Hey!

Hello, just a quick check in to clear my head a bit and see if I can verbalize my latest musings quickly. Bottom line is I'm taking a break from everything but (what I can see as) essentials right now. In other words my blog and some other writing that I've recently re - begun are going back on hold.

 I know I'll still write for myself, but right now the (admittedly self induced) pressure is off on that front and actually it feels pretty good. I'd like to focus on editing myself a bit: it's nice to believe I'm a Renaissance woman all "oh I can do everything I fancy" and perhaps to a certain extent I can -but the more I do the less I enjoy it and probably don't always do my best and what's the toll of that?  Also for me it's begun to feel a bit like the discipline trap: "I am free and don't need routines (ie discipline) -- both of these mindsets I have been known to buy into. I need to clarify and have routines.

So the Renaissance Woman and the Discipline Trap have a an anti motto : "You can do anything but you can't do everything" (don't know who said it first). So clarity, editing/curating, discipline all will bring a self directed pleasure. I'm beginning to see that a certain amount of selfishness is key as well.
Not to say I won't be back - and if so I certainly hope it's not 5 years again!
Cheers,
La

The celebration of a Routine

Just a quick note to share the results of my most recent goal/routine. I've dabbled in playing keyboards for years but got serious in June and signed up for lessons (again). Tomorrow night I am playing keyboards, live, with my husband's band at a local club. This is a thrilling thing for me and a positive reinforcement of the power of intent and follow through.
Best,
La

Little Parisian House - Your Neighborhood

We moved last week - ugh to the physical act of that - and I've started a series on it - "Little Parisian House on the Prairie" (there is one prior post and yes, it sounded like a good title at the time, LOL). Every move I make now that we  are back at our beloved Elmwood gets filtered: does it contribute to a simple, luxurious, deliberate, european inspired lifestyle?  Yesterday I ran some errands and pondered how different my daily routine is now that I am living in the same town yet a mere 2.5 miles away from where I was living last week. This neighborhood is more residential yet I am closer to one of my favorite haunts, the library. From this location I can ride my bicycle to the bank, library, post office and grocer easily. I have a wonderful park across the street with woods and trails upon which to walk Scout. We have a private backyard deck and I spend large portions of my day working from there which is so luxurious to me.
I realize that not everyone has the ability to move. Believe me I feel that living in Paris would be the ultimate reinforcement to live a beautiful life everyday yet I won't be moving there (real) soon as much as I desire it. I guess my point here is to really think about your daily routines and what life you want to be living if and when you get a chance to move. Location does influence your life. It's possible to create a beautiful existence just about anywhere (it's all in your mind, remember) but the reinforcement that come from environment is really powerful and I've experienced that first hand this week.
bisous
La

European Breakfast Part Deux

As mentioned in Part 1 on breakfast on the continent - I love this meal. I don't necessarily eat a lot, but I just love the components.  Also, this is where I get to start ruminating on the differences between the European and American lifestyles which is the intent of recounting our 3 weeks spent in Europe this past April. I am intent on recreating this lifestyle for us as much as possible here in the CLE. I've been on this journey for years and have collected a lot of information, hence Paris on the Cuyahoga which is my way of helping to define this lifestyle, embrace it and spread the word about it.
In Leuven, Belgium our daughter Clementine (who'd been living there since Sept 2014) chose a bio (organic) resto for breakfast.  It was thrilling for me to note the similarities between this meal and how we eat it at home. First, there is one long, pine table set with trays of jellies, jams, spreads like nutella, sugar, salt and pepper. Altho there are a few other small tables most of the clientele sat around the big table and soon there was room for us too. Cafe au lait - perfection in a ceramic bowl. Soft boiled eggs served in egg cups. The omnipresent european spoon - small  with a long, fine handle. Assorted breads: toasted, seeded, hearty, fine. We dined and I observed the (mostly) women eating with us: well dressed - simple but looking pulled together; conversing and leisurely consuming their meals; pulling off small bits of bread, buttering it carefully before popping into their mouths. Enjoying and socializing.
For our final breakfast we ate at our hotel and breakfast was included. This was the most fantastic hotel breakfast I've ever had the pleasure of eating. Tables set with linen and good silverware. The lavish display featured all varieties of cheese and pate - these in individual containers. Big baskets of bread: croissants, hearty bread, seeded rolls, rustic white bread. REAL scrambled eggs. Bacon, potatoes, yogurts and fruit. In heaven!  I chose 2 cheeses and toasted bread and cappucino. Jake and Clementine had eggs and potatoes and bacon. All wonderful, I wished for the strength to go for some pate but couldn't muster the appetite.

Europe makes it easy to live this way. Here we need to tweak what we've got to get what we want. I start every day with cafe au lait, I'll share my easy method for making it another time if you'd like it?
Then usually some toast. I take my time and pull off bits of toast, butter it one bite at a time. Enjoy it.
If I'm alone I read: the paper, a book - whatever.  Of course I do breakfast after the early routine I've developed, described in another post, of water and walking.  Then I write this blog.

Bon appetite!

Wrap up on Routines and Rituals

In order to continue to create a life that feels good and rings authentic I believe that one must constantly check in with oneself and take charge of necessary change. Intention is where it starts. Intentions are the fuel, they inform where we want to go in life. Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? Where do you want to be?
 Routines and Rituals are the engines, the discipline made into daily/weekly/monthly routines that will take us where we want to be!

"Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power"  Descartes

Your thoughts create the world you live in. Think thoughts that take you where you want to go.
You have the power - it's right there in your mind.
Love,
La

RITUALS

Something can be both a ritual and a routine, the main difference is that a ritual is always pleasurable while a routine can often be the opposite. Part of the genius in learning to live a great life is somehow making the "musts", the drudgery, the routines dang it!! - into pleasures. Of some sort.  But the rituals are rewards, pleasure, food for our minds and souls.
Some common rituals: keeping fresh flowers in your home, playing music, burning candles, mealtimes with family/companions. Some others I like and have mentioned: monthly massage, monthly facial, monthly facial cupping, tea time, swimming (it's my hydro therapy and a whole lot more!), napping. I, obviously, like grooming but I also see my body massage as necessary to my work (dancing) and the facial stuff is also somewhat preventative.

Some routines I'd like to make into rituals: housecleaning being one. Ugh. I have no luck with cleaning ladies (shut up about my standards) so it's not delegateable (new word?).So I try to get into the mindset and play great music etc.....and I do it. And I love the result, there is nothing like a clean house -  so I guess that's enough!

I think it's necessary to get some routines in place as boring as it initially sounds. The free time, increased productivity, the flow - will all be worth it. I have found, truly, that the morning routine I began about 7 months ago has become both routine and ritual: it really works for me.

And small pleasures - rituals - are daily companions so don't take them lightly. Appreciate them.
xxoo

ROUTINES PART 2

I realize the Europe trip journal has yet to be wrapped up and there is Little Parisian Home to update as well. All in good time, I am in no hurry. We are now living at Elmwood and taking it slowly.

To continue on the theme from yesterday, in addition to daily routines I'd break things down fairly obviously: weekly; twice weekly; monthly; twice monthly, bi monthly; quarterly and yearly. Going through my daily planner I can recreate my schedule fairly well and I've noted items that will be slotted into the routines: personal items such as: swimming, haircut, facial, massage and facial cupping and more overall items such as:  cleaning, dog to groomer, bill paying, car maintenance (did I really add that?!), birthdays and holidays and special days.....it could get rather painful so I'll stop there. And I'll really just implement what works for me. One of the women I mentioned in yesterday's post uses her Sundays to organize for the upcoming week: she quickly cleans out the refrigerator and makes a list, goes shopping, tidies up and then she cooks a wonderful family dinner, enjoys it with her "tribe" then gets herself ready for her upcoming 4 day work week. She also walks her dog every day before work. She has habits and is living a well lived life.


This is probably how all those lovely people who always remember birthdays do it, by the way,


I've already jotted down my top 3 monthly routines/rituals (many things are BOTH routine and ritual!!) -  these are: 70 minute facial, hour massage, facial cupping and the next time I schedule my appointments for each I'm going to set up a regular day and time going forward. Genius (low level, but) I can always tweak this and it's how I already handle my 6 - 8 weeks between haircuts.

Purchasing my children's airplane tickets home for Christmas and visits, family birthdays, vacations - lots of stuff can be organized just by acknowledging it; and perhaps I'll be more likely to take advantage of some downtime to search airfares etc if I've noted each occasion.
Rituals, coming tomorrow darling.

