Paradise and Super Paradise Beach in Mykonos

So, this should have been posted the week of January 21, but now is better than never :)

During the winter months, I am always reminded as to why I chose to live in South Florida -- no snow!! So, this week, I wanted to write about another sunny destination -- Paradise and Super Paradise Beach in Mykonos, Greece -- to give all of my snow-bound readers something to dream about.

Mykonos is one of the Greek islands situated in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a beautiful island with white-washed houses looking over the bright blue sea. It truly looks like a postcard. Many cruise ships stop there or you can take a ferry from one of the other Greek islands. There is even a small airport on Mykonos itself. Once you get to Mykonos, you can get to the beaches by either taxi, bus or even boat.

There are numerous beaches in the various Greek islands, but I found myself most excited about Paradise and Super Paradise. These beaches are next door to each other -- there is basically no way to differentiate between the two except suddenly the signs say "Super Paradise" as opposed to "Paradise." What makes these beaches special is not their beauty, though they are in fact beautiful, but rather their party atmosphere.

The Paradise beaches are party beaches through and through. There are bars scattered through the beaches with loud music and dancing at each one starting as early as people are awake. It creates a Spring Break atmosphere, but with a European twist. Supposedly, Super Paradise is more of a party beach than Paradise, though I think the differences are really negligible.

TIP: The beaches are clothing optional, though it is not such a big deal here as in other beaches. Just make sure you are comfortable with this before arriving.

If you find yourself traveling around the Mediterranean, I would highly recommend making a pit stop to the Paradise Beaches -- you will find a charming mix of relaxing on the beach and partying like a rock star.

Paradise and Super Paradise Beach

Mykonos, Greece

L'Ambassade d'Auvergne

Sorry I have not posted in a while -- work has gotten the best of me! But, I am going to try to catch up for the posts I missed in January in the next few weeks. So, this post should have been for the week of January 14th.

When I was in New Orleans the first weekend of January, I was chatting with my husband's uncle, who is a serious world traveler, about his travels and mine. We discovered that we had one "favorite" in common -- L'Ambassade d'Auvergne restaurant in Paris.

L'Ambassade focuses on food from the Auvergne region of France, which is situated pretty much in the middle of France. Its specialty is aligot, which is basically the cheesiest mashed potatoes you will ever eat. When they are served, the waiter pulls them from a big pot and basically stretches them as far as he can and plops them on your plate. It is pretty funny to watch and very delicious to eat. The other food is as hardy and tasty as the aligot -- green lentil salad, sausage, duck and various stews. Not a light meal to say the least!

The highlight of the meal though, especially for chocolate lovers, is the chocolate mousse. This is not the chocolate mousse you think of from Jello boxes and cafeterias. This is basically a giant bowl of chocolate ganache and yes, it is as good and rich as it sounds. It does in fact get served to you in a giant bowl. They bring out The Bowl and serve you a normal portion of mousse. And then...THEY LEAVE THE BOWL! Oh my goodness...it took all of my willpower (not that I have that much to begin with) to not eat the entire bowl. It was that good and that rich. I would go back just for the mousse alone!

The restaurant itself reminds me of a country house. All dark woods and textiles. It feels very homey and comforting just like the food.

One thing you will notice is that this restaurant is spoken of quite a bit in the various tour books, and yes, it is a bit touristy. Like many places in Europe, we sat in the "English-speaking section." But the food is so good and the atmosphere so quaint, that I would still highly recommend stopping by.

TIP: Ok, so I usually try to give a helpful tip here, but my only real tip is, ORDER THE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!!!

L'Ambassade d'Auvergne

22, rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare

75003 Paris

Tel. +33 (0)1 42 72 31 22

http://www.ambassade-auvergne.com/

Tea at Windsor Court Hotel

Now that the holiday season is over (sadly), I wanted to do one post related to the holidays to keep the spirit going for just one more week. My favorite Christmas tradition as a child was always going with my mom and her friends (and their children) to Christmas tea at the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans.

