First, have an epiphany at the Musee D’Orsay. Standing before Monet’s shimmering Rouen Cathedral facades, come to realize that the sanitized tour you’re on won’t make you one with Paris. That, to know this wondrous city intimately, you must be as true to that purpose as the master was to his art. Which means surveying Paris precincts in all kinds of light. In all kinds of weather. From several perspectives. In as many transatlantic trips as may be required.

A day in the French countryside is a great way to round out a visit to Paris. The question is where to go. A Loire chateau?  Normandy’s D-Day beaches? Les Alpes? It takes several hours to reach even the closest of these sites; however, if you’re willing to think small, you can access them all — and more, much more — in one convenient location 16 miles southwest of the city.

We had decided begrudgingly a couple of months ago that the need to redo our rapidly rotting redwood back deck would take precedence over our usually insurmountable need to visit Paris, which we had done eight of the last ten years. Necessity subsumed our sadness.  A week ago, however, Jody brought home a new guidebook on Paris.

In La Mome, Edith Piaf’s life and art are seamlessly entwined in the pain and joy of a true artist’s life. And as she once said, she is ‘never too far from Paris’ – what other city would be capable of molding such a lasting, timeless star as La Mome Piaf? 

I first fell in love with Paris when I was 15 years old, back in 1978, during a family summer vacation.  I'm now 44, remembering fondly the first time I returned to Paris at 20 as a tour guide for a friend in my French class.  We stayed in Montparnasse in the 14th arrondissement, my special place in Paris... a place I call home.

Did you know it’s impossible to kill time in Paris? In the literal sense, that is. The whimsical proof can be found on the pedestrian rue Bernard-de-Clairvaux in the 3rd arrondissement. There, at every hour between 9 am and 10 pm, a life-size brass fellow, known only as the Defender of Time, raises his double-edged sword and battles fierce brass beasts who would destroy the clock he guards.

Let me set the stage. In September 2006 my wife, my thirty-year-old daughter and her husband spent two weeks in September in Paris in a modern two-bedroom rental apartment on Rue du Temple, a ten-minute walk south to Notre Dame. The neighborhood was strange, the street replete with wholesale bijoux, scarf, and jewelry stores rather than cafés or other Parisian whimsy.

It’s pure opulence just looking around this magnificent old Mansion. Art and frescoes adorn the walls of this well-preserved and welcoming city mansion. The museum boasts one of the best collections of Italian Renaissance 18th century art in Paris. The owners were avid collectors with an eye for art treasures. The building itself, set in a fashionable area, is worth a visit. Paintings by Boucher and Fragonard are a few of the tasteful pieces collected by these wealthy patrons. Even today, one marvels at the style of living and the taste of two great collectors of art and furniture. This is one museum that should not be missed.

BREAKING NEWS! The Eiffel Tower

How does one restore the Eiffel Tower other than paint, paint and more paint ?  Simple.  A cherry is added to the icing.  In this case, the cherry is the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse, who will now take his sui-generi genius to the famed Jules Verne restaurant.  Monsieur Ducasse knows how to rise!  From the 1984 air crash that killed all on-board but Ducasse, to the Michelin stars which he manages to reach up and take seemingly-effortlessly (only the effort has been made!), the man has finally reached the pinnacle of International fame.  Call three months ahead of time to ensure a window seat and a choice Ducasse meal for dinner.  Lunch is usually easily attained two or three days before, but with Ducasse at the wheel, this, too, will surely change.

The Eiffel Tower