We call Mallorca, Spain a hidden treasure. And we have a funny story regarding how we ended up there! Ilya’s sister lives in London, & Ilya also had to be there for work. After several days at his sister’s apartment, & before going to Moscow to shoot a TV commercial for their family’s company (that they talked me into being the lead in), we had a few days of down time. Instead of flying all the way home & then back East to Russia, we decided it make more sense stay put & chill for a few days in Europe, & we wanted to visit a place neither of us had been. We went to the airport thinking we were flying to Portugal, but we ended up missing the flight due to bad traffic. There were essentially no flights leaving that evening out of Gatwick to any place neither of us had been that had availability. After asking Emerites Air if they had a flight to Dubai or “anywhere out of London tonight”, we ventured to the Easy Jet desk & found a flight to Mallorca! Perfect choice! We excitedly booked our tickets, checked our bags & headed to the security check point. On the way, we were stopped by the airport police suggesting we were terrorists!!! They searched our bags, held us & questioned us for 45 minutes before apologizing & sending us on our way to Spain. We suppose it wasn’t the best idea to ask a Middle Eastern airline for a ticket anywhere out of London that same evening! Lesson learned.

Mallorca exceeded our expectations. Wow, is it a magnificent place! The architecture is charming & stunning, the beaches are breathtakingly beautiful, it does not feel at all toursity, but rather very native, with almost everyone speaking Spanish. It seems to us that most travelers were coming from other cities in Spain. The tapas restaurants are to die for. We enjoyed roaming the streets off the main square & choosing the places we wanted to eat based on ambiance. Two of our favorites were these cool, tiny, underground little cave spots. We paid cash to both of those, so we don’t have a record of the names, darnit!! One had the best paella I’ve ever had, & I’m not typically a fan! La Boveda was another great spot, we especially liked their mussels. We also found an amazing Italian restaurant that had the most incredible pizza that I loaded with green olives & indulged in. It was next door to the Gran Melia Hotel. A few days into the trip we heard about a modern, boutique hotel in an old, peaceful neighborhood with a reputable restaurant called Simply Fosh. We went & ending up loving the exotic appetizers, fish, pastas & desserts so much we dined there two nights in a row & took home a bottle of their delicious house wine & containers of the various organic sea salts they sell. We also took a ton of photos in their elegant lobby  area, which is really a heavenly-looking (all white & soft gold) art gallery with interesting, modern pieces displayed in an open, sparce room, around modern, leather couches. On our next visit, while we enjoyed the old Spanish vibe & design of the Gran Melia Victoria, we will likely stay at the hotel attached to Simply Fosh next time. There are gelato shops on nearly every corner, a great central market, & a fun chocolate with an abundance of delicious choices. The huge, historical cathedral there, built in the 1200s is gorgeous & the focal point of the city. It is a clean place, the streets very quaint & charming, & narrow!!! We were in awe over the fact that cars of all sizes barely escape scraping the buildings as they pass through these tiny streets. They apparently learn how to gauge it & navigate through. Aside from the one main area where tourists congregate & a bustling street for shopping, the rest of the city is peaceful. We loved exploring the streets & taking loads of photos. We actually felt a bit like vane posers doing photo shoots of each other on the streets with buildings, murals, cars, trees & McDonalds signs! Speaking of the last things mentioned, the trees are some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. Check out the photos of me sitting beside the massive, textured, phenomenal-looking tree that we found on a remote street.  We were very intrigued by all of the garage door murals we found, which are fun, artistic & beautiful, seemingly welcomed vandalism. There are plenty of photos with those as well! And Ilya & I are always cracking up & perplexed by the McDonald’s signs that seem to litter the towns. Why eat at a McDonalds when you can enjoy a local Spanish snack? It just baffles me. It brings to mind something a tour guide once said to us in Salzburg, Austria…He was talking while we stood outside the beautiful white mansion used in the Sound of Music movie, & he explained how Austria gave it to the US as a gift for freeing the Nazis from Austria, & today it is used to teach American culture. He then said, “We’re convinced there is a McDonalds in there somewhere.”  I’ll never forget that funny joke.

We highly recommend Mallorca & hope to be back when we can drive & explore more of the coast & beaches. Favorite restaurants: definitely Simply Fosh, & for authentic Spanish tapas & the best paella, just follow your instincts! Must see: the cathedral. Tip of the trip: try the olives & local cherries! And don’t visit McDonalds!

