I'm back to reality after spending 10 days in Europe. We visited Capri and Paris for our third time. Both places were just as magical and beautiful as we remembered. We had never been to St. Tropez before since it's a little hard to get there from the the local airports. We almost took it off our itinerary this trip. I am so glad we finally made it there because it's my new favorite place!
Capri
This is one of the most beautiful places we've ever been, which is why we keep coming back. We were just there last year! The number one thing to do is to rent a boat with a captain and tour around the island. The captain will take you into small caves with startling electric blue water. The Blue Grotto is the most famous, which is why there is always a long line of boats to get in. We skipped it since we did it last year, but it's worth going if it's your first time in Capri.
I bought this bikini just because it reminded me of the cobalt blue water of Capri. It would also be great for Hawaii. Most people wear it strapless, but that's not an option for me!
This is the same captain from Capri Blue Boats we had last year. You can just see how nice and fun he is by that face! He brings us fresh tomatoes from his garden. He put olive oil on one plate and squeezed fresh lemon on the other. I never thought lemon and tomatoes would go together, but it was amazing. We brought bread and cheese to go with it, and we could barely eat half of it. Who knew you could get full off of tomatoes? He also brought homemade limoncello that his mom makes. You can't beat that extra personal touch!
We almost fell off the boat taking this photo!
The beach club at the marina. Keep in mind the beaches are rocky, not sandy. We skip them and just go right on the boat.
The yachts are insane! There weren't as many this year. Most people are in Greece this year. I think it's because Capri was so popular the last two years that many wanted to try a different locale. We almost booked Greece ourselves!
This was amazing and so cute!
When my husband tried on these sunglasses, I knew they would be perfect for Europe. I helped him plan his outfits this trip and he was feeling himself!
The rooftop bar at the newly remodeled Hotel La Palma was beautiful! The detail work of the mosaic is incredible.
A cute restaurant we had dinner at one night.
I was so excited to finally wear this Versace bustier top in Capri. I noticed so many women wearing them last year when we were here. It would have never crossed my mind to buy something like this. This was our second night at our favorite restaurant, Villa Margherita. Da Paolino is the most popular, but this is a little more sedate with an amazing view. Go to both!
We stayed in town at two places. I knew I wanted to stay at Hotel Syrene after seeing the amazing location on our previous trips. Plus, it's a beautiful hotel. Unfortunately, they only had two of the four nights available so we stayed in a very pretty Airbnb in town the first two nights. I cannot tell you how much I regret this! There must have been five staircases after walking uphill to get to the room. I thought my husband was going to have a heart attack after dragging up the suitcases the first night. I carried all but one of mine, but it was the big one. I was a little sweaty, but totally fine. I guess even though you can't see the results of my weight training, it's paying off! I didn't know he was in such bad shape until we got to the room or I would have made him give me back my suitcase. Then there was such little water pressure that I couldn't wash my hair. It was kind of a nightmare, but at least it was nicely decorated despite being so small. I was so thrilled when we made it to Hotel Syrene with a spacious room, balcony, pool, updated bathroom, pool, restaurant and bellman. No more Airbnbs in Europe!
This staircase was the worst one, but there was another one almost as bad. There were several smaller ones too.
And finally!
Right next to Lora Piana in the heart of the shopping district!
Gorgeous and huge rooms!
Yes, that's a lemon restaurant right at the hotel!
The other best thing to do in Capri is to go shopping! I had a mental list of items I wanted to buy-a black handbag, black belt, black sunglasses. I needed a small black handbag for evening, but that could also work for daytime. I have a black YSL shoulder bag that I love, but it's definitely not appropriate to carry with a cocktail dress. I also wanted something smaller when I'm running errands in my workout clothes. My preference is Chanel because it's my favorite brand of handbags, but I didn't know if I could find one that was affordable. I had a feeling I was going to buy one because my pink boy bag Chanel has brought me so much joy the past three years. Even when I don't wear it, just walking in my closet and seeing it makes me happy.
The classic calfskin wallet on chain (WOCs) run about $3575 here in the United States, plus 8.25% sales tax making it $3869.94. It's just so expensive for something so small! I got online once I was in Capri and started looking up small black handbags-Chanel, Celine, Dior, etc. They were all about the same price. I found a Chanel for 3200 euros. Our exchange rate was 1.08% at the time so that's $3456, but the tax is added into the sales price instead of on top of the purchase price so it's a savings of $413.94. The real saving is that I get 15% back in VAT tax (see below). That's an extra $480 is savings. I saved a total of $893.94 on this bag! That means the bag costs $2,976.