Organizational Update - Rituals and Routines

I am good at stuff like this: making lists.
But routines and rituals have come up (I do adore Tonya Leigh at tonyaleigh.com - she's a great coach) and I've had similar success with routine - there are so many ways I can see this. But, I have also had difficulties defining and sticking with other routines that have not "clicked".
As I've peudo studied this issue I've noticed in my life women who obviously embrace organization and routine. I know three of them both quite well and will keep them in mind as I generalize.

#1 - They always look good. Cool clothes and accessories. Bright, clean smiles. They've been the same weight for all the kazillion years I've known them. Obviously take care with: dental and medical health, grooming, meditation and movement.
#2 - Clean, clean homes.  Smooth, clean wood floors; sleek but homey rooms; Beethoven (or Bob Dylan) on the sound system; candles and flowers; food, family; nice exterior yard space; big fluffy white towels that stay white (ok, I'm getting fanciful now :) !!
#3 - Great rapport with their children. And their partners. Loyal, supportive and kind. Realistic and generous.
#4 - Lots of friends and family. They can and do, entertain fairly often. This ranges from cocktails on the deck to dinner parties.
#5 - A life apart from #'s  2,3 and 4 above. Other work: writing, business, broadcasting....jobs, in these cases, that are very different for each woman, but each makes it work for her life: one sequesters herself to write, rarely getting dressed for a few weeks while she chases her own deadline - works for her. Another naps in the early afternoon cause she works a 5 am shift at the TV station. The third works from 10 am to 6 pm, Monday thru Thurs. They like what they do and take pride in their professions.
#6 - They go places! They will meet you for lunch or dinner or drinks or theater. If you call them they
have plans and ideas on what is up. They are fun and informed - someone listens to NPR. :)  LOL or reads lots of the latest books and sees film sometimes too. Knows what is happening in downtown Cleveland right now - clubs, restaurants, what's being done for the Republican National Convention next summer etc.


So Paris on the Cuyahoga likes to hang out with these women and types like them. I can tell you they are all highly organized, ritualized and seem to be wringing life out for maximum pleasure: in other words Routines and Rituals are good things - they free you up for the lazy, or sumptuous or creative moment you would have MISSED without them.
Here are some ideas I either use or have noticed.

Morning Routine:
24 oz lemon or vinegar water (room temp)
make coffee and put in thermos, while it brews: floss, brush and put on a facial treatment: either a lotion or tanner or mask.
Now I wait at least 45 minutes before I drink or eat (notice coffee is in thermos, only water now!!) while I : sweep kitchen floor and/or deck; pick up the house; walk Scout in the park (almost everyday for 25 minutes).
Return from park and indulge in cafe au lait with 2 large slices of toast and butter/jam or cheese/tomato. Read the NYT's Sunday which we keep all week, or whatever is in my read bag. The local news: paper, magazines etc are good to breakfast with as well.
Write. This one is, perhaps, going to benefit this blog. It is today!!
Then a mixture of playing keyboards, meditate (20 minutes), stretch, swim (half hour, once a week)
- I also must work for a few hours in the afternoon (this involves driving and/or computer so I take care to stretch and have started using a standing desk to alternate with my regular spot).
I have been a happy follower of the above routine for about 5 months. My writing (this blog included - do you want more of it??) and my keyboard playing have greatly benefited. Scout looks trim. So I endorse routine and intend to continue to implement it into my life.
That said.
Late Afternoon:
I am, honestly, working on this one. the Evening Routine is almost NEVER done in my house, so I am hitting it head on by starting in the late afternoon. Brilliant I know.
Here's the obstacle to an Evening Routine: I have a gig 2 - 3 nights a week.
www.the-poptarts.com
It's always been the hurdle to a routine as sometimes half the week it's gotta be different. So.
Here's what I've got for now.
Meditate and/or nap. I have a great 20 minute youtube meditation I use, sometimes I do a facial mask.
Set up water in vaporizer - I run one every night - good for voice and skin. Stretch. Tea time: Depends on if I know I'll eat at the gig, but I will have tea or coffee and a snack. If there is a gig I'll clean up my desk, check my calendar for the next day, do a bit of work perhaps and gather my clothes for the night. I experimented with wiping off my makeup in the car on the way home from gigs - I like the disposable cloths and use them often when traveling. I may go back to it, I will shower, hang up my stuff, eat something (try to keep it small)!!, watch Netflix or.....
On nights that I don't gig:
Follow the above but
Read, organize, keyboards, happy hour, prepare dinner at home, write, soak in the tub instead of
working.
Routines and Rituals do intrigue me and there is more to explore:  beyond the daily routines listed above I'd like to do weekly, semi monthly, monthly, bi monthly, quarterly, yearly: I know the women I admire do have lots of organizational skills.    And the Rituals deserve their own post.
Bisous,
La

SATURDAY APRIL 18TH BARCELONA - WARM AND SEVENTY DEGREES

Once again we breakfast at Pans and Company, Jake says the hot chocolate is the best!! Today we spend wandering La Ribera, narrow streets of unique Barcelonian architecture: churches, apartment buildings, shops, markets. We stopped at the Mercat de Santa Caterina for brunch - another gorgeous food market with places to eat. The waitress rubs our toast with halved tomatoes which approximates the tomato jam I've come to love at Pans. This must be a Spanish/European thing and I like it! Interesting and unusual people stop for a bite, some for a drink(!) and we happily munch and watch. People watching is fun! I believe we spent the rest of this day walking and exploring La Ribera but I can't remember and Jake's notes stop here so.....I will have to check with my travel companions and recreate the dates; we left Barcelona for Belgium around this time, perhaps Sunday morning.
Barcelona I hope to see you again.

EUROPEAN BREAKFAST Part 1

I really like breakfast. To begin with the food you get: coffee, toast - the basics -  love them. The occasional egg, super crispy bacon or order of hash browns - yumz. I will eat this at any time of the day or night but it just wows me that this is not only acceptable, but encouraged, daily. What a world!
In Europe my love affair with petite dejeuner, as with all things, gets more intense, elegant and refined. 
 At Pans (in Barcelona) which is a very unassuming looking chain McDonaldesque in appearance, we ate this meal, pictured,  To the left is the toast (you can see just a sliver in the white paper wrap. Mid photo is the small jar of strawberry jam, above that are 2 packets of olive oil and on the right is the tomato jam, salt and pepper. Along with a cafe con leche these 2 slices of toast made a satisfying reward for leaving bed and a crunchy bridge toward lunchtime. A drizzle of olive oil on a pinched off corner of toast with a small spoon of rough cut tomato jam smoothed o top, munch, sip, repeat.....sitting in the cool morning sun...lovely.  The toast a good sturdy white bread, toasted warm and crispy. The olive oil and tomato jam fresh and perfectly delicious. We had extraordinary breakfasts in Belgium so they'll get their own post. xo

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2015 - BARCELONA SUNNY AND 70 degrees

My daughter and husband know coffee is a must and they've planned a day of serious Spanish sightseeing so first up as we exit the Grand Hotel is Pans and Company, right across the street and next to the metro entrance. HIGHLY recommended for a inexpensive but incredibly elegant, breakfast. This place looks like a McDonalds, but that's all. Most of our mornings in Barcelona I had the same thing: coffee - creamy with steamed milk and toast - rustic pane, toasted, with olive oil, tomato jam and fruit jam - these 3 in small individual "to go" packets/jars. Unbelievably delicious. With a few swirls of olive oil and a spoon of tomato it was "breakfast bruschetta".  I plan a breakfast post on all our memorable European breakfasts - it'll be part of my breakdown/takeaways from Europe - so I'll save more and the photos on that for later.
After this divine nudge into the day we metro to Park Guell and spend a few hours walking up and down some severe landscape - hilly in spots there!! - dotted in dreamlike structures produced by Gaudi, a famous architect: buildings, benches, walls and stairs. Mosaic, colorful, mirrored, exhausting to walk and view (in my opinion it's very physical all around!). We need to escape and head underground to metro stop La Rambla. My favorite place to stroll is this wide pedestrian walkway, at one end my favorite European church,Santa Maria Del Mar, at the other my favorite European clothing chain, Zara. The Mercat de la Boqueria is in the middle - which is my favorite market. You must not miss this gorgeous food market where every item is displayed like a precious jewel. Every item. The fruit displays are intensely gorgeous, but that's too easy. How about art made from numerous grains arranged for sale in patchwork square boxes that make a pattern like dusty farmlands seen from an airplane. Amazing.  La Rambla is a win win for me!!  In between you walk and look. Or stop for a drink and look. Or smoke and look. We have an adventure in a British sports pub along the way: the adorable and friendly crew sing along with Bruno Mars Uptown Funk and we chat with some Irish folks.  Later, laden with Zara bags we return to our hotel. After we've rested up a bit (drinking and shopping = exhaustion), it's tapas at the Basque place around the corner and to bed. Digging Barcelona.

