The Paris Traveler

We shed just a “few” happy tears!  

Comments Off

 Once again, we here on the Travel Channel at b5media are participating in a “channel” post if you will.  Our guy out in DC, Jon, The DC Traveler, invited all of us to participate in World Cocktail Week, ” established to celebrate the rich history of the cocktail and recognize the craftsmanship and skill of the bartenders who have been mixing them for over 200 years”.  I say Amen to that!  This week, May 8th-13th, is your chance to visit your local watering hole and raise your glass to the men and women standing behind the bar, making sure glasses are never empty and …read more

Comments Off

With so many things in life, we sometimes have to pause and re-adjust where we are in our heads and hearts.  What matters, what doesn’t.  Today is that day for me.  
 
 Eight years ago, a friend of mine, Lisa Perry, was diagnosed with breast cancer that by the time she found out what was happening to her, the disease had spread and metastasized with little chance of a full recovery.  The most she could hope for was extending the amount of time she had with treatment that made no guarantees. With three children, Jessica, Lauren and Jaz, and a wonderful …read more

6 Comments

Oodles of things are being revealed to me as I make my way through the streets of Paris looking at it through different eyes this trip–the eyes of a blogger having to write about what she sees on the the streets of Paris.

 For one thing, I realize that I am very uncomfortable taking pictures of what I see around me.  I feel like a tourist which isn’t how I see myself when I am here.  And, I realize I suck at taking pictures because I never do it.  I received my first camera for Christmas and clearly, should have been practicing at …read more

Comments Off

Well, here I am all tucked away in 25 rue des Grand Augustins in the 6th arrondissement.  A mere 24 hours of being awake and traveling to get to Paris but it is always worth it.  My flight took only 7 hours from Chicago which is an hour and 50 minutes quicker than it should be.  Of course, me, the only person on the planet that has failed Fearful Flyers course (I’m sure you think I”m kidding but so am not!) could only think of how fast we must have been going, how high we were to find smoother air …read more

2 Comments

I know that we still have New Year’s to get through, but I thought I would let you in on the next celebration that the French enjoy every year.  Actually, the French need no specific reason to celebrate other than it is a new day but this particular event has a much loved ritual attached to it.  The 6th of January marks the “day of the kings”, commemorating the Kings who arrived to pay hommage to the Infant Jesus.  A special pastry called a galette des rois or King’s cake is part of the celebration. The cake has a “feve” …read more

2 Comments

 
Lunch in a drugstore?  In one of the food capitals of the world?
  Yes, and it is one of the most fun seats in the house (city) for people watching.   Publicis Drugstore is located at the far end of the Champs Elysee near the Arc de Triomphe and on most days there’s plenty of people and bustle to make a window seat a most coveted spot to take a break from seeing all the sights.  If you snag a table by the window you are practically sitting in the middle of the Etoile (the traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe).  That …read more

3 Comments

Joyeux Noël à tous !Uploaded by mairiedeparis.                    
 For those of you unable to be in the City of Lights when it really lives up to it’s name, specifically, right now, here is a little Christmas present.  I want to wish all of you a very Happy Holiday.  My Christmas gift came a few weeks ago…..signing on as the Paris Traveler.  I could not ask for more than to share something that gives me such joy with all of you.         

1 Comment

 Clearly a master of the universe where cuisine is concerned, Alain Ducasse can add the Eiffel Tower to a long list of locations that bear his stamp of culinary artistry.  
On Saturday, he launched the refurbished Jules Verne restaurant, located in the second level of The Eiffel Tower. Long a tradition for both Parisiens and tourists, it had lost its way in the sea of haute cuisine and if you asked a local, they would purse their lips, very French-like and tell you it wasn’t a necessary stop on a tourist’s dining tour.  
Monsieur Ducasse plans to change all that.  He …read more

Comments Off

     I love coffee–after brewing an 8 cup pot in the morning I will drink at least three-quarters, if not more of it before I am out the door.  That is why when I first arrived in France (this applies to all of Europe for that matter) I laughed at the little shooters of coffee put in front of me when asked if I wanted un café.  My tiny cup of espresso was just a tease, a mere sip of something that can give so much pleasure like lingering over the endless cup at restaurants in the states or …read more

3 Comments