TWA Hotel

 Home at last, back to a real computer and keyboard! 

I don't recall where we were, but sometime last summer, we saw a segment on CNN about the TWA Hotel in New York City; https://www.twahotel.com/. It seemed like a fun place to stay, so when I was making our travel plans, I booked us a couple nights on our way back home. What a place it is! There are many activities for the whole family, including a huge Twister room, where kids of all ages can play the game. There's a recreation of a 1960's living room (James says it reminded him of his childhood), lots of old cars, uniforms, luggage, and other memorabilia. The bartender at the bar on the main floor works in a pilot uniform! And yes, we enjoyed an adult beverage in Connie! It was a fun couple days!

If you're passing through JFK, it's a quick stop just outside of Terminal 5. It's about the only place before security you can get a meal or beverage, unless you can make a meal at Dunkin Donuts...

And PS- Happy 23rd Wedding Anniversary to us- and they said it wouldn't last!

Wrapping Up Paris

Please excuse any weird words, spacing, etc. I brought my iPad instead of my Mac, and we aren’t playing nicely together…

How the time has flown by in Paris! We have enjoyed some fantastic weather, one day of rain! Anytime we could, we ate outside, and enjoyed the people watching. We stuck pretty much within walking distance and frequented the local shops, cheese, bread, produce, rotisserie chicken and potatoes. Two farmers markets.

A French wine class, French wine and cheese, French sauces, French bread, and lastly, a perfume workshop!

Our last night at our apartment/hotel is here. This is a concept we really like and appreciate. Need clean towels, go to the towel room and swap out for clean ones. Toilet paper- down by the towels. They clean once per week, and available for a fee for extra days. Dishwasher detergent, at the front desk. Espresso, hot chocolate, etc, in the lobby, just bring a cup from your cupboard. Citadines is the name, and a very small presence in the US, for now!

Our last week started off with some pretty lousy meals, like not good at all.  We didn’t want our last few meals here to leave a bad taste (pardon the pun), so we did a few repeats as sure bets! DON’T scroll down if you don’t want to get hungry.

Maison Thevenin Boulangerie; We enjoyed fantastic breads of all kinds here including a James favorite, chocolate croissants. No pictures cuz we ate them all too fast!

Le Bistro du Périgord. Small family run restaurant. Excellent traditional French food.  We went three times in total. French Onion soup, Escargot, Duck breast, Duck confit, crème brûlée….

Le Pre Brassserie; Caesar salad and Champagne. Nice fresh lettuce, nicely dressed for James, we returned today for lunch! On our way back from lunch, we ran across some street performers who provided some French entertainment. Enjoy the short video!

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Fish la Boissonnerie; scallop carpaccio, swordfish, gnocchi, chocolate ganache with clementine sauce. Tonight was our last fancy Paris dinner here. Repeat of the scallop carpaccio, sea bass, and lamb. Everything was excellent.

Tomorrow we head to a hotel closer to the airport for one night to make our journey to fly out on Monday much shorter and less stressful. The room has a fridge, so we can take our remaining bits of cheese with us to enjoy for a late lunch!

Next up- the TWA Hotel at JFK, this should be a real change of pace from Paris! Au revoir!

Samaritaine

 Since this is not our first trip to Paris, and we have the luxury of staying for a few weeks, we have time to check out some lesser known spots. Yesterday was one of those opportunities. Doing a quick search on Google maps around where we are staying, I found a department store called Samaritaine. I wasn’t interested in it from a shopping perspective, but the architecture! 

Shopping wise, they carry only high end brands, with an entire floor for shoes! Closed in 2005 for structural issues, painstakingly rebuilt and reopened in 2021, it is stunning to say the least. Already decorated for Christmas, but we didn’t mind since it added to the beauty. Photos from the reconstruction were prominently displayed, and they show it was completely gutted and restored.

Definitely catering to the high rollers, at one of the Gucci areas, they had two customers roped off, and were serving them champagne! We did enjoy adult beverages on the top floor, I had champagne and James had some fancy cocktail, which he really enjoyed.

These pictures won’t do it justice, but trust me, it was spectacular!

Second week in Paris

 Our second full week in Paris has been relaxing yet full! Tuesday was a holiday, so most shops were closed including Ina Garten’s favorite fromage place, after we trekked there, oh well, on the list for next week. We wandered around the Marais, the high end of Paris, whose name translates to swamp. Also home to the worlds largest city hall.

James got a Paris haircut. His stylist caught Covid right before we left, so he was overdue for a cut. We found a place, scheduled an appointment and hoped for the best. It turned out really good!

 Friday was my French sauce class at La Cuisine Paris. Fun time making mayonnaise, vinaigrette, wine sauces, etc.  Ended the class sampling all our efforts. 

 Saturday was my French bread class at Le Cordon Bleu. Fun times, lots of good bread, and explanations about why my shortcuts are not so good. Lessons learned! I knew I was going to return with fresh bread to consume, so James went to the market and picked up mussels to recreate a dish from our cooking class in 2018. Still a winner, but better with my bread!

I’m starting to panic that our time here is rapidly ending! What else should we do? Where else should we go? I like that given this is my third trip here, I’ve seen the big stuff, but have barely scratched the surface. My French speaking has not significantly improved, but I am much better on pronouncing words.

Tomorrow we are walking across the bridge to La Samaritaine, a shopping building that was closed for 15 years, and reopened in 2021. It looks amazing, we’ll see if it is! Excuse the order of how the pictures show up, hopefully you can figure out what is what…