The Windsor Court Hotel is a luxury hotel near the French Quarter in New Orleans. It was developed in 1984, which for New Orleans is actually pretty new! More than 80% of the hotel rooms are suites, one of which we actually stayed in the weekend of my wedding. It always ends up on all of the "Best of" lists by the various travel publications. The main restaurant in the hotel, the Grill Room, also ends up on all of the "Best of" lists by all of the best foodie publications. The main bar in the hotel, the Polo Club Lounge, is also a swanky affair that is definitely worth a stop for a martini or a glass of champagne.

But, the best reason to go to the Windsor Court is for tea, especially at Christmas, at Le Salon. Tea at Windsor Court is delightfully old-fashioned. All of the women and children get all dressed up -- the women in their dresses and hats and the children with their little patent Mary Janes. There is always wonderful music in the background from a harpist or a string trio -- classical year-round, but Christmas tunes during the holidays. You get to choose from a large variety of different teas and eat cute little tea sandwiches. For those of you looking for a more adult experiences, Le Salon also offers numerous champagne cocktails. After the sandwiches, you are served incredibly delicious scones, yummy little pastries and truffles and chocolate covered strawberries. All of which is just incredibly decadent. If you want to be even more decadent, you can even order smoked salmon and caviar! For children, they have a separate tea service with children's items like peanut butter and jelly. All of this food is served on tiered little platters. Very precious!

TIP: The Windsor Court Hotel has a fantastic art collection. Before or after tea, I would make time to take a tour of the hotel to check out this collection. 

Christmas tea at the Windsor Court Hotel is a really delightful experience. It is a great excuse to get dressed up and celebrate Christmas in style. If you ever spend Christmas in New Orleans, I would highly recommend making a reservation for tea at Windsor Court.

Windsor Court Hotel
300 Gravier Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Telephone: (888) 596-0955/ (504) 523-6000
Email: resv@windsorcourthotel.com

Happy Holidays!

So, due to the hecticness of December in general and particularly in my line of work as a Corporate attorney, there will be no blog posts for the month of December. The next new post will be the first week of January. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to posting again in the new year!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I will be spending the rest of the week in New Orleans with my family, so there will be no posts this week. Hope everyone has a fantastic holiday week! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

PS -- This picture was by far the best (ie. most ridiculous) one I found when I searched Thanksgiving images through Google.

Ti Kaye Village

Last weekend was my husband and my 4th year wedding anniversary (cue the "awwws"). Remembering that day made me nostalgic for our honeymoon on St. Lucia and the wonderful resort we stayed in -- Ti Kaye Village in Anse Cochon.

Ti Kaye is an adorable little resort situated on the coast of St. Lucia high above the ocean. Everything about this resort just screams honeymoon. Each "room" is actually a small cottage. Ti Kaye translates into "Little House" and the resort is basically a village of little houses. All the little houses face the ocean and have huge French doors. Each cottage includes an outdoor shower, a hammock and a large balcony. Our cottage also had a plunge pool. It was relaxation paradise.

The grounds are lovely. Each cottage is spaced far enough away so you do not hear your neighbors' conversations, but close enough that it does not feel like you are alone in the jungle. The main house includes a small gift shop, the front desk, a bar and a restaurant called Kai Manje. The bar and restaurant were awesome. They are covered, but had no walls, so you were protected from rainstorms but were able to soak up the beautiful weather. The bar specialized in a rum punch dusted with nutmeg that was just awesome. The drink menu as a whole was crazy -- it was huge and all of the drinks were so inexpensive. It was a little dangerous to tell the truth! We ate dinner at the restaurant every night and every night we were thrilled with our dinners. The food is continental with an island twist and also includes some St. Lucia specialties. They even have a pretty good wine list. Since the resort was fairly secluded, they entertained their guests at night with various bands and other fun surprises. Even though I am usually a big fan of variety, I did not mind eating at their restaurant every night!

Next to the main house, there is a small pool for those not interested in going to the beach. But, really you go to the Caribbean to go to the beach. As I said earlier, Ti Kaye is basically located on a large cliff. You have to take these kind of old scary steps down to the beach, but once you get down there you don't want to leave. Ti Kaye has a private beach that is only interrupted by the random snorkeling excursion. They have chairs and umbrellas for their guests to use along with snorkeling equipment and kayaks. My husband and I took advantage of all those items! The snorkeling at Ti Kaye is great because you do not need to go anywhere, you just step off of the beach into the ocean and there are reefs right there. Pretty cool stuff. In addition, you can take the kayak out to see a little shipwreck. Also, pretty cool stuff.

