Marrakech (4/20-22, 2007)

Place Djemaa el-Fna, souks, restored houses, Royal palaces and tombs...and meals in beautiful riads--all in a days travel in Marrakech!

Kimberly

For photos, click here.

Marrakech

The first place we headed out to was the Place Djemaa el-Fna, literally the “assembly of the dead.” For centuries, this unique gathering place has been the center of Marrakech and the symbol of the city. It received UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2001. And today is still full of storytellers, musicians, snake charmers, and other performers. We enjoyed quite a tasty dinner here in the midst of the madness…with the best fresh squeezed orange juice I’ve ever tasted!



We started off the next day visiting the various souks (markets) in the medina: the Souk Haddadine (Blacksmiths), Souk Chouari (Carpenters), Souk Cherratin (Leather)….my favorite, the Souk des Babouches (Slipper Makers)! If only we bought a house already in San Francisco—there were so many things here I wanted to buy. We’ll just have to come back to get that steel hammered table, wooden door from Timbuktu, sconces for the garden…

After restraining myself from making too many purchases, we headed off for more historical sights. We visited the Ben Youssef Medera, a Koranic school founded in the mid 14th century, with incredibly ornate doorways and fine inlay work. Then we went next door to the Musee de Marrakech, the former home of a Moroccan minister of war which holds an interesting collection of Koran manuscripts, coins, ceramics, and textiles. What was most striking was the way they converted the house into the museum – with paintings even inside the hammam!

We also visited the Saadian tombs, once forgotten burial area for one of the past royal families. As the first Arab dynasty since the Idrissids, they marketd the end of Moroccan Berber rule. The united much of the country from Marrakech to Agadir, to Essaouira. The most impressive sultan of this dynasty would be Ahmed “El Mansour”—who maintained a time of wealth and peace for Morocco. His death in 1603 left the country in chaos, with three sons, none of whom could gain authority. Eventually Moulay Ismail and the Alaouites wrestled control of the country – and tried their best to destroy all the Saadians, and their legacy. The recent discovery of these tombs in 1917 was quite a surprise and now the tombs are a national treasure.

Dar Moha
81 rue Dar El Bacha – Medina
+212 (0) 24 38 64 00 / 24 38 62 64
www.darmoha.ma
-Very posh place with tables throughout the palatial house and around the swanky pool. I felt like we were at a private wedding reception. Lunch tasting menu was pretty incredible – albeit fancy and high-class Moroccan food. (Recommended by a friend who is from Morocco)

Essaouira (4/18-20, 2007)

My favorite city in all of Morocco—I could have spent a week in just Essaouira. Granted, it doesn’t feel as “Moroccan” as other cities, and certainly isn’t as culturally rich as Fes. But it was something in itself. A very comfortable mixture of Moroccan and French Mediterranean influences – this would be a great place to come and shop, sightsee, surf, or just relax and do a lot of nothing!

Kimberly

For photos, click here.

Essouira

We stayed at a great riad, Hotel dar el Qdima and enjoyed our palatial experience. This was just the beginning of our treats! We enjoyed the best food here of anywhere on our trip: pigeon pastilla at Les Alizes (order the day in advance), seafood tagine and the hip Le Patio, and tasty Italian at Sylvestro and Les 3 Portes.

You might recognize Essaouira in our photos because it was where Orson Welles filmed Othello in 1949. The city was also known as Mogador at various points in historyThe city has been influenced by a mixture of cultures: Berber, Carthaginean, Portugese, English, French, and others. The town as it looks today wasn’t built until 1760 by Mohamman II, who decided it would be the ideal place for a naval base. He decided to model the fortifications on the style of European fortresses and had them built by Theodore Cornut, a renowned French architect. Adding to the fun jumble of historical influences, hippies decided to hang out in Essaouria in the 1960s, attracting such stars as Jimi Hendrix.

Today, Essaouria feels very much like a combination of a fishing village, artisan workshop town, and tourist holiday destination. It is also the most approachable of Morrocan cities – hiring a guide here is really a nice-to-have. You can easily explore the medina on your own – and do lots of great shopping for souvenirs!

Hotel Dar el Qdima
+212 (0) 24 47 38 58
4 rue Malek Ben Rahai
www.darqdima.com
-An 18th century house converted into a beautiful Riad, with rooms around an interior patio.

Restaurant Les Alizes
26 Rue Skala
+212 (0)44 47 68 19
-Order the pastilla the day in advance. And don’t eat anything beforehand…I’ve never been given so much food! (and it was only $30 total…incredible!)

Le Patio
28 Bis Rue Moulay Rachid
+212 (0) 24 47 41 66
-Very trendy place…kind of felt like the hip Moroccan spots in Paris. Service was pretty awful though.

Les 3 Portes
34 Rue l’Attarine
+212 68 86 49 63

Silvestro
70 Rue Laalouj
+212 (0)24 47 35 55

Aremd (4/17, 2007)

One of the more interesting destinations was a tiny mountain village where we stayed in gite (a local home that has been converted into a small mountain inn). We trekked up the route used by trekkers ascending the mountain and stayed for the night in a small village where we visited a very local hammam (public bath).

Daniel

For photos, click here.

Morocco: Mountain Gite

At an elevation of 1900m or 6230ft, Armed is nestled underneath the highest mountain in all of Northern Africa – Jebel Toubkal at 4167m. After an 7 hour long road trip from Ait Benhaddou we arrived at the town of Imlil--the further the car could take us. To complete the last leg of our journey, we had to hire a couple mules to haul our luggage up the mountain trails and switchbacks. The rest of us hiked up on foot for another hour and half. The scenery was amazingly pristine once we got out of the busy village of Imlil. Occasionally we would pass simple homes, trickling streams, and local passer-bys.

The town of Armed looked into the valley leading up to Jebel Toubkal. We would be spending the night in a mountain gite; our sleeping quarters would be communal rooms with thick cushions lining the walls and stacks of thick wool blankets (way more than in the Sahara). We got to the gite around midday and had the opportunity to soak in the fantastic views. The men in the group had the option of visiting the town Hammam (a public bath) that night (more below about the brave souls who went). Meanwhile the women stayed at the gite with our family hosts and received henna (traditional ink tatoos).

A real local Hammam experience...
Aremd had one hammam for all its residents. Depending on the the time of day the hammam was open for either men or women. After sunset the hammam was open for men only. So the men in the group walked across the small village into the village hammam. The build consisted of and entryway and three main rooms (cold, warm, and hot). We were greeted by the hammam manager who was excited to see Seb. Apparently he enjoyed giving Seb a really rough massage during Seb's last visit - so Seb showed us the only way he could defend himself by rapid-fire rat tails with his towel. After the boisterous introduction we were off to the hammam.

First we stripped down to bathing suits and left our clothes in the cold room. Our experience was like an assembly line. Two men who worked in the hammam proceeded to throw buckets of alternating cold & hot water. We waited a few more minutes before we went into the hot room. Here our hammam helpers lathered us up with an olive based soap/gel & gave each of us a body scrub. After another round of water throwing. The helper spent a good five minutes stretching and bending us one by one. You have to imagine a mix of wrestling and yoga. Some of the moves looked something like a full body full-nelson. After each of us were stretched & pulled we received one more round of hot and cold water. We wandered back through the hammam threw on our clothes, and stumbled out into the chill night air. It was one of the most refreshing evening walks.

The women went for their hammam time the following morning. I haven't been allowed to know the details of their visit, but I understand it involved less clothing and no massaging...

Ouarzazate & Ait Benhaddou (4/16, 2007)

Morocco has a long history with the American film industry. Many classics and modern blockbusters have been filmed in Ouarzazate and Ait Benhaddou. Other filming locations include: Erfoud, Marrakech, Essaouira, and Casablanca. Read below for our own adventures on the route of a thousand kasbahs: in Ouarzazate and Ait Benhaddou...and learn the secret to making a fabulous meal of tagine and couscous.

Daniel

For photos, click here.

Ait Benhaddou

Ouarzazate
Since 1962 (the filming of Lawrence of Arabia) movie makers have been flocking to the film capital of Morocco - Ouarzazate. Afterall how could film makers resist the beautiful desert landscape scattered with palm trees and backed by distant mountains.

