There are only 3 spots left for our Papa’s Paris Tour from June 17-25, 2017. We’d love to have you along for our leisurely stroll through Hemingway’s Paris, in which we’ll meet Papa himself at his favorite café, as well as Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, all in their favorite haunts! They will discuss, argue, dance, and generally hold forth as we go back in time to relive a bygone era. Call today in order to guarantee your room by May 15.
Read moreA Stroll Through Berlin -- Let Your Fingers Do the Walking
I recently read an article in the Guardian that described Berlin as a “wunderkammer” – an eclectic cabinet of wonders. Quirky places to visit in Berlin include the dinosaur-themed amusement park built by the East German government and abandoned for the past 15 years; the “Bridge of Spies” used to exchange captured spies; and the derelict NSA listening station that collected intelligence.
Read moreKing’s Day in the Netherlands – Orange you glad?
Coming up in a couple of weeks, April 27 to be exact, the King’s birthday is celebrated in the Netherlands. While there are a couple of dignified stately celebrations, for the most part King’s Day is celebrated with an all-out, country-wide party. You’ll notice a lot of orange – orange hats, aprons (in which you can carry multiple shot glasses), t-shirts, pants (Dutch men often sport colorful trousers), hair, faces, and anything else that can be painted or dyed. Although the Dutch flag is red, white, and blue, orange is the color of the royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau.
Read moreApril Fool’s Day Around the World – No foolin’!
How did April 1 become the date on which light-hearted folks around the world play gentle jokes on their nearest and dearest? For those of us on the Gregorian calendar, it came into being in the late 1500s when the New Year’s celebration was changed from March 25-April 1 to January 1. Anyone continuing to celebrate New Year’s Day in March or April was thus a fool. Amazingly cultures as diverse as India, Denmark, and Iran celebrate a form of April Fool’s Day on or about the same date.
In France, the holiday is known as poisson d’avril – April’s Fish – and it is celebrated by secretly pinning or taping a picture or cutout of a fish on an unsuspecting victim.
Read moreEating well is the best revenge – When in Paris....
When you think of France, what’s the first thing you think of? If you’re like me, it’s the food. In my opinion, and based on numerous grueling tests of my own which I have conducted in the interest of improved international relations, no cuisine in the world compares to French cuisine (of course, I was born in France, so I’m biased).
French cuisine ranges from cuisine bourgeoise or cuisine bonne femme – good home cooking – to nouvelle cuisine (simple, quality ingredients presented in a straightforward manner often with unusual pairings in a restaurant) and haute cuisine (fancy, rich, expensive foods cooked by a chef in a restaurant). No matter what you call it, I call it good.
Read moreSpringtime in Paris – Find your place in the sun
We are getting very excited about our Papa's Paris Tour from June 17-25, coming up in 3 short months! Our rooms in the most charmant hotel in the Latin Quarter have been reserved, our menus are in the process of being chosen, our route has been laid out, and our playwright, Angelo Parra, has provided three delightful scripts starring Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. A short list of actors has been chosen for the parts and remain to be cast in these four roles. What’s not to like!
Read moreHemingway's Lucky Paris, or "How to become rich and famous in 5 years."
Hemingway went to Paris as a young man, met influential and artistic people, and five years later, at the age of 27, had become wealthy and famous. How did that happen? Hemingway’s own talent and drive were of course key, but in addition, three people were instrumental in his material and literary success: Hadley Richardson, Sherwood Anderson, and Pauline Pfeiffer. Of the three, the writer Sherwood Anderson played the largest role in putting Hemingway on the short path to fame and fortune.
Read moreStockholm Syndrome – Hanging out in Herräng
Following up on last week’s newsletter about the lovely Swedish island of Gotland with its fairy tale city of Visby, I feel I need to provide a fair and balanced perspective about Sweden. It could be that this charming city is merely a front for the Swedish Mafia, which I know exists because I was just watching a TV show last night about the Dutch Mafia. It could be that I had fallen under Sweden’s spell due to a mild case of Stockholm Syndrome, in which you identify with your captors.
Read moreThe Island of Gotland, Sweden - The Green Gem in the Baltic Sea
One of my favorite things about travel is when I later see a movie or TV show set in a place I have been and recognize certain streets or buildings – it makes the show that much more real and three-dimensional for me. I was in Visby a few years ago and was quite charmed by the place, even though I arrived the same week that all the Stockholmers did, on their annual party pilgrimage. But even so, it wasn’t much busier than Tarrytown towards Halloween when the tourists come up from New York City. I just avoided the cafés by the waterfront with the throbbing, thumping music.
Read morePicasso, Haviland, and Céret -- or How a Kid from Cincinnati Met the Greatest Patron of Modern Art
Picasso, Haviland, and Céret, “The Mecca of the Cubists:” How a little town in the Pyrenees became a center of Modern Art. About 100 years ago, a little mountain town in the Pyrenees called Céret became a center of Modern Art. Up-and-coming artists such as Picasso, Braque, Matisse, and Gris spent summers here in the teens of the last century, where Picasso and Braque developed analytical cubism. This group became known as the School of Céret. How did this little town become a mecca for artists and the namesake of the School of Céret? It was due to someone you’ve probably never heard of…
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