from Giverny to Firenze

oh hello. long time no see. when did the last time i blog? since November last year. oops... well, what can i say? still the same old reason, i just didn't feel like blogging.

i thought about quitting. cause before blogging was a habit, something i love and enjoy doing. it wasn't a job or a burden and i didn't have to try. it was au naturel. now i have no one to help me take pictures. i was busy with course works. uni swallowed me whole. my life took some turns and they weren't all good. overall, i had up and down time, life goes on and i just forgot about my blog.

sometimes i wanted to jot things down, because keeping everything inside is hard sometimes. and i dug up my dusty tumblr for that. i mean, Chocolate on Cashmere is my fashion blog, not somewhere i pour my heart content out. i guess that's the problem, i wanted Chocolate on Cashmere to be so professional, so beautifully presented and so unique. but i am my blog, my blog is me. how can i manipulate myself like that?

i want to blog again. and i will, from now on. but it will be pure me. nothing fancy. maybe you will see iphone pictures, quick snap here and there, not DSLR quality photos. i want to make my blog to be a place where i can feel comfortable and write things down. it will be about everything. travel, life, stories, food, uni and what started it all - fashion.

enough introducing. let's get into what inspired me to write this blog post.

two months ago i decided that i want to spend Easter break traveling. that's something i've always wanted to do but never got a chance. my parents aren't very adventurous. they are savers. they work and save money and then they invest on me. that's why in my family good grades matter. i spent my childhood studying and then i study (a lot more) when i got to uni. i had a few trips here and there but not much. i didn't get to be inside an airplane until i was 16 and i went to Germany and Paris that time, that was the furthest. but i've always wanted to travel. i never thought that i will have a chance to go outside of the border, let along exploring Europe. but two months ago i thought that now is the time. i needed to bite the bullet and just go. tickets and hotels booked. plans made. 8th of April i jumped onto an Eurostar and went back to Paris.

so this blog post the first part about my trip, my 10 days trip exploring France and Italy. well, get yourself a cup of tea and maybe some snacks, this will be long.

i didn't like Paris the first time. it was dirty, hot and i had the worst memories. i wanted to re-write history and have a good time there. but i guess Paris didn't like me back then and it still doesn't like me now. i received bad news from home, felt left out, felt lonely and when i thought that this trip couldn't get worse, my phone got pickpocketed. i cried so much during the trip. i wanted to book a train back to London asap. i didn't know what to do, who to talk with. felt like the world was tumbling down. but then again, you gotta survive. when Paris gives you lemon, you make lemonade.

decided that i will carry on with the trip, i booked train tickets to go to Giverny for half a day the following day. then planned the other half to go to Musée de l'Orangerie and other spots that my boyfriend recommended me to go. my oh my, it was the best decision i made during my time in France. Giverny was exquisite. if you love arts and you want to be blew away, go there, visit Monet's garden. it is beyond your imagination. you think Monet's paintings are extraordinary? go see what made the paintings. i felt in love instantly, wished that i had a hardcore camera. but seriously, no camera can capture the feel, the atmosphere, the scenery. it was all so beautiful.

my love for small villages and province carry on. i then took a flight to Firenze, Italy. it was love at first sight. i had the exact feeling that i had when i first stepped foot in London. when you love a city, you just know it, instantly. you don't have to wait and see or be patient. you just fall in love. Firenze is everything, wish i could stay longer. i was blew away in the Pantheon at Roma, stunned by the beautiful Vezenia but Firenze gave me butterflies. i think i will dedicate an entire blog post for Firenze in the future, because i love it that much.

i went to Monet's garden, saw works of Monet and Renoir, visited Uffizi gallery, had the best pizza of my entire life. but the best part of my trip? the strangers.

i almost couldn't make it to the train back to Paris from Vernon in time when i visited Giverny because i couldn't find a taxi to go back to the train station and missed the bus. i thought that i will have to walk to the high road and risk the possibility of being hit. just when all my hope shattered and my eyes teared up, a complete stranger pulled over and asked if i needed any help. he was the type of man that you see in the movie. old car, long grey hair, looks-like-he-is-going-to-kidnap-and-kill-you type of man. but i was so desperate i asked if he could give me a ride to the train station. he smiled and said Sure! he does it all the time. i was overwhelmed with happiness, so touched with the kind gesture. he showed me the weekend market in Vernon, told me not to be scared. all i could do was saying God bless you and wishing him a beautiful day. but there are so many other beautiful strangers in this world. when i was walking to have the best pizza in Firenze, a man on a bike stopped just to say that i am so beautiful - a phrase that i will never bring myself to think of. when i was looking at the sunset from Ponte ale Grazie, a painter suddenly pulled over and had a chat with me. they came out of nowhere, but gave me the best memories. without them, this trip might be so suffocating.

i have so many more to say. but maybe later. right now i just want to capture my quick thoughts. express my love for the beautiful places i went to, the beautiful strangers i met.

there are no nice photos with fancy effect cause my phone got pickpocketed, but let's settle with this polaroid capture i took at Monet's garden.