Hidden in the surrounding city, away from the sprawling film sets - Seb brought us to a very real place - more so than any film set could create. We spent most of our time in Ouarzazate visiting the Association Horizon des Handicapes. It was founded in 1994 to help people with both physical and mental disabilities by the Moroccan government. It helps these people find a way to integrate into society. We got a personal tour of all the facilities: orthopedic workshop, physiotherapy center, youth center (recently closed due to lack of funding). It wasn't until halfway through the tour that we realized that our guide was in fact the director of the entire operation. He was very humble and extremely focused on their mission. We also visited the workshops where the handicapped members were learning how to make various handicrafts to help them integrate and fund the association. It was great to see all the hard work help so many grateful people.

If you are interested in giving to the cause you can email (horizondeshandicapes@yahoo.fr) to donate money. Or visit their website to learn more: http://associationhorizon.africa-web.org

Ait Benhaddou
Famous for the fortress-like Kasbah, Ait Benhaddou has been the backdrop for a long list of Hollywood films including: Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, and Gladiator.

Much of the lower part has been privately restored mostly influenced by the filmmakers. However, recent renovations have been overseen by UNESCO and the Moroccan government. We spent some time exploring the rocky hill that the Kasbah sits on. Only 5 families still actually live – it's clearly just a tourist destination since few people live there who aren’t trying to get money from the droves of tourists that visit everyday.

We stayed for one night in the new village just across the practically dry river bed from the Kasbah. Our accommodations were basic and uninteresting. Luckily, Seb had a friend who entertained us with good food, stories, and some cooking lessons. Hussein aka Hussein Crow – runs a family restaurant (soon to be small hotel) in the new village. He is best described as the most outgoing & energetic Moroccan we encountered on our trip. His family has lived in the same building for generations – he spent a good while explaining the pictures of his father and grandfather that proudly displays in his home. He also claims to be the Moroccan version of Russell Crow because of his continued success as a film extra over the years. We assume, his recent success, has allowed him to expand his home to include a private hamam, rooftop terrace (with views of the Kasbah), and new hotel rooms still under construction. He was very entertaining and extremely passionate about how to properly cook Couscous & Tagine. By this time we had learned that these two dishes make up the backbone of Moroccan cuisine. Here are the recipes that Hussein and his sister taught us.

Couscous, Cooking time: 2hr, 15min
Ingredients:
- Chicken pieces (with bones)
- Olive oil
- Couscous grains
- ½ teaspoon: salt, pepper, cumin
- 1 teaspoon: paprika, ginger, saffron
- Water
- Vegetables: onions, carrots, potato, tomato, zucchini, squash, eggplant, green pepper
Cooking Instructions:
- Coat chicken with olive oil
- Place chicken in pan on medium heat
- Add spices, sliced onion, 2 cups of water
- After 15min, add hard vegetables (carrots & potatoes)
- Drizzle oil and water over couscous, massage through and place in double boiler over Chicken
- Cook for 30 minutes “massage” couscous again
- Cook for 20-25 minutes “massage” couscous again
- Add soft vegetables (tomato, zucchini, squash, eggplant, green pepper)
- Cook for 20-25 minutes “massage” couscous again
- Do not cook for longer than 2hrs 15min
- Serve



Tagine, Cooking time: 1hr, 10min
Ingredients:
- Chicken pieces (with bones)
- Olive oil
- Spices: salt, pepper, paprika, ginger, saffron
- Vegetables: onions, carrots, potato, peas, olives, beans, green pepper, tomato

Cooking Instructions:
- Coat chicken with olive oil
- Add spices: salt, pepper, paprika, ginger, saffron
- Place chicken in pan on medium heat
- After 10min, add water
- Slice onions, add to pan
- Slice other veggies: carrot, potato, peas, olives, beans, green pepper, tomato
- Add a little more water
- Cook for 45 minutes
Serve

Todra Gorge (4/14-15, 2007)

After all the sightseeing for the past week, we really needed some downtime. So it worked out well that Intrepid had planned for us to spend two days relaxing in the Todra Gorge. Although, we didn’t exactly relax while we were there…we decided to attempt several pretty challenging hikes!

Kimberly

For photos, click here.

Todra Gorge

The gorge itself is a giant trench in the High Atlas mountains. In the middle of complete barren rockiness, a river flows through small towns, creating incredibly fertile land. The contrast of stones and dirt with bright green palmeries was just stunning!

The main hike we did was called the Route des Nomades and was incredible just for the serenity of being so isolated in the rocky desert. There were many moments that felt just like the scenes in Babel – especially when we came up a boy playing his flute on the rocks across the canyon while watching his herd of goats grazing along the mountains. We had a local guide, Redouane, lead just the two of us on this adventure. He knew a Berber family that lives up on the mountain, and the father invited us for tea with him and his grandson. The hospitality of the Moroccans is really just incredible. Here is this man, several hours hike from anything, who is offering several cups of tea to complete strangers (and foreigners nonetheless). Playing with his somewhat timid grandson was probably one of the highlights of our trip. Just the five of us, sitting in this man’s home (which consisted of a tent and some carpets), drinking tea, and making faces to get the little boy to laugh. It was incredible!

Midelt and Sahara (4/12-13, 2007)

Our trip to Midelt started off an adventure into the lesser traveled parts of Morocco. We hiked to a small mudbrick village, visited a carpet and embroidery workshop to empower Moroccan women, and rode camels in the Sahara.

Kimberly

For photos, click here: Midelt and Sahara.

Midelt	Sahara

Midelt

In Midelt, we visited the mudbrick village of Berrem, where relatively few foreigners visit. Still, the children had learned somewhere that tourists often bring candy…and were quick to ask for it!

We also visited the Kasbah Myriam, a carpet and embroidery workshop run by Franciscan nuns with the aim of providing sustainable employment and healthcare to local Berber women. Teenage girls start working here learning embroidery…but also how to read and write. The older women teach the younger women the traditional skills, and the nuns focus on improving their literacy. It is incredible to imagine Myriam moving here 50 years ago from France to try to improve the lives of the women in this community.

The best part of our time in Midelt was staying in an old “castle” the Auberge Jaafar! (Yes, I think he’s the bad guy in Aladdin, right?) The building was this incredible construction alone in the middle of the rugged desert—-set against a mountainous backdrop. And, of course, we enjoyed another feast for dinner. Complete with music and dancing…definitely check out the photos to see some of Dan’s skills!

Auberge Jaafar
Berrem, Midelt
+212 (0) 35 36 02 02

The Sahara

This was the quintessential North African experience…riding a camel through the sand dunes in the Sahara to overnight at a Berber camp in the desert! After a very long drive, we finally arrived at the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes. We packed up overnight bags, put on our turbans, mounted our camels, and headed off into the desert. The scenery was breathtaking, the camel ride was too…in an exhausting kind of way. Let’s just say that riding a camel is not an especially comfortable experience!

We arrived at our campsite in the late afternoon, so I (stupidly) decided to run up the side of a sand dune to get to the top before sunset. I was hacking and coughing for the next two weeks…getting all that sand in your lungs is a bad idea! (And getting to the top of the dunes is harder than it looks…for every step you take, you slide a half step backwards!) But the sunset was beautiful.

That was just the beginning of our desert experience though. We were staying with a Berber family, who graciously cooked us all dinner and even sang Berber lullabyes to us before we went to sleep. (Click below to listen to the video...you’ll have to imagine the incredible desert sky filled with stars, my camera didn’t pick it up so well.)





The next morning, we rose before sunrise to try to catch the changing colors of the sand dunes. I do really think that something is different about the sand in Namibia, because the colors were not nearly as spectacular here. (FYI, if you’re going to visit one set of sand dunes in the world, I’d say go to Namibia…far more spectacular, and littered with far less trash. But, you can’t ride a camel through the desert or sleep in the middle of the dunes…)

And with another uncomfortable camel ride, we were back on the road, onto our next destination!

Fes (4/10-11, 2007)

If you’re going to visit only one city in Morocco, make it Fes! It’s everything you imagine when you think of Morocco: crowded Bazaars, small passageways, men working in the tanneries, mosques, old tradition…

Kimberly

For photos, click: here.

Fes

We arrived in Fes in the evening, just in time for sunset cocktails at the posh Palais Jamais hotel. The drinks were overpriced, but the view of the entire medina (old city) was incredible…especially as the evening calls to prayer echoed across the city.



After our fancy drinks, we headed off for the real treat of the night…a traditional Moroccan feast at Dar Masmoudi. This place is one of many riads: old houses that have recently been restored and converted into hotels. We would have loved to have stayed here, but just eating dinner in the traditional dining room was incredible. We started with some Pigeon Pastilla (my absolute favorite dish…fowl cooked in a pastry with almonds, eggs, cinnamon, nuts, and powdered sugar…it’s like a desert for dinner!). Then we had several more courses of vegetables, couscous, tagine, and finally dessert and tea. It was wonderful!

