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Marlow and Wes1, rue Saint-Claude, Paris31 October 2013 We were staying in the Marais for the first ten days. The small building was elegant. Our ground floor unit, (see open door in the photo,) a one-bedroom, opened onto a tree-lined cobblestone courtyard. Beyond the distant wall, through large green doors—large enough for your carriage andContinue reading “Paris Apartment #1 and Maître Alain”

Take several handfuls of watercress leaves. Put them in a pot. Add an onion and water. Simmer. Purée. Voila! Watercress soup.  That was the start of dinner at the Café des Musées. In Spain, they raise small black pigs within an oak forest. Their entire diet is acorns. They are pampered. Their meat and fatContinue reading “Paris, 1 November 2013”

Wes and Marlow in Paris 31 October 2013 It is Thursday, October 31, Halloween in Paris. We are inside the Theatre des Champs-Élysées. In thirty minutes, we will hear Mr. Lang Lang play Chopin while the soloists of the Houston Ballet dance beside and around his piano. This theatre was built in 1913. In it’sContinue reading “Paris: Lang Lang, Place des Vosges, 31 Oct 2013”

We arrived into Lyon on the high speed train for a three-night stay at the Cour des Loges hotel located in the Vieux Lyon district which is narrow lanes paved with white marble and cobble stones. A perfect cloak and dagger setting. Lots of twisty streets barely one car’s width. And old, founded by theContinue reading “Lyon, October 21-24, 2013”

Cour des Loges Hotel Lyon lies about midway between Turin and Paris so it seemed like an opportune time to visit the city in Paris that is best known for its restaurants.  That’s right, they say that Paris is heart of France but Lyon is its stomach!  Based on our short time there we didn’tContinue reading “Lyon”

On a sunny fall Saturday we rode our velib bikes up to the Bassin de la Villette – the starting point of the Canal St. Martin.  The Canal was built by Napoleon I in 1802-1825 to bring fresh water into the Seine from bodies of water to the north of Paris.  The Bassin is locatedContinue reading “Canal St. Martin”

Have I mentioned the bread sticks? Called grissini in Italian. They are made by hand and quite long.  Fourteen to eighteen inches of thin, light as air, delicate crispness that call out to be picked up from their pile and eaten inch by inch. The crumbs fall onto the tablecloth and, here, that is notContinue reading “16 Oct 2013, "da Felicin" in Monforte d’Alba”

We were so fortunate to have ideal Fall weather for our five days in the Langhe.  Each day was sunny, after the morning fog burned off, and in the high 60s.  Just perfect for hiking in the vineyards.  On the last day of our visit the weather started to turn to a thicker fog andContinue reading “A few more photos from the Langhe”

Tuesday, October 15, 2013 Village of La Morra. Province of Cuneo. State of Piemonte. In the far north west corner of Italy. So, I have been a slacker. We are in Torino and I’ve said nothing about La Morra in the Piemonte. Here are a few words. Piemonte means the foot of the mountain. ThatContinue reading “La Morra, Oct 15, 2013”