of Sardinia is easy to spot being shaped like a foot and lying between Corsica and Sicily.

Visitors are often surprised at the size of Sardinia – it is pretty much the size of Wales or West Virginia (but has the advantage of 1800km of mostly unspoilt coastline).

Peter Ryder, who lives on Sardinia, introduces us to his corner of the island, near the town of Alghero in the north west.

Slow Europe article – A Slow Week in Alghero and North West Sardinia

Peter runs the Italy 360° Travel Guide websites with travel information, photos and 360° photo views for popular Italian travel destinations.

• 360tuscany.net: Popular Tuscany destinations (Pisa, Florence, Lucca, Siena, Volterra, San Gimignano and more).
• 360rome.net: Historic center of Rome (Forum, Colosseum, St Peters, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, etc.).
• 360sardinia.net: Sardinia with views of many spots on the island.
• 360alghero.net: Alghero and north west Sardinia.
• 360olbia.net: Olbia and north east Sardinia.
• 360amalfi.net: Towns on the Amalfi Coast and places nearby (Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, Capri, Pompeii and more).
• 360sorrento.net: Slideshows of the popular areas in and near Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast.

Slow Europe Article – Eurostar from London to Paris

We will be taking a train from Windsor to London Paddington, then a taxi or the Underground to St Pancras, and then the Eurostar to Paris. On return we go back to London, then take a train to Oxford to pick up our rental car for our month in the Cotswolds.

I found some great resources on the web for information about the Eurostar. I bought our Eurostar tickets online and was able to print them out at home. Once we have actually done the train ride, I will update the page with any new information.

Lanzarote Guidebook

The Canary Islands, located around eighty miles off the coast of West Africa close to the Tropic of Capricorn, are a Spanish owned volcanic archipelago of seven islands that was once thought to be the remnants of the mythical lost city of Atlantis.

The Canaries are essentially the European Caribbean, boasting year round sunshine and daytime temperatures that range from 70 to 79 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 26 degrees Celsius), making them a hugely popular holiday destination, especially with British, Irish and German tourists.

Nick Ball runs the Lanzarote Guidebook  website with travel information and accommodations bookings, including a good selection of vacation rentals. He wrote an introduction to Lanzarote for Slow Europe.

Article on Slow Europe - Holidays on the Island of Fire – Lanzarote on the Canary Islands, Spain

That water looks perfect for swimming!