On the beach, Ti Kaye also has a casual restaurant called Ti Manje where you can go for lunch (and mid-afternoon drinks of course). They will also schedule excursions for you around the island, including scuba diving. There is actually a dive shop -- Island Divers -- on property. There is even a spa now named Kai Koko, which they didn't have when we went there.

I had a wonderful honeymoon at Ti Kaye and I would highly suggest honeymooners or other couples to go there. Heck, they even have a little song "Ti Kaye honeymoon...fly me to the moon!"

Ti Kaye Village Resort
P.O. Box GM 669
Castries
St Lucia
Telephone: 758-456-8101
Fax: 758-456-8105
General Information: info@tikaye.com
Spa enquires: spa@tikaye.com
Diving enquires: diving@tikaye.com
www.tikaye.com

The Aububon Institute

I spent last weekend in New Orleans at a wedding event. As is often the case in New Orleans, we spent most of the weekend eating and drinking. I often find that most (if not all) of my New Orleans recommendations are food and drink related. However, there is so much more to New Orleans than food and alcohol. So, this week, I am focusing on a different type of New Orleans treasure -- the Audubon Institute and the great attractions it runs in New Orleans. The Audubon Institute (named after naturalist John James Audubon) is focused on conversation and education and it really is a fantastic organization.

The most famous Audubon attraction is the Audubon Zoo in the Garden District. This is consistently rated one of the best zoos in the United States and you can see why as soon as you step in. The Zoo is huge! Even adults get tired trying to walk around the entire area. There is a little train that runs through it now, though they definitely did not have that when I was a kid! There are tons of different types of animals and each one lives in its own specialized habitat. The Zoo itself is separated into different areas based on habitat, which is a really great teaching tool. Speaking of teaching tools, there are always great learning opportunities for kids scattered throughout the Zoo. I remember riding elephants and camels there when I was a kid! Some of the highlights include the Asian elephant exhibit, Monkey Hill (which rumor has it is the highest point in low-hanging New Orleans), the Louisiana Swamp exhibit and the Dinosaur Adventure. All of this is situated in the middle of the beautiful Garden District, a far cry from the hustle of the French Quarter.

However, if you are in the French Quarter and need a break from eating and drinking, I would highly recommend a visit to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas. The Aquarium is also run by the Audubon Institute and it is also fantastic. It is a huge aquarium with different rooms for the various climates represented. Like the Zoo, there are different interactive exhibits scattered throughout the Aquarium. Some of the highlights include the African penguin exhibit, animal feedings, and the Gulf of Mexico exhibit. There is even an IMAX Theatre located next door. I remember seeing a Rolling Stones concert there, though I think it it usually focused on nature-type movies. It is definitely a great place to go to escape a hot summer day!

In 2009, the Audubon Institute opened the Audubon Insectarium, which is America's largest museum devoted to insects and its relatives. It celebrates the world of bugs with 13 gallery rooms containing more than 70 live animal enclosures, 30 mounted specimen cases and a multisensory immersive theater experience. You can experience live insect encounters, discover cultural aspects of insects, sample exotic insect cuisine, shrink in size to see the world from a bug’s perspective, and enjoy the tranquility of a Japanese garden with hundreds of butterflies!It has gotten amazing reviews, but I am honestly too creeped out by the insects to go. But, if it is anything like the rest of the Audubon attractions, I would highly recommend it!

TIP: There are many different combo packages you can buy to help conserve money. The best package is
the Audubon Experience Ticket which includes one visit to each facility; ticket expires five days after first use, excluding Mondays when all facilities are closed.

So when visiting New Orleans, either with kids or without, I would take time to visit one of the Audubon Institutes's attractions in order to see a different side of the city!

Audubon Zoo
6500 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70118
(800) 774-7394 or (504) 581-4629 

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas
Canal Street at the River
#1 Canal Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
(800) 774-7394 or (504) 581-4629

Audubon Insectarium
423 Canal Street
U.S. Custom House
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
(800) 774-7394 or (504) 581-4629

www.auduboninstitute.org