BARCELONA!!

Jake, Clementine and I slip out of Cynthia's condo at 5:30 am into a heavy fog. Waiting for us is Tonya, a British expat who will taxi us to the airport. She's a chatty cabbie and gets us capably thru the mist, the rest of leaving Rome is just as uncomplicated. Vueling airlines is based out of Barcelona and we had a pleasant, if short, flight with them. Before this trip I was only familiar with Ryanair - both of my older children traveled extensively in Europe on Ryanair while spending semesters abroad  - but Europe is full of small airlines so the cost and the convenience often can't be beat.
Our hotel is very nice - we really love our room which has a deep, large tub, great shower and eco constraints on the lights and electricity in the room: nothing works until you "park" your door keycard in your room's receptacle. This way all the lights etc are out whenever you leave. The immediate neighborhood, Santa Estacio, isn't really very picturesque. It's more industrial/commercial with the train/bus/metro station across the intersection, but that said, it's convenient to how you'll be getting where you're going. We did enjoy a Basque style resto around the corner, lunch once for me and Clementine; tapas one night for us all, but mostly we took the metro away from Estacio and walked. Lots of walking everywhere, the whole time, the entire trip.
After a picnic of baguette and cheese on a park bench waiting for our room to be ready we shower and nap. C and I go for Basque food, a late lunch. We relax in our room until evening and head to the Sagrada Familia, which is all scaffolded up and on to see 2 of Gaudi's most famous residences, apartment buildings that look like jazzed up Disney, done in colorful mosaic tiles, nary a straight line on the exterior. Fun house houses. Gaudi and Dali share some crazy Spanish aesthetic, I do believe.
Gaudi's stuff is all over Barcelona. We will go to his park, Guell, tomorrow by the way!
More to eat!! Tapas at the street end of a bar surrounded overhead by hanging ham, like in any good
european bar. More walking. Sleep is most welcome after this long day and the beds are good.

ROMA DAY 6: WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL

Last day in Italy and I'm working. Jake and the kids are gone to the Coliseum and Cynthia to work. So I do laundry and use my ipad to connect to my home laptop and work, alone, in the apartment. Outside the long windows  - where I'm hanging our clothes to dry - below on the piazza, there is a demonstration going on. I can't tell for what but everyone seems very happy, there are blue balloons floating about and occasionally, a group singalong. They will disperse promptly at 4 leaving a few sad balloons behind. 

We've booked Veuling Air to Barcelona in the morning. Time to 'arrivederci baby' our hosts Cynthia and Will with dinner (I have melon and ham, again) and superb lemoncello, she pesters the waiter/lemoncello maker into a bottle for herself although it's only for in house, after dinner as a general rule. My love affair with lemoncello while in Rome is one of it's great memories. Will and Cynthia the other 2 big ones. It's easy to say that I found Rome delightful and I, for some odd reason, wasn't sure I was going to love it there. But I do. 

ROME DAY 5 ~ TUESDAY 14 APRIL 2015 ROMA

Fun blog to remember today- heavy metal museum day. I'll explain later. The power Trio plus Will meet for breakfast at the corner near Clementine's hotel; same for all, Jake's "english" breakfast with eggs and bacon, still a modest portion by American standards but just perfect for him, eggs as orange as eggs can be while we gals, and Will, sipped and nibbled croissants. The Loyola gang will be ready to leave at 9:30 and, as usual since we've met up with our Daughter we are anticipating another "Catholic School" day as we head this time to the Capuchin museum. Rome is, obviously, perfect for a syllabus hearty in holiness and we're on that. Among other things! The Capuchin's were monks and the reason we care about them is that they saved one another's bones ultimately resulting in the weirdest display I've probably ever seen, of  various tableaux such as one featuring "whole bodies" (aka skeletons)in poses and some holding stuff (why can't I remember what right now?) or another utilizing only the femur bones of about a zillion men arranging them in decorative wall patterns or hanging candle holders!!?? What is this and what does it mean! LOL. I have to go right now and find a picture on line to add here. We weren't allowed to shoot, poor Will.
Pictures of the museum interior displays
After this we, as a group (we are with the Loyola contingent for the very last day) walk to Palazzo Berberini, a large, once private home, estate, now museum. The Snow Doctors and the kids, including Clementine enter for the last museum tour of this trip and you can feel the anticipation of the end as they stagger toward the massive entrance. Jake, Will and I wander the grounds, Will is always taking pictures, a Jimmy Stewart-ish looking young man, tall and toting a big camera; I end up with my shoes off, discreetly, in the sun near the fountain. I believe my feet were in pain to my defense. Jake is off somewhere. Finally free of the Loyola yoke (as much as we've really enjoyed getting to know and hang out with them) we head with a new swagger for, what else, a large, longish Roman lunch.
The rest of the day is anticlimactic: work for me and also some for Will back at the condo; Jake did his solo exploring and Clementine had a date to meet up with a dear friend living nearby. Kate is here, also from Loyola Baltimore, for semester abroad, but Rome is Kate's 4 month base while Clementine's been spending her entire junior year in Belgium so Rome this week is "just" a field trip. It's exciting to meet your girlfriend, casually almost, at the Trevi Fountain. And be able to walk there, easily, alone. Next time you see her it'll be on your beautiful Maryland campus, at home. That's cool.

Later Cynthia fusses, but loves it you can tell, making us burritos for dinner. Clementine's in heaven, how did C know it's her favorite stuff? The last night of a now familiar routine of walking Clementine back to her hotel, she'll check out in the a.m. and returning to our room at Cynthia's central Rome condo.
Oh yes - heavy metal museum day: Jake's inside joke resulting from a conversation with a friend who tried describing the Capuchin museum saying it's something like the artwork on a heavy metal album!! Yes, it is.
Night Darling.

The Elmwood Experience. Introducing: "Little Parisian Home on the Prairie"

What do you get when you fall back into a gorgeous pillow sky of blue and mature trees deep into the heart of Elmwood? A second chance to develop your cocoon, and your aesthetic, to embrace and nurture your loves. We know and are charmed by every inch of this property. The gardens and the yard, the exterior living areas - the quiet privacy of the back, the dark, cool north side and the sunny hot lawn reaching down front to the western road.

 The house. Wood when you enter. It envelopes you. The floors are oak, immense long streams shored up by an elegant fireplace and white painted woodwork, quiet walls.Large old barn shutters cover most of one wall, blue flecked green and worn, they open to the sunny front. Almost directly opposite in this T shaped expanse, are double white French doors that open to the wood deck. The floors - the wood - are our first question: to sand, sure. But to stain dark walnut? Important - -  remember the wood is what it's all about here. Changing the base, working from the bottom up, setting the foundation. I feel it'll be more elegant, more mature and help us frame and redefine and push forward on the changes that we want to make, easiest to do now while she's empty.
A small but totally useable kitchen. Returning to the large gas (!) range is thrilling - the temperatures I know and can trust - the gassy interior capable of crisping my Pugliese perfectly! We have decided to replace the original cabinets, install new countertops and flooring. Perhaps new appliances.
She needs 5 replacement windows that we never got around to replacing last time we lived here.
The bottom line, right now. is that: flooring, kitchen, front garden, windows and interior layout need to be devised and implemented so we can return to our dream home. This time we're making it even better.

Introducing a new feature on this blog: Little Parisian Home on the Prairie. We here at Paris on the Cuyahoga are restyling our darling manor and it's taking on the importance of a lifestyle change. After a hiatus of almost 2 years we've been fortunate to be able to return to our home, Elmwood, soon. We have the opportunity to create, decorate and delight in designing our old home, one we already know and love very well, into an even more inviting space in which to develop our lives. We intend a space of simple luxury with areas for all of our interests. It's beyond exciting.

I will keep plugging away at the Europe 2015 series as well as I must finish altho I can tell you now it does have a happy ending :)
blowing kisses, La

ROME DAY 4

This day, Monday April 13, 2015, is sunny and warm in Rome. We are walking with a group of 10  toward St Peters to tour the Necropolis of St Peter. Heavy stuff. We (our immediate trio Jake, Clementine and I) have prepared with our italian staple breakfast at the cafe on the corner from her hotel in Campo Di Fiori.  3 small tables and spare chairs attached to an equally small interior cafe by an awning at the very corner of the square, the cafe delights with small, delicious milky coffee. Croissant with butter and jelly. Jake with some eggs and juice. Both the color of an orange sunrise. Sitting, sipping, observing the life on the square; sharing glances and ideas, food, sometimes.  Now, sated, we can attempt this exclusive tour and in retrospect its a good thing we charged up for the adventures ahead.

