A definite highlight of all the concerts I attended in 2012 was seeing the beautiful and insanely talented Mika last October.
He sings just as good, if not better, live. Mika is the type of performer who gives 100% to every performance. In turn, the audience gives 100% back. There’s a vibe to the crowd that is truly incredible. It reminds me of the crowd for The Hives and is a big reason I always catch him whenever he’s in town. I sing myself hoarse and feel like I’m on a cloud smiling for hours afterwards. Mika is pure fun with this amazing voice packaged in a skinny frame of cute.
I’m pretty proud of my awesome husband. Close to 100,000 views and countless blog posts later, Remi built something amazingly difficult and cool using LEGO. The geeks went wild. And I get to enjoy seeing it every day on display in our house.
The Hives are one of the best live acts on the planet right now. I’ve seen them 3timesthis year and sadly will miss their other local shows coming up. But if you ever have a chance, take it and see the Hives put on quite the spectacular rock show with charm, humor, and kick ass music.
Here’s some video proof from their recent show on September 14 at the Wiltern.
A return to the city of light… a city that we love so. It was sunny and almost too hot for the four days we spent in an adorable apartment on the Île Saint-Louis. The weather was so nice that it felt like the entire city was drinking wine by the Seine every night. We visited the catacombs, the grand Palais Garnier, drank amazing wine, climbed to the top of the Sacré-Cœur, and spent many a relaxing afternoon sitting under the trees behind Notre Dame. Then it was on a plane back to the city of angels… back to Baxter. Back to real life. Back to work but with blissful, amazing memories from a unforgettable trip.
On our first trip to France, we spent 5 beautiful days in the Loire Valley. For our return to France, we revisited the Loire for just a day and a night, hitting a few of spots we regretted missing.
This time we saw the beautiful Château d’Angers, which houses the simply incredible Apocalypse Tapestry. Followed that with a stop at Clos Lucé, the last residence of Leonardo da Vinci and now a museum to his life.
Last time, we drove by Chambord and kicked ourselves for not having the time to visit it. So this time, not only did we visit Chambord, the largest castle in the Loire, but we stayed the night at a hotel with a spectacular view. Even better was you could wander the castle grounds after all the crowds and tour groups were gone for the day. We ate a picnic of cheese, bread and chocolate that evening, watching the setting sunreflect off this beautifully grand château. It was so romantic and peaceful. The next morning, we wandered around this impressive, strange, and beautiful castle without waiting in line and avoiding the crowds. Then it was off to Paris.
More France photos! Almost done… the trip was spectacular and browsing through photos again, I get an ache. Not only for France (oh, the food! the wine! the coffee!) but just for the joy of traveling, exploring, and experiencing new things.
This day on our trip found us stopping in the charming town of Pont-Aven for lunch. We followed that by a step into the past, thousands of years in the past… seeing the famous Carnac standing stones and various dolmens from the Neolithic age. It was humbling, strange, mystical, and inspiring.
We later hit a traffic jam on the way to Nantes, the hometown of Jules Verne. Stayed only 1 night and really regretted that we didn’t find a way to carve out time to explore this great city. Maybe next time.
This turned out to be the hottest and sunniest day of the whole trip, exploring Brittany’s Atlantic coast. There were stunning granite cliffs to scramble over, a tempting ocean we wanted to jump in and finally, we ended the day with some much needed ice cream to cool off.
A highlight of the trip was exploring the ancient forest of Huelgoat, full of granite rocks, stories, and legendary landmarks related to King Arthur. Yes, this region in France believe Artus is theirs. It was a truly magical day exploring this ancient forest and land.
