Why People Drink Wine in France

So I'm imagining my little girl tripping the light fantastic in Paris, visiting museums, wandering gardens, relaxing in streetside cafes, but nooooo. She's studying the French propensity for civil unrest.


Man, I thought I worried my parents by going to rock concerts!

C'est la vie.

Home Again

And now for the final day of our saga...

So, after stowing our luggage, Kelly and I hopped on the water taxi to head downtown. Not really, but Kelly got a picture of this yesterday from Liberty Island, and the subway didn't sound quite as neat, so I lied.

Actually, there's a subway stop at 51st and Lex, so we slipped out the back door of the Waldorf and shot down to Canal Street for some shopping. The first two places we stopped weren't bargaining much, so we moved on; but the next few places made some nice deals.

I bought a few more "pashminas." Sadly, the stuff they used to stick the label on damaged the scarf a bit when I removed the tag, but it still looks ok. The funny thing to me, though, was that the tag actually has the true fabric content and point of origin ("aertlic"/acrylic and China, respectively, surprise, surprise), just hidden on the back side.

Kelly did a good job bartering once we found stuff she was interested in, but several times she expressed that she wanted to come back with Sami to do some serious bargaining. She replaced last year's "Channel" sunglasses with "Dolce & Gabana," bought a "Tiffany" bracelet and necklace and bought a handbag she really liked (the guy offered to attach a D&G tag, but Kelly said it was a knockoff of another designer -- who I, of course didn't recognize -- so she passed on the offer) -- all for under her $60 budget! We were done shopping within 30 minutes, so we figured we'd try to slip in the Empire State Building before our reservations for lunch uptown.

Within minutes, New York's underground magic carpet dropped us at the ESB and we flew up to the observation deck. The crowds were not as light (read "non-existent") as when Sami and I went, but we had no lines and were at the 86th floor within 15 minutes of our arrival!

The visibility was fabulous, so we had a great view of King Kong...

Oops, wrong picture, that comes later.... We had a great view of the City and environs. You can see the Waldorf peeking out from behind the Pan Am building -- meh, Met Life building, sorry.

Here we are from the Northeast view, Kelly in her new sunglasses looking chic. You can see the Chrysler building and a bit of the East River behind us.

Here I am, dressed like a grown up to impress the bellhops at the Waldorf.

And I know this is an addiction and I have to stop, but, really, look where I'm pointing...

Monica is so right, they're everywhere...

Anyway, we threw some more money away in the gift shop; but, ever the bargain hunter, Kelly bought a calendar on clearance! (It was from 2004. Not really, but aren't I funny?) Then, despite Kelly's insistence that we take a cab (she'd been lobbying for cab rides the entire trip), we took the subway, yet again, uptown to Tavern on the Green. That's where we actually met Kong. He was the topiary in the garden outside the Crystal Room, where we ate.

The Crystal Room was lovely, albeit empty. We actually took these pictures from our table -- they're not downloads. There were maybe three other tables in use when we arrived. It filled up a bit later, but certainly not like the holidays! January is so the right time to visit New York.

We originally had planned only to have dessert -- Kelly wanted creme brulee -- but as we had not yet eaten and it was after one, we decided to have lunch. I had a wonderful salmon (surprise) served with ratatouille! Of course I thought of Sam! Kelly had a turkey club -- yet another prop to Sam! Sadly, the creme brulee was a disappointment. Kelly had half finished it when I took a bite, and it was cold! Plus, the torching on the top had been a bit burned on one side. So sad. It was still good, just a let down after the year-long anticipation. In spite of the creme brulee, lunch was lovely. Because the restaurant was so empty, we had a good chance to relax and look around. I never noticed the ceiling before (and how could I have missed this!).

After an obligatory visit to the gift shop -- postcards and pencils, de rigeur -- we decided to walk back to the hotel to get the car. (Still no taxi. Sorry, Kelly, but this is New York.)

We visited the magnificient ladies room and cooled our heels in the lobby while waiting for the car, then bid adieu to the Waldorf and headed for the Lincoln (tunnel) and home. (Sam, we so have to come back here when you're home.)

Coming out of the Lincoln, we had a lovely, clear view of the City, which was a nicer farewell than on the Jersey side.

(Actually, I used to love seeing these exhaust stacks at the refineries when I was little. There used to be loads of them going at night and it looked cool. This is the first one I've seen burning in a while.)

And, not to worry you, but, they're multiplying...