The next day we headed off to see the city. We started out at the Royal Palace. We could visit only the main gate, but that was impressive enough. The detail in the mosaic tile, gilded doors, and carved marble was incredible! Then we explored a little around the Mellah, or Jewish ghetto. Morocco has actually been a safe haven for the Jews over the centuries and maintained a large Jewish population until the creation of Israel. Jews started arriving in full force in the country in the mid 15th century during the Spanish inquisition. They were not fully accepted into Moroccan life and very much stayed within their neighborhoods. The Aben Danan Synagogue highlighted this interesting intersection of Jewish and Arabic influences…with mosaic tile décor.

Fes is well known as a city of artisans. So we set off to visit some of their workshops and see them in action. We toured a ceramic factory and saw tagine dishes being thrown and glazed – and mosaic tiles being chipped and organized into intricate patterns. We visited a small brocade workshop…literally just a room tucked away behind a door in the medina where several men were cranking away at large rooms making beautiful fabrics. The definite highlight though was seeing the tanneries! You’ll likely recognize the tanneries in our photos from some vary famous series shown in National Geographic. The sight of men working in these large vats of both lime (to soften the hides) and dyes (to color them) was absolutely incredible!

Wandering around the medina was a feat in itself! We were very happy to have hired a good guide. We definitely would have gotten lost had we been on our own (not to mentioned hassled by all the vendors and “want to be” guides). But the most important reason to hire a guide is that we never would have known where to go on our own! Our guide would literally knock on a wooden door and take us inside to a group of metal workers, fabric weavers, or Fes makers. It was such a treat!

I highly recommend spending a few days in Fes to soak up the incredible sense of history, culture, and Moroccan daily life!

Dar Masmoudi
Tel 212 (0)35 63 56 85
www.darmasmoudi.ma
darmasmoudi@menara.ma
darmasmoudi@yahoo.fr
3 Derb El Meter, Zenjfour, Fes
(near Palais Jamais)

Meknes & Volubilis (4/10, 2007)

Morocco is an exotic melting pot. The mix of African, Berber, Arabian, and French cultures make for an amazing history. Each city & village we visited on tour had a story to tell and images to share. Overwhelming and dizzying medieval Kasbahs in every city centre contrast the vast array of pristine natural landscapes. Our next stop on our trip was the city of Meknes and the Roman ruins in Volubilis.

Daniel

For photos click here: Meknes and Volubilis

Meknes	Volubilis

Meknés
Before exploring the Meknes city centre or medina, we stopped in a local shop for some fresh OJ (highly recommended). We soon realized what fresh really means – and for about 20 cents it was especially delicious. We also sat down in the same one-table shop and were eagerly served some creamy yogurt (we think another French influence) by the shop owner’s young assistant.

During some free time, we encountered another beautiful example of Moroccan gate architecture. Meknes was a vibrant city with an even more vibrant Kasbah. In this case, the medina is home to a sprawling street market that is tightly packed into the alleyways. Seb, smartly led us around the market where we found luscious olive displays, chicken vendors where they literally weighed, killed, and de-feathered your chicken (not for the faint of heart). Sometimes, we needed to be careful about taking photos – so as not to offend people. However, the men working the chicken shop really enjoyed being behind the camera. As we rambled on, we encountered iron work shops, tempting pastry vendors, fruit vendors, and even raw wool sellers. As promised by Seb, we finally found the “camel meat guy”. We paid for a choice cut of meat and watched the camel guy (who, in my opinion, had the best shop set-up in all of the medina) grind and season the meat to perfection. We then took our goods to a nearby shop where the owner runs a public grill – for a small fee he cooked up a lunchtime feast. Within 15 minutes we were packed into a hidden room across the alley from the grill, around a table laid out with tasty camel burgers and hot mint tea.

The market was also proudly local, as most of the business was not done for tourists. Rather we were just some visitors passing through with a fantastic chance to experience their daily routine. Although, there were other tourists wandering around Meknes – many of the people inside the medina were there to do business.

Another random highlight, global brands gone mad…it’s always fun to find brands that you recognize in far away lands. It’s even more entertaining to find “similar” knock-offs in unexpected places – like a local street vendor in Meknes.

Here is a video of the metalworkers in the souk (market).



Volubilis
An ongoing theme throughout our travels has been the vast Roman influence. No big surprise, they were big in Morocco too. This site was highlighted by intact aqueducts, beautiful wild flowers, towering columns, intricate mosaic floors, and tons of Roman olive presses. Volubilis is believed to have been a Roman industrial hub in Africa. The remarkable ruins revealed signs of a complex olive industry that probably explained the importance of Volubilis in Roman times.

To provide some scale, many of the standing columns have become the nesting grounds of storks. Their nests are enormous but only look like small caps atop the soaring columns.

The other noteworthy item was a large carved stone placed at the center of a small room. The carving on the top of the stone is clearly…well, look at our photos and you can decide for yourself. Explanations: The original men’s room sign, or a sign of the hedonistic Roman culture & lifestyle.

Casablanca & Rabat (4/9, 2007)

This was one of the few trips where we went on an organized tour (Intrepid Tours – Colours of Morocco: www.intrepidtours.com/trips/XSC.) Given the vast number of destinations, it was a very wise decision. We roughed it a little more than we prefer, but the sites and experiences were worth every cold shower & uncomfortable train ride. We began our journey in one of the most well known Moroccan cities, Casablanca -- and then onto Rabat.

Daniel

For photos, click here: Casablanca and Rabat

Casablanca, Morocco	Rabat, Morocco

Casablanca
The starting point for our Moroccan adventure was not the whitewashed Casablanca that has been immortalized my American films. Casablanca is the modern-day financial & industrial capital of Morocco. The city only had one main tourist site, the Hassan II Mosque – one of the largest mosques in the world. It was built by and dedicated to King Hassan II. The foundation was designed so that the mosque literally towers over the Mediterranean Sea. We only spent a half day touring the massive complex. Some photos highlight the pure extravagance of every detail. The Ceiling is a massive retractable roof that puts most sports domes to shame – every inch is carved and decorated with beautiful colors and relief patterns.

Our guide & group leader, Sebastian, quickly got the party of 12 travelers packed into a van, in route to the train station, and on our way to Rabat. Seb, as we got to know him, was originally from Canada and lived in Vietnam. He was actually heavily involved in launching the Intrepid Tours in Morocco, so many of our destinations were truly personal and unique – much more so than we could have gotten by just following guide books and public knowledge.


Rabat
After stashing our luggage near the Rabat Train Station, we spent the afternoon exploring the “new” and “old” town. As we quickly learned, the French had a huge influence on Morocco culturally and architecturally. Most cities have an ancient center known as the medina where most of the interesting historical buildings and landmarks are found. In Rabat, the train station is located near the nouvelle place complete with wide boulevards (reminiscent of Paris). The towering palm trees lining the main street were perfectly aligned and placed. All planning & design disappear once we set foot in the medina, the streets were a crooked, confusing maze – they developed organically as the town grew in size. Nothing is balanced or anything faintly resembling a grid. Once inside, we discovered narrow, whitewashed alleyways and sunlit gardens. We also eventually found (after at least a ½ hour of getting lost) the Bab er Rouah or “Gate of Wind” – a masterful display of relief work and ornamentation around a functional gate. Behind the gate was a lush garden with views of the medina walls, which were dotted with intricately painted doors. Rabat filled the void where Casablanca left us short.

In order to get to our next destination, Meknes, we had to endure a tough train ride. Our group reassembled at the train station, which was slowly turning into a mob scene. The single train platform was filling up with mostly locals waiting for the train. Seb, repeatedly reminded us that this was a pure free-for-all. As soon as the train arrived we were to pile ourselves into the closest car door. As our train pulled to a stop, we were all tense for the impending chaos. After all, if we missed this train (according to Seb) the next train wasn't until the next morning. So we frantically threw ourselves into the crowds of passengers. After squeezing ourselves and our luggage onto the car – Seb had to push himself through the packed train cars to make sure everyone had actually gotten on the train! After, another minute he made the count – we were off to Meknes.

Paris March (3/1-31)

Such an exciting month! We (finally) visited the Louvre, took a Jazz cruise on the Seine, enjoyed a picnic at the Eiffel tower, had a good friend, Sebastiaan, in from Amsterdam, and discovered the amazing Musee des Arts decoratifs and Musee Nissim Camondo.

Kimberly

For photos, click here.

