This entry is part of "France: From Paris to the Riviera" series...

We kicked off our honeymoon in the romance capital of the world (Paris), we then traveled to the middle of France and found ourselves immersed in a completely different atmosphere...

This entry is part of "France: From Paris to the Riviera" series...

Paris has long been considered the romance capital of the world... so what better place to kick off our honeymoon?

Due to the amount of pictures/words this entry is posted in 2 parts

This entry is part of "France: From Paris to the Riviera" series...

Paris has long been considered the romance capital of the world... so what better place to kick off our honeymoon?

Due to the amount of pictures/words this entry is posted in 2 parts

Introduction:

Two years after getting married my wife and I finally found time to go on a proper honeymoon! The decision to choose France as our honeymoon destination came naturally as France offered everything we would appreciate in an adventure: Legendary cuisine, excellent variety of photographic opportunities, and of course being the romance capital of the world (I know it’s a cliché, but why not go for the gold?).

On our 16-day adventure we wanted to spend at least a week in Paris since this was our first time visiting France, and spend the rest of our time “sampling” different parts of France at a relatively leisure pace (we wanted to smell the roses too!). Cote d’Azur (French Riviera) emerged as an ideal second destination because it combined relaxation with an excellent public transport system. Upon departure our itinerary looked like this: Paris (7 days) -> Avignon area (2.5 days) -> Nice (5 days) -> return to Paris for our flight home (we did not have a daily itinerary because getting lost had led to many amazing surprises throughout our travels in the past).  Unlike our trip to China, my wife's semi-fluent French turned out to be an extremely important asset.

AND… For the first time ever instead of staying at hotels we rented private apartments for both Paris and Nice… as for Provence… we opted to let fate decide our fortunes.

1 day whirlwind visit in August

I have always considered Seattle as Vancouver's twin because these two cities are so close geographically from each other (~2 hours by car excluding the border wait).  In typical northwest fashion Seattleites are polite, laid-back, and generally fit (who can blame them? Northwest's natural beauty = outdoor activities).

I have been to/through Seattle many times before but I have never "toured" around the city (like many Vancouverites, Seattle's existence was purely for cross-border shopping... until now).  With the entire northwest enjoying a history-setting fantastic summer, and the Toronto Blue Jays coming to Seattle... Seattle here I come!

The annual Persied's Meteor shower was all over the news and since I didn't have to work the next day I decided to try photographing the meteors! To be completely honest I have never been a fan of night photography because 1) I don't get to sleep, 2) A dark piece of sky is required (need to go somewhere far away?), 3) It requires a lot of post-processing...

It turns out there is a nice piece of real estate called Porteau Cove (only 45 minutes from Vancouver) that is popular amongst night photographers.  When I arrived there were SO many photographers... It was tough getting a spot!

The light pollution at the bottom right is from the town of Squamish (near the Stawamus Chief!), and the Sea-to-Sky highway traffic could be seen from the bottom right as well.

This page houses my favorite pictures through my camera lens.  Even though these pictures will most likely not win any awards, they are my favorite memories (usually because they are on my Bucket List).  Most of these pictures are displayed on my wall in my own home.

Oregon Coast - Thor's Well Bucket list item #30! I stumbled upon a picture of this place on Flickr while planning my Oregon Coast road trip, and I quickly realized that I must visit this place. This was taken along the Oregon Coast at a place near Cape Perpetua. "Thor's Well" is actually a geographic "blow hole" where it is under water most of the time when the tide is high, and it is only visible when the tide is low with waves coming on-shore. When the wave comes in through the underground channel it jets out "Thor's well" like a geyser... be careful because if you are pulled into this cave you'll be coming back out in pieces with the next wave! I actually visited this place the day before this picture was taken but the weather was so windy/rainy that it was a little bit too dangerous for my taste (actually since I was traveling with my girlfriend at the time (wife now) I didn't want her to worry. Even when I took this picture the conditions were a little dicey...