Churches with Tiles:
Igleja do Carmo
Situated kitty-corner from the University of Porto, this Late Baroque/Rococco style church is built in the second half of the 18th century. The front façade is crowned with sculptures of the four Evangelists.
Continue reading “What to See (and Eat) in Porto, Portugal – Part 1”
My dear friends and fellow bloggers, I am back!
We spent most of May traveling through Portugal, visiting various sights and sampling local cuisine.
We began the journey in Porto.
I have to admit that I have a thing for snow-capped mountains – the sight of which brings tears to my eyes. 2014 was the year I saw a lot of mountains. It was the year I did Tour du Mont Blanc, hiking through the Alps across France, Italy and Switzerland.
Paris, I hate you!
This morning we woke up, the sun went into hiding. and it seemed that you were back to your usual grey.
No.1 The unassuming Michelin three-star restaurant has only 25 tables. Reservations are booked months ahead. Online reservation is now available by clicking the réserver button from their website.
No.2 Dinner starts at 20:15 and is one-seating only. Everybody gets the same surprise menu designed by chef Pascal Barbot.
Continue reading “12 Things You Need to Know Before Dining at L’Astrance***, Paris”
The day we visited Petit Palais in Paris
Its courtyard garden was blazing with spring blossoms.
After spending a memorable evening at Palais Garnier, we woke up the next morning to brilliant sunlight.
If you’ve read my post about one dark and stormy night (with a delish chocolate hazelnut cake), you would know that I’d been trying to see Marc Chagall’s paintings in person for years without much success. So when I heard that the Russian-born artist of Belarusian Jewish origin painted the ceiling of the famous opera house in Paris, and that Juan Diego Flórez – a Peruvian tenor who received his country’s highest decoration at the age of 31 – would be performing a recital at Palais Garnier during the time of our visit, I did not waste any time in acquiring a ticket.
“This is what you do on your very first day in Paris. You get yourself, not a drizzle, but some honest-to-goodness rain, and you find yourself someone really nice and drive her through the Bois de Boulogne in a taxi. The rain’s very important. That’s when Paris smells its sweetest. It’s the damp chestnut trees.” – I can almost hear Audrey Hepburn saying those words in her 1954 film Sabrina.
In Paris we stayed at Hôtel Saint Paul Rive Gauche in the 6th Arrondissement, a few blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens. On the day of our arrival, after storing away our luggage, we went for a walk.