Paris in March

After months of living in Paris, we finally really got around to sightseeing! This was the month when we finally visited all the museums we had talked about for months and explored the parks an neighborhoods we kept hearing about. The fact that spring was finally starting to come probably had quite a bit to do with it...and that we had yet more visitors!

Musee du Louvre: Neither of us really like the Louvre, but it's one of those things that you just really need to see in Paris. Perhaps it's because it is so large and overwhelming? Certainly because it's just not our style of painting (we much prefer the Impressionism in the Orsay)? And definitely because it is usually so crowded! Should anyone be planning to visit the Louvre, I have two recommendations for you. 1) Choose the day you go wisely: Don't go on Tuesday, as it is closed. But don't go on Monday (when all the other museums in Paris are closed...because everyone has the same idea). We went on a Wednesday, and it was practically empty! 2) Don't try to do the whole museum. Choose a wing, a style of art, or something special you want to see -- and limit it to that. Or, take a walking tour of the museum that focuses on the highlights. We downloaded Rick Steves audio guide off his website (www.ricksteves.com/news/travelnews/0602/audiotour.htm) (you can also get it off iTunes) and found the commentary to be quite good at giving context to the works and bringing the installations to life.

Musee d'Orsay: This is both of our favorite museum in Paris. We love Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh...so that is a big part of it. But also the building itself is just amazing. They converted the old train station, Gare d'Orsay, into this incredible museum. A monument to the Industrial Revolution, the Orsay is covered by an arching glass roof allowing in floods of light. They even left parts of the station and attached hotel in tact, the heart of the museum is the restored main station (complete with its clock) and you can enjoy coffee, tea, or lunch in the hotel's grand dining room!

Musee des Arts Décoratifs: There will probably be many other sights on your list before you can get here. But if you are interested in furniture or interior design, don't miss this place! It is attached to the Louvre, but with a separate entrance (and far fewer visitors). The audio guide is very engaging and provides a really good overview of the history of French furnishings from medieval times through today. The highlight for us was when we were exploring the "contemporary" furniture section where they had hundreds of different chairs on display from the 50s-70s...we looked over and saw a chair that we swear my family has. (They are the plastic chairs that the Haimsohns lend and borrow from each other for big family dining occassions.) Too funny!

Musee Nissim de Camondo: We had never heard of this museum, and we had lived here for several months...but what a hidden jewel it is! This has become one of my favorite museums in all of Europe, as it does a great job of conveying the life and decor of the 18th century. The museum is was the home of an aristocrat -- rich with needlepoint chairs, tapestries (many from Beauvais or Aubusson), antiques, paintings, bas-reliefs, silver, Chinese vases, crystal chandeliers, Sèvres porcelain, Savonnerie carpets, and even an Houdon bust. The pre-World War I town house was donated to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs by Comte Moïse de Camondo (a Jewish banker) in memory of his son, Nissim, a French aviator killed in combat during World War I. (Highly recommend a picnic or walk around the nearby Parc Monceau before or afterwards!)

I also surprised Dan with a jazz cruise on the seine. Every Wednesday evening, the Melody Blues has a jazz cruise with different live music. You can go for just drinks or also for dinner (which is kind of mediocre). But the experience of listening to live jazz while cruising by floodlit Parisian buildings and monuments was really cool! www.melodyblues.com (Porte de Bercy, 75012 Paris - Tel 01 56 95 03 15)

We also were lucky to have a good friend come visit from Amsterdam. Sebastiaan went to school with me at the Stanford GSB and also works at Bain (the company that I worked for before school...and will go back to once this dream year is over). We had been talking about visiting each other for months -- and this month we made it happen. We went to see him in Amsterdam, and he came to visit us in Paris. So much fun to show visitors around such a great city!

We also just walked around and enjoyed the lovely Parisian spring. Definitely take a look at our photos, as we have some nice shots of everyday Parisian life: children playing in the Champ de Mars on a Sunday, rugby fans standing outside a bar in the 4th watching "Six-Nations," Zookie in a cafe on Ile St. Louis...

And now, my commentary for the month:

I have already referenced one of my favorite books on the American experience in France, Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnick. During his time in Paris, he (to his own surprise) ended up not only participating in, but somewhat spearheading an infamous group that created quite a legend of the French passion for food and antipathy towards business people, corporations, and things seen as American.

As a writer, Adam found company in the Brasserie Balzar in the 5th arrondissement when he moved to Paris. He was welcomed into the French club (surprising as he was an American) and joined forces with the other regulars when the Balzar was bought out by a chain of Parisian restaurants, the Flo Group.

The business model of the Flo Group typifies everything "American" about business -- they buy up restaurants, find ways to make them more efficient, cut costs, simplify the menu....and make more money. (but usually taking away the character of the place that made it special to begin with) The tension between the traditional, family owned and run, restaurant and the corporation seeking profit exemplifies the stereotypicial tension in Paris between things seen as French and those seen as American. The French hold onto their traditions and idealize them, while putting down anything seen to represent change, modernization, and (god-forbid) profit/money. This is obviously an over-simplification...and there definitely is something to be said for all the wonderful restaurants that have lost their soul due to the search for profit. But I do feel that it summarizes the tension that the French people feel towards America, Globalization, and Capitalism today.

After the Flo Group announced their takeover plans for the restaurant, a group of regulars, which included author Gopnick, banded together to create Les Amis du Balzar (the friends of Balzar) and literally organized ambushes of the restaurant to force the new prospective owner to meet with them and make concessions about how the Balzar would be run after the purchase. Only in France...really, only in France! I'm really not kidding about this, to read more, here is an article from the International Herald Tribune, titled the "Struggle for the Soul of a Parisian Restaurant" www.iht.com/articles/1998/08/08/balzar.t.php

Gopnick, as member of Les Amis du Balzar finds himself torn at times between empathizing with his colleagues passion to "save the soul" of the brasserie and understanding the mechanisms of the market and realities of business. The guy is a New Yorker... Here are some words from his book, Paris to the Moon, on the topic, especially the French love-hate relationship with America:

"The anti-Americanism that lent a piquant, alarming note to the Balzar wars had been as anti-Americanism most often is in France, not quite real, an abstract idea, a speech act with very few barbs in it. Anti-Americanism in France at the end of the twentieth century is in fact in some ways like anti-Catholicism in England in the nineteenth century. It is a powerful, important, influential, official doctrine, but it is also not entirely real: English people imprecated against the Catholics and the Pope, but that didn’t stop them from loving Venice, traveling to Florence, worshipping Raphael, and filling their houses with Italian pictures. Even the much-publicized fusses about American mass-produced food and French peasants “trashing” McDonald’s are almost pure media events. The French farmers knock down a McDonald’s for the benefit of the French media, which publicize it in Le Monde in order to see what The New York Times will have to say about it the next day. Anti-Americanism has enormous life as an abstract ideological principle and a closed circle of media events of this kind, but outside of a tiny circle on the elite left and, surprisingly, a slightly larger one on the elite right, it has almost no life as a real emotion..."

Now, the good stuff, restauarants!!

Brasserie Balzar
www.brasseriebalzar.com
49 rue des Ecoles - 75005 Paris - 01 43 54 13 67
(If you are looking for an authentic, mediocre, Brasserie meal, this place will hit the spot. But it is just that...mediocre (meaning average, nothing special, not bad, just not great). And it's quite expensive for what you get. But come on, we had to eat here after hearing about the story of Les Amis de Balzar and their fight to save the soul of the restaurant!)

L'Os a Moelle
3 rue Vasco-de-Gama - 75015 Paris - 01 45 57 27 27
(A remarkable place, well worth the trek down to the 15th. Even if we did have trouble along the way as the metro broke down due to a "situation grave" (a serious situation). The six course prix-fixe menu for 38 euros has to be the best deal in all of Paris...especially for such gourmet, beautifully presented, and incredibly delicious food. Highly recommended.)

Le Fumoir
www.lefumoir.com
6 rue de l'Amiral Coligny - 75001 Paris - 01 42 92 00 24
(If you are looking for a trendy restaurant where all the hip, young Parisians go...then look no further. It was quite a difference from the crowd we had joined for dinner the previous night at L'Os a Moelle, but refreshing to be around some folks are own age. :) Seriously this place has quite a reputation for not only cool ambiance and the "in-crowd", but also for some great food. Our experience at brunch definitely confirmed that. Eggs benedict, pancakes, fresh orange juice, coffee, and a bread basket for 22 Euros...I can think of worse ways to spend a Sunday morning/afternoon in Paris!)