Walking in shade and sun, over and along the Tiber, thru some piazzas, we morph along as largish groups do. We get to know the professors Snow - the Snow Doctors - better on the walk. He's heavily inked, she's very intellectual and as a married couple they teach/head things up at the at the International House at Katholic University in Leuven Belgium where our daughter is taking her Junior year (home base: Loyola Maryland). This is a mandatory class trip for the group that we are now walking with: Jim and Dale Snow and 8 students including our daughter.

At 200 participants a day the tour we are heading to take is difficult to book in the theater of the Vatican box office (!) but Jake and I are in the right place at the right time to understudy - going on for 2 girls from Loyola who did not make this class trip. In other words, we're using their tickets, bought well over a year ago, for entry.The entry we seek is at a quieter side station, we pass through large crowds to get there even at this early-ish time of day, and fill up a small room to be instructed on what we are about to experience. Turns out to be very highly regarded artifacts of the Roman catholic variety that are buried under the current St Peters Bascilica in an archeological-horizontal pattern that, viewed up close can be somewhat disconcerting and nauseating.  As thousands of "regular" tourists stream overhead, we follow a very tightly controlled Italian woman with good English but a heavy accent and a regimented script, through this ancient, weird, underworld. I have a good "ear" but still have to pay close attention to understand Maria; the stilted rhythms of her descriptions makes her spiel even denser. We are going down thick uneven stone steps and the air is changing and Maria sounds just a bit too regulated. Tombs, colors on remenents of wood or fabric that still sizzle; smooth small crypts, babies, sigh; the grand finale is the tomb of St Peter - his actual bones!! which are taken on faith here, cause I really saw nothing - they point several meters away, in a darkish corner - thru a small window!! - with a red laser light and say : there are the relics, the bones of St Peter.  It's a good half hour too long for me but fascinating in its claustraphobic way. I could totally skip the whole upstairs tour that followed - the inside of St Peters - but went along with the group. So crowded - so totally the opposite of what we had just seen - that it felt more like a decompress zone than a graceful tour of a peaceful place of worship. Frankly, with the selfie sticks and video taking tourists of all races; the trinkets for sale and the general lack of any air of gentility - I hated it.

Our power trio departs from the general group as we head back across the river to the neighborhoods of Rome where we are staying. Its late afternoon, lunchtime by now, so we gather up Will from Cynthia's condo - he's an 18 year old, she's his mother, our friend and mentor on this trip! - and the 4 of us - Jake, Clementine, Will and I - enjoy a long, civilized lunch. We top lunch with a visit to Zara which by now Jake has not only discovered but fallen for. We siesta at Cynthia's condo. This is my type of afternoon, and needless to point out - I enjoyed it much more than our morning mission.

After siesta we pick back up with a run, via taxi, to a chic secondhand store. Now our lunch crowd has increased with Mama (Cynthia) and she and I try on some things but we are too amazon built for some vintage and nothing wowed us anyway. Time for cocktails so we walk to the lobby of the hotel Cynthia lived in at first in Rome. Glam. A few rounds later we gailey make our way thru the streets, finally splitting up: Will and Cynthia to the condo, we 3 returning Clementine to Campo di Fiore to bunk with her student group for the night. On the way we buy her pizza and walk and eat and talk. Finally turning into the Campo is fantastic: gas heaters warming, framing and lighting up the night, a band playing House of the Rising Sun, a lovely life - this is where we had our cafe this morning, how different it is right now!! We take a turn through the square, drop Clementine at the hotel and stroll the now getting familiar 15 minutes back to the heavy green doors of Piazza dei SS Apostoli, number 49 and the slightly lumpy beds at Cynthia's!!

SUNDAY IN ROME - DAY 3

Cynthia is off today and suggests a leisurely shopping visit to the other side of the Tiber river to Trastevere. Rome is bisected by the Tiber and this neighborhood is less frequented by tourists and C is a regular at the flea market - the linen lady yells "Mama" to her as we approach. I love feeling less a tourist and hanging with C certainly helps! Cynthia and I start to dig thru the linens: jackets, table runners, nightgowns and more (rugs, not linen of course) - we fill a trash bag each - I got a sleeveless top that I've worn constantly this summer, some linen jackets and old pinafore-looking aprons to use as night gowns;  the proprietress even throws in some small table runners gratis. At the next stall I find a huge green stoned ring - quite the statement piece - and I get complements on it always. It never turned my finger green (my jeweler says its aluminum) and it's just the best souvenir ever - 20 euros and I love it! I'm posting a picture of it on my hand for this post.

We head to a neighborhood resto for lunch: caprese salad, artichokes and vegetable pizza. Wine, of course and we take our delicious time - the resto even closed for a few hours - fiesta- but they told us to take our time and finish at our leisure. So civilized.

Back at Cynthia's condo Clementine and Will are waiting for us. We hang out and talk about the day and drink lemoncello and pick at small appetizers (mostly so the kids can eat!). Jake and I walk Clementine back to her hotel then stroll back to C's condo for a sound night's sleep.

Arrivederci Baby!

Interesting Women with Jobs I'd Love!!

Taking (another) break from my European vacation series to post about 2 articles from this past Sunday's New York Times (08/30/2015). We get the Sunday Times delivered and it's a wonderful pleasure that lasts all week - we keep in in the kitchen and read it with our breakfast; just today (Wednesday) over my cafe au lait I finally got to the Business section and, as usual, found several articles of interest to me.
First there is an interview with Michelle DeFeo, president of Laurent-Perrier U.S. She's a francophile born in Pennsylvania (just like me!) who now heads the champagne house. The U.S. branch recently moved from California to Queens, NY and is housed in an old, renovated loft style space. Charming!

Second is an article about a former model, Frederique van der Wal, who started a flower delivery company in Europe in 2008, lives in Manhattan and the Hudson Valley and is introducing her business to the U.S. I share many of her interests and aesthetics as well and found this quick read to be a nice breakfast companion.

Flowers and champagne - everyday!! Live it up.

xxoo,
La

Rome Day 2

Today we wake to walk to our daughter's hotel (she's on spring break with a group of international students from Loyola, we planned to meet in Rome at the end of the break and travel as a family until she had to get back for classes). Her hotel is a pleasant 15 minutes walk from our condo. She will be surprised as she's not expecting us for 2 more days (as you've read the air traffic controllers strike in France altered our plans; it's a good idea to plan to be a flexible traveler!). She is surprised to see us and Jake lavishes her with hugs and  kisses - he even cries a bit - a very sympa man :) We go to the corner cafe for delicious cappuccino and croissants (they sprinkle them with sugar here, different than France), Jake opts for fried eggs - gorgeous orange yolks! Clementine's got to go with her professors to St Peters and the Vatican so we part ways and plan to meet for dinner.
Jake and I spend the day wandering around the area: Coliseum and Circus Maximus area mainly. Get some corny touristy photos with 2 guys dressed as centurians; overpaid for these masterpieces!!
In the evening we walk to get C at her hotel near Campo di Fiore and take her to see our condo. On the way we get some wine and beer and have cocktails at "our" place before meeting Cynthia for dinner out. We have wonderful conversation and food: roman artichokes, gnocchi, ravioli with gorgonzola and pear and my new favorite: lemoncello. We walk Clementine back to the Auberge de Soleil. A great day.
xo La

