Paris 2025

 While you will find small grocery stores throughout Paris, most Parisians do their serious food shopping at one of the many markets that are in every neighborhood. There are  over 80 markets in Paris, some open daily, others just pop up once or twice a week, and what you find varies from market to market. In the more affluent neighborhoods, the markets focus mainly on high quality food, and less on clothing, household goods, etc.  Just down the street from where I was staying is the Saint Germaine Marche Couvert  ( covered market). It is actually in  a building and there you can find the freshest seafood, top quality meats, breads and cheeses, as well as made to order sandwiches which you can  sit and enjoy with a glass of wine. The market is open 6 days a week and I was jealous as here was all this great food that I couldn’t take home to cook. I would often walk down in the morning, have a coffee and croissant at the patisserie  next door , then stro...

 Eberbach Abbey (Kloster in German) is a former monastery in the Rhine River region of Rheingau, close to Frankfurt. It is known for its Romanesque and early Gothic architecture buildings, some of which date back to the early  1100’s.  The rooms and even the church are quite barren as the monks lived a very meager  life, living in damp, unheated buildings, eating and sleeping very little - sworn to not talking.  In spite of this lifestyle, the abbey  was at one point one of the largest and most influential monasteries in Germany. However, after a series of wars and societal changes,  the abbey was dissolved in the early 1800’s. Today it is owned by the local state, managed as a non profit, and contains a high quality restaurant and conference center.  In addition to the abbey, there are  several vineyards  on the property. In earlier times, the vineyards were some of the largest in Europe and today the  Kloster Eberbach winery is kn...

 My friend Achim and  I spent the good part of a day visiting Speyer, a  beautiful city on the Rhine river, known for its Romanesque Cathedral as well as the resting place for  former chancellor Helmut Kohl.  Work began on the cathedral in 1030 at the direction of Conrad II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and some of the original building still exists. It is constructed out of red sandstone and is the largest remaining Romanesque  church in the world.  The nave measures  439 ft by 124 ft, and the crypt contains the remains of numerous emperors and kings. Unlike many other  catholic cathedrals, it is quite plain inside.  After touring the cathedral, we walked to the burial plot of Helmut Kohl, who was the chancellor of West Germany from 1982 to 1990, and  of the reunified Germany from 1990 to 1998. He was very close to US President Ronald Regan  and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, and many attribute Kohl’s  relations...

 In early 2004, after taking an early retirement  package from Schering Plough, I started consulting for a venture capital company in Boston. One of the assessments I did was for  a company two Germans , Achim  Schaeffler and Jochen Mattis, were starting  with a novel oral formulation of an old product, prednisone. Given my background in these types of products and the fact that it sounded very interesting and quite promising, I inquired as to whether they were looking for a full time consultant to help them assess and develop the product for the US market. I met them  in Frankfurt in August, quickly hit it off, and we agreed to work together. In fact, I was the first person they hired after officially starting the company.  We worked closely together for 6 years until the company was bought out in 2010 ( unfortunately no big payday), but we have stayed  in close touch since then. With the exception of 2020, I have seen at least one of them each y...

 Montmartre is one of the more challenging and  “ interesting” areas of Paris to visit. Challenging, because its main attraction, the Basilica of Sacre Coeur, sits high on a hill above the city and getting there requires walking  up a large number of stairs. That is why I waited for my last day in Paris to visit. “Interesting”, because what goes on at the top of the hill is very different from what goes on at the bottom of the hill. The Basilica was built in the late 1800s on the site of where the patron saint of Paris, St, Denis, was supposedly beheaded by the Romans. The nave is 250 feet long and 50 feet wide, and its tower contains the largest bell in France. There are 237 steps  going from the bottom of the hill to the Basilica, but I only had to walk up 140 because I took the metro to a stop on the side of the hill. However,  I did walk the 237 steps down- ugh! The Basilica is the second most popular attraction in Paris, the Eiffel Tower being number 1. The...