La Flore en Ile
42 quai d’Orléans - 75004 Paris - 01 43 29 88 27
(A beautiful, traditional cafe on Ile St. Louis, this is a great place to spend an afternoon sipping coffee and enjoying one of their great cakes or pastries.)

Cafe Laurent
www.cafe-laurent.com
33 rue Dauphine - 75006 Paris - 01 43 29 03 33
(OK, not a restaurant, but a really cool bar/lounge where you can hear live Jazz on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Inside the Hotel d'Aubusson, a great kind-of pricey, but not too bad for Paris, hotel right around the corner from our apartment in the 6th.)

Provence (3/30-4/2)

Roman ruins, wine tasting, the Papal Palace...and a French bullfight (think more like tag with a bull)! Read below for the fun exploits of our long weekend in Provence!

Daniel

For photos, click here:

Provence

After another fun TGV train ride with Zookie in tow, we found our quaint hotel in the town of Arles. The owners were friendly and happy to offer dining recommendations (it helped that we could speak a little French). Plus, the coffee was fantastic! Hotel du Musee

One of the best parts of being in Arles was wandering the streets and alleyways. Scattered around town are copies of various paintings by Van Gogh while he lived in Arles. It's easy to see how he was inspired by the local cafes and squares. The colors are still vibrant - we found a bright blue door down a narrow street. It was a perfect photo opportunity for Zookie.

An unexpected highlight was the ancient colosseum that sits at the center of town. Amazingly intact for its age, the colosseum is beautiful to walk around and admire the architecture. The best part - they still have bull fights inside. Of course we found a way to catch the Sunday showing. The majority of bull fights are very different from the typical blood and gore killing fest. Rather than a one-on-one showoff, two teams of locals challenge each other. The goal: grab the ribbon (which is tightly wrapped around a bull's horns) and race to safety beyond a wooden barrier without getting trampled by the bull. It was fun to watch and interesting to learn about the history behind the game.

During the action (we watched the teams try to get the ribbon on 4 different bulls), the overhead speakers blasted out Carmen whenever the bull made an extraordinary move or chase. Also, in the background a man's voice rattled off numbers and names, which apparently were wealthy spectators offering bets if one of the players could grab the ribbon at that instant. Essentially, a little motivation for the men on the field to get aggressive. Finally, when time ran out Carmen would come on and the bull would proudly trot through the main gate. A fantastic way to spend the afternoon.

Here are two short videos to give you an idea of how the Course Camarguiase works: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3078201512749035185&hl=en and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8114115027640534373&hl=en

One day, we took a quick daytrip to Avignon, to see the Papal Palace. This was the residence of the Pope from 1309 to 1403. It originally came to be when Pope Clement V was elected. Italy had been unstable and somewhat dangerous for a while, so the idea that it may be best to leave the Vatican wasn't so crazy....but only a Frenchman would really have the audacity to suggest that the entire head of the Catholic Church be moved to his homeland. As if that weren't enough, when Pope Gregory XI moved back to Rome in 1378, that should have been the end of the Avignon papacy. But after he died, the French decided they were in charge now, and recognized their own Pope instead of the one in Rome. Hence the great Papal Schism: during which there were actually two Pope from 1378 until 1417. Crazy!

On our last day, I finally braved it and we rented a manual car. We had wanted to explore the French countryside, specifically the Cote du Rhone wine region. I needed to finally learn how to drive stick, especially because we were planning a trip to Turkey (where, in some regions, you cannot even find an automatic car). So we decided this was the best time and place for a nice little adventure. All-in-all, it wasn't so bad. I somehow managed to drive the car for two hours before stalling it once -- but after that first stall I had quite a bit of trouble. I think Kim's text message (stating no stalls yet) to our friend was the fatal jinx...Thank god France has so many roundabouts!

Touring the countryside was a wonderful way to really get a feel for the region. The small cities of France are full of character and each their own, but once you get out into the more rural towns, it is a completely different feel. We visited Les Baux, a beautiful city with a castle perched right on top of white cliffs. The view of the surrounding olive groves and vineyards was amazing.

I had been looking forward to wine tasting for months, especially as Cote du Rhone wines are my favorite. We visited several caveaus (local wine store for the town) and some vineyards and wineries. The small town of Gigondas has an excellent caveau, and Zookie could even join us on our tasting quest! We also tasted at Domaine de l'Amandine in Seguret and Didier Charavin's place in Rasteau. The French are much more laid back about their wine tasting than we are in Napa or Sonoma. There is no tasting fee, no fancy tasting room, and far fewer people rushing from winery to winery. And the purchase process is completely different too -- bottles, of course, are much cheaper. But you can also just bring a large jug or container to the winery and they fill fill it up directly from the tap! (I think that has to be illegal in the United States or maybe Two Buck Chuck is working on it)

Our last stop on our countryside adventure was the old Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard. It was built as the critical link of a 30 mile canal that supplied nine million gallons of water per day to Nimes -- one of ancient Europe's largest cities. The remaining part of the aqueduct spans a canyon like a massive bridge, and is actually the second-highest standing Roman structure. (Rome's Colosseum is only 2 yards taller.) A feat of engineering, especially when you remember that this was built thousands of years ago.

Restaurants: The food in Provence is amazing. We actually liked the restaurants here better than most of the places we had tried in Paris. It's a different style of cooking, based on olive oil (not butter, which is the style in Paris) and very fresh ingredients and herbs. Oh, and your value for money goes much farther here. (Think 25-50% less than Paris prices.)

L'Entrevue
(Place Nina Berbenova - 13200 Arles Tel: +33 (0)4 90 93 37 28)
www.restaurant-lentrevue.com
Kimberly had eaten here six years ago when she came to Europe with her best friend after college. She had been raving about this Moroccan restaurant for years: as it was the first place she tried pastilla. It is a pie which combines sweet and salty flavours. Made with a crust that is similar to the Greek phyllo pastry, it is stuffed with pigeon (sometimes chicken), almonds, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. It was pretty amazing (as was my couscous).

Lou Caleu
(27 Rue Porte de Laure 13200 Arles Tel: 33+ (0)4 90 49 71 77)
www.restaurant-lou-caleu.com
If you are looking for a traditional Provence meal, look no further. This is probably the best place to try Gigotin de lapereau roti aux jus d'herbes et son ail confit (leg of young rabbit roasted in an aux jus herbs sauce with a garlic confit) or longe de cochonnet de lait laqué au miel d'oranges douces (loin of young milk-fed pig laquered in orange-flower honey). In provence, the meat will taste more flavorful and flowery even with the same cooking preparation as other parts of France -- because the animals are fed a diet of flowers and herbs to give them a different flavor from within. We enjoyed a great lunch here. But take note, the menus are in French only...and our waiter didn't speak enough English. (So we ended up serving as translators for the many Americans in the restaurant!)

La Cigaliere
(53, Rue Condorcet 13200 Arles Tel: +33 (0)4 90 96 56 20)
www.restaurant-la-cigaliere.com
This place is just exceptional. Again, wonderful fresh food in the Provenve cooking style. Come hungry!

La Paillote
(28, Rue Doct Fanton 13200 Arles Tel: +33 (0)4 90 96 33 15)
We enjoyed a great Provence meal here as well. It was surprisingly empty, which meant we got the chef's attention all to ourselves. I think it was relatively new, so that may have explained why it was so quiet. The prix-fixe meals were a really good value.

Amsterdam (3/24-27)

We spent a long weekend in Amsterdam visiting a good friend Sebastiaan, from both Stanford and Bain. It was a real treat to have a local show us around this beautiful city and surrounding countryside. Yes, canals, windmills, and pancakes it was! (Though we did also visit the Red Light District one afternoon.)

Kimberly

For photos, click here.

Amsterdam

We had been planning to visit Amsterdam for months. Dan had never been to the city, and I hadn’t been there since my first trip to Europe with my grandparents when I was 12. But the real treat was that we were visiting our good friend Sebastiaan, who I became very good friends with at Stanford and is also a Bain & Company consultant (for the Amsterdam office).

Sebastiaan lives in an adorable apartment just north of the Vondelpark in a quiet part of the city that is still full of character. In some ways the area reminded us of Lincoln Park in Chicago, probably because so many of the houses were brick. But a striking difference is that all the houses here have different gables on top. Needless to say, the entire city was rather picturesque.

Our first afternoon, Sebastiaan took us on a walking tour of the city and its various neighborhoods. Yes, we did venture into the Red-Light District…and yes, it was quite odd to see prostitutes standing in their windows advertising their services in the middle of the day. We had an amusing discussion wondering how exactly the process works…do you just negotiate? Is there a price-list?

