“Welcome to Boston. City of the future. Cradle of American history. Hotbed of innovation, bastion of tradition (…) Boston has so many facets that discovering it can entertain visitors for days on end. It dazzles with renowned museums, great shopping, lush gardens and parks, and vibrant public spaces. (…) The easiest way to fall in love…
Christmas came and went. This year, we returned to Palm Springs, CA. I just read the story I wrote for the blog almost two years ago, and stand by every word. Scenic, magical Palm Springs. The most beautiful palm trees this side of the Mississippi river. The light. The colors. The mountains. The desert. Non golfers…
New York. Paris. Two of the world’s most visited, most exciting cities. New York. Paris. Everyone has an opinion about them, even if they have never been. New Yorkers and Parisians. Everyone has an opinion about them, even if they have never met them. This week, I saw a funny video online, “Johnny T’s New…
In 1960, iconic French photographer Robert Doisneau came to Palm Springs on a mission… The famed artist, best known for his black and white portraits of Parisian street scenes, arrived in the California desert and shot away, capturing the essence of a unique city, created from scratch in the middle of the Colorado Desert, at…
Special celebrations call for special drinks, like le Kir Royal… A friend commented there was no French twist to last week’s story about New York. My stories ALWAYS have a French twist, she said… Zut. (Rats.) We need to fix this quickly, I say. Cheer up, friend: Plenty of French twists in this story. Plenty of friends,…
Central Park bench: The wisdom of New York city. A few days ago, I *almost* wrote a story, and it started like this: These vagabond shoes They are longing to stray Right through the very heart of it New York, New York… (New York, New York lyrics) I was still in New York…
“I have to go see about a girl.” Do you remember Matt Damon’s line at the end of Good Will Hunting? This week, I get to be in the movie. Like Will Hunting, I have to go see about a girl. The girl’s name is New York City. In the French language, all cities are…
Union Station, Portland OR This weekend, while Les Boys were off in the mountains snowmobiling with friends, I took a solo trip to Portland, OR. I could have driven down, as we have done in the past, but I thought it would be fun to get reacquainted with American-style train travel. After all, my last trip with…
San Luis Obispo makes an excellent home base to explore the coast and the Paso Robles wine country. Today was another busy day for our family. After a leisurely breakfast on the charming patio chez Petit Soleil, we drove about 40 miles to the coastal San Simeon area where we had made reservations to visit…
Would I enjoy San Luis Obispo as much if we weren’t staying at Petit Soleil ? Probably. Still, after driving several hours along Highway 1 and then Highway 101, it was truly special to unpack our bags in… Provence! When I booked our room over the Internet a few weeks ago, I thought I would surprise…