The holidays are here. (Well, almost.) And for the team at La Lettre as well. So as to keep up our special daily contact, we once again invite you to submit your vacation photos. From July 9 to August 30, you will help produce La Lettre with pictures from your vacations past or present. ~La Lettre de Photographie
A little boy in rural France dreams of going to Paris. (Who hasn't?!) Leonore Klein's charming story, originally published in 1962, is a GG fave. We didn't even know (then) that the amazing illustrations were by a genius graphic designer, Saul Bass. The out-of-print book, long a collector's item, has recently been republished by Rizzoli. Click here for more pictures & more design posts. (via Brain Pickings)
...for travel plans or for your walls at home. Or both. 
While we are catching up on work, some links to Paris in the winter. Also a big recommendation for people to visit Strasbourg (& all of Alsace) anytime but the wintertime is lovely. The Alsatians know how to do cozy. 
For some lovely short articles on a wide variety of subjects, visit Toast Travels by Toast. If you don't receive their catalogues, you might like to order one or all of the latest. Giulia pines for these socks but purchasing two pair for four legs, c'est impossible (for now). 
It's nearly a word-less Wednesday, here. Andrew, a Kiwi, of the Cuba Gallery has taken some gorgeous photographs in Italy, including Amalfi, in Calabria, along the Mediterranean . Isn't it enchanting? Giulia would love Amalfi. Cats are well-loved in Italy & her love of la passeggiata would be indulged. Her editor loves the Amalfi coast, too. Since we can't be there today, we're swooning over Andrew's photographs.
At a Fourth of July party we met up with an acquaintance who was flying off to France & Italy the next day. Her excitement as she detailed her itinerary for her much-delayed first trip to Europe was exhilarating. She flew into Nice & so today we are wishing that we were meeting her for an apéro somewhere in Provence/the French Riviera. Lest you think that you would never take children to the Riviera, how wrong you are!
It's sad to see many people on Pinterest sighing over their "bucket lists" with what seems to be little to no interest in getting beyond the "some day-ness" of it. The only way we got to travel so much is that we planned long before there was money or the time to go anywhere. Buy a guide book--even used--about a place you want to visit. Use a little notebook--it doesn't have to be a Moleskine!--& begin planning. Keep these on your nightstand & before you go to sleep, work on your itinerary, read the book(s).
Generous Jordan of Oh Happy Day is so happy with her new life in Paris that she put together a giveaway for a trip for 2 for one week. The website is having a few problems with traffic today, but you can easily follow the Facebook & Twitter instructions right away. (The giveaway is open until June 20, 11.59PST.) 
Via today's La Lettre de Photographie. See below for details. Running behind...we'll see you later tonight. (Update - later 'gators. Over the weekend:)Vacation: a magic and sacred word for the French. Indeed, La Lettre is international, but quite a few of us are and remain French. Vacation, what a dilemma. Vacation, yes, closing of La Lettre, no. How can La Lettre stay alive for 6 weeks from July 12 to August 26?
A simple, funny and friendly idea. We are turning La Lettre over to you: you, our contributors and readers. If you would like, if the idea amuses you, you can send us your favorite holiday pictures. Your picture and only one will run with a caption. It is not a contest, just a reminder of the friendship that we have shared now for nearly nine months.
Jean-Jacques Naudet
We need the photographs in the following resolution. In HD, 1920×1080 pixels, down to 1024×768 at the minimum.
Starting today, you can send your pictures to: info@lalettredephotographie.com
I like to think of an itinerary as the cover of a book that piques your curiosity, encourages you to take action... J. Peterman 
Thanks to Barbara Goldfield & the Italian Notebook for a post on the gorgeous wisteria in Italy. Possibly this is why we're running so late today. Barbara owns Savour the Sannio, a travel consultancy for central and southern Italy. It's most definitely worth your while to visit her. French Film Fun just might be...on Saturday. 
Settle in with some coffee or tea, your cat or pup, & browse through Swedish Madelene's beautiful photographs & writings. For terrific suggestions about a trip to Paris, check out Smartypants Goes to France (or "The Clever Pup will set you straight":).
GG's readers should enter this contest. What have you to lose? Any travel photograph, whether half-way round the world or in your backyard. Upload your photographs for the chance at a 1,500USD first prize award. There's a second & third prize, as well as three honorable mentions. Go for it, peeps! See the most popular photographs, here. 
GG Central is in a mad Friday/Saturday- Hallowe'en-Rally for Sanity rush...oof. So pull up a chair, sip on some hot chocolate (or a glass of wine) & dip into the recent Parisian adventures of our Canadian friend. This is a new & ongoing venture, not the Pup you might be accustomed to (note the Breton shirt, ballerinas, & the beret placed just so). Très mignon, non?
There is no blue without yellow and without orange.--Van Gogh
How GG & her editor would like to be in Capri (OK, perhaps Anacapri during tourist season) today. These lovely images were recently posted by the Library of Congress. Visit their Photochrom Travel Views set, here, & marvel at their ongoing Grand Tour. Also, we recommend a visit to Australia's Being Ruby & her lovely photographs from a trip to Anacapri.