What's on my mind
Our train ride to Monaco was very short, and we descended from the station to the Hertz rental agency. This was a lot of work, even with wheels on the suitcases. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, we had a view of the cliff behind us: We had to think about… Continue reading From Monaco through The Gorge du Verdon by Car and by Drone
From Nice the bus took us along the coastal highway, so we got several views of the seaside. Bypassing Cannes and Monaco, we arrived at the city of Menton, which is on the Italian border, right on the ocean. Our hotel, the Napoleon, overlooked the pedestrian esplanade, a beach and a marina. The link gives a live… Continue reading Menton and Valbonne
As you may have guessed, our group was not paid for singing. Instead, the director had to arrange for the schedule and depended on financing by the members of the group. In this post I continue the story of our tour (see Singing in Spain and Interlude in Collioure). Our next stop was Arles, where… Continue reading Arles and l’Étang des Aulnes
This post is the first of several about a vacation we took ten years ago. The Chamber Singers of the University at Albany, an auditioned à capella chorus directed by David Griggs-Janower, were scheduled to go on a tour of Spain and France in 2007. Not enough students could go, so David recruited a few additional singers and groupies to fill… Continue reading Singing in Spain
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
Living in an apartment in Paris, even for a few days, affords opportunities that one would probably miss on a tightly packed vacation schedule. It was our chat with our agent Franz that clued us in to the new museum in the Bois du Boulogne, and a chance encounter with a fellow American that gave… Continue reading Fondation Louis Vuitton and An Encounter at La Terrasse
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 morning showed streets shiny from an overnight rain. People were wearing jackets or carrying umbrellas. It was 57°F. Our plan was to stay home until it was time to go to the Opera, for which we had a voucher purchased online. It was June 6, the 73rd anniversary of the invasion of Normandy by the… Continue reading A Rainy Day in Paris