 I recently read an article about the Wallace Fountains of Paris and realized I had seen some in the past, but knew nothing about them. So I purchased a small book which explains their history and location and looked for them when I was walking about. The history is quite interesting.  Sir Richard Wallace was an  Englishman who moved to Paris at a young age and became very wealthy when his father  died and left him estates and a large art collection. When the Franco Prussian war broke out in 1870, instead of retreating to one of his country estates,   Richard decided to stay in Paris and see what he could do to help the people. He was appalled at the starvation and lack of drinkable water the war, and civil war which followed created. At that time, the  only water source for the general population was the heavily polluted Seine, and when the cost of a bottle of Seine water exceeded the cost of wine, people started drinking wine as their  main  sou...

When I am in Paris, I try to walk as much as possible as there is so much to see. However, when the distance is too far or my feet have gotten tired, I will  usually take a bus  so I can continue to see the sights, but this can be slow, especially during peak hours. The other major option is the metro (subway) which is easy to use, but most of the lines are underground. A ticket for the bus or metro is about $3 and is good for 2 hours, allowing you to make connections. There is also a water taxi for points along the Seine. There is also the option of taking a taxi, but here to you have to be careful. Taxi drivers are notorious for telling you  it is a flat rate  ( which is illegal) to where you are going, when in fact the meter charge would be much lower, They also find innovative ways to add fees to the meter charge. Uber is also a very popular way to get around for those who like to uber, which I am not.  One other option is to rent a bike. During the  la...

Continuing on my quest to explore the lesser  known venues of Paris, I spent the morning visiting some of the famous covered passageways (passages in French). Twenty one  still exist in Paris today, almost all on the right bank. It is believed that over 180 were built between 1820 and 1850, but unfortunately many were demolished when Georges- Eugene Haussmann   renovated Paris at the direction of Napoleon III between 1853 and 1870. They often  have glass ceilings and mosaic floors and some are built one right next to another, like a tunnel, broken up by streets. Inside these privately owned structures you find books stores, art galleries, and cafes and not only  are they popular tourist destinations, they are often used for fashion and movie shoots because of their classic French look. If you are looking for something to  do besides visiting museums on a rainy day ( which there are many in the spring) you can walk from one to another and still feel like you...

 I was told by several people that if I wanted to get into Notre Dame Cathedral I should go  early on a weekday morning. So I got there about 9 AM and it only took about 10 minutes to make my way through  the long winding barricades and enter one of the most famous cathedrals in the world. Given the pictures of the fire and destruction inside, I was struck by  how things had been completely restored and how bright and clean everything is. This is due to a combination of new lighting and the fact that many walls and windows hadn’t been cleaned in decades. A tour guide mentioned that toothbrushes were frequently  used to meticulously clean many of the surfaces. Perhaps most striking were the   two huge  stained glass rose windows which are on the east and west sides of the cathedral. They  are over  40 feet in diameter and date back to the 1720s. Miraculously, other than  the smoke, they suffered very little damage and the colors were just...

My first visit to Paris was in August, 1983, and since then, I have been there many, many times. Often I would go to the famous museums - Louvre, d’Orsay, Pompidou, especially if I was with someone who hadn’t been there. So this trip I decided to focus on some of the smaller, less well known museums that are throughout the city. They are less crowded, often free, and usually you can  just walk in without a reservation. Unless you’ve been to the Louvre, you can’t appreciate what it takes to get in -  the reserved time slot, cost, and line to enter, and when you get to the Mona Lisa, it is this little picture at the end of a very large hall with literally hundreds of people between you and her unless you get there first thing in the morning.  One of the more interesting  small museums I visited was the Liberation of Paris Museum, which is housed in the  actual building that the French Resistance used as its headquarters when Paris was liberated from the Germans. T...