Is it worth it? No. It's still way too expensive in my head. I put a purely subjective value on a purse in my head. I think it should cost $1800 max. However, I remember when this bag was $2500 several years ago, and I didn't buy it. I remember when a friend's mom bought this for under $1000 in the late 90s. It might have been about $400 back then if I remember correctly. If I needed to, I can sell it for about what I paid already. Also, if I were to go with a brand that's less expensive, there's going to be a shelf life on how long this purse will be in style. I feel like this is happening with my two YSL bags, and they weren't cheap! This will be a bag that I can pass down to my grandchildren. I can't say that about every Chanel bag, which is why I bought the most classic one they had.
Here she is!
The chain can be made shorter or I can wear it crossbody. I can also wrap the chain across the top to give it a little extra detail. It's the last bag I needed in my collection! I have a bag now for all occasions and outfits.
I had a little moment of regret when I saw the Chanel 19 WOC in Paris. I love the look of that bag so much, but I don't think the chain is as timeless being tri-colored. Plus, it's lambskin. I had originally wanted to go with it, but the salesman said not to if I adjust the chain. He said it will tear the leather. I didn't see this Chanel 19 in a more durable caviar calfskin. It's a gorgeous bag as well though! FYI, it was 3600 euro (tax included) in Paris and $4100 not including tax in the United Staes.
Our sales experience was lovely. We had to wait for one of the two sales people to be available, but they had a great shaded balcony. Once we entered the salesman could not have been more helpful. I'm so glad he mentioned that the lambskin would not hold up well if the chain was shortened. I was a little annoyed by one of the customers. She was definitely from the south. Maybe even from Texas. She took up so much time looking at everything despite repeatedly saying she only wanted a belt. There was a patio full of people waiting! She must have been in there at least an hour and it was a very small store. As I was shopping, I mentioned that I loved one of the bags but it was too big for an evening purse. She said rather loudly that she couldn't imagine anyone not wanting a bigger bag. This seems to be a problem in the south. Women will carry the largest status bag they can find and wear it with every outfit. There are totes for everyday, shoulder bags for nicer outfits and clutches/small bags for evenings. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen a woman in a cocktail dress and heels carrying a Louis Vuitton Neverfull. These are not evening bags. Anyway, the salesman offered us rosé after we chose the bag to wait for the paperwork. We offered to wait outside so another customer could be helped. We had the best time sitting on the balcony across the Hotel Quisiana patio (premier spot for people watching). I noticed a really tall man taking photos on the patio with a few people when my husband was taking a photo of me. It was Shep from Southern Charm! I would have never known who he was with sunglasses, a hat and a backpack. he took off fairly quickly so I didn't get a photo.
It was still early, but this patio is usually filled with people. It's a little uncomfortable walking past it because everyone just openly stares. I try to stick to the outer walkway and hide behind people lol.
VAT Tax Information:
Italy has a 15% back VAT for non-EU citizens. If you haven't heard about it, this means you get 15% back on your purchases. A 22% tax is already added into the sales price in Italy. This goes to pay for EU citizens healthcare, retirement and other government programs. Since non-EU citizens do not reap the benefits, they offer a 15% tax refund on purchases over a certain dollar amount. I believe it's $130, or something close to that. You have to request the paperwork at purchase and show your passport. In Italy, they are okay with a photo of the passport. In France, they want to see your actual passport. The tax is less in France so they only offer a 12% refund. However, I found the prices to be the same as in France as they were in Italy. You submit your paperwork at the last EU country on your visit when you are flying out of the airport. We did ours in France. There was a kiosk that allows you to skip the line if you purchased under a certain dollar in that country. We had to wait in line to see an agent because some of our items were from Italy. You also need to keep your items with you because the agents may ask you to show them the merchandise. I noticed they were only asking to see high dollar items like my Chanel bag. The amount of Birkins and Kellys being pulled out from unassuming luggage was crazy!
St. Tropez
We flew into Nice from Naples via Easy Jet. It is extremely cheap to fly in Europe once you get there so definitely visit multiple destinations if it's your first time going there. I think seats start around $29 and then you pay extra for luggage. I really could have just had one carry one in retrospect. I'm not sure why I think I needed a different outfit for all ten days. I could have easily re-worn clothes, especially since many days I only wore them for a couple of hours to dinner. Lesson learned! Then, we rented a car for an hour and a half drive to St. Tropez. Now you understand why we skipped St. Tropez in the past! You can't drive through many of the streets once you get to town unless you have a taxi. You have to park in the parking garage and walk through the streets with your luggage. Not again. We also couldn't find a hotel in town since we booked so late so we rented another Airbnb...with four very curvy flights of stairs. Not again! There was no way we could get our luggage up there. Thankfully, we just had our tote bags when we walked through our first time to get the key. We emptied those totes and went back to the car to fill them up with clothes from our suitcases for the next few nights. It's about an 8 minute walk from the car to the Airbnb so it was fine. I was terrified that we would fall down the stairs the entire time we were there. However, the location is right in the heart of town and the Airbnb was much more updated and larger. I will not put ourselves in that situation again though. Next time we will be at a hotel with people to help us with luggage.
