When visiting friends abroad, I am always fascinated by learning about the neighborhood they live in because often times it is off the beaten track or overlooked by guidebooks or top ten places to see.  I thought I would introduce you to my neighborhood today, Nacka, as by the end of the month I will have a new place to call home, Sundbyberg.  I live in the kommun of Nacka, which is located on the south side of Stockholm.  My actual location is Finntorp, which is about a ten minute bus ride into the city.  For those of you who have been to Stockholm, I am quite close to Sicka.  Sickla is a newer part of Nacka that boasts a large shopping center, many offices, and quite new apartment buildings with many new buildings under construction now.

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One of the joys of wandering the streets of a foreign land, is taking in the unique architecture and I have endless photos of beautiful doors from our travels. I could do a whole series just from the beautiful doors in our little white village in Spain where we wintered for four years. Europe is especially rich with beautiful doors, but weve also loved them in Asia and almost every country and continent we have visited. Perhaps because we have built a house with beautiful hand-made doors or because DaVinci just had a dream about doors, this photo caught my eye. Read full post…

You are probably aware that all cars in France have to always carry a bright yellow waistcoat and a warning triangle in case of night time emergencies.

But one new rule that has perhaps received less publicity than it could have done is the requirement that drivers in France are now obliged to carry an individual alcohol breath test, and those that dont are liable to pay a small fine of 17 euros.

I havent been able to find a start date for the new law, or much else in the way of official information, but understand the law starts about now!

We dont have our own alcohol breath tests yet so perhaps its time to go shopping. If you are in France and looking for one make sure it has the official NF mark.

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Being elected as lieutenant governor of Louisiana is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life and not because of the reasons that may come to your mind. It’s because of the job that I get to do every day for the next four years. A job that comes easy to me: promoting the state of Louisiana, a place I consider to be the best place on Earth.

In my inaugural address I chose to talk about the happiest place on earth and my lifetime home, Louisiana. I talked about the rich cultural history, the world-renowned music and the joie de vivre that makes Louisiana unique.

I hope you will take a few minutes out of your day to watch my inaugural address. I

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side·track (sīd´trăk): n. 1. A diversion from the main course.  2. A detour taken with children that you would never, ever take without them.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Who: Travel Savvy Mom founder Jamie Pearson, her husband, and their children (then 1 and 3, so set your time machines to way back).  This was our first ever sidetrack.

What and Where: Le Reptilarium Mont St Michel (since renamed Alligator Bay).  Normandy, France.  A reptile zoo with tortoises, snakes, and (according to their breathless brochure copy) the biggest group of alligators in Europe. At

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