slidergirl

That crepe was da bomb. Buckwheat is way better than the white one. Better depth of flavor. The crunchy edges- I could eat that all day. That dog was pretty cute. It would take 2 tries to jump high enough to get in! my photos are strictly “point, shoot and pray”. They are still better than what my old SE did. Quick porn. Joint down the street had modules frites as the special. Decided to eat there rather than wander more. Yummy choice. With a spritz.

Nothing that I would disqualify it for. I’m not meant for the Parisian style, I think. That wall seam just bugged me. I would put the room out of order for a day and run a line of matching ribbon down the seam. Done and would look much better. My eyes went to that seam all the time. Remember that I did room inspections for luxury hotels…. I would stay there again just for the location.

I forgot to mention that the hotel is in a good spot. Even at midnight I felt comfortable walking around. Le Comptoir is an easy 7 minute walk away,

TGV and OUIGO are both part of SNCF. I just did a OUIGO train from Paris to Bordeaux. I say OUIGO is like a LCC airline. The overhead is only big enough for a purse and maybe a SMALL daypack. A very small big bag storage. No in between seat space. I spent 3 hours with my roller carryon and my pack taking all my space and I had my legs up on the bags. Not comfy but all I could do. From now on, I will wait for a TGV. The price is worth the space.

I just left Paris today. Stayed in the St Germain area. I thought it was a great area. Metro and RER access. Easy walking around. Very active still at midnight. I felt perfectly safe walking around and back to my hotel at midnight. Don’t know price points around though. Stayed at Hotel des Marrionniers.

Hmmm. Maybe I am still too picky. Definitely what I’d call “Old French”. Lots of florals, some flowered carpet that matches floors in the walls in hallway. Bedroom walls covered in fabric and needed repair on one vertical seam that bugged me. Antique furniture but modern bathrooms. I’d say a step up from “basic but clean” but I’m not used to 3 star accommodations yet. A true single room with a twin bed and desk. TV on top of 5’ tall wardrobe at foot of bed. Enough room to not feel crowded.

I don’t know the name. It just sprung into my head with Tucci.

I was just in Bologna last week. I’ll highly recommend the Aemelia Hotel. It’s about a 15 minute walk to the Center. Nice rooms and fantastic staff. It is a pretty drive down to Ravenna.

Didn’t Stanley Tucci visit some restaurant near Termini that had some historical link to a pasta???

My dermatologist told me to allow my skin to have a vacation also! Wash and a sunscreen. Let the skin breathe. The past month here in Europe has been brutally hot. After the first day, I stopped everything but the sunscreen and brow stuff. Anything else was just melting on my face. Did not want to look like Rudy Giuliani!!! Besides, a hat and sunglasses hid everything.

Real fast here. Leaving for the train in an hour. Cynthia - I know you were intrigued by the garden area at the hotel. I took 2 photos for you. It is a nice little place for breakfast. Usual French petit dejuener: croissant, mini baguette, juice, caffe crème, yogurt. There was also some meats and cheese, scrambled eggs and bacon.

I’m using my new iPhone 13 Pro. Spent all my winter tip money on it. Got the Pro because it has the 3 lenses instead of the 2 on the 13. Some outdoor shots are done “blind” because the screen gets too dark in the sun. I keep the flash always off to prevent accidental flash where prohibited. Pretty idiot proof. I will have to study more on how to best use it.

Rarely do I do 3 courses like that, but it was so good and light that I decided to go for it. A couple came and sat next to me. They ordered the hard boiled eggs appy. Looked really good- eggs cut in quarters (2 of them) with some sauce over them. I went to the restaurant across the street from Le Comptoir for brunch, Breizah Cafe. I had read about it before the trip so it wasn’t a blind pick. Crepes are what they do, buckwheat crepes. I got the ham and Comte cheese with an egg in the middle. Again I chose wisely. Yummy. I wanted to keep going and get a dessert crepe, but I resisted. Proud of myself for that. Did a little church trip in my walking today. I hadn’t been to St Chappelle before and I wanted to see how Notre Dame was faring with reconstruction. At one point my body said “you need to eat”. So I went to the touristy cafe outside of St Chappelle and got a croquet monsieur. Don’t judge. Totally worn out today. A good time in Paris. The St Germain area is a fun area to base in. I never felt uneasy walking around, even at midnight. Tomorrow it’s off to Bordeaux.