On to the fun part! The town is gorgeous! The high end retail stores are in beautiful buildings, like Hermes below. Capri is a bit more rustic and St Tropez is more manicured. The streets driving in were lined with cypress trees and oleanders with the sea in the background.
The port has yachts docked along the main street. People walk by the boats starting at the people hanging out on the back of the yacht. If I were in one of those yachts, I would have to take my dinner inside. I don't know how they can handle that many people staring at them.
If you are as confused about how beach clubs work as I was, I'll give you the rundown. You can book the restaurant and/or the sunbeds. The restaurant usually opens at 12pm, but it doesn't get really going with the DJ until about 4pm. Well, it depends on which one you visit. We had a list of ones we wanted to visit-Club 55, Loulou's, Gigi's and then Les Palmiers. All were booked except Les Palmiers. It's known for having an older, upscale crowd. I'm good with that because loud, club music doesn't sound great to me. I was told when I booked the beach club that I just needed to show up by 12pm to reserve the chair, which is what we did. We hand lunch about 2pm and then went back to our chairs until 4pm. It was perfect! I wish we had one more day to experience another beach club.
We also did more shopping! I scratched another item off my list when I bought this black Celine belt. I really wanted the Hermes Kelly belt, but I haven't been able to find it in black. I've been looking since Christmas! I tried this one on and was so sold. I haven't photographed or linked it yet, but I will soon on the LTK app. I saved so much on this. It's $690 plus 8.25% tax here, which is $746.93. I ended up paying $494.21 after the euros to dollars conversion and the 12% VAT refund in France. I saved a total of $252.72!
Of course we had to visit all the stores! Dior is the most gorgeous, followed by Chanel.
We also ate at the Dior cafe. You definitely need reservations. I got one in person the day before. We were going to have breakfast there, but they only had lunch available. It was really good! Everyone, including us, got the chicken sandwich.
Then we went wine tasting! St Tropez is surrounded by wineries and vineyards. It's looks just like Napa when you leave town. Provence is known for their rosés, but the two we visited also had reds. I was excited to go to Minuty because it's the brand I buy at home. I can only get it at Total Wine right now where I live. It's probably the most popular rosé in France though.
We went back to walk around and shop more. We also took photos because we realized we were slacking. Here are a couple from the port. I was so excited to wear this dress! I have been eyeing it for months and it finally went on sale!
FYI, my husband bought way more than I did! He racked up this trip! He loves to shop lol.
Then we went to Louis Vuitton cafe. I was a little irritated by the prices, but I got over it when the iced latte I ordered was delivered. I think it was $16! It was hands down the best I've ever had and it was so cute. I posted a video on my IG stories of the patio. The decor is adorable. I still can't get this latte out of my head.
We ate at a few good restaurants, but winged it for the most part. The only photo I took was at Le Cafe. It's really cute, but they all are!
It's also very glitzy and glamorous! I swear I've never seen so many beautiful and well dressed people in one place my entire life. I was little intimidated at first, but I had a glass of wine and got over it. I just sat back, people watched and enjoyed the show lol. I realized I brought all the wrong clothes for St Tropez. There was a long, sheer dress memo I did not get. Some women were wearing their swimsuits underneath, some had thongs, and some may have been braless. It was crazy!
I 100% want to go back to St Tropez and wish we would have had one more night there. Next time I will plan in advance and book a hotel instead of an Airbnb!
Paris
We took Easy Jet again, but this time from Toulon-Hyeres airport. It's about a 50 minute drive instead of an hour and a half drive from St Tropez. Thankfully, we were able to book a room at an amazing hotel, Le Grand Intercontinental. It's a beautiful hotel near the Opera House. I wanted to go in, but the crowds were insane. We've already seen the top tourist spots in Paris. We were there to shop, eat and walk around the city to take in the ambiance.
We had a balcony with the tiniest Eiffel Tower view.
This area of the hotel serves drinks and afternoon tea. It's also attached to a beautiful restaurant, Cafe de la Paix.
This wedding table with the green tablecloth and gold chairs reminded me so much of my wine party I posted about!
We didn't take as many photos of Paris. This was a photo before dinner on the balcony of the room. I was also excited to wear this dress!
We went to a rooftop restaurant with an amazing view. The food was good, but not great. It was worth it for the view. The service is extremely slow for almost everyone around us, but we just flagged down our waitress whenever we could.
We only had one full day in Paris because our second day we went to Reims in the Champagne region. It's about 40-50 minutes by train.
Veuve Cliquot-I wish we would have skipped the winery tour and went straight to the patio for champagne and lunch. I didn't know that was an option!