Baltimore - The Charm City

Once again veering off the prescribed course (which is, of course,detailing our European adventures from April of this year), but it's August and I should be taking the entire month off! Not gonna happen but we did get to take our daughter back to school in Maryland and, as we do, we made a petite vacation out of it. It's an easy drive in our opinion, just about 6 hours, to get from here to there. Typically we take a break when necessary and change drivers. This time Jake drove the whole way while Clementine and I slept and read. Instead of heading straight to our hotel on the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore we head to: Destination Ikea for a few back to school items (and I've been lusting over small coffee spoons since April;see Europe entries, I am going to do one on breakfast alone - it was so good over there!) - and Ikea has 'em! We love to cruise through Ikea - making mental notes on our upcoming kitchen renovation and ideas that we see and love. Then we fill our bags with photo frames, kitchen goodies (egg slicer to replace broken one, small spoons - yay I am so happy, vases, etc) and, boo to Ikea - they no longer have our favorite candle scent: ligonberry. What is up with that??? We do load up on ligonberry jam and concentrate (makes the best juice) and swedish fish (which are not as chewy as they used to be and therefore a waste of money). Then: Lunch. We like to eat here: meatballs with ligonberry jam, salmon with vegetable puffs (incredible!!), great coffee. Very reasonable and with the Ikea card (a rewards card, not a credit card) we get free coffee!! and discounts on our candles (settled for orange and lilac scents).
Now to the Inner Harbor and our favorite Hampton Inn. Check in and go to walk the harbor front. We have a cocktail at the Rusty Scupper (looks like a really good deal for happy hour and we may go next time we're in town) and then hit the Visionary Arts Museum - a really strange collection of art from, mostly, untrained artists who use a variety of mediums and, to my eye, have a wildly varying degree of talent LOL. Not my favorite, but we have the Cleveland Museum of Art and I can indulge in the Impressionists here at home. Point goes to: Paris on the Cuyahoga.
For dinner: Joe Squared. We'd seen it on previous trips here (Clementines a senior) but never stopped. I saw it featured on the Food Network and said hey we gotta go. Crazy busy, fabulous waitstaff and really good food. Concentration is pizza - we tried bacon and clam, yum, but they have wonderful looking chicken wings, vegan options and great salads: we did the avacado shrimp. I love that everything in Baltimore smells of Old Bay Seasoning. Side note, I grew up in the 'burbs of Washington DC so it's like coming home. Get some Old Bay and cook some shrimp in beer with some of that gold dust. Heaven.
Next day we take the trolley tour. It originates from the Visitor's Center in the Inner Harbor. Our guide "Doc" Bob was the best! He had a wardrobe of hats (King Charles's bejeweled beret, Uncle Sam's top hat etc) and was informative and entertaining. We saw a lot of things we've already visited in the past 3 years but it was great to hear his commentary and learn some new stuff. We also congratulated ourselves on how much we'd actually done and seen on our own.
For dinner we go to Hampden a gentrified area of shops, residences, restaurants etc for dinner at the Corner Charcuterie - and it did remind us of Paris. Cocktails with olives, roasted (in duck fat) fingerlings and then on to wine and a wonderful cheese plate hand selected by the chef. The waitress took our likes to him and then he came out with 2 gorgeous plates of cheese with accoutrements: jams, figs, nuts, pickled things and toasts. I love to sample and take my time and it was a wonderful way to relax en famille.
Saturday was move in. She's got a nice townhouse and is the first one to move in so we quickly get her stuff out of the van and into her new "home" so we can hit Miss Shirley's for brunch before Jake and I have to hightail it home (I have a gig Saturday night that I cannot miss). We've always loved Miss Shirley's and, even tho this time was a bit of a disappointment for me - my poached eggs were just too runny and not hot enough), I'd recommend you try her out if you are ever in B'more. She's an institution and has some wonderful, unusual breakfast/brunch/lunch menu items.
La

Book Review!

I've read most of  the "french inspired" lifestyle books that have been released over the years. Periodically I've reviewed a few on the blog. I just finished reading 2 - one is a new release "My Paris Dream" by Kate Betts and the other other was published in 2013 (but is new to me!) "French Women Don't Get Facelifts" by Mireille Guiliano. 

I had high hopes for "My Paris Dream" and they weren't fulfilled. Perhaps they were too high?! Maybe I'm a bit jealous that I didn't hightail it to Paris after school and make living there a reality?!

Not sure of the answer to that, but I was disappointed with this memoir. Kate Betts, who ultimately became the editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar, came from a background of privilege: she was the 4th generation of her family to graduate from Princeton University. She paints herself as a fairly regular girl who bucked the system and followed her dream of living in Paris instead of becoming a New York money making machine like many of her fellow graduates. It seems a bit of a stretch (to me anyway) that she ended up working for Fairchild's Women's Wear Daily without any use of her familial connections. Fairchild himself was a Princeton grad. If I had enjoyed her writing style and her exposition more that would not be an issue, but I felt that something was missing from this retelling of her story: more detail, more honesty, more explanation of the slang words used and more juicy, insider details about, for example, Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld, both of whom she worked with. Some writers have made me drool when evoking Paris or Italy, this memoir did not.

On a brighter note, I enjoyed Mireille Guiliano's latest instructional manual much more and I can definitely tell you why. First, she is of the less is more school, very no nonsense and practical. Secondly her information is spot on! She discusses, for instance, estrogen and Vitamin C and her recommendations are the latest, most scientifically supported! I know this because, just this week, I met with the Cleveland Clinic's Holly Thacker who is one of the preeminent women's health doctors in the world and her recommendations to me were exactly the same!! 

Here's to one of my favorite things: reading. Cheers, La

Rome

Ok so the overnight train is definitely not my favorite way to travel. Jake says I was snoozing on the tray table (elegant!) and I know I wasn't sleeping much later on, fully clothed, on my bunk. Then we transferred trains in Milan at 5:45 am - ugh. When we finally got settled on the final leg of the trip the sunrise and countryside views from the train windows as we made our way to Rome were gorgeous, making up for the rest of the journey!
We cabbed from Roma Termini at about 9 am to Piazza Venezia to pick up Will (my good friend Cynthia's son, he's in for a few months finishing high school on line, living with her) so he can guide the cabbie to our condo. Cynthia has invited us to stay with her and Will but first her other guests have to leave (more on them later); therefore C's found us an adorable 2 day rental, just about 3 blocks from her apartment on the Piazza Venezia. We are in the heart of Rome! Trevi Fountain right around the corner! Our condo has a very modern bathroom, great shower and, bien sur, a bidet. Exposed beams in the lofted bedroom. We feel very lucky to be so well connected and, even tho I've never been to Rome I feel right at home.
We shower and Jake goes exploring - I have to do some work and take advantage of a decent internet connection. He reports back that there is no dearth of souvenir stands and tourists, but also plenty of restaurants and cafes - altho not as many as in Paris.
For dinner we are invited to dine at Cynthia's with Will and Tomas and Monica. Tomas is a Czech that did some carpentry in Shaker Hts at Cynthia's home here in the states. They have stayed in touch and he and Monica and her 2 daughters (none of the 3 speak English) are visiting Rome. Tomas is a real character and we all hit it off immediately. He's brought slovovitz - a Czech version of moonshine, and homemade pickles to share and, along with delicious appetizers of sliced sausage, cheese, olives, cherry tomatoes and peppers we begin to feast and communicate in broken English and sign language. Lots of laughs and lots of fun. C's prepared chicken pot pie for the main dish and we stuff ourselves on a home cooked meal! We toast, several times with Limoncello , having moved on from the moonshine. Ice cream with truffled honey for dessert. Have I mentioned how much I love this European lifestyle!!?? A long, slow, wonderful meal with old and new friends. And we can walk "home" to boot.
xxoo La

Facial Cupping

Before I write a Paris recap and move onto Rome I'd like to mention something I recently discovered: facial cupping massage. My regular body massage therapist also does this type of facial and suggested I try it, I'm super glad she learned this ancient technique and shared it with me. Using little glass suction cups (different sizes for different facial areas) and gently pulling the skin in a lymphatic massage (toward the lymph nodes in the neck and upper chest) drains excess fluid and promotes - natural- collagen production. I'm sure you can google it for more extensive information, but let me tell you it is:
super relaxing - like getting a full body massage but in a half hour; reduces puffiness and helps to sculpt the face; stimulates the skin to renew itself - in my experience the banding/lines that are horizontal across my neck and which I've had forever - are softening and disappearing!
So that's today's tip - I'd love to answer any questions and/or hear about your experience with facial cupping massage.
xo La

Day 7 - Last Day in Paris

Thank goodness for Jake's faithful travel journaling! I start each adventure with the best intentions, this time even bringing some colored pens to sketch with, but I just don't have the discipline he does and, in my defense, I was doing some work via computer on this trip and the internet problems were amazing, so I just didn't have the time. We like to look through our old journals - the ones from our first trip to Europe together for example - and they are worth more than gold, so I do advise keeping one when you travel. The memories will fade but you can jog them back with your writing.

