third time's a charm. perfection in paris.

i love returning to cities i've visited before.

there's something about having a little prior knowledge that allows you to really start to enjoy a city, and not just feel like a completely lost tourist.

a few weeks ago, i was lucky enough to make my third trip to the city of lights.

#paris

i was traveling with a friend who had never been before, so we started our long weekend with a bike tour throughout the city. we really enjoyed our tour guide and the tour itself. the group was small and we were able to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time. we even rode our bikes along the seine for a stretch and that was awesome!

we wandered a couple neighborhoods that i have a particular affinity for, the 3rd and the 6th. 

we ate falafel from the place to eat falafel in paris. 

it was huge.
and awesome!

we sat and watched the people. and their pets.

on our last day, i went to pere lachaise cemetery. there's always such great photographs to be taken in cemeteries. there are a handful of celebrity graves in this gigantic cemetery, so i used rick steves' paris guidebook and followed his walking tour. this kept my time in the cemetery under two hours. 

Oscar Wilde's tomb

composer Frederic Chopin is buried here

Jim Morrison's grave site, which is
unfortunately completely fenced off to keep everyone from
climbing all over the graves

i cruised by the eiffel tower with hopes of catching some fall colors in the leaves, but it was just a bit too early. 

i bought overpriced, but amazing, macarons. 

traveler's tips:

we stayed here at a crazily discounted price. it's nice to have a sister in the hotel industry. 

one memorable meal happened here in addition to the above mentioned falafel

paris...always perfection. do you have favorite things to do or places to eat? i'm always looking for recommendations! i'd love to hear from you!

Photographing the Dead...Well, Sort of!

Living on Wilmington Island places us fairly close to many of Savannah's historic treasures. We're ten minutes from the beach and ten minutes from downtown. Snuggled in between the islands and downtown Savannah you can find the city's largest cemetery, Bonaventure Cemetery. Bonaventure is the final resting place of poet Conrad Aiken, song writer Johnny Mercer, and photographer Jack Leigh among many other notables. It was also home to the "Bird Girl" featured on the cover of John Berendt's book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil before her move to the Telfair Museum of Art. The cemetery, founded in 1846, features grand live oak lined pathways and burial sites ranging from very simple to highly ornate.

If you're making a trip to Savannah, a read of Berendt's book is a good idea.

Dad and I took a stroll around the cemetery so that I could practice using my camera. This summer I enrolled in Candice Stringham's Mastering Your DSLR on A Beautiful Mess. I shot all my images on manual, using this setting for the first time ever. All in all, for a first go, I was happy with a few of the shots. You can check them out below!

Savannah's Live Oak trees are super gorgeous!

Dad resting on Conrad Aiken's 'bench'.

All images shot with my Nikon D3100, still rocking the kit lens- AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G.

I love checking out different and unique cemeteries. Both Savannah and Milan have their share of cool burial grounds. Where are other interesting cemeteries?