Love – Amour – Amore

Valentine’s Day is coming up on Wednesday and no matter how you say it, romance is on the mind of lovers everywhere. Tributes to the greatest of human emotions can be found in many places but the most lovely I’ve seen are in the middle of an Italian lake or on a Côte d’Azur hilltop. Here are five special testaments to the power of love.

Invitation, Monaco

One Night in Italy

We've recently begun a brand new year. I’ve also begun an exciting new chapter in my life as I ease into retirement. With this newfound freedom to do the things I enjoy, I plan to include more reading. And since I don’t have any travel plans for 2018 I was having trouble coming up with inspiration for future blog posts. Then it came to me! I’d signed up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge and set a goal of 52 books. As I work my way through an overflowing bookshelf of armchair travel fiction, I’ll feature some of these novels on my blog along with photos of locations mentioned in the stories. I’ll begin with One Night in Italy, by Lucy Diamond.

Souvenir Birds

I've never been much of a collector. And as I get older, I'm much more into downsizing. The one exception is the diverse flock of birds that has come to roost in my living room and it gets larger each time I travel. I never set out to create this avian collection but after a few years, I began to notice a pattern in my choice of souvenir.

Côte d'Azur: A Bird's Eye View

In keeping with recent posts with an air travel theme, I wanted to share the views from my window as we approached Nice Airport in France last summer. Strong winds meant that we had to make our approach from the east, providing passengers on the right side of the aircraft with unforgettable views of the glamourous coastline known as the Côte d’Azur.

Coastline of the French Riviera, or Côte d'Azur

A Tale of 3 Airport Lounges

Relaxing flights in Business Class made my latest trip to France even more special. The priority check-in, extra cabin space and inflight service were everything I’d hoped for. Suddenly the whole ordeal of modern air travel wasn’t quite so bad any more. And free access to the airport lounges in Montreal, Zurich and Lisbon enhanced my travel experience before I’d even left the ground.

Flying Executive Class: The Upgrade

Last week I told you about my flights to France in Swiss Business Class, which I’d purchased using loyalty program miles. I managed to find affordable return flights in Economy with TAP Portugal, thanks to their new service between Lisbon and Toronto. But once you’ve flown in Business Class, it’s hard to go back. As if reading my mind, a few days before I was scheduled to fly home TAP offered me an upgrade – a tempting notion indeed.