Category Archives: Travel
Vienna Details (Part 2)
Sissi / Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria
That gown (embroidered with Arabic script to say: “Oh mon Dieu quel beau rêve” / “Oh my Lord what a beautiful dream”)
and this Bavarian style gown:
Sporty Empress: she worked out regularly and check what she had installed in her office!
and while she didn’t often join in the oppulant family dinners in order to maintain her physique (and fit into those tight waisted dresses…) 
… she made sure to have a very unique set of tableware to entertain: 
Vienna Details (Part 1)
I take inspiration from details wherever I find them and Vienna certainly has no shortage of subtleties… Whether in art, architecture, music, food or Christmas ornaments, the place is brimming with human innovation steeped in historic depth… Amazing, exciting & challenging your senses to awaken and for you to imagine a world full of infinite artistic possibilities & human potential…
Naturhistorisches Museum Wien:
Hotel Sacher:
Hotel Palais Coburg (and a Marie Antoinette dress casually displayed):
Schönbrunn Palace:
Christmas Markets, mulled wine & hot coco…
🌳🌿🌳🌿🌳🌿🌳Tuscan Hills 🌳🌿🌳🌿🌳🌿🌳
Castello di Vicarello (Poggi del Sasso)
Heavenly isolated…
Tuscan infinity …
No filter… this flower’s otherworldly details and light reminded me of the magical flower in Tangled!
Morning harvest…
Organic eggs, tomatoes, figs, aubergines, zucchini & rosemary!
Can’t wait to see what the chef has done with my ingredients!
After a good meal, it’s time to work it off village-style!
Siesta …
Contemplation…
Only drawback… those bees! 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 constantly chasing me around buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing in my ears !
The remedy 🍷all day & all night…
Details of my OOTN
Siena… Travel in time to the medieval era… just filter out all the tourists from your views and it feels like you’re there!
and along the way we saw this amazing sunflower🌻 field…
and stopped at this picturesque hilltop village, Montalcino, home of the reknown Brunello di Montalcino wine 🍷
🇮🇹 Italian Riviera 🚗 to Tuscany 🇮🇹
Cinque Terre
Monterosso
Vernazza
Olive spread in Corniglia
Firenze (aka Florence)
Il Duomo
☺️
Ponte Vecchio
Pinocchio is omipresent in Firenze!
Somewhere between a pizza and bread & cheese and absolutely delicious…
Souvenirs , souvenirs…
Those stradas! 🇮🇹 
Back to the hotel for some garden & pool time…
Purple love is still alive in 🇮🇹
Magnolia
Huge petals & smells heavenly!
💛💛💛💛Wolf💛💛💛💛
I left my kids back home but it turns out I can’t escape the kid in me!
Provence 🍒🇫🇷 to Portofino ⛵️🇮🇹 via St Tropez 👙
My Provence lavender hunt obsession led me to the Abbaye de Sénanque and while the lavender wasn’t in full bloom, the setting was still picturesque…
Provence is not just about vinyards & purple love, its palette is rich in colors and I particulaly ❤️ this red hot cherry 🍒 tree! so much that I actually fell into a ditch (and broke my phone’s screen 😡) as I was trying to capture its beauty!
Gordes… Gorgeous!
Couldn’t resist sharing this with my little ones so it was time for a quick Skype!
Here’s me practicing my favorite St Tropez passtime: people watching! 😝
The next day it was time to drive off to Italy but not before we stopped @ a random beach near St Tropez where tanners of all ages seemed to take issue with the idea of a swimsuit!
And we finally arrived in Italia 🇮🇹…
After a long drive it was Pesto time in Portofino ! 🇮🇹
Nature’s splendid beauty was drawing me to it and away from all stress…
Flowers 🌸 & Trees 🌴 in magical harmony…
Lemon trees 🍋 & jasmine … a perfect blend of sents!
Piscina & mare
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸a fitting entrance to the Spa (which I desperately needed to end my day) 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Shaking Beads in Bonnieux
Ready!
My walk looks so effortless… it wasn’t!
When you’re late to a wedding but have to stop because the fruits in the trees are just too tempting !
Made it & now I just can’t wait to start shaking those beads on the dance floor!
Tasting, Breathing & Dipping in Provence 🍇🍷🌿🌾
Appetizer: une tarte salée
We started our Provence tour in Avignon where a local chef cooked for us a delicious provincial meal in a 14th century cuisine in the basement of La Mirande (an old cardinal’s palace across from the Popes Palace)
The description of the dish by the chef is way too long to include in a caption 😝
Some wine tasting straight from the cave …
A stroll in the garden to take in the sents of les herbes de provence
Provinçal dessert…
Next stop was La Bastide de Marie in Ménerbes (Luberon)
La Roulotte … our tree house for the night!
of course, matching my outfit 😉
Cute cozy randomness abound inside!
Some turquoise energy…
Some lavender energy…
Bonnenuit 🍷! Next stop: Bonnieux
To be continued…
🏰Sur le Pont 🌉 d’Avignon🏰
On y danse…
on y danse…
Sur le pont d’Avignon…
On y danse tous en rond… 
👯 Walking in👣 Daddy’s Steps 🎓
Since we’re kicking off our summer in Beirut and right in time for this weekend’s Father’s Day, we thought we’d take the kids for a stroll in the gorgeous AUB Mediterranean campus, where their dad did his freshman year… Memories, nature, stories, ☀️, endless questions (e.g. papa, c’est là que tu prenais le goûter?; elle est où la classe de papa?), mischief & dreams… 🚀
SilhouettEtiquette 