Paris in the Time of Covid

 We've been to the City of Lights dozens of times. My spouse grew up there. Never in all that time have I ever seen the city so empty. We visited at the end of August into the first week of September and it was devoid of people. 

Let's start with a some lesser traversed spots in Paris. We strolled through the Marais to the Place des Vosges on a Tuesday morning. Usually this place is teeming with people, kids playing at any time of the day. On this day I counted only 6 people. 

Place des Vosges - mid morning

Hotel de Sully - mid morning

Another day after lunch we wandered down Rue Rivoli and through the side entrance to the Louvre. This is always tourist central, jammed with people waiting to get in, people coming out, sitting by the fountains, taking selfies with the pyramids.  Here's what we saw:

After the end of summer holidays in France, typically August 31, people return to the city but even then there are always tourists from other countries. It was rare that we heard anything besides French spoken and maybe the occasional English.  On September 2 we strolled from our apartment near Gare de Lyon across the canal St Martin and then to the Isle St. Louis to Notre Dame. 

This was about noon and it was barren. A few people wandering down the side street next to Notre Dame looking at the progress of the restoration and viewing the outdoor exhibits but never have I seen the square in front of the cathedral completely empty. 

At the time we left you had to be vaccinated to even get on the plane but we are so we went. The French government had also recently required a "Pass Sanitaire" for you to do just about anything except grocery shop and go to church. We applied before we left but never got our passes. We were able to get 3 day temporary passes after a negative Covid test at just about any pharmacy and those allowed us to eat out and visit the Hotel de la Marine. As we were heading home they announced France was considering a restriction to only essential travel again. 

Ultimately we are glad we went to see my spouse's 94 year old mother, who is just fine and had no problem keeping up with our 10-12,000 steps every day!

Place de la Concorde

Jardin Luxembourg

Palais Royale

Vacation Non-Vacation

 After a year of not traveling at all (unbelievable for our family) we needed a change in scenery. Desperately! We checked our options for some of our usual island destinations (Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, St Croix) but couldn't make any of them work so we opted for the next best islands: The Florida Keys.

A week after the dawn of 2021 we packed our stuff and flew south. It was great to get first class seats for what we would pay for cattle class on most domestic flights. We landed in Miami, met the other family for lunch in Key Largo and caravanned south to Chardonnay House in Key Colony Beach, a man made area of canals at the northern tip of Marathon. 

This house was a very welcomed respite from the past 24/7/365 of living in our house.  We had 4 bedrooms, lots of desk space and lots of outdoor living space to essentially quarantine somewhere else. We worked and went to school the first week, in between dives and trips to the grocery store.

There were lots of walkers and bikers in the neighborhood and people were genuinely friendly.  Must have had something to do with the warmer, sunny weather?! Sunset Beach Park was at the end of the street and had nice views of the ocean. 

And then there was the diving with Captain Hook. It was more than chilly for our crew that is used to diving in warm waters (like 80+ degrees) but a good time was had by all!

At the end of our two weeks of non-vacation we all flew home with tentative plans for when we can all travel again and Covid-19 is behind us!

SXM Still in Recovery

We just spent 2 weeks on St Martin and while a lovely island it still has a long way to go with recovery after Irma in 2017.

The Dutch side fared better than the French side or maybe because the airport and cruise ship port are both on that side of the island they got it together quicker? Either way there's still a lot of work to be done on both sides.

Marigot is a sad version of what it once was. Few shops are open, the market is a portion of it's previous size but there are restaurants open and you can climb up to Fort St Louis for a lovely view of the harbor and Anguilla just across the water.

We stayed on the French side at Nettle Bay Beach Club which is about 70% rebuilt/renovated. There are few units that are completely abandoned with little hint of anything further being done. Many are beautifully rehabbed.

The beach is lovely however you do need shoes to walk around as there is still glass and debris from the storm and renovations that are all over.

It must have been cheap dock your mega-yacht week around Christmas as we counted at least 7 in our small bay and dozens more in Simpson Lagoon near the airport.  Then there were the private jets. One after another they came in past Maho Bay Beach where you can watch all the tourons get blown off their feet and blasted by sand for fun. Clearly this island is for the wealthy.

On the plus side, the food is spectacular! We had wonderful meals out and were able to get anything we wanted to cook to eat in. The prices are not hideous as compared to many other islands and are no more expensive that Paris.

We dove with Ocean Explorers and had a great experience with them. Our divers did 2 shark dives and saw all kinds of sea life!

The French side is way more laid back from the Dutch side. It is quiet for the most part and it was easy to be relaxed.  The Dutch side has the casinos, bars and clubs as well as numerous hotels and resorts. It's clearly the party side of the island.

While we had a great trip and totally relaxed and St Martin/St Maarten checked all our boxes, it will be a while before we think about returning.

Azores - go before everyone finds out!

We recently spent 12 days in The Azores or Sao Miguel to be precise. There are 9 islands and this is the one that is easiest to get to now that their government allows Delta to fly from JFK daily from May to October. It's a little over 4 hours from NYC and (currently) a reasonable airfare if you consider it is A) Europe and B) Summer.  We scored tixs for about $800/pp in AUGUST.

The Azores are a unique place. They are volcanic, have a tea plantation, grow the best pineapples you will ever eat, largely self-sufficient when it comes to food.

You can go hiking all over the island if you're that type of person.

You can go swimming in an ocean filled pool, scuba diving, sailing and whale watching (which we suck at because we never see whales) if your that type of person.

