When we decided to visit Rome this winter, I worried that there wouldn’t be many vegan and gluten-free options. However, I learned that Italy has a very high rate of celiac disease and food safety is taken very seriously. Although many restaurants offer gluten-free pasta and pizza, if you have celiac disease, you should look for the Associazione Italiana...
Le Haut Marais, also known as the upper Marais, is located in the northern portion of the 3rd arrondissement. The area feels more like a neighborhood than the better known, more crowded, and touristy section of the Marais in the 4th arrondissement. Le Haut Marias is filled with historic architecture, museums, restaurants (many of them vegan), cafés, boutiques, and...
In Paris, there is no shame in women going places alone and enjoying their thoughts. I’ve often noticed women of all ages sitting alone at sidewalk cafes, lingering over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine in the late afternoon while contemplating life, or resting with a good book under a tree in a park or garden....
European open-air flea markets hold a special allure. They offer the tantalizing promise of discovery among objects once held dear and abandoned as families dissolved, tastes changed, or new technologies emerged. They illuminate the old ways and values of a culture; which, being from a young and often rootless country, we Americans often romanticize. I happened upon my first...
Tucked between the Piazza Navona and via dei Coronari, in my favorite area of Rome, sit Santa Maria della Pace and the Chiostro del Bramante. After visiting these two gems, my slow travel itinerary would include meandering through the lanes, visiting antique shops on via dei Coronari, and enjoying lunch at an outdoor table while admiring Renaissance and Baroque...
On our second night in Paris, the piano concert program at Église Saint-Éphrem-le-Syriaque in the Latin Quarter included Satie, Chopin, and Beethoven. Almost exactly four years ago to the day, we’d attended our first classical concert in a Parisian church there of all six of Bach’s Cello Concertos; one of our most treasured memories. Filled with anticipation, we retraced...
A year ago today I published my first post on RUE DE VARENNE. Suddenly, my reflections, travel tips, and photographs had a place to come together and be shared with others. As a child writing poems and stories in my bedroom, and a creative writing major in college just before the internet became widely available, I never imagined I’d...
As the train pulled into the station at Arles on a mild November morning, I found myself entirely unprepared. I’d set off for a day trip to Arles from Montpellier on a whim, intending to go where the wind blew me, finding joy in discovering things for myself, a true flâneur. Usually, I do more planning, but it had...
Many travelers love getting to know people wherever they go. However, when traveling alone I tend to keep to myself for safety’s sake. I have, however, been blessed to meet some incredible people, particularly colleagues, but also a small handful strangers. I once had an unusual experience in the Place des Vosges, in the Marais district of Paris, that...
Last summer, as we prepared for our fall trip to Paris, we decided to put the slow travel philosophy into practice. For the past couple of years, I’ve been reading and listening to podcasts about the slow living movement. It encompasses elements of mindfulness, inspiring you to be selective about how you spend your time, to take life at a more...
