By day’s end, my feet were screaming. The “slow museum shuffle” is exhausting, more so than walking briskly for 5 miles. I had to get back to my room, unload the few things I carried and take a break. The subway system, with two transfers, consumed 45 minutes, then I arrived at the Maubert-Mutualité stop. [...]

Journal Entry: “8:00 P.M. After a day at the Louvre. I’ve just eaten the most sumptuous dinner at a little restaurant/bar, “Louis Vins”. The food had me melting at the first bite. I ordered the warm goat cheese salad, which had rounds of cheese crusted with pistachios (?) and grilled, served on a dressed bed [...]

It seemed to me that the ultimate Parisian, Catholic experience would be attending Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. (And it seemed the thought occurred to thousands of others, too.) It was raining last night at 8:00 as I walked from my hotel, across the bridge and toward the cathedral. What a sight with the church [...]

Hungry in Paris? Good food is never far away. I like that the stores are specialized and are clustered near each other. Hop from one to the next and gather enough for a very good meal. Here’s the selection of food stores at my metro stop, Maubert-Mutualité, on St. Germain. The boucherie (butcher) and charcuterie (cooked [...]

What was for dinner on Christmas Eve in Paris? Fast food, Parisian-style! From my journal yesterday: 5:30 P.M. Christmas Eve, Paris. I’m eating in my hotel room, after spending all afternoon at Musée D’Orsay absorbing the impressionists and Art Nouveau and before heading to Notre Dame for Midnight Mass. At the Maubert-Mutualité exit for the [...]

Christmas. Friday. 9:11 PM. My suitcase just arrived from my flight on Monday. I can change my clothes tomorrow. (Don’t fly Air France. They’ve handled this poorly.)

Group tours aren’t generally “my thing” but I found out in Washington D.C. a few years back that hitching a ride on a tour bus is like a crash course in the new city. (Not literally, of course!) So I decided to take the “3-hour cruise” of Paris with a tour group: drive around to [...]

If someone had said to me: “You’re going to Paris for a week, but the only thing you get to wear is what you wear on the plane” I would NOT have picked the following: a bra, heavy opaque tights, black polartec pants (almost sweat pants, but snug), gray cashmere turtleneck, off-white polartec pullover, a [...]

Today I simply followed inspiration and ended up south instead of north. I had all sorts of wonderful encounters with people along my wanderings and saw beautiful, delicious arrays in front of me. …But right now, it’s approaching one in the morning (again, same as last night) and I’m too tired to post much, so [...]

After walking in a cold rain for several hours on my first evening in Paris, I wanted something HOT in my belly. I wanted a hearty soup or stew. I walked into the Brasserie Balzar, about 3 blocks from my hotel. Quite brightly lit and full of people. When greeted at the door, I said [...]

From my journal entry, 21 December, 2009, 9:00 pm: I just ordered French Onion Soup, to be followed by pepper steak and a nice red wine. (Chateau de Brague 2006, Grand Vin de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur). I spent the last 5 hours walking across the Left Bank area, starting in the 5th Arrondisement, ending in [...]

Packing for Paris. Leaving early in the morning and I’ll get there at about noon. It’s COLD there, and snow is predicted much of the week. A white Christmas is almost assured. I’ve been gathering all the warmest clothes I have or can find. I’ve even decide to take my gore-tex hiking boots. Not so [...]

In addition to the International Festival of Light that’s present in Milano right now, there are special light displays and decorations all over town. I like the illuminated scrolls that line the major avenues, these along Via Alessandro Manzoni, through the center of town: Brera is the chic, creative, cultural neighborhood north of the Duomo. [...]

Milan is currently the host of 33 large-scale lighting installations. (6 December – 10 January.) In the evenings, I’ve wandered through town to see the pieces and love how it changes the night scene, the visual texture and energy of the city. These intriguing works of light encourage after-dark strolls. Along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Milano’s [...]

The fridgy day and the taunting sky followed through on their promise and have coated us all with 2 inches of snow. And it’s still coming down. What will I wake up to? If there’s a thick, white blanket of snow I’ll have to hop on the subway and go down to the Duomo to [...]

We awoke to a dusting of snow in Milano yesterday. Today the sky taunts us with more. The air has a chill I haven’t felt here before, and the thermometer in my apartment has dropped 4 degrees. With just two radiators in the place, I wonder about feeling warm enough and am glad I brought [...]

I have truffle breath. I’ve just “eaten my way across the country” without leaving Milano, and I sampled so many incredible foods, who needs dinner?! It wasn’t enough to spend half a day at the Artisanal Fair last weekend, I had to go back and spend more time (and money) today. In 3 and a [...]

It was about 6:30 on a Sunday evening and I thought I was merely going to a champagne-tasting I had been told of. As it turned out, I came up out of the subway into a massive, standing-room-only crowd that filled the Piazza del Duomo in the center of Milan. Mini hot air balloons, about [...]

It’s the holiday season, and it starts with a rush here in early December. Today, December 7, is the Feast Day of Milan’s Patron Saint, Sant’Ambrogio; it’s a citywide holiday. This day is followed with a national holiday tomorrow, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and all the Italian world is shut down for a [...]