OK. I'll stop. Kelly and I decided that my new obsession needs to be Priuses (is that the plural of Prius?) that are not blue. We saw about four on the ride home -- red (2), green and grey. Luckily for you, we did not take pictures of them.

So that was it. A whirlwind visit to New York. Those are often the best kind. (I think it may have taken me longer to write about it than our actual visit!) I'm getting more comfortable tooling around so the next time I visit with Sam, we may actually stop to eat!

A bientot!

The Waldorf

After our ordeal getting to the Statue of Liberty, we figured we would check in at the hotel, then head out for something to eat and go visit the Empire State Building. Our hotel, as the title of this blog entry suggests, was the Waldorf-Astoria. (The picture below is clearly not our own, as the sunshine and flowers in the picture will attest.)




I looked like a drowned rat; Kelly looked marvelous. The doorman where we dropped the car, after taking our bags, commented that the garage was under the hotel so we needn't mess our coiffures in nasty weather. Too late. It was kind of odd. One of the doormen needed to look in the trunk before we could drive under the building. I understand the security issue, but, really, if I had a load of dynamite in the trunk, do they think I'd stop for the doorman?


Anyway, everyone treated us wonderfully in spite of my drowned ratish appearance. They gave us a complimentary upgrade (including two free bottles of water - whoopee!) to a room on the 25th floor. It ended up being half a suite, but the other half was open when we arrived, so of course we snooped around.


This is Kelly snapping a shot of our entry hall. The door reflected behind her enters into the adjoining suite rooms. (The reflection is off the mirrored doors of the full wall closet -- complete with two comfy robes!)

To her right (off the left side of the photo) was the bathroom. Not crazy spacious, but all marble and it had both a TV and phone. We didn't use either, but we were happy to know they were there in case we got the flu during our stay.

To the left of Kelly, across from the bathroom, was our bedroom. Besides the beds, sitting area and TV armoire shown, there was a lovely writing desk with lots 'o' postcards (one of which we sent to you)!

Our room had a lovely view of Park Avenue and the City lights on two sides. Here I am blocking said lovely view.

Through the door in the entry hall was the suite room and another bedroom and bath. The suite room had a large sitting area, TV armoire ...

and a gas fireplace.

Despite the grandeur of our accommodations, Kelly and I walked down to 34th as we had a tight schedule planned and we wanted to go to the observation tower of the Empire State Building. But guess what. When we arrived, we were told the visibility was zero.

We said, "Oh, but the lights will be pretty."

He said, "No. Zero visibility."

We said, "Oh, bother." (Or something like that.) Then we said, "Hey. Where can we find a Panera in New York?"

He said, "Nowhere." (Well, actually not. He (the ESB information booth guy) told us he didn't know, then he looked in the NYC yellow pages and said there were none listed.) He then argued that as we were in New York we should not be eating at Subway (which was our second choice) but at a good, local joint. He recommended four; three of which we found and one of which we chose!

So we ate at Patsy's on Third Avenue and 34th and had some nice New York pizza. It was very good, but both Kelly and I still prefer Nicky's. This would be Kelly after our meal at Patsy's.

After dinner we walked up to Park again and strolled home. It was cold, but not snowy anymore and the night was pretty. Back at the hotel we planned to have dessert, but nothing from the room service menu appealed to us (thankfully as desserts were $11 each plus all sorts of service charges and gratuities), so we ordered cocoa and cappuccino (don't ask the price) and played Sept Families before going to bed.

The next morning I went down to Starbucks to get coffee for me and cocoa for Kelly before we packed up and prepared to hit the streets. One of the nice features at the Waldorf was that we could check our bags while we ran around, then get them when we got the car to head home, and since we had parking for 24 hours, we could use the hotel all day!

We checked out about ten to start our day. That will be tomorrow's post.

Oh, and one other note about our Waldorf stay. The suite we were in apparently was used by Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow when they were living in New York. There was some kind of big brouhaha when Ava Gardiner was in town, and she ended up staying in the other room. Once Cole Porter passed away, Frank and Mia moved up to his suite and this one became available for guests. Like us. Yippie.

A bientot.

New York!!

OK, so. No school, no plans, crazy traffic, crowds and road closing predicted, and daddy has these hotel bonus points he has to use before February or he loses them, so what else could we do? Road trip!

Kelly and I packed a few things and hopped in the car to New York. We hoped to see the Statue of Liberty (Inauguration substitute -- spirit of America and all that), the Empire State Building, do some bargain shopping and get some creme brulee before heading home.