Today, after all the running around and drama of yesterday, we decide to do something we've never done before: take the double decker bus tour! The day is gorgeous and we sit on the top level, plug in the provided ear buds and enjoy being rather coddled :)  We've caught the bus at Notre Dame and it's headed to Luxembourg Gardens in the 6th. Like all of Paris it's an area full of history. Like what happens all the time in Paris there is a demonstration of some sort and the bus has to abandon the original route, return to Notre Dame where we hop on another line. We pass the Tour Eiffel, cruise the Champs Elysee, pass the Louvre and Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Musee d'Orsay, Paris Opera and more..... Lots of sites in a relatively short time and we enjoyed it,

For our last meal we head to  Le Petit Pont again and feast on moules and frites - mussels and fries - one of our favorites! Apres we need to pack up and take the #4 metro line to Chatalet and then the #1 to Gare de Lyon, the huge train station. It's an impressive structure built in 1900 for the Paris Exposition. We have a cocktail in the lounge and just enjoy the architecture and,....wait for it,... the people watching! Soon it's "All Aboard" and we find our overnight compartment, get settled in for
a sleeper trip to Rome. Jake will sleep, me not so much....
xo La

Day 6 in Paris

Today Le Marais - which is an area in the 3rd and 4th arrondissments on the Rive Droite. I've long waited for a falafel at L'as Du Fallafel, which is considered to be one of the best ever! I was rather disappointed - it's Passover and they can't serve it on the traditional pita bread, substituting matzo. So my review is that it was just okay. I really like the soft pita bread against the crunchy, fried chickpea patties and creamy tahini and/or hummus and pickled turnips; therefore the crackerlike matzo seemed dry and unflavorful. Note: Maha's Falafel at the West Side Market here in Cleveland serves my absolute favorite - so there's one for Paris on the Cuyahoga!! Hit if if you are ever in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame City. Totally yummy and I've tried many a falafel.
After a long, wandering walk in this area - we are gluttons for the architecture, the layout of the streets, the people watching.... we return to our hotel. I have totally mixed up our final day(s) here, but with the help of Jake's travel journal I can tell you that today is the day (not yesterday) that we head for the airport only to find out about the air traffic controllers strike and move to a new hotel - the Hotel Latin - exhausted after going to the train station to find all trains to Rome are full - to crash. Dinner is an impromptu picnic in our room with wine,beer, cheeses and pates from the local Marks and Spencer. Al Jazerra tv gets us up to date on the news, Boston bomber found guilty (our son was in school in Boston when that horrible event occurred, his dorm 3 blocks away and .......my heart bleeds for those who actually endured a loss, my few minutes of terror are nothing in comparison).
Peace and love, La

Paris Day 5 - EIFFEL TOWER

Bonjour! Today we head for the metro stop Nation (I believe this is the route we took) to walk to the 7th arr and the most famous symbol of Paris - the Eiffel Tower. Walking the grounds on this gorgeous day we see families, groups of tourists and other couples enjoying the area below the tower and the adjacent Parc du Champ de Mars. In typical Paris fashion many locals are using the park area as extensions of their homes: setting up for a picnic, reading,children playing and solitary figures simply sitting and relaxing with their own thoughts. Since most Parisians don't have yards like we do they use the plentiful parks and they use them often. It seems to us that they are more likely to be outdoors than the typical American and they have the added benefit of actually enjoying these spaces not spending precious time weeding and mowing and watering etc!(Don't get me wrong, I love to garden). This is one way, among many, that the French embrace joie de vivre. We don't bother with going to the top of the tower, long lines and it just doesn't interest us. Instead we stroll back to Blvd Grenelle for lunch at a cafe, sitting outside in the sunshine, and enjoy a delicious asparagus soup and caesar salad while partaking in one of our favorite Parisian pastimes: people watching. Fabulous. Afterward we hop a double decker bus and meet a brother-sister combo who now reside in England but were raised in France. The bus is a great way to see the city. Heading back to the 5th and our hotel for a break and to regroup. We spend the rest of our day in the Latin Quarter: the Pantheon area in particular; we wander and take a few photos in "our" area of the city. Now begins the portion of our trip that requires the most patience - the air traffic controllers are on strike! We are scheduled to fly to Beziers in the south of France tomorrow morning but have received an email from Ryanair that the flight is cancelled. The email does not explain the reason for the cancellation and so we book another flight, this one to Rome - we'll simply arrive a few days early and surprise our daughter who is there on a school trip. Ehhhh, not so fast. The domino effect is that the next morning we are halfway to the airport when we realize the reason behind the cancellation and that we won't be flying anywhere!! Back to our hotel, now full, but the great staff gets us a room (the last one available) a few blocks away. Well, there are worse places to be stuck than in Paris - we will make the most of this no matter what! Tomorrow we'll go the the Marais. xo, La

TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN

I took a break from everything: singing/performing, appraising, blogging, cleaning, landlording and all the other things I normally do in a week and went on vacation. Europe in April for 3 weeks was a vacation BUT I did some work via the internet. For 5 days last week I did none, so I'm calling it a real vacation (but La shouldn't a "real vacation" be no work or nothing for, like, 2 weeks? Well, yes it should, but in my world that ain't gonna happen soon!!).So in that spirit here's a break from my current blog theme of Europe and a post on our week in MI. We are fortunate to have dear friends (like family) who live on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City. It's a bit like Diana Vreeland's famous quote "first you must arrange to be born in Paris" (paraphrased)- first you must arrange to know great people who live in this gorgeous setting, with the East and West Bays of Lake Michigan on either side, and have them invite you every summer to come and stay with them. It's even nicer if they love your children and have plenty of room for everyone; a bonus if they own 2 adorable dogs and a boat. And so we do and so we go.... It's an easy 6 hour drive thru a rather long state and the further north you get the more it looks like summer camp: blue skies, green pines and lots of shimmering lakes. Old Mission Peninsula juts into the lake and is simply super picturesque: vineyards and wineries, small old churches, a general store dating from the 1800's and lots of flowers in riotous color growing wild and in gardens. We saw a sweet set of scarecrows: a couple dressed in old fashioned dress clothes, each with a hat, he sporting a suit and she a lilac swing coat. We ate at Fleet Street which is a small bar that, in the front graveled ex-parking lot, has about 7 food trucks: sushi, pulled pork, salads and wraps etc. One sells margaritas - grapefruit, strawberry, lime - all made with freshly squeezed juice. Everyone chooses their current favorite and settles at the picnic tables to share and enjoy. We ate at J&S Hamburg - an old fashioned diner with excellent food. The owners are a couple, she runs the front of the house and he's the chef. Best: BLT; any breakfast - the pancakes are divine, the fruit stuffed french toast delectable; and don't miss the chili. We ate there 3 times in 5 days. We ate (see a pattern here?) at Patisserie Amie and it's also highly recommended. As the name implies it's a French bakery - didn't sample, but the display case looked as good as those we just saw in Paris! We did have an assortment of crepes: crab for my son, asparagus/ham/bechamel for me, foie gras for my husband,eggs benedict for one daughter and baguette with confiture for the other. Cafe au lait and fresh peach juice too. You will eat well in TC. The Cherry Festival was the week before we came, which is fine as the crowds are not to my liking AND the cherries were actually at their peak the week we were there. Stores such as Cherry Republic and American Spoon sell (and sample!) salsas, jellies, candies - and much more - that feature the wonderful produce that grows in this fertile area. We returned home with honey and assorted salsas and jams that will remind us of our trip for months to come. Another stop was Northern Latitudes Distillery a hand crafted small batch distillery with spirits created from Michigan's bounty! We sampled limoncello, horseradish vodka (Bloody Mary anyone?), Ginger liqueur and Jack Pine gin. Had a salad/sandwich lunch in the adjacent restaurant and then choose several bottles to bring home. Of course we spent time on the beach - Lake Michigan is crystal clear, a gorgeous blue of varying shades that is reminiscent of the Caribbean. We made s'mores over a fire. We simply talked and laughed and enjoyed one another's company. The only problem with a full on vacation is returning to the inevitable build up of work upon returning home - but I love my home and my life so all's well here in Paris on the Cuyahoga.

