About three years ago, I was wandering up the Rue de L’Odeon in Paris and this tiny little shop 
caught my eye. It was called SérieRare and in the shop window, there were door knobs, door knockers, and one brass gold-plated bracelet that I fell in love with. Not really wanting a door knob or a brass knocker, but looking for presents for Christmas, I wandered in.
A lovely lady was in there and we exchanged a “bonjour” when I inquired about the bracelet. In my terrible French, I asked her if she had any others. “Bien sur,” she said, and she proceeded to open a hidden cabinet filled with bracelets, bangles, and earrings. All of the items are beautifully crafted by an artist called Daniel Podva. He also is a great photographer.
What I love about this place is that you would never have guessed it. It has become a regular stop for me when I am passing through Paris; a secret treasure trove of beautiful jewelry. I have even upgraded my haul to include an occasional candelabra. Probably the nicest thing about the store is that it’s near everything. When you come out, you can take a right to the Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe, one of France’s six national theaters, right next to the Luxembourg Gardens, or a left down to St. Germain and the bustle of the mainstream Latin Quarter. There is also a fabulous restaurant, one of my favorites, at the top by the Odeon called La Méditerranée. Who would have thought?
A Parisian Exhibition Unlike Any Other
I had never been to the Fondation Louis Vuitton before. It is such an amazing sight as you 
approach it through the Bois de Boulogne. Constructed around a cascading stairway of water, it’s an assemblage of huge glass sails and blocks known as “icebergs.” Because of the glass, the trees that surround it, and the constant movement of water, it creates a continuous impression of movement depending on the time of the day and night. It is quite a sight to behold.
We had booked tickets for an extraordinary exhibition based around the artworks of a Russian textile magnet named Sergei Shchukin. One of the richest guys in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, his house, or more likely palace, in St. Petersburg, held the most extensive collection of Matisse’s in the world. He bought them when nobody was buying pieces by Matisse. As one collector of the time said of him and his collection of Matisse’s, “One mad man painted them, another bought them!” He had 37 Matisse’s in all and Matisse, who visited him in Moscow several times, commented that he was a strange guy with a heavy stutter who was crazy about art and had a vision and an eye for the unfashionable.
Matisse offered to introduce Sergei to a mate of his who was doing very unorthodox things at the time. The introduction went well. Even though Sergei did not much enjoy the paintings from his friend, he bought them, and lots of them. He figured that Matisse and his friend were probably smarter than he was, and one day his investment may even make him some money. The friend’s name was Pablo Picasso.
At the end of the first World War, as the Russian Revolution loomed, Sergei fled both his country and his collection of art. His art was 
scattered – not just the Picasso and Matisse pieces, but Cezanne, Gauguin, you name it, he had it. Much of it thankfully ended up at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Although during the Stalin years – and there were lots of them – the viewing of his paintings were forbidden because Stalin thought that both Matisse and Picasso were seditious counter-revolutionaries. Oh dear.
This exhibition in Paris was the first time that Sergei’s entire collection could be viewed and the first time his collection had ever been out of Russia. Paintings that had been seen by most only on postcards were staring at you from across the room. It was a two-and-a-half-hour romp through a madman’s house to view the great artists of the 20th century at the beginning of their careers.
the Swiss started it all and it still thrives there to this day. All you need to trigger one of these things is 100,000 votes. Well, as we know, it’s not all wine and roses. Hitler used the device to promote his populist rantings and managed to screw the entire western world over and kill a lot of innocent people in the process. Referendums gave him the dictatorial powers that enabled him to dominate the evil arena for over 12 years. In the USA, there’s no national mechanism for a referendum. Pity, as we could probably do something about Donald of Orange right now given his current standing! Still, 24 states hold referendums and Massachusetts became the most recent state to pass legalization of marijuana laws through this device. So, referendums are really not all that bad. It’s just that when you need them to fail, the failsafe doesn’t work. Brexit voters just caused the biggest upset in British politics…and what will happen to Scotland? After all, Romans thought it was wise to keep out the Scots by building a wall! Heard that somewhere before. Didn’t work then. Won’t work now!
would be good for something even though none of us could understand a word that she said! So, off I have been on the path of discovery to County Clare, the tiny town of Scarriff, and the even tinier hamlet of Aughram. I am looking at church records, the births and deaths register in Dublin, you name it, I am on it. And I am nearly there.
to Strasbourg, the capital of the territory, to see this beautiful city that sits on the Rhine and its tributaries. It has fabulous wines and is the center of power for the European Parliament. Who knows, this would potentially be for me a last look at what it was like to see a Union Jack outside the Parliament building after Brexit.
to visit two other spectacular nearby places – Baden Baden and Colmar. For a French teacher, Colmar is a must and Baden Baden is a fabulous add-on across the border. We even got to see a baseball game outside the EU parliament. How strange, especially since baseball, so they say, is on the decline and soccer is on the rise. It seems here in the heart of Europe a flicker of faith was keeping the old ball game alive. Meanwhile, the Union Jack was flying high; a last flutter of the flag to denote that the great European experiment, alive and well everywhere, and created after the disaster of the second world war, was getting red carded in the U.K. Go on Scotland, declare independence and leave Auntie Britain and go live with your less superior relatives, The Euros. Ireland seems much happier living with its European neighbors since its divorce in 1922!
just as bad as reading a magazine during a dental surgery knowing that almost certainly what happens inside is not going to be good.
operating the most basic system of all with no baggage surcharge if you check, is always considered the best system? It’s random, there’s no class distinction, you just line up in rows with numbers allocated and you cannot move until they tell you. And on the airplane, it’s a free for all so you choose your seat, have a nice day, and get over it. It works and that’s the way it goes. The domestic boarding experience is one of the most horrific experiences known in the airline industry and yet the glowing example of how to do it right is staring everybody in the face.
about a $25 ticket on a 1,000-mile route? On the other hand, American is charging big bucks for crap service. Get a load of this – American’s numbers actually improved over last year. Alaska, which has just acquired Virgin America, looks like it will further improve its network and grab some of its strong points and push it over to what was its Virgin competitor.
went there because D was involved in antiques at the time. She needed some things for her shop and we needed some stuff for the house.
When I travel, I use a man bag. I can’t take all of the crap constantly in my pockets and don’t like those awful Italian hard bags that look ridiculous and nothing fits in them anyway. My usual travel attire is a backpack (Tumi) and another bag which is great for easy access on the plane for my headsets, iPad, Kindle, and passport. I use the backpack as an extra and sometimes I even pack it in my suitcase. I like to travel with a compact Briggs and Riley four-spinner suitcase. It’s always carry-on friendly and it fits above every plane but has an expandable pop out if you need it.
