Practice Makes Parfait

… all the fun and funny faux pas of life abroad.

Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
  • Archive
Search

Travel

What to do at Lake Como if you aren’t a billionaire

April 2, 2020April 1, 2020 / Claire Santoro / Leave a comment

*Note: This post is about a trip I took in September. No one should be traveling farther than their local grocery store right now.* After a week in Milan, Colin and I were both itching to get out of the city to someplace more scenic. In the interest of keeping things simple, we decided on … Continue reading What to do at Lake Como if you aren’t a billionaire

One day in Venice

March 30, 2020March 29, 2020 / Claire Santoro / 6 Comments

With everything that's going on in Italy right now, it's hard to think back to the lazy vacation days I spent there in September. But by the same token, now seems like the perfect time to celebrate the beauty and charm of northern Italy. Andiamo! Let's go! (First, an explanation for my long delay: Shortly … Continue reading One day in Venice

Milan: not-so-touristy Italy

October 10, 2019 / Claire Santoro / Leave a comment

Colin and I started our trip last month in Milan, where he had a week-long conference. Now Milan may be known as a fashion capital of the world and an international business hub, but it is decidedly not known for its tourist appeal. That meant that our week was pretty quiet overall, compared to other … Continue reading Milan: not-so-touristy Italy

Our return to Paris

September 27, 2019 / Claire Santoro / Leave a comment

What would you do if you were only in Paris for three days? I'm planning to put together a list of my recommendations at some point, but in case you couldn't tell from my packing list, Colin and I had pretty specific goals. Namely: eat and be outside. We wanted to simply live in Paris … Continue reading Our return to Paris

How to pack for Paris

September 18, 2019September 27, 2019 / Claire Santoro / Leave a comment

I'm just starting the process of sifting through the 500+ photos from our two weeks in Europe, but I thought I'd start with the most important thing: how to pack for a trip to Paris. If you're like me, you either can't or don't want to pay airline baggage fees, so everything needs to fit … Continue reading How to pack for Paris

J’arrive!

August 26, 2019 / Claire Santoro / 1 Comment

Time has snuck up on me. Colin and I have been in St. Louis for more than six months now, which means we're knee-deep in the minutiae of Real Life. As much as I still miss Paris, it now feels like a world away. The longer we're away, the harder it is to imagine going … Continue reading J’arrive!

2018 by the numbers

April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 / Claire Santoro / 1 Comment

What a year 2018 was! Even as I’m getting used to living in the US again, I still miss France more than I can say. It’s strange not to be able to hop on a train in the morning and be in a different country by lunchtime. It’s strange not to buy fresh bread at … Continue reading 2018 by the numbers

Where to go (and where to avoid) in Morocco

February 28, 2019February 28, 2019 / Claire Santoro / Leave a comment

Reverse culture shock is real, guys. Colin and I have been back in the US for two weeks and in St. Louis for one, and things like SUVs and billboards and noisy restaurants and supermarkets completely overwhelm me. I mostly spend my days searching online for nearby wine and cheese markets and then crying, "Mon … Continue reading Where to go (and where to avoid) in Morocco

The grand finale: Mont Saint Michel

January 22, 2019 / Claire Santoro / Leave a comment

For our final trip in France, Colin and I went to Mont Saint Michel. We didn't intentionally plan for this to be our last trip, but we'd heard that Mont Saint Michel is overwhelmed by tourists year-round, "except maybe December or January," according to our landlady. December was busy with travel to Belgium, Marseille, Carcassonne, … Continue reading The grand finale: Mont Saint Michel

A road trip through southern France

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019 / Claire Santoro / Leave a comment

After two nights in Marseille, Colin and I rented a car and drove ourselves across southern France into Spain, where we celebrated the New Year with friends. The road trip had been sort of an impulse decision after we'd realized that our friend's parents' vacation house (where we'd be staying) was an hour outside of … Continue reading A road trip through southern France

Posts navigation

← Older posts

Recent Favorites

  • Molettes
    Molettes
  • The apocalypse
    The apocalypse
  • Pandemic Picture Project, Installment 2
    Pandemic Picture Project, Installment 2
  • Earth Day
    Earth Day
  • Another milestone
    Another milestone
  • A milestone
    A milestone
  • Pandemic Picture Project, Week 1
    Pandemic Picture Project, Week 1
  • "I salute the effort you are going to make"
    "I salute the effort you are going to make"
  • What to do at Lake Como if you aren't a billionaire
    What to do at Lake Como if you aren't a billionaire
  • One day in Venice
    One day in Venice

Looking for Something?

Archives

  • May 2020 (2)
  • April 2020 (7)
  • March 2020 (2)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • September 2019 (2)
  • August 2019 (2)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (4)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (3)
  • February 2019 (4)
  • January 2019 (11)
  • December 2018 (7)
  • November 2018 (9)
  • October 2018 (8)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (10)
  • July 2018 (11)
  • June 2018 (8)
  • May 2018 (6)
  • April 2018 (9)
  • March 2018 (9)
  • February 2018 (9)

Tags

Alps Amsterdam Antigua Apartment Arc de Triomphe Art Autumn Belgium Boston Cafes Car-Free Cell Phone Champagne Cooking Cricket Eiffel Tower Fieldwork Fontainebleau Food Forest Park France Greece Helicopter Holidays How To Immigration Israel Italy Lake Geneva Language London Long-Stay Visa Louvre Lumiere London Marseille Memorial de la Shoah Montpellier Mont Saint Michel Morocco Moving Mur des Justes Musee d'Orsay Museums Notre Dame OFII Packing Parc des Buttes-Chaumont Paris Parks Picnics Rodin Sacre Coeur Sainte-Chapelle Saint Louis Seine Shakespeare's Globe Spain Spring St. Louis Stanley Cup Story Maps Summer Switzerland Template To Do Tour de France Tower of London Travel Turks & Caicos Versailles Voting Abroad Wait Wait Don't Tell Me Westminster Abbey Winter World Cup
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
  • Follow Following
    • Practice Makes Parfait
    • Join 77 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Practice Makes Parfait
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...