PARIS DAY 4

Today is the day to head to the northeast quadrant of the city, to the 18th arr and the 20th arr to see Sacre Coeur and Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise. The area of Montmartre was once the outskirts of town, scene of vineyards and farms, but now a charming, rather hilly area of the city of Paris. There is still a small area with a few vines and - being beautiful Paris - the bistros are often in reclaimed buildings looking much like they always have! Exiting the metro at the Anvers stop we are greeted with sunshiny blue skies, flowers, greenery and crowds of people. One can basically follow the flow of the crowd to the Sacre Coeur Basilica, a Roman Catholic church built on the summit of Montmartre and is therefore at the highest point in all of Paris. Lots of upward climbing steps later we enter the impressive, dark and cool church to walk the interior and light a candle for my father in law who regularly did just that for others in his lifetime. We tried not to be annoyed by the constant photo taking of some of the other tourists but this was difficult given the prominent signage asking that one not take photos in this religious spot. We encountered this bad behavior everywhere, tourists viewing life thru a camera completely oblivious to other patrons and the works of art that they are slowly destroying with their camera flashes. For lunch we stopped at La Cremaillere, which translates to "the rack"(at first I was excited that it was an old dairy or some such thing!) where we had a cocktail and a bowl of soup in the interior courtyard. The courtyard was charming featuring old looking signage, light green arches, hanging baskets of flowers and a large tree that was kept in place by the designer. La Cremaillere gets mixed reviews on the internet so I won't actually endorse eating there and, while the courtyard was pleasant and cool and a nice place to relax after a lot of walking, my favorite way to dine in Paris is at an outside table so I can people watch! Following our respite we metro'ed to the 20th arr and Pere Lachaise, which has it's own metro stop. This ancient cemetery is a fascinating place divided on the map (recommended, buy it upon entry if you plan to look for specific graves) into about 96 irregular areas. On a beautiful day its a pleasure to wander thru the park like atmosphere and wonder about the people who lay in rest there. Some of the graves are very simple, some are monumental. You can peek into small colored glass windows of mausoleums and see old dried flowers and photos placed there long ago. Marvel at the names etched on the stones - I spotted one for Le Duc which is the surname of Aimee, heroine of Cara Black's novels which I've mentioned before in this Paris series. We rambled over to see Jim Morrison and take a photo in our GBDB tee shirts for the band website; Jim's grave is fenced and guarded due to excessive fan behavior. My other 2 must sees: Oscar Wilde and Edith Piaf. After a long day of walking and sightseeing we headed back to the 5th arr and rested a bit in the hotel. For dinner we chose "our" local bistro Petit Pont, located,not surprisingly, on the left bank side of the Petit Pont bridge and Notre Dame Cathedral. At an outside table we had a leisurely meal of steak frites with a dessert of wonderful cheeses. Jake looked quite the Frenchman doing his best Yves Montand, or was it Jean-Paul Belmondo?, imitation. What a wonderful day.

Vacation

Taking a week off, heading to beautiful Traverse City, Michigan to hang out on the beach, hit some wineries, great restaurants and, most importantly, spend quality time (no distractions) with my husband and children and our great friends who live there. Grand Traverse Bay and the peninsula is one of the most beautiful places in the world: all blue sky and crystal clear water. xo, La

Day 3 in Paris: Easter Sunday

The bells of Notre Dame begin ringing at 8:15 am and continue for 10 minutes. We take a leisurely walk around the Cathedral and the Ile de la Cite and the Ile St Louis. So beautiful and I am jealous of the people who get to live here! If you like mysteries and Paris you might want check out Cara Black's novels, her heroine Aimee Leduc, lives in an apartment on the Ile St Louis she's inherited from her Grandfather. I have enjoyed this series very much. Anyway, after strolling the Iles we head east down Blvd St Germain to my favorite area (I'm so not alone in that!) of the city: the 6th arrondissement. Rue Jacob, which was home to many historical figures: Colette, George Sand, Baudeliere, Victor Hugo, Jane Birkin(!) and both Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin when in France, is a typical Parisian rue with a narrow street, ivory stone buildings and blue street name signs. We actually stayed on the Rue Jacob in 1989, but at the time didn't understand the significance of this beautiful quartier and how lucky we were to be invited to spend 2 nights in a private apartment. My sister in law's good friend was married at the time to one of the Clarins (yep-the skin care line) family. Didier and Jane took us to Les Halles and pointed us to an adorable little street Le Rue du Cherche Midi for dinner at a bistro there as well as inviting us to stay with them! One evening Didier whipped up dinner for us in their typical and tres petite kitchen and we'll never forget how delicious the bowtie pasta in tomato, ham and cream sauce was. I remember the large, old mirrors that lined the high ceilinged walls. I can't recall the street number or the large wooden entry doors to the courtyard which would have had the omnipresent entry keypad. Unfortunately that marriage has ended and we've lost touch with them both. During our walk we stopped at the bistro Tennessee for a cocktail and felt very at home taking our time and people watching. We strolled the 1st A. as well: the Louvre and Tuileries on our way home to the hotel. For our evening meal we went to Rue de la Huchette around the corner from our hotel for ham and cheese crepes. Huchette is very busy, touristy and, some say, to be avoided - but we had a great crepe and sort of enjoyed the madness of this little street - vendors, eateries, packs of tourists and packs of local kids out for the evening. Another book suggestion, highly recommended if you are interested in the 6th, is Into A Paris Quartier by Diane Johnson. She's also the author of several novels, Le Divorce being well known and also very good. Into A Paris Quartier delves into the history of this historic area which was also home to Reine Margot and the real Three Musketeers (and Henry Miller, Oscar Wilde (who died there) and....on and on). Diane is an excellent writer and you will be enthralled to learn the history of this area in such an engaging book. Again, very highly recommended. bisous, La

Really: Day 2 in Paris!

I spent quite a bit of time while we were in Europe trying to get a decent internet connection (with a 3 week itinerary I HAD to do some work!) and on day 2 we headed to the Apple store. I was able to get some satisfaction, but seriously when I needed a dependable source of internet I headed to the nearest Starbucks. Starbucks is plentiful in Paris, non existent in Rome. After the Apple store, which is near L'Opera we had lunch at L'Entreact, a very typical bistro. Two thirty five-ish Frenchmen sat next to us, they had the full on lunch ascribed to the French ending with small cups of espresso. Jake commented on the lack of: overweight people, tattoos and piercings, saggy pants! Not everyone looks like a fashion plate but they look quite presentable. In the evening we took a series of metro trains to the 19eme where an exhibition of David Bowie paintings was showing at the Philharmonie. The 19th is not what most people think of when envisioning Paris, very working class and immigrant heavy. Architecture not as stunning. We did a ton of walking as my husband was in charge of this particular outing and the long and short of it is: we never found the exact exhibition hall! But we did see a side of Paris we'd never seen before and we mastered the metro system. We met, once again, several very helpful Parisians. Giving up on the art we made our way back to the 5th and had a lovely dinner at the La Fountaine St Michel. Jake enjoyed a platter with salmon, ocean terrine, pate and I had quiche (I know!). Our waiter was the doppelganger of our friend Pete George who used to play guitar in our band and is now a successful comedian and actor living in L.A. xo La

Paris day 2

Or actually more of day 1! I think I'd better start abbreviating some of this or we'll never get thru our trip on this blog. On our way to the O'Kari we stopped at the newsstand to buy a Pariscope which is a weekly magazine that covers the current and forthcoming entertainment events in Paris over the coming week, including theatre, music and films. Again with the nice Parisians - we hadn't exchanged our money and had no Euros - the vendor said "allez" - he gave it to us!! We did return later to pay him. We stopped at Monoprix (an inexpensive chain store that sells a little bit of everything,the clothing and accessories looked very cheap to me) for bottled water for our room. You may know that the French love their mineral water and they have probably as many brands of bottled water as they have cheeses. We chose Volvic with lemon (citron) and both loved it. Not carbonated (or sans gas as they say). It became our 'go to' water while here but not everyplace carried it. We also hit the Pharma for some arnica gel.If you are not familiar with arnica look it up and get some, it's terrific for bruising and sore muscles. The pharmacies are marked with green neon crosses. The Tabac (busy as lots of people smoke in Europe) is marked with a red neon cross. The pharmacy is where you have to go for pain relievers, prescriptions etc. A parapharmacie more closely resembles a drugstore in the US with other products besides medicines available. The Parisians apparently have real problems with cellulite as the shelves are full of lotions for combating it! And scarves are for sale everywhere, along with mini Eiffel tower key rings. We passed. But we did end up with a selfie stick :)

Learning a language

I heard about a news feed on PBS yesterday and I thought it sounded really cool: newsinslowfrench.com and newsinslowspanish.com that's news in slow french or spanish in non url speak! what a great way to practice. I haven't had a chance to check it out. Please let me know if you do! Bon chance, La

