What's on my mind
We have friends who live in Louviers, not far from Rouen, whom we have known for almost twenty years and whom we visit every time we come to Paris. On our last Sunday, they and their children came to see us. Their teenage girl wore a stars-and-stripes theme blouse in honor of our visit, We all headed… Continue reading Musée Grévin et La Tour Eiffel
Shortly after our arrival in Paris, we were surprised to see a new café, La Comtesse, at the corner of Avenue de Tourville and Avenue Duquesne. I was intrigued by the décor that I could see inside, and also the name. I thought "Which Comtesse?" The Comtesse Greffulhe perhaps? We went to lunch at the café a… Continue reading La Comtesse et Le Greffulhe – What’s In a Name?
In this post I would like to describe our visits to two of our favorite spots in Paris: the Delacroix Museum and the Jardin du Luxembourg. We took a bus to the Musée Delacroix, 6 Ave de Furstenburg. We had visited here before, but it was different this time, so quite worthwhile. Delacroix was a… Continue reading Musée Delacroix and Le Jardin du Luxembourg
In the morning we took the number 28 bus to the boulevard Haussmann to see the Musée Jaquemart-André, a distinctive Belle Epoque building inaugurated in 1876. It was designed by Henry Parent, who had lost the competition for constructing the Opera House, to hold and develop Edouard André's collection of mostly 18th century works. In… Continue reading On the Trail of the Belle Epoque of Proust
The book collection in the apartment where we stay has always been of interest. This time I picked up Michel Houllebecq's La Carte et Le Territoire, winner of the 2010 Prix Goncourt. The same author later published a book imagining France as an Islamic state in the future, coincidentally on the day of the… Continue reading I Meet Michel Houellebecq, Learn a Story about Putin and François Hollande, Dine at Florimond, and Do Not Dine at Bustronome
We walked all the way to St. Sulpice Sunday morning. The church is in fine shape. The scaffolding on the front has come down, revealing a rebuilt facade and towers. The famous murals of Eugene Delacroix have been renovated using a protocol developed by an American professor, Richard Wolbers of the University of Delaware. We… Continue reading St. Sulpice and the Bistro Maell et Augustin
Today we wanted to see a bit more of Nuremberg's old town, and then fly to Paris via Frankfurt. Some of this worked out as planned... After a decent breakfast at the hotel, we set out on foot for the old town. Along the way we passed the Café and Bar Celona once more. We… Continue reading From the Lorenz Church to a Hair-raising Taxi Ride to Frankfurt
Our cruise was over this morning! We found it a totally luxurious experience. The Viking people are very professional and friendly, and the food, housekeeping, and touring arrangements were excellent. We were totally spoiled. We had four big objectives for today: to see the clock animation in the Hauptmarkt, the German National Museum, and the… Continue reading A Day in Nuremberg
We planned our time in Nuremberg this morning. We tried to get an idea of the location of our hotel, the Azimut on Pirckheimerstraße. It is just beyond the periphery of the tourist map provided by Viking. I went on deck to watch the passage through a lock, this time descending toward Nuremberg. I got… Continue reading Arrival in Nuremburg
The tour of Regensburg was led by Margit, a local guide with a personalized itinerary that led us past numerous sites of either historical or culinary interest, finishing in front of the Gothic St Peter's church. Peter is seen in a boat under the cross but well above the entry portal (scroll down when external… Continue reading A Tour of Regensburg