You can go to the botanical garden, historic and still active military fort/museum, or have a personal tour of the farmer's market and cooking class on what you've bought.

A really cool and unique thing to do is have dinner cooked by volcano. Furnas is the part of the island that still has volcanic activity. There is a park where restaurants take their pots in the early morning, let them cook all day and then serve dinner at their place in town. We were lucky enough to be there when they pulled one out of the ground. It's like Mother Nature's Crock Pot.

There aren't a lot of hotels so check out Airbnb for great deals. We scored a 3 bedroom flat with a view of the harbor and a parking spot in the building right on the main drag for about $239/night. We were walking distance to everything in Ponta Delgado.

Car rental was pricey but necessary if you want to see the island. Parking in town can be a challenge but is manageable. Driving is easy and as the roads that go around the island are winding so you don't go much over 30 mph. There are roads the cut across that move faster as does the highway. But take the scenic routes to really get a feel for this island. Just know that cows are really a source of traffic.

You can take 4 full days and do the highlights or a week to 10 days gets you a really in-depth view of these islands in the middle of the Atlantic.

Bonus: No regular cruise ships stop here unless they are on transatlantic from the US to Europe for the change of season. So you will not have days where the town is flooded with people!

The one thing you can't really do is shop. If you're a shopper looking for duty-free or lots of shops selling local wares, this is not the island for you, find somewhere else for that!

#DiveMom

I created a couple of monsters when I suggested that my husband inquire about taking a scuba diving lesson or two a bunch of years ago while 'wintering' on Curacao. The child was 5 and pissed that she wasn't old enough to start diving with him. But she did get her first real mask and snorkel so that had to hold her for another 5 years.

So fast forward one year, back in Curacao and now he's got his full open-water certification from GoWest (formerly Curacao West). Next we decide it's time to try out our annual winter holiday on another island.

Child is now 7 and still pissed she can't take lessons.

Off to Aruba! I scoured TripAdvisor for a good dive shop and came up with JADS, who I have to say, at first I thought, OMG but then we realized they were that good.
Now he's really into it and we buy his first wetsuit. In Aruba. Cha-ching!

Next I start buying gear. Lil at Joe Diver and I are on a first name basis now.

The next year we moved to St. Lucia. Not a known dive island and the shop there was so-so but its not an up and coming place to dive. There is GREAT snorkeling between the pitons where we say lobsters, tons of fish and plants that look like worms or maybe they were worms that looked like plants?

Next winter we jetted off to St. Croix and connect with Sweet Bottom Dive Center. They are fabulous! FINALLY the child is 10 and old enough to do a DSD (that's Discover Scuba Diving) course. She is in a class of 6 and whizzes through everything and is done before the rest of them have gotten through the first 2 things on the list.

Next, open water dive! Off she goes with Mel, her father not so closely following behind, terrified and proud all at the same time.

One dive and now she's hooked so another dive later we promise to come back in the summer so she can get her open water certification. Eight months later, back we go and she gets her first scuba cert but only after two failed dive attempts her mask is too small now. New mask and she gets it done.

Next stop: Turks & Caicos when she finishes up her Open Water Certification on her first dives! Yay! Now husband has a dive buddy. I can relax after years of entertaining said child while he went off diving for hours. Big win for everyone.

Now I have two dive monsters who are all about diving wherever we go. Including Iceland. #DiveMom

Madrid - Sign Me Up!

To say we loved Madrid was an understatement. My US born, French raised spouse, who always thought we'd retire to part of the year in France has now kicked that to the curb in favor of Spain.

Plaza Mayor, Madrid

We rented a two bedroom flat on Plaza Mayor in the heart of Madrid during Holy Week. And for two lapsed Catholics it was a reunification with religion we'd forgotten about. Each parish carries a float through the streets of Madrid, eventually passing through Plaza Mayor on the way to the cathedral. It was an amazing site each and every processional.

Easter Passion evening processional

That aside, Spain is just way more relaxed and much friendlier that other parts of Europe.

Let's just start with the food. If you are even remotely a foodie then Spain will be like a paradise. We started off at Mercado de San Miguel, just steps away from Plaza Mayor. It is like all of Spain's tapas options in one place. It is a converted market that dates from the early 20th century. Each vendor sells something different. Calamari, sardines, oysters, paella, potato chips, cheese, wine, beer, champagne and the list goes on. It was a good way to determine what we liked and wanted to try again somewhere else during our culinary exploits in Madrid.

That's fresh mozzarella cheese tapas!

Oysters - the first plate

T

he sights to see in Madrid are countless. There's the Royal Palace - worth a visit if the line isn't super long.

 The National Archaeological Museum was fabulous!

The Monasteria de las Descalzas was the hottest ticket in the city. We showed up three different times before we got an admission ticket, for the last entry of the day. Very interesting and still operating abbey. Downside is the tour is entirely in Spanish so we were kinda SOL.









Skip the HUGE line at the Prado and go here instead! The collection is amaze-balls. They may only have one of someone's work but they've got one of EVERYBODY's work. Picasso, Monet, Degas, Holbein the elder, Holbein the younger, Fra Angelico, Rembrandt, Van Eyck, Hopper, Caravaggio, Rubens and of course El Greco. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which is a private collection, is one of the best museums we've been to almost ever. And you can see it all in half a day.

And then there are just wonderful sites you come across wandering around the city!

So next time you're thinking you need a trip to Europe, give Spain a go. Enough to see, do, experience and more than enough to eat in week (or six!)  Ole!