 After a smooth 7 hour flight from Newark, I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport late yesterday morning. Unfortunately it was very foggy, so I couldn’t see the beautiful French countryside that one usually sees when flying into Paris. The computer system for immigration wasn’t working correctly which caused very long lines, but eventually I got through and proceeded to my hotel which is in the 6th arrondissement. Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements, with #1 being where the Louvre is located  then numbered in circular clockwise rotation, until you get to the outside edge of the city. So instead of using the name of a neighborhood  to identify a location as is usually done in the US, Parisians use the number of the arrondissement. The 6th is where Luxembourg Gardens , a very large beautiful park  is located and what makes it so nice is that  it is close to many of the attractions and museums, but  more residential and less touristy, especially the resta...

 Yesterday I got to meet and hold our newest grandchild, Luke Jackson, who was born on February 10, meaning he is just a little more than 3 weeks old. I got to see  his sister, Jocelyn when she was also 3 weeks old. but because of Covid, Sunny and I didn’t get to see Emmy until she was 6 months old! I kid Lauren that they picked a name that begins with L because she was surrounded with J’s - Jack, Jocelyn, Jim, Jane, and Joe (her father and brother). Getting to hold him was quite a thrill and he looks at you when you are talking to him. We had quite a conversation. Although Luke was born in Stamford, CT, he said he wasn’t committed to being a NY sports fan, and held out the possibility of cheering for Boston, or even Dallas teams when I told him  that I work for the Cowboys and there is a Luke Jackson on the Texas Rangers. Maybe we will make a  real cowboy out of him, but I am sure Jack and Lauren will have something to say about it.  Interesting fact- the name ...

 Although today’s weather was not what you think of  when going out for ice cream - 40s, overcast and raining, New Englanders will tell you that any day is great for ice cream. In fact, New Englanders on average eat 50% more ice cream per person than the US average. Arethusa Farms, right here in Litchfield,  uses locally sourced milk to make some delicious  ice cream and cheese. In fact in 2023 they won the top prize at the US  Cheese Championship, which is pretty amazing when you think of all of the artisanal cheeses being produced throughout the US. This time of the year in New England is also when maple trees are tapped and the sap is used to make real maple syrup. So  each spring, Arethusa  Farms uses locally made maple syrup and locally sourced milk to make delicious maple walnut ice cream. Last week someone mentioned it on the local Facebook page, so I figured I better try some while I am here.  It was great - especially paired with a scoop ...

 but I finally made it up to our place in Litchfield ,CT.  As mentioned in my previous post, my flight out of DFW was scheduled to leave at 7 AM this morning , but when  on Monday night the weather sites started to warn of some severe storms rolling through the area around 4 AM  Tuesday, I started to get nervous. When my neighbor Charles picked me up at 4:45 AM it was a balmy 68 with just a little bit of rain - I crossed my fingers and hoped the weather forecasters were wrong. Well, about 15 minutes into our trip, all hell broke loose - heavy winds, downpours, and tornado warnings chirping on our phones. Fortunately Charles drives one of those big Ford 150 type trucks and in spite of the driving rain and winds, with cars either pulled off to the side of the road or driving slowly with their blinkers on, Charles continued to drive at a reasonable speed and soon we were approaching DFW with the rain starting to let up. I figured I was home free. Well, after checking in...

 And I’m ready to go. Tomorrow morning, bright and early at 7AM I will  leave DFW on the first leg of a three week trip which  will first take me to CT to see my new grandson Luke Jackson and his family, and then onto to Paris for 8 nights and Germany for 5 nights. It has been almost 8 years since I was last in Paris and I am looking forward to seeing  old friends, enjoying great food and wine, viewing the refurbished Notre Dame Cathedral and just wandering the small streets of one of the greatest cities in the world. Then I will be onto Germany  to visit my good friends Jochen and Achim. I am sure it will surprise no one that this is my first blog and I am what you might call “technologically challenged “ so bear with me while I take you along. Hopefully you will find it interesting, informative, and enjoyable. I will also end each day with an interesting fact. So welcome aboard! Interesting fact. Leaving on a Jet Plane by Peter, Paul and Mary is one of Sunny’s...