Dinner porn. One of the places I wanted to eat at was open and doesn’t take reservations so I went and got in line. Didn’t take too long. Excellent dinner! Some of the best tomatoes I’ve had in a long time. Perfectly seared tuna. Rhubarb under a mound of Vanilla cream. Spent an hour trying to go half a mile back to the hotel. At midnight I gave up and took the taxi ride of shame. Not sure why I have so much trouble following walking directions on Map…

Cynthia - it isn’t an REM cover. Written by Matteo and 2 others. spent 7 hours walking around Paris. Everyone was out and about. Jardin Tuileries was full of people enjoying a sunny day. The plaza around the Louvre was jammed. I did get to my kitchen store and picked up a couple of new knives. Yes, I am checking one bag (I’m nonstop). Found a place that had good big salads and fresh juices. Got an Asian style chicken salad and a passion fruit and lime juice. Nice and light. Not sure if I am doing dinner or not tonight. Have to check if my restaurants are open tomorrow. I ended walking by the restaurant with my favorite icon and he has a friend now. The Pig’s Foot - aka Au Pied Del Cochon. If anyone wants to buy those Louboutin hi tops for me, only 695EU…😉 Some pix from today’s wandering.

I bought them because I do more than fly. I use trains, rental cars, leave luggage at a hotel if I am too early or will leave later.

Cynthia - this Fall on Me is the one he and his son did for his next to last album. Don’t know if it is a cover. And Perfect is the Ed Sheeren song. Bocelli and Sheeren performed it on the album. lois- sorry about the blood draining. I absolutely hate the needle in the hand! At least they found a place. I have a couple of days here in Paris and a couple of days in Bordeaux before heading home for a few days.

All righty. After my flight to Paris, I checked into Hotel Des Marroniers. Definitely not my style, but it will do for a couple of days. I dropped my bags, fell on the bed and fell right asleep. The couple of hours I got last night did not work. The concert. Wow. Absolutely worth the cost and time to extend my stay. The company that did the transportation, Arianna and Friends, was first rate. They also do day excursions. We did a stop at a winery for some tastings and pre-concert snacking. The winery also makes its own olive oil from the trees on their property. It had some good peppery spice to it. Meats, cheeses, rice salad and tomato bruschetta - yum. The winemaker told us the ingredients all came from neighbors and the local butcher. It was a nice little stop and many on my bus left with boxes of wine and olive oil. Now, the concert. It was magical. The theater is set up once a year just for this one concert. It gets taken down starting the next day and goes back to part of the park. You have to hike in about 1km downhill to get to the venue. The surroundings are gorgeous. The concert itself was better than what I had hoped for. Usually this isn’t all Bocelli but it was this time. To me, it followed his concert pattern but with bells and whistles. Maybe because they couldn’t do the concert the last 2 years they decided to change and have it more Bocelli. I’m not complaining at all! It still had the backgrounds and extra animation that Teatro usually has. Opera done with Bocelli and a knockout redhead with a huge voice. He had an old friend of his and they bantered and sang. He said a highlight for him was having his son, Matteo, on stage with him for the first time. They did 2 songs, Fall on Me and Perfect. They both were at pianos, and you could just see and hear the pride of both. Bocelli joked that Matteo was taller and better looking. I’m not going to dispute. Matteo did his new song, a pop/hip hop mix. Then he brought on a special guest - Michael Bolton. Who knew!!! Matteo played piano while Bolton belted out “When a Man Loves a Woman.” He can still knock it out. Great night of Bocelli and a great mix of music. Just having this in his tiny village made it extra. The big surprise happened after the concert. The couple of thousands of us were making our way back up the hill. From behind people starting cheering and clapping. It’s Bocelli riding up the hill on a gorgeous black horse with 2 others riding with him. Right along the fence line. They turned around at the top of the hill and rode back down. I was so shocked that I couldn’t get my phone out of my bag to shoot it. I was also in the middle of a moving herd so I don’t think I could have done it anyway. But a wonderful memory. And I know why the horse was on the poster! And a rare photo of me, pre concert. I wore my hi tops instead of my white sneakers. Good choice given the dirt and straw at the venue.

Cynthia- safe business travels!!!

Cross-packing is hard to do when traveling solo… If I was told “next day” all the time I probably wouldn’t buy anything either… what happened to the anecdotes of Guest Services giving left behind/ unclaimed clothes to guests with missing bags???

Warning: if your cruise makes a stop in Livorno, avoid the linen clothes vendors in San Lorenzo market place!!! I bought 2 shirts and a pair of shorts. Good for the heat, bad for the luggage.

Look at the “All things good & Wine” sticky at the top of the forum. We’ve been putting down restaurants for awhile in there.

I’m in Florence right now and was in Bologna 4 days ago. It’s been 98-100 every day so far, maybe upper 80s by 11pm. I imagine Rome is no different now. I’d recommend something shady or a/c equipped until early evening. I have not sweated so much in my life - 3 shower days!!!

I watch the Umbrian and Tuscan countryside whiz past while listening to Andrea Bocelli. What could be better?

I was going to look for more, but it’s too dam! hot to walk around too much. 99 again today. I’ll have to put it on my list again for next time.