We read about this restaurant that would do fresh cuts of homemade deli meats and cheeses… it turned out to be a straight up meat market.  They loaned us glasses and set us up outside on barrels while we stood in the street because there simply isn’t enough room inside.  Evan and I had a fabulously gluttonous time eating while watching passersby react to the place.  The restaurant looked fairly eclectic and smelled of meat, but other than that I’m not quiet sure what everyone was so intrigued about.  Near the end of our meal, a man mistook our food for samples set out by the restaurant.  He reached into our bag of bread, took a piece and was about to dip it in olive oil when he finally noticed my shocked face.  I didn’t know how to tell him in Italian that it was our lunch, but as he set the piece of bread back down he said “sorry, excuse me” in ENGLISH!  I should have known!

With gelato in hand, we watched our last sunset before heading off to Pisa and Sienna.

This is Corniglia from the other side, in other words, the steps down to the train would be found in the center of town but on the far side as it descends to the coastline.  This picture was taken while on a hike to Vernazza, the town just to the North of Corniglia.  While in Corniglia, we stayed at a bed and breakfast with a couple in their eighties.  Neither of them spoke a word of English, but we had plenty of conversation each morning at breakfast.  They were adamant about taking with us and so sweet!

Evan and I stayed in Corniglia, one of the five towns belonging to the region known as Cinque Terre.  This was my favorite region of Italy because of its local charm and warm hospitality.  Here, you can see the roughly 300 steps from the train station leading to the town above.  Notice how the rail line disappears into the mountain before it finally reemerges at the next town seen along the coastline.

Super yachts, fancy cars, and an expensive lunch.  I really didn’t enjoy Monaco much, but then again, we didn’t stick around for long.

The pebbly beach in Nice, France seen from a local hilltop.

We had to get one more pastry and coffee fix before leaving Paris for the summer.

I really wanted to visit the catacombs before leaving Paris. After putting it off and putting it off, we finally sucked it up and stood in line for hours to get it.  I’m so glad we did!

This is perhaps the largest and most visited Cemetery in the world and we had a blast roaming around for the afternoon.  It is home to the bodies of many artists and writers including Jim Morrison, Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, and Chopin.  The cemetery is beautiful, massive, and easy to get lost in.