Author Archives: noconbach

Rocky Mountain High in Aspen

We’re on the road again after a summer hiatus–if hiatus is the right word for the wedding of the season, five triathlons (four for Michael, one for Nancy), and countless paddle board competitions around the Pietropaoli raft. This year our plan … Continue reading

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Tour de France

The elite Tour de France is over for the year, 21 stages and more than 2,000 miles only a memory. We have memories of our own of our shorter, smaller Tour de France. Some of the same hills, but tackled by … Continue reading

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It takes a village…to host a Keuka Lake wedding

A year ago we didn’t think  about what would happen when our quest for lavender fields brought us back to the very lavender field we started from, less than a half-mile from our home on Keuka Lake. But a lot of things change in one year. … Continue reading

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Like snowflakes, no two mistral bells are alike

The mistral is a strong, cold, northwesterly wind that blows around the south of France through Provence and the Rhone Valley. Winds can reach 60 miles an hour or more and last for days at a time. To protect their beloved … Continue reading

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The Italian Riviera, with pastel homes and pink meerkats

When you get to Monaco it’s a short hop, skip, and jump to Italy, so we did!* First stop Genoa, birthplace of Christopher Columbus, home of our favorite salami, and once the site of Kodak’s European digital center. Nancy visited … Continue reading

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Monaco, a city, a country, a principality, and a way of life

Monaco is already setting up for the big Grand Prix Formula One car race in late May. The course runs right through the town, with hairpin turns on narrow European streets. And then there is the port itself, with LOTS … Continue reading

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Eygalieres – Leaving Saint-Remy

We stayed in our pied-a-terre in Saint-Remy again for a few days. Great airbnb hosts and a convenient spot next to a fantastic boulanger for morning croissants. Where Saint-Remy-de-Provence ends in the east, Eygalieres begins. The hilltop village has just over … Continue reading

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Celebs have arrived in Saint-Tropez!

We heard that two famous people were coming to Saint-Tropez for just one day so we  returned to our first home in France to be their official paparazzi team. Then it’s on to “le shopping.” Au revoir! All of Saint-Tropez misses … Continue reading

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Gorges du Verdon, a very grand canyon in France

Les Gorges du Verdon is France’s version of the Grand Canyon. There are a number of similarities. In both cases, a relatively small river has etched its way through several thousand feet of limestone, leaving a wide gorge with walls of … Continue reading

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Nice is nice. Cannes can be too. Loving the Cote d’Azur…

Things are warming up on the French Riviera. We moved a bit east of Saint-Tropez to some of the other resort cities. Nice has a large, beautiful pedestrian plaza named Place Massena. It is, however, cut through with an electric … Continue reading

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