Venturing outside of Paris to the South of France is a must! And forget about planes, the train system is fast, adventurous & gorgeous! In my opinion, taking trains within Europe & Russia is the only way to travel. You can look out the windows at the amazing countryside, sip wine, play games, get caught up on work, or sleep, you don’t have to fight all the security & luggage lines, & you can use cell phones outside of tunnels. Renting a car also works, but then that means dealing with maps & getting lost. And there’s no drinking or sleeping!

Nice, France is cool. It’s a young, populated, fun beach community that’s not as clean & manicured as neighboring spots. Monaco can be a one-day stop, & I highly recommend it. It’s home to the Grand Prix, which is reason enough! And checking out the palace there is neat. Monaco is one of the cleanest & most affluent places I’ve ever seen. I really love Cannes, with its charming streets, cool boutiques, beautiful beaches, marina with ships & yachts coming & going, & the amazing Hotel 1835. We definitely recommend a stop in Cannes if you plan to be in the South of France. We fell in love with the service, beds, décor, restaurant & funky lobby chairs in the Hotel 1835. I couldn’t stop taking photos in the lobby & in our cozy suite with a balcony overlooking the Marina. The hotel has spectacular views, is just a walk away from great beaches & provides wonderful memories. We ate all meals at the hotel & they were as delicious as the beds & bathtub. We also experienced a great time exploring the boutiques there. And for those like me who enjoy tanning topless, it is welcomed in Cannes! On a past trip to Cannes with a French family, we stayed at their summer home in the mountains, which was surrounded by lavender fields. Talk about spectacular! And the drive there on the autobahn was nothing short of exhilarating.

From Cannes we drove North to St Tropez in a rental car, following vehicles that were, as Ilya pointed out, almost all Asian import or of European make, & the majority of them very compact. Even without traffic, it is not as close as you may think, & because of the windy mountain roads, takes quite a while. But the upside is the drive is stunning! The landscape views are some of the best in the world! A hilarious blip in the picturesque scene was the site of a man pulled over on the side of the road, drawers dropped, taking a leak, as he watched the traffic go by, thinking nothing of his overt display. Ilya’s family had rented a house overlooking the water, just up from the beach, & when we finally arrived after getting a bit lost on the mountain roads, we definitely felt as though we had stepped into a Renoir painting. Huge, majestic trees & lush green fields everywhere…No advertisements, no obtrusive restaurants & bars, no loud people…just charm. Here, unless right in the heart of St Tropez, with the fancy cars, shops & huge yachts, it isn’t about the cars, but rather the bikes & strolls on foot. It isn’t about the rush, but the leisure. It isn’t about the hustle & bustle, but the ability to get away from it.

The house, made of rock & stone & covered in ivy, was also straight out of a painting & totally reflected old France. As a gift for Ilya’s mom, we hired a chef, & with his curled mustache & accent, he personified the typical Frenchman & made exquisite meals. The beach was two blocks away, & we took walks there, where we were able to drop our tops & get tan without lines! Always a highlight for me! The village, adorned with boutiques of all kinds, cool, narrow streets, cobblestone sidewalks & fun restaurants & bars was a short drive, or bike ride, away. One afternoon we were also lucky enough to catch a farmer’s & artist’s market, where we bought gifts like handmade clothing & exotic seashells for our family & home. While we aren’t into the “scene” of places like this, it was fun to see the girls dancing on the massive yachts that were docked at the marina. We also wanted to experience the notorious Club 55 for lunch (it was amazing!), the loungy, sexy Nikki Beach club, which is better during the daytime, & the famous Les Caves du Roy at night. Never have I experienced the kind of music & vibe at the underground Les Caves du Roy. After a wonderful dinner at a quaint spot on a narrow street in town, we picked up some cool items at a boutique that had the clever idea of staying open until midnight, & then made our way to the Les Caves du Roy, which, even without alcohol was a fantastic vibe! The DJ yelled out to people from all places in the world, from Tel Aviv, to Stockholm to Miami & introduced one of the Rolling Stones who was in the house! We smiled from ear to ear while dancing to the thumping beats, loving every minute! Must see in Cannes: Hotel 1834. Must see in St Tropez: the adorable bakeries for pastries in the center area & Les Caves du Roy, Tip of the trip: take the train!