love note

Dear Europe,

Thank you for your hospitality, it's been a blast.

See you again soon

xxx Taryn

Exciting news

I am the proud owner of a Chanel 2.55!

Ok, so it's not that important but it was a thrilling day yesterday when i went to pick up my bag from the Berlin Chanel store- it had been sitting there for over a week while we went to Turkey (didnt want to risk it!)

It may not have been in Paris...but it did happen!

Perfection

Treetop houses, budding citrus trees, cavernous mountains, endless ocean with bath-like water

Amazing free dinner and breakfast

Hammocks and day beds

$1 icecream

What more could you want?

(Olympos, Turkey)

Roast Turkey

(one of the two rings purchased in Morocco- sadly the other did not make it out the country)

(my current euro jewel collection- small but slowly getting there)

(my newest)

Anyone in my family will tell you that I am the worst at bartering...and I will freely admit it is not my strong suit. While normally stubborn as a mule, when it comes to buying goods without a fixed price I get all nervous, stumble over my words and usually give up, offering more than I had originally planned.

Even though it is common practice and expected in countries like Bali and Morocco, the thought of undervaluing and offending a merchant scares me- though theyre most likely to rip me off in the end anyway.

So arriving in Istanbul meant I had to pull up my socks and stick on some balls so I could go home with a special something.

Of course my ring obsession over took me and as soon as I spotted these 3-stone beauties I knew I’d regret leaving without one.

Jonno’s advice is always to go in and offer your best price, never budging, and if they don’t like it they can get stuffed. Well that didn’t work with the first shop keeper.

In the end I picked out the ring above, for a little more than I’d hoped but am completely happy with my choice.

We have one more day in the city after our coastal adventure to Olympos and I am going to give it a go again...more rings of course (and maybe a sneaky bracelet!)

Chanel...more to come

(at Chanel Soho store re-opening)

I know this picture has been on every other blog but Abbey Lee is just amazing!

Picnic problems

After a couple of days in Paris I very quickly learnt that one of the Parisians favourite things to do is to pack a picnic and head to one of the many beautiful gardens scattered around town.

So on our final day (and after days of amazing weather), we- myself, Jonno and my cousin and gracious host Jan- decided to pack ourselves a very French picnic and cycle down to the Luxemburg Gardens.

With a selection of cheeses, cold meats, salad, a crisp bottle of wine and some delectable macaroons we headed out, hopped on our bikes...and then of course, it rained. No, not rained, poured.

After a quick stop off in a coffee shop we snaked our way to the Louvre and decided to perch there with our picnic.

We lasted there longer than expected before security very nicely asked us to move on (after a photo of course).

At 3.30pm after four tries we finally plopped down under the rotunda in the magnificent gardens and did as the Parisians do.

The city of love...and Chanel

After 2 weeks of rain and cold winds, Paris of all cities has brought out the spectacular weather...just for us of course!

The city of lights was made all the more better when our hostel informed us on arrival that we had been upgraded to a private room from a dorm...private: a word that thrills me after 4 months of shared accommodation.

Our first day was not only spent pounding the cobblestones to Paris's most famous landmarks including the Louvre, Sacre Coure, the Moulin Rouge and the Seine river, but also provided a passage to seek out that 2.55 i've got my heart set on.

Chanel's most famous bag has been on my wishlist for longer than i can remember and I thought that Paris would be the perfect place to make the bank-diminishing purchase...only to find that they are out of stock of the leather and chain I was after!

It also doesn't help that the legendary brand has decided to increase its price by 20% (had i known this before July i would have bought it in Spain!)

So while it wastn'd the dream i'd expected, I will search out the bag in Berlin and New York...otherwise just buy a whole lot of shoes...and maybe an Alexander Wang bag (though i'm open to other suggestions!)