We arrived at Liberty Park in New Jersey 15 minutes before our ferry was to depart. At that point, it was overcast, but there was some visibility.



By the time we parked (got charged $10), walked to the check in, went through security (including Kelly having to remove her boots!), made it out to the docks and missed the ferry, then went back in, got our parking fee refunded and moved the car to the closer, free parking lot, went back in, took pictures, looked for salvage from the flight that landed in the river the day before, went through security again (again with the boots -- did they forget us?) and got back to the dock, visibility was next to nothing.


But did we care? No! We plunged into the icy waters (well the boat did) and traversed the mighty Hudson to stop first at Ellis Island (where we disembarked only to take pictures in front of the sign) and then at Liberty Island.



(The following picture, by the way, was not taken in black and white -- it was just that grey out.)

(As we had only one shot at Liberty -- since we missed the earlier ferry -- we gave up the Ellis visit. We figured we'd go back to Ellis Island with Sam, who would appreciate all the museum-type attractions available. We also figured we'd try for a sunny, warm day.)

We spent an hour or so touring the statue. The body of the statue is closed to visitors, but there is a museum in the base and tourists can climb the 156 steps in the pedestal to a viewing platform and observation deck. The viewing platform, essentially, looks up Lady Liberty's skirts. How wude.

The observation deck, overlooks Liberty Park, where tourists from such foreign countries as Poland, Canada, Chile and, seriously, Vermont, had tramped out their country's name in the snow. So, did Vermont secede? And Ohio. They were listed also. Hmmm.

We found it interesting that the designer of the statue was a leading French abolitionist and that Lady Liberty is standing on broken shackles to represent the United States' emancipation of the slaves. That, combined with Ellis Island as a gateway for people from all over the world to come and be welcomed and sheltered by the United States, served as an appropriate way for us to commemorate Tuesday's auspicious inauguration.


We caught the last ferry back to Joisey, then slipped through the Holland Tunnel (where I got lost, as usual, on the Manhattan side coming out and had to deal with Brooklyn-bound, rush-hour traffic) and scooted up to our hotel. But for that story, you will have to wait until tomorrow. To keep you entertained until then, here is a video, with commentary, of the Hudson river.




See you tomorrow!

OK! I'm Awake!!

OK, so I have not been a magnificient blogger. But in fairness to you, dear reader, I have had little to say. However, I have now had a fun weekend and therefore have something to blog about.

Friday, being last week, is forgotten, so I'll move on to Saturday. Kelly and I went to see an Invitational Pom Competition. It was quite lovely. All that high kicking and shoulder shaking in unison. Most of the teams did very well. The difficulty for me was that the most advanced teams (which performed towards the end of the afternoon) used exaggerated "facials," which, no doubt unbeknownst to them, had the tendency to make them look goofy. I managed not to laugh, and enjoyed the dances by trying not to focus on the squad members with the most expressive "facials." I guess if they're performing on a football field they need their delight, surprise, affection, cuteness, earnestness to show from a distance; but in a gym, it was overkill.

Anyway, the dances were good -- nicely choreographed and performed, and not particularly trashy -- so the afternoon was fun.

Sunday, after all that drama and excitement, we focused on home life. Daddy and I spent the better part of the day attempting to retrieve our bedroom back from the clutches of the monster dust bunnies. Holey moley, it was gross. I don't know how there is so much dust in that room and not throughout the house. I guess there is dust throughout the house, it just tends to float in the air rather than snuggling under the bed.

Anyway, we cleaned mattress, box spring, dressers, photo frames, hope chest, knitting baskets -- I mean everything. Surprisingly I found far fewer "missing" items than I expected; a scarf, some coins, and two pre-school Christmas presents.

Uncle Steve came over for dinner (and to watch football games). We had Cajun shrimp and a nice visit, mostly hanging out and getting the scoop on his visit back to Canada last month. The Canadians were nicer to him than in the past, but not due to the election, more due to the fact that he was hanging out with different Canadians. Haha. MK is looking at a job in the States and should hear in February, so we'll see how things go. Speaking of go, that is what I am about to do. I will be posting again soon to share my activities of Monday and Tuesday because, sports fans, I went to New York. Yes, that New York. Well, don't be jealous because, after all, you are somewhere having fun; but other than that, ok, be jealous. Anyway, I want to see if I can write up a post and add some pictures so the entry will be more entertaining. (I had no pictures of dust bunnies or pom facials to add to this post, but I think they would have helped the narrative a bit, do you not agree?) So, TTFN, and I will post as soon as I can.