A house sit in Venice

Prior to our house sit in France, we decided to take advantage of being in Europe to visit Venice. I'd always wanted to go, and I was so delighted to be able to see this beautiful city.

Kevin has wanted to go on a cruise for a while, as many of our friends had been cruising and having a great time, and suggesting we try it. So he looked for a cruise line that we could board from Venice, and found a trip on Norweigan Cruise Lines.

The photos here are some that I took when our cruise liner returned to the port in Venice. It almost looks as though the photos were taken from a plane. It was certainly exciting to see Venice from that perspective.

We weren't too sure at first if we were going to enjoy cruising, just getting on board was stressful. Combine the heat of mid-summer, a couple of thousand people showing up to embark, the cruise line insisting that you leave behind your water bottles for security, and the pushing and shoving of people eager to board, wasn't a great start to the cruise.

Once the cruiser got underway, and people all went their own way, we started to relax and unwind. Sadly for Kevin, he wasn't able to enjoy all the things he'd intended to do once onboard, due to a scald he had received on the Lufthansa flight into Venice. No lying in the sun by the pool or swimming, or venturing out without being well and truly covered from the sun.

But we did get to see these amazing views from our cabin, and if you are thinking of cruising, make sure you have a balcony room. It's worth it and especially if you need to spend time a lot of time in your cabin relaxing, you will be glad you did.

The staff on Norweigan Jade when we travelled were wonderful. I can't say enough about how great they were, friendly and couldn't do enough for you. I especially liked the washy, washy, happy, happy chant the staff did, to encourage people to use the anti bacterial hand wipe to keep all the people on our boat germ free. It's embedded in my brain now I'm sure, as every time we use anti bacterial wipe we do the washy washy happy happy chant.

Most people will tell you when you visit Venice to stay in the center around St Marco's square, and we did that the first time. Never again though. When we returned to Venice we decided to stay on Lido, it's the furthest small island that the Vaporetto (ferry) will take you to. It has cars and buses and a beach at one end of the island.

As we were in Venice in mid-summer, with thousands of other tourists in the heart of Venice. A short ferry ride and you can experience a quieter side of Venice - Giardini (famous for the Biennales) or Lido.

If you would like us to house sit in Venice for you, please contact us.

House Sitting In France

I think I've left a part of my heart back in France. I didn't even know I wanted to go to France and see what we've seen, all I know is that when the offer came to house sit there, my spirit jumped at the chance. Who would have thought that leaving Paris, I'd be feeling sad at seeing images of Versailles on the side of the walkway at the Airport.

Cafe near Versailles

Before we visited France, it had never even entered my mind to go to Versailles one day, yet here we were with an annual pass delighting in the ability to go whenever we wanted, to walk the beautiful gardens, accompanied by classical music wafting out from the gardens, and see the beautiful musical fountain displays. To stand in awe of statues older than our country. What an opportunity. How lucky were we?

I was just talking with friends today, at how life offers you opportunities sometimes. Sure when you are travelling you'll experience ups and downs along the way, and goodness we certainly did on our flight over this time. But our time away was also filled with some wonderful people who stepped in to help.

You know it's sad really that the news on TV doesn't tell the stories of the small acts of kindnesses that people do. The people who just give you a little bit of help, the right train to catch, and helping hands to lift heavy luggage.

We haven't stopped talking about how amazing the food was or how much we miss being able to hop on the metro and go and visit yet another wonderful sight.

Have I told you how amazing it is to hop on Line 1 of the Metro and be able to get off at any one of a number of historical places, The Bastille, The Eiffel Tower, The Champs Elysess, The Louvre, Place De La Concord...

And the food, did I tell you about the food? Oh my goodness...

Our favourite patiserie Bridgette et Jacky Godefroy at La Celle St Cloud was shut the day we left, so we didn't get to have a last minute farewell pastry. Thank you to our favourite bakers for your warm welcome and helping Kevin translate.

France je t'aime.

Thank you to our home owner Maria, for inviting us over to stay, we loved it. A little part of our hearts will always remain in Paris.

If you would like us to house sit for you in France, please contact us.