The Netherlands has a tradition of “looking the other way.” They are an incredibly tolerant country, as long as they don’t see “it.” This tolerance applied not only to drugs, prostitutes, and Jews (during the 16th-19th centuries)—but also to Roman Catholics after the Reformation. Catholics were officially allowed to stay in the country, but they couldn’t practice openly or have cathedrals. Thus, the “Secret Church in the Attic,” which Sebastiaan took us to. This amazing little church is actually hidden on the upper floors of a canal house. It must have been an architectural feat to create such a large open space in such a small, old building.

On Sunday, Sebastiaan took us to the countryside south of Amsterdam to see a bit more of the country. We visited the Haarzuilens castle, which is the largest remaining castle in the country. The grounds are enormous too…and Zookie truly enjoyed himself wandering around them. And an added treat…Sebastiaan graciously taught Dan how to drive a stick-shift on his car in the parking lot of the Castle. I know it’s really silly that neither of us know how to drive a manual car, but we really have never had a chance to learn. Sebastiaan was a great teacher—so now, hopefully, we won’t have to pay extra to rent automatic cars anymore!
After our adventure at the castle (and in the parking lot), Sebastiaan took us to a favorite place from his childhood for Dutch pancakes! I can’t quite explain how they are different from American pancakes, but imagine something in between a pancake in the U.S. and a crepe in France. And then there are fillings that are baked into the batter. We had bacon, cheese, and apple pancakes… yummy! If you are in the Netherlands, you must try them!

On Monday, Sebastiaan had to work, but he sent us off with plenty of things to explore. We first visited the Van Gogh Museum, with its impressive collection of paintings by this amazing artist. I had completely forgotten that he was completely self-taught and painted for only ten years before he committed suicide at the age of 37. After an incredibly tasty lunch at Buffet van Odette & Yvette (see below), we set off for the Anne Frank House. Dan and I were both incredibly moved by physically being in this space where Anne wrote her famous diary. I hadn’t realized how influential her book was, that it inspired people like Nelson Mandella during his prison time on Robben Island, and that it had been translated into more than 50 languages.

We spent the rest of our time walking along the canals, admiring the quaint houses, and eating very well. We found the food in Amsterdam to be incredibly good…and cheap compared to Paris! (Really, I think Paris is about 25% more expensive for eating, and the food is often of significantly lower quality.) Any visitor here should definitely go to a bar for a drink and some Dutch snacks. Our favorites were Bitter Balls (kind of like a Spanish croquette…deep fried mashed potatoes and bits of meat and gravy), Cheese Sticks (again deep fried, but Gouda), and Applecake. Sebastiaan also made sure we had a traditional Dutch breakfast one morning, which consisted of slices of bread with either his favorite cheese (Zaanlander Extra Belegen—similar to a Gouda, but tastier!)

RESTAURANTS:

Villa Zeezicht (Torensteeg 3) –Great applecake! Also very good sandwiches.

Buffet van Odette & Yvette (Herengracht 309)—amazing sandwiches! Goatcheese, honey, and thyme…

Harkema (Nes 67 - 020 428 2222) –amazingly large restaurant that is a very stylish converted warehouse. Very trendy place for dinner.

Paso Doble (Westerstraat 86 - 020-4212670) http://www.dobson-uzcudun.com/tapas/pasodoble-en.htm Really good authentic Spanish Tapas.

De Bakkerswinkel (Warmoesstraat 69, Roelof Hartstraat 68, & Regulateurshuis 1, bij entree ophaalbrug Polonceaukade 1) http://www.debakkerswinkel.nl/ Amazing sandwiches and really tasty afternoon tea! come between 2-4pm, and then you can order off both the lunch and tea menus!

Brix (wolvenstraat 16 - 020 639 0351) – bar with great “tapas” style food (meaning small plates)...trendy scene with very global cuisine Live music many evenings

Viaamse Friethuis (Voetboogstraat33) – Famous for the best French fries in town (served with mayonnaise…or another sauce of your choice.)

Zermatt (2/24-3/3)

After skiing in very organized, purpose-built, Courchevel, we were eager to compare the picturesque and historic Zermatt in Switzerland. Again, it was great to take a European Ski vacation...centered around food and relaxation, rather than daredevil skiing!

Kimberly

For photos, click here.

Zermatt

In many ways Zermatt is the antithesis of Courchevel...certainly anything but a purpose-built resort....which means it's much cuter, but also horribly inconvenient...and the planning that went into the design of the mountain lifts and ski runs...well, there apparently wasn't any planning. To get to the top of the Sunnega mountain, we had to walk for 10 minutes in our skiboots to get to the bottom of the funicular...where we had to walk the length of a football field through a tunnel into the mountain...after the funicular ride, we had to climb a bunch of stairs to get out and then actually had to take an elevator to get to the gondola...yes, it really is that crazy. And the mountain isn't organized in any meaningful way...there are intermediate runs mixed in with blacks, sometimes an easy run leads you to a place where your only option is an intermediate one...

One afternoon, we decided to be adventurous and try a "yellow" run on our way home...yellow means that it's a designated off-piste run...which used to be either intermediate or advanced and is now just marked and not maintained....so we thought it would be OK, but it was the worst thing I have ever seen. We got to this one point where I thought it was a cliff we were supposed to ski around, but no...it was the piste where we were supposed to ski down...all covered in moguls. Then there was another part where I tried to go the "easy" way...only to discover that it led me to a 10 foot rock faced cliff. So I took off my skis and tried to walk/slide back up the mountain and to the side...but I ended up falling off the side of the cliff...probably only a 3-4 foot fall, but enough to scare Dan quite a bit. I was totally fine, just screamed because the freefall was a little scary, but thought it was funny more than anything else...

Oh, and the flat spots! It seems almost every run ends with at least one kilometer of pushing along the flats! We have decided that Zermatt created the phenomenon of "uphill skiing"...I'm not joking. You will ski down a run and then all of a sudden you get to a really flat part...and then at the end it actually goes uphill! And this happens on almost all the runs, even the black ones! (we found only one intermediate that isn't like this.) So apparently your choices are to push your way up the mountain or fall down it....

While the skiing was honestly less than ideal, the mountain is beautiful and the town wonderful. The ambiance is superb and the resort maintains much historic character...and the food is amazing! We rented an apartment, so we have been cooking dinners, but even those have been super tasty! (One night, Dan made roasted potatoes with Raclette cheese to go with our rotisserie chicken!) And just like Courchevel, we are dining like kings at lunch on the mountain!!! Our first day, I had what might have been the best truffle ravioli ever at Findlerhof (027 - 967 25 88 www.findlerhof.ch), on the Sunnega mountain. Another day, we enjoyed a truly gourmet meal at Zum See (027 / 967 20 45 www.zumsee.ch). And yet another day, we finally skied across the border to Italy and enjoyed polenta and gnocchi at Restaurant Bontadini. And the other days we have enjoyed treats like Matterhorn shaped pizzas, rosti, and other funny swiss dishes involving lots of melted cheese. As with Courchevel, you need to reserve a lunch table in advance...preferably a day or two in advance, especially at the more popular places.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't perfectly for us. We were quite lucky to get so much fresh snow during our stay (they hadn't had hardly any the entire month beforehand). But with the fresh snow everyday, came clouds and limited visibility. We lucked out on two days though, when it was sunny and beautiful so we finally got to see the Matterhorn. We lucked out, and one day the links to the Italian side were open, so we skiied down to Cervina (It's an 11 kilometer run!) and had some great pasta and polenta for lunch.

Our last two days, we decided we were too tired to ski anymore (and most of the high elevation lifts were closed due to 88 km/hour winds), so we took Zookie on some Alpine adventures. On Thursday, he rode the train with us up to the Gornergrat, where we went sledding...yeah, dogs and sledding, not such a good match. I don't think he liked it very much. We took the gondola down the other side of the mountain, where we enjoyed some marmot and venison for lunch, followed by the most hilarious apres-ski ever...imagine a hundred quirky europeans in a mountain-side bar, all singing along and dancing to 70s, 80s, & 90s music (like Getting Jiggy With It and YMCA)...and imagine me, Dan, and Zookie in the middle of this...when one of them decides to tease Zookie with an entire bratwurst...yes, our entire side of the bar was watching Zookie as Zookie watched the bratwurst eagerly and sat all prettily and patiently for it...when he asked if he could give Zookie some, we had to say yes, "yes, but just a little bit." (This was Zookie's second bratwurst treat on this trip, and he had already gotten popcorn on a previous apres-ski excursion...or apres-sleep as we like to call it for him!)