Paris Day 1

Allright, back to the program! So here we are strolling thru the streets of the 5th. Stopping to kiss occasionally cause that's what everyone does! Boulevard St Michel is busy with locals and tourists - lots of people with rolling suitcases, couples - young, old and in-between, working singles moving at a good pace, families. We make sure to keep up with the flow or pull ourselves over to the side when we want to look at something or check our map (discreetly, bien sur) keeping in mind that is is a big, busy city and to stroll mindlessly in front of working people with places to go is not going to make you any friends. I think one of the issues that tourists have with Parisians is that sometimes the tourist doesn't keep this in mind and the French will cluck at you for behaving so rudely and being such a rube. I was so glad that I brought my trench coat - it's a uniform here! Mine has gold lame sleeves (see my profile pic) but most often I saw the typical khaki colored trench and often without the belt being worn, the coat just worn open. I had a reservation for 2 pm at the O'Kari Hammam, a treat I had arranged via email to decompress and kick off the trip. Owned by a lovely woman named Karima - who communicated with me only in french and kindly corrected my email mistakes - the hammam (french for steam bath) is located at 22 Rue Dussoubs in the 2nd Arr. Jake and I took the bus and had a bit of trouble finding the street and then finding number 22. I inquired of an elderly concierge and he so kindly took his big ring of keys, locked his big wooden doors and walked, in the fine rain that was falling, up and down with us till we spotted number 22. We buzzed the entry and were admitted to the private courtyard. O'Kari is located in the lower level - Karima warmly welcomed me, gave me a robe and a paper thong (!!) and showed me the steam room - gorgeous, tiled and very hot - and the serene blue pool outside the steam room to cool off between taking time in the steam. After I was properly steamed up I had a scrubbing - all over - whilst laying on a marble slab like some sacrificial lamb - and had to will my ever relaxing self not to slide off! The attendant showers you off (the floor has drains) and sends you to the massage room. There I did fall asleep - but I never fell off the table! Afterwards Karima gives you some mint tea and the choice of a pastry. She insists on 3 hours of your time saying that is necessary for one to feel the full effects and to fully relax. I had a nice conversation (conducted in broken English and broken French) in the steam room and again in the tea room with a french woman who actually called her daughter so that the daughter could talk with me and impress me with her good English :) Back in the fine rain I walked back to the hotel, again with a little help from some kind strangers. Seriously - if you ask, in your best French, they will stop and pull out a map from their pocket (happened more than once) and practically walk you there. Jake had done some exploring and cafe sitting while I was gone and now we went around the corner to a small resto for some dinner. My appetite was very dull and I had the onion soup which was just ok; Jake felt the same way about the mussels he ordered but we didn't care we were in Paris! Back to Hotel De Suez - very comfortable, clean and with the best reception staff - so friendly and helpful. Also terrific bathrooms - the shower was divine and the commodes have 2 buttons - 1 for #1 and 2 for #2 - very eco and not what you hear normally hear about European bathroom facilities. As a matter of fact all our hotels/apartments while there had excellent bathroom facilities. If you have any questions or want more details on anything just ask. xo, La

A break from my planned programming.....

Hello All. What follows is a copy and pasted Facebook post I made last night. I will return to blogging about my trip tomorrow, but this really got to me. Here is the post: I hope I can write this coherently. Tonight I was gigging with my group The PopTarts. As we were getting ready to start a man gave me the finger - I mean not flicking me the bird - but forcefully pushing his hand toward me with his middle finger up. I turned around thinking I must be mistaken. When I turned back he was still at it. It took me about 3 seconds to realize he was upset that we were wearing our rainbow boots and hats (an outfit we wear often and which had been chosen for this gig about a week ago and not to celebrate anything!). He started raving about having his granddaughters with him and he wasn't going to take this gay pride shit. He left with his, I presume wife, and granddaughters leaving me in a state of shock. Who thinks waving your middle finger at a group of women who sing 60s girl group songs is going to impress your grandchildren?? To the credit of the rest of his table and the other people at the club - who all stayed and had a great time - everyone said he was an ass and had been kicked out of 2 clubs already for his awful behavior. Still I was shaken. I have been in bands all my life. I have been in situations where I thought I might be raped or worse. Been pushed around by a would be boyfriend. But this was so shocking to me - more than anything that's ever happened to me. I was, by accident of birth, born a straight, white woman and have never been personally subjected to this kind of hate. It breaks my heart to think of all the people who deal with this hateful anger every day. All I can say is I will not stand for this in my life. It is time, people, for all of us who want to live and let live to set these hate mongers straight. We need to find a way to live in peace with everyone. The world depends on us to be strong and show respect to each and every person we meet. Thanks for listening and for showing up in your life and making a difference.

April in Paris

Jake and I had the great pleasure of spending the first week of April 2015 in Paris. We flew from Toronto to Charles De Gaulle airport, arriving at 8:30 am. We took the RER blue line to our hotel in the 5th arrondissement, the Latin Quarter. We stayed at the Grand Hotel de Suez which is where we stayed in 1989 on our honeymoon! What a joy it was to be back! I am going to make our trip the basis for the next blog entries, there is so much to tell - and after Paris we went to Rome, where we met up with our daughter, and we traveled on to Barcelona with her. We ended our journey in Belgium where Clementine's been studying for her junior year in college on the Loyola international program. Needless to say - what a wonderful vacation we had! I'll start at the beginning and hope you will enjoy a detailed account of our trip and what lessons I learned during our latest 3 weeks in Europe. I'll break it up in posts. We drove from home to Toronto which is a 4 1/2 hour drive. Flying Air Canada from Toronto was less expensive than flying from New York and NY is a much farther drive; additionally I wanted to fly Air Canada for comparison's sake. The flight leaves nightly at 7:30 pm and arrives early morning in Paris which is perfect. I enjoy driving with my husband, we tend to get a lot of interesting talk in. We left the day before our flight and arrived at Andrea's house in the Lesleyville area of Toronto. Andrea is an old friend who now enjoys dual citizenship and owns a record promotion business, she's an interesting entrepreneur and a lively lady. That evening we had dinner at a new, hot Mexican resto with A and her man. Toronto is a MUST - very international, very cool city. The following morning Jake and I explored the neighborhood - lovely cheese shops and boutiques and cafes etc. before leaving for the airport. For travel I dress comfy but chic: this time I chose to wear newer leggings - heavier material but still stretchy - and layered a tank with a few different tops over it, the final layer a dark denim shirt and my trench coat. Also my topper - a large scarf to be used as blanket, pillow, accessory, whatever it needed to be! I wore my new, but broken in (and ready for lots of walking!), waterproof suede ankle boots. We checked our bags even tho we had both packed only one carry on each! I do not like to lug stuff around, pas chic. Sometime I'll do a packing blog entry, we traveled for 3 weeks with 1 carry on sized bag each! Of course in my purse and the small bag I carried with me I had: earplugs, eye mask, ipad and some almonds, also toothbrush, wipes and water. It's been said a thousand times but be chic yet comfy - travel is exhausting and dirty; you may get cold then hot, need to sleep/relax in a fairly unforgiving seat etc and if you can peel off a few layers and then add them back as needed....you can at least be in charge of something!! The custom lines were ridiculously long but eventually we were on the aircraft - very last row!! I liked Air Canada, the meal was decent actually - a shepard's pie and then, with earplugs and mask on I actually got some rest. Arrival in Paris! We knew to take the blue line RER, but had to ask for help in getting the tickets from the machines. Everyone was very nice and helpful and I always attempted to communicate in french, which I believe pleases them. Tickets and luggage in hand (rolling actually) we took the metro to the stop at St Michel,just a couple of blocks from our hotel. Emerging from the underground into the beautiful light of Paris! The Seine and Notre Dame in view! So happy! Boulevard St Michel is bustling with tourists, locals and the stores and cafes that line it and we roll our bags to the hotel. They are glad to hold our bags until our room is ready so we use the restroom and freshen up and head out to shake off the travel and stretch our legs. To be continued..... xo La

A certain age

There is no denying it. No going back. No regrets? Well, the only thing we can really count on in life is that it will change and change it does. Because I've been gone from here 5 years I can't remember if I've ever written about black cohosh. If you are going thru THE change you may want to consider trying this herb for relief from some of the symptoms. Personally my biggest challenge was/is (hey they came back!!) the lovely sounding "night sweats". Recently they returned and my sleep became severely interrupted several times a night. Not chic. Then I remembered about the black cohosh. Recommended to take 2 capsules a day - I had relief the very first night after taking them! Black cohosh has worked for me and it might be helpful for you. Let us know if you try it and what your results are! xo La

La Rentree

I know it's not Autumn but I have just made a decision to immerse myself in what I love and it feels like new beginnings. What do I love? Well I have neglected this blog for about 5 years and reading thru the posts vividly reminds me of what. Writing, gardening, cooking, eating, reading,travel, Paris, music and more - it's what the good life means to me! So I'm back and making a promise to myself to keep writing and keep exploring what makes me happy in this life. Where have I been? Well my work life took off, my kids graduated high school and I've been living the frantic life of a crazy woman! Make money, keep moving, do what you think you need to do, not particularly what you love to do (don't get me wrong I love doing for my family, but all the rest of it? nuts!) Even so 5 years goes by like nothing. So this makes me realize even more that the time is now! What am I waiting for? Nothing this time. xo, La