At least once when I am on a trip to Paris, I cannot resist picking up a “crêpe” at a street food stand.   Sometimes the kiosks are attached to a restaurant with a dedicated staff member whipping up this traditional French dish as fast food for passerbys.   Every year, on February 2nd, the French also celebrate Le Jour Des Crêpes called Le Chandeleur, also known as Candlemas.   I missed celebrating this year but this delightful French classic is delicious all year round so I hope to make your mouth water by the time you finish reading this blog!   Five Things about ..read more

  French Men Quiz True or False? French Men make the best lovers.    French Men admire and pursue women who radiate femininity. French Men are well-read and knowledgeable and appreciate a good debate.  French Men are more comfortable with their feminine side.  French Men are more likely to be unfaithful.      Omar Sy, the leading man in the French series Lupin   I have little empirical evidence with French men romantically. (I HAVE dated two lovely French Canadian men. Not sure if that counts) ). But my first experience with French men was as a yo ..read more

  You cannot go to Paris without seeing it from the water or  enjoying the water.  After all, the river Seine is the soul of this city as it runs right through the heart of it. So here are my recommendations for the Five Best Ways to Experience the River Seine!   Five Great Ways to Experience La Seine/Boat Cruise 1. Take the Last “Bateau Mouche” of the Day   You probably already know about the open excursion boats that provide breathtaking views all along the river.  They are often referred to as “Bateaux Mouches” which translates as Boats/Flies, yes the insect ..read more

  Do you have a word for 2024?   About three months before every new year, for some reason, a word comes to me that tends to encapsulate what my next year will be about.   And the word that came to me for 2024 was Strength.   I never know how this will play out in my life but my first hint was that I turned 70 last year and realized that I have to step up my exercise routine to include more strength training. My bone density results last week confirmed that building strength is now a priority.   However, I have also found that my sense of awareness to all things stron ..read more

  I love that in the South of France it can just as lovely in the winter as in the summer.   In fact, summer in my opinion, with temperatures running well into the 30’s these days, is far too hot to walk around and explore unless you get up at 6 am and finish your day around noon.   At this time of year, temperatures in Nice range from 13 to 16 degrees celsius, that’s 55 to 60 degrees fahrenheit, perfect weather for a  jacket or sweater.   The sunshine remains a constant even in the winter in Nice. And everything looks better in the sunshine doesn’t it?   (Especi ..read more

Paris New Year News Happy New to You All Welcome Back!   I hope the holiday season brought you precious time with loved ones, lots of fun, and perhaps some reflection.   Do you have travel plans for 2024?   It will be a big year for Paris with the Olympics coming up this summer.   Notre Dame Cathedral News   Also for Notre Dame Cathedral. The painstaking renovations after the fire in 2019 are scheduled to be completed by next December.   Work on the spire that toppled after being consumed by fire, is well on its way to completion any day now!   They have alre ..read more

  As I wind down another year, I am reflective again about this journey that I have taken to write about Paris which began in 2018.   Yes, I have been doing this for 5 years now (with a library of almost 200 blogs)!   View from my Airbnb in the 17th arrondissement (September 2018)   This all started with an idea to create my so-called “retirement project.”    You see, I feared “retirement” because I have been an overachiever all my life. I began my career racing around the world as a journalist and TV News Correspondent covering the newsmakers of the day in Can ..read more

When I am in Paris, I often find myself walking across the historic Place de la République, the former roundabout remodeled into the city’s largest pedestrian zone. (right across from the Metro hub by the same name.) Usually, I am on my way somewhere else but my eye is always drawn to the towering bronze statue of “Marianne” and it makes me smile to think that the national symbol of France is a woman!     The national monument and statue of “Marianne”  in Place de la République north of Le Marais   I bring this up now because France issued a new postage stamp this past w ..read more

  What is it about a little independent bookstore that is so compelling?   Where one must slither sideways to pass but you still end up scraping by other patrons.   Where you may have to step over indiscriminate piles of books on the floor,  and where other new, used, and rare tomes are lovingly stacked on shelves from floor to ceiling.   Where the books have a history and seem to whisper; “Pick me up, take me off the shelf, because have I got a story to tell you!”   It’s like stepping into a simpler time when the written word was all we had.   Before phone ..read more

It was a scorching Friday morning when I arrived at the majestic train station in Nice (designed in the 1800s in the majestic Louis XIII style).   The platform was already packed, and I ended up having to squeeze in and remained slammed up against a mob of other tourists and locals with every square inch of standing room taken up as we headed east on the train to Monaco and beyond.   From time to time, through a crack in all this humanity, I would catch a satisfying glint off the sparkling turquoise water of the Mediterranean as our coach raced along the coast.   Italy Street ..read more