Our last day, there was no bratwurst for Zookie, but he was thrilled with the incredible three hour hike we took in the snowy mountains this morning. We hiked to a fabulous mountain hut restaurant (come on, you're not surprised, you know I only hike to gourmet food!), where we indulged on pasta and chocolate mouse, and the owners brought Zookie out his very own water (in a doggie waterdish!)

And then, sadly, it was time to go home. So, two trains, one bus, and nine hours later, we finally arrived in Paris...but with a fabulous souvenir. A French family was sitting next to us on the train to Paris....and their children decided to draw impromptu portraits of both of us...it was way too hilarious when the little boy excited handed Dan his portrait and said "Voila!"...the best part was that he accurately depicted Dan's sad, but continued, attempt to grow a beard!

As with Courchevel, skiing in Zermatt requires a bit more planning than going to your typical US Ski resort. We highly recommend buying one of the very useful resort guides to help you find good restaurants on the mountain, plan your ski route for the day, hire an off-piste guide, and just learn the ins & outs of the place. Our top choice is the Mad Dog Ski Guide, though Zermatt has not been published yet, you can get all the content online. www.maddogski.com/resorts/switzerland/zermatt Another good resource is the Snowmole Guide to Zermatt.

ON MOUNTAIN DINING:

Findlerhof
+41 (0)27 967 2588
A superb restaurant in every way, Findlerhof is situated in the beautiful hamlet of Findeln amongst the barns (stadels), with fantasitc views towards the Matterhorn. As well as many rooms inside and several layers of terracing outside, there is also a conservatory for colder weather. The food is exemplary and Franz and Heidi themselves make sure your meal is nothing but perfect. Truffle Ravioli!!

Zum See
+41 (0)27 967 2045
Set amongst ancient barns (stadels), Zum see is one of Zermatt's most famous and favourite restaurants. A must-visit for any foodie; the cuisine, décor and situation won't fail to impress even the hardest critic. Dishes include lamb fillet, homemade pasta and their infamous Napolean (an amazing pastry and cream dessert).

Marmottes
+41 (0)27 967 8282
Lots of game and innovative preparations. This new restaurant feels fresh, especially compare to the other "alpine decor" options.

Chami-Hitta
+41 (0)27 967 1096
Lovely warm atmosphere with friendly staff and excellent traditional dishes such as Käseschnitte with tomato, onion, egg and ham.

Riffelalp Pavillion Terrace
Matterhorn shaped pizzas and a view of the Matterhorn itself! (No reservations, only outside seating)

Ristorante Bontadini
+39 335 25 03 12
The links to the Italian side (Cervina) were open only one day, so we had the opportunity to eat lunch in Italy only this once. It was tasty, don't think that the Italian food isn't good on the Swiss side...we actually found it even better!) Bring some Euros!

IN TOWN DINING (like I said, we cooked a lot, but here are two recommendations)

Brown Cow
+41 (0)27 967 1931
Hotel Post
(A great place for apres-ski, an afternoon or late night snack of pizza or burgers or bar food. Or even a casual dinner.

Le Mazot
+41 (0)27 966 0606
www.lemazotzermatt.ch
Famous for their lamb dishes: saddle of lamb with rosemary crust (38chf) and other meat dishes like duck breast with orange sauce (37chf), this carnivore-orientated restaurant won't disappoint. Advance booking is key.

APRES-SKI AND NIGHTLIFE

Hennu Stall
www.hennustall.ch
Without a doubt, the most happening apres-ski spot on the mountain. Imagine cheesy 80-90s music, lots of drunk Brits, Germans, and French, and a dog begging for a bratwurst! Great terrace/patio outside with amphitheater seating and dancing to a DJ, live music inside.

Hotel Post
On the main street near the alpine centre, definitely the epi-center of Zermatt nightlife is the hotel post complex. Dance to all the latest hits from international DJs at the Village Dance Club, Open 11pm-3.30am.
Enjoy live music every night of the week, from pop to gospel to rock to jazz in an upmarket sophisticated venue. The Pink Live Music Bar Open 8pm-2am.
Or dance away to a variety of tunes on a wine barrel at the Broken Bar Disco, Open 10pm-3.30am.
When you get the munchies, stop by the Brown Cow for some pizza and burgers -- or come for Apres-Ski and live Six Nations Rugby, Open 9am-2am.
Or for something a bit more upscale and low-key, relax in the cosy lounge bar on the first floor enjoying a cocktail or two at Papa Caesar's Lounge Bar, Open 6pm-2am.

Vernissage
+41 (0)27 967 6636
For a more high-class, trendy experience, check out this combination bar, restaurant, movie theater, art gallery. Very cool place.

Papperla Pub & Schneewittchen Disco
+41 (0)27 967 4040
www.papperlapub.ch
Every time we walked by here, it was completely packed...like uncomfortable and crowded packed. So we never went...but clearly, it is a popular place to go! Especially for in town apres-ski.

Paris in February (2/1-2/28)

February kept the stream of visitors coming to Paris...we had a great time with friends from Stanford and Dan's brother and sister. We even visited Dan's distant relatives who live in Normandy, right near Monet's house at Giverny.

And, after many requests, I have finally taken photos of the school where I work...and my posh doctor's office in the 7th arrondissement near the Eifel Tower.

Kimberly

For photos, click here.

Paris February with Visitors

February was surprisingly warm this year, especially after a very cold December! But we decided that it was our friends Meredith and Jason who brought the good weather with them...as they narrowly escaped a blizzard in NY over Presidents' Day Weekend! Jason lived in Paris a few years ago, so he was thrilled to visit hiss old hood and take us out to a few of his favorite places. The highlight by far was taking in a Line Kruse Jazz concert at Sunset-Sunside (60 Rue des Lombards 01 40 26 46 60 www.sunset-sunside.com).

A few days after Meredith and Jason arrived, Dan's sister Rachelle flew in from Chicago, and his brother, Allan from Boston. Allan actually participated in the same program that we are doing a few years ago. So he was thrilled to reminisce of his days being an Assistant d'Anglais! (He has been teaching Math at Cambridge High School until a recent promotion to Dean!! Yes, Dan's older brother is now that guy who sends you to detention!)

When Allan and Rachelle were here, we visited Allan's old neighborhood where he lived and the schools where he taught in 10th arrondissement. He could not believe how much the neighborhood had changed! Little did he know that the Canal St. Martin had been completely cleaned up and now is the place to be on weekend mornings, when they turn it into a pedestrian playzone.

We also took a cooking class at Atelier des Chefs. This is Dan and my favorite find in Paris. You spend an hour learning how to make two different dishes (a main course and a dessert) and then at the end of the class, you get to eat your creations! They have a lot of different styles of classes offered, and you sign up in advance (usually a week or two) knowing what the recipe is that you will be learning. Classes are in French, but the teacher will usually translate for English speakers. They email you the recipe after the completion of the class (in French only), so you don't even have to take notes. Great fun! www.atelierdeschefs.com

Lastly, we visited two of Dan's distant relatives, Stephan and Blandine Bricka, who live in a little town right next to Giverny in Normandy. We had visited them six years before, when Dan was studying abroad in Spain and I met him in France for his spring break. It was wonderful to see them again. As always, they were great hosts! They showed us around their region: walking us by the hotel where the Americans came to set up their own Impressionist school at Giverny, visiting a Renaissance Castle, and going for coffee at the Chateau de Brécourt. Best of all, they loved Zookie! (This was quite a surprise, since neither of them like dogs...but how could they resist Zookie?!)

More restaurants:

Le Relais de l'Entrecôte
20, rue Saint Benoît -- 75006 Paris -- 01 45 49 16 00
(Allan took us here for a great surprise...Steak-Frites! We had been searching all over Paris for them for months, with no luck. But this is where they were hiding...and it's a good thing that we weren't vegetarians because Steak-Frites is all the restaurant serves. You queue up outside (no reservations) eagerly anticipating your mouthwatering filet. When you sit down, the waitress asks you only two questions: Which wine would you like? How would you like your steak cooked? Delicious!)

Le Petit Prince de Paris
12 rue de Lanneau -- Paris 75005 -- 01 43 54 77 26
(A wonderful tucked away bistro serving great food in a very romantic setting. This restaurant has to offer the best food/value ratio in Paris. Menus are very affordable and the food is divine.)

Creperie de Josselin
67, rue de Montparnasse -- Paris 75014 -- 01 43 20 93 50
Next Door (and open Mondays) Le Petit Josselin
(The best crepes in Paris? We found them! And apparently so have all the other Parisians, given how packed this place always seems to be. These are authentic Breton crepes, served with delicious French Cider (think alcoholic Martinelli's Apple Cider). Come hungry!)