We went back to Paris early to pack and enjoy our last night. We walked around the city forever, including by the Eiffel Tower. They had the Olympic logo on it, and guess who forgot to take a photo? Argh!
We had to leave three hours early to get in line to get our VAT refund at the Paris airport. It took about an hour, but I've heard it could be longer. Then we got to the duty free shops! The 12% is already subtracted from the merchandise here. They had ALL the stores. Two of my sons had been asking for Gucci wallets forever. We found these for a great deal at under $200. I took photos and let them pick. It was 2am at home, but of course they were still up since it's summer and they are teenagers. My oldest son didn't want to wake up and said he didn't care if we got him a wallet. We got him and his girlfriend something else we picked ourselves so hopefully they like it!
My younger two boys were so thrilled when we got home that night with their wallets! They don't get excited about things much so it was nice to see them happy. My oldest had just left to go out of town so I haven't given him his present yet.
A few notes!
Affording Travel to Europe:
I've mentioned it before, but we use points to get first or business class plane tickets free. We have the United card and put every single expense on there we can. We also use some points for hotels. This trip we only used it on one hotel stay. Other trips we've used it on all of our hotels. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to travel to Europe if you can use points. The restaurants are so much cheaper too.
Consider local transportation before you travel:
There are taxi queues at every airport, ferry and train station. If someone offers to give you a ride, do not accept. Go to the taxi line instead. Paris has Uber if you are tired and there is no taxi queue. Figure out how you will get your luggage to your hotel or Airbnb so you aren't walking through the streets toting bags. It turns out Capri has a porter service near the tax queue. That would have been nice to know!
The culture is different:
The people aren't mean, but they have a different set of manners that can be perceived as rude. They will bump into you on the street and keep walking. If you bump into them they don't expect an apology. They just keep on moving, so it works both ways. Sidewalks can be tricky to navigate because locals will not give up their space. They fully expect you to walk around them. This irritated my husband to no end! Waiters will not take your order until you close your menu. They aren't ignoring you! Be prepared to order your drinks and food all at once. They expect you to pair your food with wine so it makes no sense to order wine until you have chosen your dinner. They expect for you to flag them down to ask for the check. They do not like to interrupt your dinner. I honestly met some of the nicest people on this trip in stores and restaurants. Most of them love Americans! Do not listen to social media.
Make Reservations:
If you want to eat at a specific restaurant or beach club that is very popular, you need to make reservations in advance. Many times you have to call instead of booking online. I only make a few reservations before my trip of "must dos" so I leave wiggle room in my schedule to adjust plans. Also, call the same day to see if anyone cancelled if you couldn't get a reservation. I made two reservations in St Tropez by walking up to the hostess stand the day before. If you're in front of them, they are more likely to get you in.
Calling Plan:
We have Verizon and we could add a daily international plan for $10/day per phone, but it's cheaper to add a month of international calling for an entire month. I was able to do this on the website and even specify it is only for a month.
Hermes:
Everyone is trying to get leather appointments these days for Hermes quota bags now that their system has changed. I was offered a Birkin three years ago without asking or getting an appointment. I was just looking at the display and a sales person asked if I wanted to see a Birkin. Those days are gone. You have to get your appointment through an online lottery once you're in Europe the day before. If you can't get an appointment, buy other things in the store and at the end of shopping (and buying) ask your SA if you can view a bag. If they ask you to come back later or the next day, do it! This how they weed people. They may also say no, so don't buy anything you don't want. However, you need to spend some money to get an appointment. They reserve these bags for current customers only now due to the popularity. You can find more information on other blogs and social media, but this what I know.
How to get started:
I get asked how I know where to go in Europe from people who have never been there. I use social media, YouTube videos and blogs to plan my trip. Start your research well in advance. I booked this trip a month before we left, but I had already been to two of the three places. I only stay in one locale for 2-4 nights. There is so much to see in Europe. Hit the highlights so you don't get bored in one place. Also, what if you really don't like a place and you're stuck there a week? Utilize inexpensive airlines and trains to travel from place to place.
What to Wear:
I think I can make an entire blog post about this! However, dress what you feel comfortable in. It's okay to look like a tourist and wear sneakers. Most of the streets are cobblestone so you're going to want to wear flats. I only wore one pair of low heels because the restaurant was so close to the hotel. People in Paris aren't that nicely dressed to be honest. It's a big, diverse city. Most people are in jeans, pants and sneakers. Just dress for the occasion-a nice dress at dinner, comfortable clothes for sightseeing. Athlesiure was huge in Paris three years ago, but almost non-existent now. If that's what you want to wear though, do it. Bring long sleeves for cool evenings and mornings too. Just because it's summer doesn't mean it's going to be warm all day and night. I do dress up a bit because I'm going to take photos, but I could not wait to get my sweats on that last morning to fly back home!
I hope this helps!