Dev & Lori at the Tuscan villa
The past few days spent with our Italian friends who are very much family to us felt so surreal. Our last days in the gorgeous countryside of Tuscany was set in a quaint “Eco-chic” Boutique farm , TENUTA CHIUDENDONE .
Our host was Francesco Cavallini, owner of Emilio Cavallini who has been the premier fashion tights company to many designers all over the world since 1972. We got to tour the factory where they make them and was given so many designs to take home. Lori was in sheer pantyhose heaven and Francesco’s father is a true artist in the unique world of fashion tights.
Lori, Dev & Isabella
Lori, Ronn & Dev
Ombu, Francesco, Dev, Ronn & Isabella
Francesco & Ronn
We were treated to the finest Tuscan wines at a wonderful wine tasting compliments of, Varramista Winery and then the highlight of our trip there was a visit to the local supermarket with Ronn. I wanted Francesco and his girlfriend Isabella to show me how to cook a whole fish Tuscan style, so we stopped at the market and even the butcher wanted a picture with Ronn! Lori and I laughed so hard at the reaction from everyone, including grandmothers and children who seemed to be drawn to Ronn for photos. I will show you guys what I learned about cooking a whole Sea Bass later on Ronn’s Garage. We traveled Saturday by train back to Rome for our final two days in Italy so that we could spend some quality time with the lovely Laura Biagiotti and my Italian sister Lavinia.
They always make us feel so at home at the Biagiotti Castle. We topped off our evening with champagne at the Biagiotti boutique. Katherine Kelly Lang joined us and then went back to the castle for an amazing home cooked dinner with Laura. It was such a pleasure to introduce KKL to Laura and turns out, it was a special holiday for Italy was honoring St. Raffelle. The moon was so bright and full that we all felt the aura of excitement and anticipation deep into the night as a flutter of rain drops softly kissed us. Soon a pouring rain storm washed away the smoldering heat and humidity of the summer, and a change of season seemed to happen before our eyes with the breeziness of fall that is so welcomed now. I started to feel a bit of a cold coming on so I decided to rest in between lunch and dinner on Sunday. Ronn and Lavinia went for a walk and to my surprise, Ronn came back with a perfectly small heart shaped rock he found on the Biagiotti property from their afternoon stroll. I was so amazed and surprised to get this from him and took it as an omen to all the wonderful things that are happening in our lives now.
My Heart shaped Rocks
It’s my gratitude rock, a symbol of our rock solid love that has conquered so much in the past few months. As some you may remember, Ronn found a large heart shaped rock walking on the beach in Malibu a few years ago, so now I have that one next to me in our bedroom and this little one with me at all times. I showed Laura the rock and she said with great flair, “Now, let’s go find a Picasso at the flea market!” Because I admire so much Laura’s wisdom, knowledge and sixth sense, I knew our trip to the flea market was something special she wanted to share with us. And there I found the cutest outfit in the latest fashionable color of deep green for this fall that I will can’t wait to wear with pride. Lavinia wanted to take us to the wedding of chef Filippo La Mantia and his bride, Stefania, which was hailed the most elite party in Rome, and such a glamourous end to our awesome trip. Lori and I got dressed up for the party and made quite an entrance with Ronn, who epitomized Rock Star.
Lavinia, Eleonora & Ronn
Dev, Eleonora, Ronn & Lori
There we met some of the most prestigious people in Rome, including ballerina, Eleonora Abbagnato. Lavinia grew up watching Eleonora dance and to meet her was an honor, especially since I’ve never seen a ballet. So she invited me to see her dance in Paris! Being at this party was like seeing a fashion show of the most beautiful people, each designer dress prettier than the next and the most delicious food. It was hard to move because everyone was coming to meet Ronn for photos, but Lori and I watched the whole scene in awe of every minute. Lavinia was so proud to introduce Ronn to everyone there and thus put a thrilling end to another memorable trip in our second home. This change of season is looking very promising and bright, so I’m sure another trip to Italy will be happening very soon!
After having some amazing tastings in the chateaus of LaGrange, Margaux and Lynch Bages in the Medoc region of Bordeaux and then experiencing some chateaus of the St. Emilion region, home of Petrus. Ronn was fascinated with the wine education he had and found we both loved the older wines from the Medoc, but still appreciated the Merlot blends of St. Emilion just as much. We bought a few bottles to keep for the future, as well as a few to drink now. 2005 was a great year for all of Bordeaux and we fell in love with LaGrange and savored a bottle in our room while catching up on emails in our lovely room we had in this 18th century chateau. So I can safely say, Ronn is very relaxed now and loving France. We both want to learn French and can’t wait to go to Loire Valley, which is so beautiful today. We will stay in another 18th century chateau and visit one more vineyard today there before returning on Friday for our final day in Paris. Then it’s back home on Saturday. So far this has been an amazing trip. We have shot lots of video and we are organizing the clips together for an edited DVD to share soon. Will try to take more pics to post later.
