Bringing Down the White Picket Fence
A Couple's Quest to Live Globally
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Of all of the photos that Paul has taken over the years, this is one of my favorites. The lady in the hat, sitting by the Seine in front of the Louvre. It is often assumed that I posed for this photo, but I assure you, my arms and legs aren’t nearly that toned, and I do not own a purse or hat that glamorous. The tourists flock to the museum to… Read More
Paul took this photo on the nighttime Fat Tire Bike Tour of Paris. It is the one thing we highly recommend everybody do if it’s your first time visiting this beautiful city. It is essential that you take both the day tour and the night tour. You’ll jump on a beach cruiser and pedal down city streets that lead you to these breathtakingly gorgeous and remarkable views. On the day tour, you… Read More
I spent the night in this dress, sandwiched in an economy class seat in a pressurized capsule that transported me across the Atlantic. In France, in the early morning hours, Paul lugged my suitcase up the narrow wooden steps to our third floor apartment, and I pulled up a chair to my favorite window in all of Paris. Here I’ve watched a man stop daily to feed the pigeons. I’ve watched young… Read More
This is pure happiness. Headphones, a good book, and the French countryside. This high-speed train swept me from Paris to Lyon and then to Provence. Another summer after a stressful school year (as if I knew what stress was then). This country taught me how to take deep breaths. I savored every minute of calm, and now I long to go back.
I could look at this photo for hours. There is so much life here; so many stories, dreams, worries, and thoughts. There are people smiling, enjoying a night out with friends, while others sit and speculate. I could pick any person from this scene and tell their tale. Of course, it would be a work of pure fiction, as I’m sure I could never truly know what that man is wondering about,… Read More
This is my Paris. Several years ago, Paul and I rented an apartment in the 1st Arrondissement of the beautiful city of Paris. We stayed for the entire month of July. If you travel back in time on our blog, you can find many posts about our experience and learn about how it significantly changed our lives for the better. This weekend angry protesters lit the Champs Elysees ablaze in… Read More
After Paris, Paul and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in the city of Aix-en-Provence. After a week of doing the lazy and relaxing “eat, sleep, pool-shuffle” in the south of France, we returned home to New Jersey only to pack up our Jeep and set off on a road trip to Canada. We were only home one whole week! While we always remain fully equipped to blog during our travels, we don’t always… Read More
I’ll never forget the first time we rented an apartment for a month in Paris. In the weeks and days before the trip, I envisioned waking up every morning to the Eiffel Tower out my window and smooth jazz serenading me to sleep each night (think opening track to Woody Allen’s movie “Midnight in Paris”). Then the taxi dropped us off on a tiny side street leading to our temporary home in the 1st Arrondissement (Les Halles)… Read More
Shh…Paul is sleeping. This gives me the perfect opportunity to showcase his latest photos. While I may be the storyteller of our journeys, he’s the talent behind capturing the beauty in all of the places we visit. Tonight, his photos tell the story of a mid-afternoon stroll through one of our favorite cities in the world. This is Paris on a summer day. © Paul and Michelle Shappirio and Bringing Down the White… Read More
Bringing Down the White Picket Fence 