Sidetripping To Paris In My mInd

  Recently, I broke down and got a new and much lighter laptop. My old one, though I loved it, weighed a ton and was getting harder and harder to travel with. Plus, the poor thing went as far as it could, and is now considered 'vintage', to put it nicely. 

  With my new one, everything has changed...including my photos. I swear, I don't remember seeing half the photos that are on this new beastie....at least not in the last several years...and it's been fun going into the "Way-Back Machine".

  We are getting ready to head back to Umbria soon, so I wanted to start blogging again. It's been super busy at the gallery (thank you, Powers That Be), and I haven't had a chance to write much. I was going through my photos, and came across a mess of them from a trip we took to Paris many years ago.

  I've blogged about Paris before, but not in ages. We love Paris, and ache to return. It's a must. Seeing these images just makes me want to go right now. 

  It will have to wait, though...For now, our minds are on Umbria.

  But, just for fun, I wanted to take a little trip to the City Of Light. 

  She's calling my name....

  At first, I wasn't sure which visit these shots came from. We've been a few times. Seeing all the blooming flowers leads me to believe this was 2005....April in Paris. At least for a week or so....

Back then, Johnny always had the camera, so there are shots of me.
Not so many these days...

  I do remember being blown away by all the spring bulbs in bloom. I wanted to plant nothing but bulbs and Forget-Me-Nots when I got back to the states!

I took this photo. I remember loving this huge wisteria
with this backdrop...

  Our very first trip abroad was to Paris.It was life changing. We fell in love with travel, and have never looked back. We have had the great fortune of returning to Europe every year, except 2008, to either Paris or Italy. These days, it's always Umbria. 

  We need to get back to France, especially the south. We've only been to Paris, and Italy.

  We are defiantly not 'World Travelers'.

Sigh.

Sadly, we had already eaten when we found this sweet spot...and we never went back on that trip.

  So, here's a couple of photos that are proof of how long ago this was- We both look so different!

Way younger, and longer hair!
PS...I loved those sandals and wore them until they fell apart.

Way younger and his signature hat! Which he rarely wears now.....

Some day, we want to rent one of these to stay in
for a couple of weeks.

We ended up buying this little gem
It now hangs in our living room. I love it still....

The perfume from these yellow/orange Wallflowers was so intense.
I remember it well. The light was pretty damn good, too.

To be dead honest, this may be Hyde Park, in London.
We were there for a couple of days on this trip, as well.

Another...Sigh.

  On this trip, we rented an apartment and it was great. Johnny painted several small panels which we kept for ourselves. I love these beautiful reminders.

Somewhat out of focus, but you get the idea.
Always painting, that husband of mine.

Beautiful.

  We'll return, I know we will. In the meantime, we watch the Tour de France every year, and make a point to have a bit of 'Bubbly' on the last leg as the boys ride into Paris. 

  We always smile at each other, and shed a tear or three....

Don't cry, we'll see you soon, City Of Light.