✕
"Fourteen days. Five countries. One love story —
told in cathedrals, on alpine lakes, across lagoons at sunset, and beneath the water lilies of Giverny."
Every photo on this site was shot on one of two Fujifilm cameras carried through fourteen days and five countries. Both were worn for most of the trip — Kay and I took turns carrying one versus the other.
One magnificent day in London. From the statues of Westminster Abbey to the gilded Palm Court of The Ritz.
The Palm Court. Chandeliers, finger sandwiches, scones, and clotted cream. One of the most elegant rooms in London, and the perfect way to begin.
The Tube is fast and iconic. Get an Oyster card or use contactless. Walk between Westminster, St. James's, and Covent Garden — it's all close.
Book High Tea 6–8 weeks in advance. Smart elegant dress code is enforced — no jeans, no trainers. Worth every penny.
Book timed entry online. Allow 90+ minutes. Walk where kings and queens have been crowned for nearly a thousand years.
An afternoon flight to Ljubljana. A pink church. A river at blue hour. Then — the mountains.
Three days in the Julian Alps. A fairy-tale lake, the wishing bell, 50 hairpin turns, and the emerald Soča Valley.
Perched above the lake as the sun set behind the mountains. The food was shockingly amazing — one of the best meals of the entire trip.
Fifty hairpin turns. A turquoise river. Waterfalls, gorges, and the silence of the Alps.
Stay lakeside at Hotel Park. Row a pletna to the island, ring the wishing bell, and eat the original Bled cream cake. Book Bled Castle dinner in advance.
50 hairpin turns, open May–October. Start early, stop at Lake Jasna and the Russian Chapel. The source of the Soča is a short hike from the pass.
The emerald river is unreal in person. Visit the Tolmin or Velika Korita gorges. Virje Waterfall is a short walk from a roadside pulloff.
Fly to Ljubljana, rent a car. Lake Bled is 45 minutes from the airport. You need a car for the valley — public transit doesn't reach most of the stops.
A day-long drive south — from the Alps along the Adriatic coast and into the Venetian lagoon at sunset. Piran was a stunning surprise — a Venetian gem on a peninsula jutting into the sea. We could have stayed there for days.
Three days in the floating city. Shopping for photoshoot outfits in the backstreets, golden mosaics, the Bridge of Sighs, and the colours of Burano.
A four-course Venetian dinner aboard a galleon, drifting past illuminated palazzi as the sky went pink over the lagoon. Venice from the water at golden hour is unbelievably beautiful.
A day trip to Burano — the island of leaning towers and houses painted in every colour imaginable.
The Hilton Molino Stucky is quieter than San Marco hotels, with a rooftop pool, an incredible lagoon view, and one of the most amazing hotel breakfasts we've ever had.
Book a local photographer for 60–90 minutes at sunrise. The canals are empty, the light is soft, and you'll get images you'll frame forever.
Take the vaporetto from Fondamente Nove. Half-day trip. The colours are real — by city ordinance. Try the risotto di go.
Book a lagoon dinner cruise for sunset. Seeing Venice from the water at golden hour is unforgettable.
Ninety minutes with Enzo, a Venetian photographer who knew every hidden canal. Exploring new corners of the city together and watching Venice wake up from a gondola.
Paris in full. The great Impressionist museums, a hop-on hop-off tour through the neighborhoods, the palace of Versailles, and a Bach concert at Sainte-Chapelle under that impossible stained glass.
The Hall of Mirrors, the Gallery of Battles, and a golf cart through the impossibly vast gardens.
Boutique hotel on Ave. de la Motte-Picquet. Rooms designed around Louvre paintings, views of the Eiffel Tower from the top floors.
The best Impressionist collection in the world. Go to the 5th floor first for Monet, Renoir, and the clock window.
Book an evening concert — Bach or Vivaldi performed under the stained glass. It's less crowded than a daytime visit, and hearing the music under that light is incredible. Highly recommended.
Take the RER C. Rent a golf cart for the gardens (€40/hr) — they're impossibly vast. Musical Fountains run on weekends April–October.
Art Nouveau landmark near Bastille, since 1864. Look up — the stained glass dome is stunning. Classic Alsatian brasserie fare.
A quiet thread ran through this honeymoon. The same painter — Claude Monet — stood in four of the same places we stood. Each act echoed him, and the trip ended in his garden.
A pilgrimage to the gardens where Monet painted his masterpieces — timed perfectly for spring blooms. Private transport from the hotel and a private guide through the house and gardens, a final evening on the hill of Montmartre, and then — home.
An evening on the hill of Montmartre. Then the airport. Then home.
We booked private transport from our Paris hotel, which saved a ton of time. You can also train from Gare Saint-Lazare to Vernon (~50 min), then shuttle bus.
Late April through May for wisteria on the bridge, irises, and tulips. June for roses and the famous water lilies in full bloom.
Highly recommended. A private guide through the house and gardens adds incredible context, and you skip the long public queue entirely. It gave us time to explore the village before going in.
Don't rush back to Paris. Have a lemon tart at a garden café, browse the art shops, and wander the quiet lanes. Giverny itself is a painting.
"An Edwardian grand dame, an alpine lakeside sanctuary, a converted 19th-century flour mill, a Parisian boutique, and one last night beside the runways."
"France was our favourite for food generally, but the food at Bled Castle was shockingly amazing."
Fourteen days across five countries. Through fog and mountains and lagoons and lilies. We carried two cameras, ate our weight in French pastry, and watched Monet's bridge turn golden in May light.
This was the first chapter of a much longer book.