Venice

This is photo was taken from the table we were sitting at in the restaurant our hotel booked for us which was right in front of the stage at the Venezia Jazz Festival!!

Venice was enchanting just as it was when I visited it nearly 10 years ago. One of my most favourite things to do in Venice is to walk to Piazza San Marco at night after dinner where the old cafes have live musicians singing and playing the most beautiful music....so romantic!! When we were in Venice we were thrilled when our hotel booked us dinner at a restaurant which was right in the heart of the Venezia Jazz Festival....what a fantastic experience that was!! I would return to this amazing city again and again if I had the chance!!

All images - Anna Spiro 2008

More St Jean...

Woops I forgot to include these images in my Cap Ferrat post!! The bicycle was an old cane bike which was sitting out the front of a gift shop in the main street of St Jean...so gorgeous and the flowers were in our hotel room...so pretty!!

All images - Anna Spiro 2008

St Jean Cap Ferrat

These 3 images above were taken in the charming 12th Century castle ruins of Eze Village which looks down on the Mediterranean and Cap Ferrat. Eze was recommended to me by some of my lovely readers and I am so thrilled I went there. We had lunch at the hotel which has the most amazing view in the entire village and by pure luck we were given one of the best tables in the restaurant which was amazing!!

St Jean Cap Ferrat on the Cote d'Azur in the South of France is breathtaking! I was mesmerized by the beautiful old houses clinging to the mountainous coastline and the colour of the water is like nothing else! On the day we arrived in this pretty seaside town there was a party being set up down on the marina which was just so pretty. I snapped a few pics as above. If you look closely you can see that they hand wrote each persons name on the table cloths and fresh flowers in pink tones {my favourite} picked from trees nearby were placed down the centre of each table...so simply pretty!!

All images - Anna Spiro 2008

Aix-en-Provence

Gardens at our hotel above

I absolutely loved visiting the Cote Bastide store in Aix...such beautiful, simplistic pieces...I loved the way they placed the olive branches all around the store and hanging on the front door as pictured. I purchased some beautiful towels here.

Restaurant at our hotel above

Aix-en-Provence is so pretty! Known as the town of a thousand fountains, Aix is lined with beautiful trees and gorgeous old buildings. Our hotel was surrounded by the most beautiful lush gardens which we sat in and enjoyed. Aix was a such a lovely place to come to after the hustle and bustle of Paris...this was where we were able to catch our breath for a few days...

All images - Anna Spiro 2008

Beautiful Paris

We visited the Paris Antique markets on our first day in Paris...they were amazing and I had to go back the next day as well as one day wasn't enough for me. I purchased some beautiful things here for both myself and the shop...

The ottoman and marble carving above were my most favourite pieces in the Palace of Versailles.

My favourite site in Paris was the Eiffel Tower {of course}...I loved seeing it peeping through the buildings all around Paris!!

We walked through the Luxembourg Gardens early one morning...so very pretty!

Visiting Laduree on the Champs Elysees where we had lunch was one of my favourite Paris experiences! I bought lots of beautiful things (2 bags full) and I have carted all the beautiful boxes home to keep forever. I plan to display them in a table scape at home. Of course just like many places we visited in Paris Laduree did not allow photographs however I managed to take a few before I was told and I couldn't resist taking some photos of the pretty bathroom!!

The Arc de Triomphe on the bustling Champs-Elysees...



How could we not go to the Moulin Rouge?

The Louvre was amazing! We went at 9.00pm at night which was fantastic as the crowds had left which made the experience so much more enjoyable!!

This was the inside of the most gorgeous old bookshop which we stumbled across in a street behind our hotel. I purchased a few very beautiful books here.

Hello again...I am back from my beautiful trip away and I am so happy to be home with my family and friends and as funny as it may sound I am so happy to be back at work! I thought I would share with you over the next few days some of my favourite photos from my trip. Today I give you Paris...beautiful, beautiful Paris & The Palace of Versailles which is just outside of Paris!! Enjoy!

All images - Anna Spiro - Paris 2008

Hello!

Image - Anna Spiro - Paris 2008

Hello Friends! It feels like such a long time since I was here last! I thought I'd just drop in to say hi and to let you all know that I will be back with my regular posting this Thursday. I have lots of lovely things to share with you and a few beautiful things from my trip. I also have a new series which I will be introducing here at ABT which I will tell you all about later this week. I hope you are all well and I can't wait to hear from you!! See you Thursday!

xx

Anna

Au revoir...

Image via We Heart It

Bye for now...I'll be back in 3 weeks...

Thank you!

Nothing was more fitting than this pretty photo by the very talented Jen Altman for me to post as a thank you to you all for your very kind emails, comments and tips for my trip to France. I couldn't be more grateful. What an amazing group of people this blog has introduced me to. I hope you all stay happy and well while I am away and I promise to have lots of inspiration for you upon my return!! In the meantime, do visit the lovely blogs I have listed in my blogroll as they will give you lots of inspiration while I am gone!! xx Anna

1 Day & Counting..

My Heart Wandered to Paris by Jen Gotch for the My Heart Wanders project created by Pia Jane Bijkerk. Such a beautiful image for the last day of my countdown!!

New @ Black & Spiro

I thought I would post this picture of a vintage cane chair {one of a pair of chairs} which just came back from our upholsterer today for the shop. I just love the fresh colourway of this Florence Broadhurst fabric and I felt it was a perfect choice for these chairs. They actually look so gorgeous with the blue striped sofa we currently have in the shop...I hope they all get sold to the same person as they look so wonderful together!!