Day trip to Reims

There are two types of people in the world: those who love looking at ancient cathedrals and those who would much rather tour a champagne cave. But I learned, surprisingly, that I like both! Today we took the high speed train from Paris to Reims, one of the two main champagne regions of France, with […]

A Perfect Paris Sunday

Enough talk about the rain in Paris, suddenly there’s a heat wave coming to town with the hottest day of the summer predicted for tomorrow (100 degrees Fahrenheit.)Â

Anna returned to the U.S. yesterday so on this Sunday morning, Ken and I awoke with a sunny day in front of us and decided to […]

Things to do on a Paris Rainy Day

We awoke to the rainiest day yet, rain so forceful hard that our umbrellas did little to protect us—it was beautiful. Ken, stubborn husband that he is, didn’t bring an umbrella because he “hates” umbrellas but today he gladly mooches off me. Anna and I name him the umbrella moocher as he tries, to no […]

A Miraculous Cure for Jet Lag

Yesterday, Ken, my husband, arrived in Paris remarkably energetic. He had just endured a 12 hour flight and yet he didn’t appear to be tired. He said he had a client who was French and they told him about the wonders of French maritime pine bark extract, pycnogenol, for jet lag. It’s sold at health […]

Soundtrack to Versailles

The sky was gray when we left Paris for Versailles,we sat side by side and Anna handed me one of her headphones so I could share her iPod on the ride. Air in the train car had a delicious Saturday morning feel as the weekend stretched before us.

Mackelmore rapped on Anna’s iPod, the […]

The Louvre: The good, bad and ugly

Today Anna and I stopped by Angelina, famous for its choc-chaud (hot chocolate) before venturing to the Louvre. We were dying to see what all the fuss was about—hot chocolate is hot chocolate, right? Unless it’s chocolate cake batter. This drink is so thick that Anna vascillated between sipping it and drinking it with a […]

Modern Art is different than Regular Art

I adore modern art. The days Anna and I  have spent at the Musee l’arte Moderne and today at the Pompidou Center were amazing. But I realized several things: 1. It is work to understand modern art. See example below.

I would call this piece “Hey, I lost my […]

Hotel Living is the Life for Me

Fashion Designer Christian LaCroix listed his apartment for 2.6 million

During my previous visits to Paris, I’ve rented an apartment—historic spaces with windows that you could throw open onto the street, light that streamed inside, a true Parisian experience. ( I did not rent Chrisitan LaCroix’s apartment but a girl can dream.)  […]

The Rain in Spain is Mainly on the Plain except when it’s in Paris

Paris rain is the most beautiful rain, humbling plain old wet raindrops worldwide. If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, you’ll know that to truly embrace Paris, you must enjoy the rain. Today, Anna, my 17-year-old daughter and I set out on our first day of adventures on a morning with a small chance […]

Cafes of the Left Bank

I’m preparing to leave for my Paris sojourn and making a list of priorities during my stay. After seeing Midnight in Paris this week, at the top of the list “Drink wine in cafes.” Below are my favorite literary cafes and I plan to take a seat and watch the world go by:

Café […]