The Tenderness of the Very Early Morning
There is something I love about early mornings, and experiencing the first few hours of the world as it is waking up. I remember the days when I’d be the cafe opener, and arrive ready for work at 5:45 am, getting everything ready for the customers who would begin streaming […]
Chinon: A Perfect Loire Town Complete with Castle
The Loire Valley is full of magnificent towns, and hundreds of vineyards strung along the sides of its rivers, the Loire, Cher and Vienne. We asked the folks who promote wine travel here to tell us what they thought was the most beautiful town to represent the region in the […]
At Le Foodist in Paris, New Techniques Make Cooking More Fun
Where better to learn new cooking techniques than in Paris? Yesterday I learned quite a few new tricks when I spent the better part of a whole day cooking an elaborate meal with chef Fred Poulliot, at Le Foodist, a cooking school in Paris’ left bank. There were quite a […]
In Paris, It’s the Four Seasons George V, Or Nothing
To some travelers, spending 1700 euros on a night is pocket change. For them, there is only one choice in the City of LIght–The Four Seasons George V Paris, on the swanky Champs Elysees. The bloggers on our trip met for the first time in this over the top luxurious […]
An Army of Bloggers Fans Out to Cover France’s Best Wine Regions
Today I set out on a mission, I”m part of a team of American bloggers who are fanning out all over France’s wine regions to share their photos, videos, blogs and experiences. The people who promote these areas chose an interesting range of writers and photographers. One of them is […]
Getting to Know Paris by Having Dinner at Home
The best way to get to know people is over a meal–and it’s even better when you’re dining in someone’s home, not in a restaurant. That’s what VizEat is all about. Last night I joined a group of six travel writers at a dinner with Christiane and Renaud Lestage in […]
A Loire Valley Road Trip Across France Next Week
In a few days I’ll get on a plane to Paris and then spend a week touring through many of the famous vineyards of the Loire Valley. As with all of my trips, as the day comes nearer I get more and more excited, anticipating that wonderful feeling of walking […]
Sometimes the Old Slow White Dudes are Unbeatable
We went to the French King Restaurant in Erving on Friday night, where a band was playing that Mary and her friends used to enjoy listening to at Deja Bru a few years ago. I ran into Les, a guy who helps organize a basketball game at the Greenfield Middle […]
Asparagus Festival: Let’s Celebrate the Stalk!
Hadley is indeed the world’s asparagus capital. We drove past this truck while passing through the town of Hadley right across from where the annual WGBY Asparagus Festival will take place in about three weeks. Last year we enjoyed walking through the many arts and crafts booths right here, and […]
A Morning In Someone Else’s House
Life has evolved, we move along and we follow the highs and the lows. Sadly, a pattern from my younger days is repeated as my daughter got separated from her husband, and now another set of kids gets used to living with one parent, and visiting the other. Into this […]
Getting Fired and Firing People: Things You Never Forget
Last week we were in Finland, and this week has been a good one…getting back into the groove, keeping up with responsibilities, doing what needs to be done. Last night I had to fire someone. It was surreal, because it was done over Skype. If a person you hire just […]
How Do Doctors Tell Patients the Terrible News?
Many of us have experienced that moment, that terrible moment, when we get the worst news in our lives. We have an illlness, and it may well be incurable, or terminal. What’s it like to be a oncology doctor and have to fill in your patients and their families about […]
Restaurant Day in Helsinki: Haven’t You Always Dreamed of Doing This?
We had lunch with Antti Tuomola on an island in the Baltic sea, in a yacht club restaurant called Paven. In 2011, Antti got together with his friends and they formed a Facebook group to create Restaurant Day, when anyone in the country could open their own pop-up restaurant, without […]
Aalto University: Solving Problems with Brains and Hugs
After just an hour of visiting with the dynamic people at the Innovation Alley and the Startup Sauna in the city of Espoo, Finland, we were both exhilarated and slightly overwhelmed. There are so many impressive young entrepreneurs and agile thinkers packed into these Aalto university buildings, it felt like […]
Sauna: The True Finnish Experience
There is one word in the Finnish language that’s known throughout the world–sauna. It’s the word that’s associated the closest with this northern nation, and an experience that is shared by all Finnish people. No apartment is complete without a common sauna, nor is any house complete without the built […]
