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Category: Scent

7 Jul

France, Ile de Bendor Côte d’Azur Hide Away

The Côte d'Azur, France, was one of the most glamorous playgrounds on the Mediterranean Sea. Alfred Hitchcock's 'To Catch a Thief' features that stylish and chic atmosphere of the French Riviera at it's peak, thanks to icons like Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. One of my favourite movies. Nowadays, the Côte has lost it's magic and quite often it’s an overdeveloped victim of its own hype. Me and Luca did spend several holidays in France and the Coast. There are places where you still can breathe and feel that atmosphere of relaxed elegance. One of this is Ile de Bendor, a small island off the coast of Bandol, South of France. The 'Ile' can be reached only by boat and...
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6 Jul

Essaouira Mogador & World Heritage

During our wanderings, we did travel through Morocco with a big old car, that we called 'al julhara', the jewel. One of my favourite places was Essaouira, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Essaouira is a mid-eighteenth century fortified town, today World Heritage, in ancient times called 'Mogador'  by Phoenician. The old fortified village has narrow streets, with small shops and cafés, to discover. In small laboratories near the fortified wall, skilled artisans work briar-root wood. It is a fine wood, light brown to reddish brown, often beautifully textured. Especially used to make pipes, it is very hard, heat-resistant and does not affect the aroma of pipe tobacco smoke. As we do not smoke pipe, we did choose some decorative objects to bring...
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21 Jun

Krabi, Rayavadee & The Bay of the Princess

Phra Nang means 'Bay of the Princess' and Rayavadee 'Land of the Princess', respectively name of the peninsula of Krabi and of the resort we visited few years ago. The names come from a Thai legend about two princesses that did sank with a ship during a storm at the Phra Nang Peninsula. Their spirits came to reside in the cave right on one of the three beaches where the Rayavadee resort lies. It took us 24 tiring hours, two planes, one bus and one boat to get there, but I did never find such a spectacular sea resort anywhere in my life. I don't refer to the Rayavadee Resort, that is luxurious and terrific, and still is, but...
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7 May

Spain, Lanzarote The Force of Nature

Lanzarote is part of the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. What makes Lanzarote so unique is its volcanic origin, that is part of its charme still today. Infact, the island was born about 15 million years ago through fiery eruptions and has solidified lava streams as well as extravagant rock formations. Lanzarote emerged after the break-up of the African and the American continental plates. The Timanfaya National Park eyewitnesses the greatest recorded eruptions between 1730 and 1736. We did visit the park and it was such a strong experience. Just imagine more than 100 volcanoes, covering an area of 50 km², that rise up and erupt for almost 100 years, the last eruptions being in 1824. You still smell the scent of cinder...
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