Recently my wife and I went on a vacation to Paris and the Azores.

Such an interesting combination of locales. Originally the idea was to pick a location that would involve a little more walking and exploring. Some good outdoor time with hikes etc.

We looked at numerous possibilities including the Camino in Spain, and versions of that in Italy and Portugal. My wife noticed the Azores and so we dug deeper. These are very cool volcanic islands along the mid-Atlantic rift. Excellent. Kind of like a tropical Iceland. This was a mark in its favour since we’ve been to Iceland and loved the rugged, out-of-this-world feel and the geothermal attributes like hot springs and geysers.

Though 1,400 km off the coast of Europe and North Africa they are part of Portugal. Another point in their favour since we’ve been to Lisboa (Lisbon) and it remains one of the coolest cities we’ve ever travelled to. We love Portugal – the food, the culture, the whole package.

After some Expedia research we were preparing to book when we noticed we were being routed through Paris. Hmmm, Paris eh? Neither of us have been to Paris and the idea occurred – what if we stopped in Paris for a few days before moving on to the Azores?

Absolutely.

So we booked the trip, hotels and a rental car in the Azores and hit the road. My wife is a fantastically organized packer and we were equipped with everything you could need despite packing a single carry on and two backpacks for 10 days.

We landed in Paris and took the train and then a subway to our hotel’s neighbourhood right in the centre of the city. The hotel itself was not spectacular but the location and price were phenomenal so we overlooked things like the homemade looking bathroom that was like an outhouse in the room, the tininess of the space and the mattress with a deep valley down the middle.

Our days in Paris were consumed with exploration. We wandered far and wide taking in diverse sights including the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, the Seine, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysée, Notre Dame Cathedral and loads more.

We took a spectacular Seine River cruise from the Eiffel Tower around the island of Notre Dame Cathedral and back while being educated by a wonderful bilingual French tour guide.

We ate pain au chocolate in the mornings with cappuccino at cafes and simply marveled at the history and urban coolness that is Paris.

One evening we enjoyed what may have been the greatest dinner we’ve ever had (vegetarian or otherwise) at Maslow Temple. A spectacular vegetarian restaurant with outstanding dishes and drinks.

The Louvre was overwhelming but in the few hours we were there we saw quite a bit including the Mona Lisa (of course) and the Venus de Milo as well as a great Rodin exhibit.

Paris was amazing. We loved it, especially the cruise.

Then it was on to the Azores via Lisboa. Flying on Air Portugal was a treat because they had SO MUCH LEG ROOM! Oh my gosh…in these days of cattle class cramming by every major airline Air Portugal was a real treat.

We landed in the Azores near midnight and picked up our rental car (a nice little manual). Arriving at our hotel in Ponta Delgada on the island of Sao Miguel we checked in via an unlock code sent ahead of time. Our hotel was a long row of very modern looking terrace homes. Our unit was on the ground floor so we had our own walk out yard with table and chairs.

The room itself was essentially a one bedroom apartment. Much larger and better appointed than the Paris hotel. A beautiful bedroom, living room and kitchenette. Very nice.

The Azores were very much a tropical Iceland. Geologically very similar to Iceland but covered in a lush, almost rainforest feeling nature. There were loads of farms as well. We spent the first day wandering around Ponta Delgada…a beautiful and old Portuguese city.

I say old because I had no idea the Azores were settled by Portugal in the mid 1400s.

There was so much to enjoy in the Azores that was so different than Paris. We had the Atlantic ocean all around us. Beautiful mountains and steep volcanic caldera complete with lakes and even a town or two in the middle. A wonderous black sand beach that took heroic driving efforts to reach as we navigated the hair pinnest of hair pin turns down an ultra steep super narrow road.

We picnicked next to the ocean and drove around the island managing to take in nearly every sight that could be seen. We hiked beside stunning caldera lakes and along the top edge of their cliffs. We stopped at an old abandoned hotel and at various botanical gardens.

I imagine the Azores must have the most landscapers and gardeners per capita in the world to maintain the island to such an amazing degree. I mean there were whole valleys that were manicured from end to end and top to bottom that could have easily passed for Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings. Most of these were free.

We spent time at one especially beautiful location called Terra Nostra Park which was stunning in it’s gardens and came complete with a giant hot spring pool which we definitely spent time in. It’s like the Azores’ answer to the Blue Lagoon (which we’ve been to) but more the colour of red clay.

We grocery shopped and made a lot of our own meals but we did have a great, Italian style pizza at a restaurant called Nonna’s Teeth. The name alone drew us in but the atmosphere was fantastic and the food amazing. Shout out to Nonna’s Teeth at nonnas.pt.

I think the highlight of the trip for both my wife and I was a whale watching excursion with Terrazul. Our guide was a marine biologist from Ireland who was fantastic and super enthusiastic.

We kept our expectations low fully prepared for a three our Zodiac ride in the Atlantic in case we saw nothing at all. Thankfully the cetaceans were happy to be seen and gave us an amazing show.

We saw Blue Whales, Striped Dolphins, Common Dolphins and Humpback Whales. Our tour guide suggested we should all buy lottery tickets. All the creatures were majestic but the Striped Dolphins took the show leaping from the water and flipping head over tail and then, as a group, racing to and fro along the surface at fantastic speeds. We will never forget the experience.

Somehow we managed to be in Sao Miguel for the local Festival of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres. The festival packed the streets of Ponta Delgada with locals, food booths, and an hours long lineup into the Convento da Esperanca which was founded in the 1500s and has every square inch of it covered in festive lights.

Our return flight was cancelled due to fog so thick it was like a grey concrete wall and rescheduled fore the next day so we were put up by the airline in a beautiful hotel downtown.

We love travelling. This trip was exciting and varied. We met our goal of walking a lot having logged 103 km in 10 days despite using subways and a rental car.

Together my wife and I have managed to visit Rome, Florence, Pisa, Tuscany, Iceland, London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Mexico, the Canary Islands, Dominican Republic, Lisbon, and loads more. We travel well together. We enjoy similar things and a not too regulated or overly scheduled trip.

To be able to share such experiences with someone you love is worth a lot. We know we are privileged and try not to take it for granted.

I take too many pictures when travelling. On this recent trip I took 694 pictures. Here is a small sample of what we enjoyed.