Marriage Freres
www.mariagefreres.com
13 rue des Grands-Augustins -- Paris 75006 -- 01 40 51 82 50 (across the street from our apartment)
30 rue du Bourg-Tibourg -- Paris 75004 -- 01 42 72 28 11 (the original location)
260 Faubourg Saint-Honoré -- Paris 8e -- 01 46 22 18 54 (near the Arc de Triomphe)
(We really cannot believe that we have lived across the street from this famous tea room for all this time and didn't make it inside until now! We were intimidated because we had heard they make you order the full (and expensive) high tea or lunch. Apparently not true! We came twice in a week (once with Meredith and Jason and again with Rachelle and Allan) and had amazing tea and wonderful pastries. The only problem...choosing among the hundreds of teas they have!!)

Courchevel (2/6)

Dan and I actually made the decision to move to France while we were skiing in Lake Tahoe over Martin Luther King Day weekend. Silly as it sounds, one of the main draws was that I have always wanted to ski in the Alps…and if we lived in France, we could go on a European Ski holiday easily. So, we were really looking forward to our first ski adventure in Europe! We managed to sneak away from Paris for an extended weekend, so we had five days to spend at the resort of Courchevel in the French Alps. It was amazing!

Kimberly

For pictures, click here.

Courchevel

Here are the major differences between skiing in Europe and in the U.S.

Most people come for an entire week
-Europeans get significantly more vacation time that we Americans do; so taking an entire week for a ski vacation is perfectly reasonable. This means that the resorts can get people to book for entire weeks, and therefore expect it. Thus, it is really hard to find a hotel or apartment that will even let you stay for less than a week. Oh, and most place even require that you arrive and depart on Saturday. It’s a completely different system. This has other ramifications, such as…

Since people are there for a week, they actually spend a surprisingly small amount of time skiing.
-Why wake up early and rush to be the first on the mountain when you have seven ski days? Slow down. Relax. Go out clubbing at night. Wake up late in the morning….and

Take really long lunches on the mountain
-There really aren’t any self-service cafeterias in the ski resorts. Instead, the expectation is that you will spend at least an hour (if not several) enjoying a leisurely lunch at one of the mountain’s fine dining establishments. This is not like the U.S., where the resort owns and operates all the dining establishments and overcharges you for a reheated frozen hamburger patty because they have a captive audience. All the restaurants are individually owned and operated…and competition usually means for higher quality and better value, right?!
And when I say fine dining, I mean it! There is a range of restaurants, from small family owned places, to high class gourmet restaurants with chandeliers and waiters in tuxedos. No, I am not joking! We enjoyed some very very fine lunches during our trip. Yes, it’s funny when you are wearing your ski clothes and boots and dining on rack of lamb or prawns. But it’s even funnier when you notice that the people at the table next to you have probably consumed one bottle of wine each, in addition to the very strong irish coffees they are just finishing off….and you wonder, “How are they possibly going to ski down the rest of the mountain?”

And the ski territory is enormous!
-Courchevel is one of the many ski resorts that have been linked with other resorts to increase the amount of skiable terrain available to its guests. There are several resorts like this in Europe. Until recently, Les Trois Vallées was the largest. With Courchevel, Meribel, Les Meuniers, St. Martin, and Val Thorens you have over 200 ski lifts and 600 km of ski runs at your doorstep. Another way to look at the expanse of this region is to take a look at how many of the largest ski resorts in the United States can fit into the Trois Vallées region. The former Snow Country magazine concluded that the six largest ski areas in the United States could fit inside Les Trois Vallées. That means that Killington, Vail, Heavenly, Steamboat, Squaw Valley and Park City could all fit inside the space covered by Les Trois Vallées with almost 10,000 acres left over. So you can throw in Jackson Hole, Taos, Sun Valley, Keystone, Crested Butte, Alta, Solitude, Cranmore and Stowe and still have room.

And at least here, when they say linked, they really mean linked. It’s not like trying to ski from the Nevada side of Heavenly to the California side, where you are spending the entire day traversing the mountain. Here, you literally take one or two lifts up from the town and you can immediately ski down to the next resort over!

As if that weren’t enough, you can ski anywhere you like. You don’t have to stay within the boundaries of the ski resorts.
-At most resorts in Europe, if you can see it, you can ski it. There are very few out of bounds areas (most likely due to nature reserves). So, if you feel like trying to ski to the next big town through completely un-maintained snow, go for it. You can’t sue the resort like people do in the U.S., so it’s up to you what kind of risks you want to take. (We didn’t do any off-piste skiing because the snow conditions actually weren’t that good. But if we had decided to, we definitely would have hired a guide to take us out.)

So, all-in-all, skiing in Europe is an amazing experience. We had a wonderful time.

Courchevel is well known not only as a fantastic ski destination and a place for the jet-set to spend their “vacances d’hiver,” but also is often featured as a stage in the Tour de France bike race each July. The resort is actually a collection of four little villages, most of them named after their elevation. Courchevel 1850 is the main village (at 1850 meters above sea-level), with Courchevel 1650, 1550, and the small towns of La Tania (1350) and Le Praz (1300) making up the rest of the resort.

We chose to stay in Courchevel 1650, primarily because the hotels were way too expensive at the main resort of Courchevel 1850 (commonly referred to as the St. Tropez of the Alps...which I would have to say is an appropriate nickname, given the number of furs, atrociously large diamonds, and expensive cars we saw there.) We stayed at Hotel Edelweiss (http://www.courchevel-edelweiss.com/), which was completely fine, and a bargain at only 90€ a night.

We brought Zookie with us to experience the Alpine splendor. Zookie had been to Lake Tahoe several times as a puppy, so this wasn’t his first time in the snow. And, as a Tibetan Terrier, he is actually very well suited for snow playtime. I’m not kidding. His paws are special so that he can run around in the snow without sinking in it…oh and does he love the snow! (or the “neige” as we call it…) We even took him up the mountain on the gondola one day…Yes, you can take your dog on the ski gondola in Europe…I know it’s crazy!

And, as mentioned before, we dined very well! Here were some of the highlights:

Mountain Restaurants
*Note, you must reserve at most of these places for lunch, especially if you want to sit outside. I know it sounds funny, but just do it.

La Soucoupe (Courchevel 1850) 04 79 08 21 34
-Chandeliers, formally dressed waiters, and meats grilled over an open fire. Mmmm! (One of the pricer choices in town though.)

Le Bel Air (Courchevel 1650) 04 79 08 00 93
-Wonderful food and an amazing view off the terrace. This more reasonably priced restaurant (thanks to its location in 1650) was where we had one of our best lunches.

Le Roc Tania (La Tania—Courchevel, just on the border with Meribel) 04 79 08 32 34
-Possibly even better views than the Bel Air. Watch paragliders take off and soar over the alps while enjoying your raclette, lamb chops, or spaghetti. Or you can sit on a sun lounger and sip on a bottle of wine as we saw others doing.

Le Corbeleys (St. Martin de Belleville) 04 79 08 95 31
-We had heard that St. Martin was the most adorable ski village in the Alps..and compared to the purpose-built and relatively characterless Courchevel, it was more atmospheric. However, it sits at a really low elevation, which this year meant there was little snow and much exposed dirt and hillside exposed…hardly picturesque. We enjoyed a local dish of crozets, tiny squares of pasta cooked with cream, ham, and (of course) cheese.

Village Restaurants

La Seizena (Courchevel 1650) 04 79 01 46 46
-A shockingly refreshing and modern restaurant with very reasonable prices. (I think it would cost double if it were in 1850.) In a brand new hotel with a lot of emphasis on modern design, the restaurant has a very innovative menu focused on fusion cuisine from around the world. Highly recommended.

L’Eterlou (Courchevel 1650) 04 79 08 25 45
-A small place serving fondues, pasta, pizza, and Pierre chaud (where you cook your own meat on a little grill)

Le Genepi (Courchevel 1850) 04 79 08 08 63
-A very nice place with fancy, but not too exorbitantly priced meals. The food was good, but the dining experience left something to be desired. They had put too many tables in the dining room, so we were literally stuck in a corner once the tables next to us were seated. This meant that the waiter had to ask the people at these tables to get up so he could clear our plates…not acceptable when you are paying 150€ for dinner!

One last word of advice, because skiing in Europe is so different than in the U.S., because the resort is that much larger, and because dining out is such a key part of the experience…I highly recommend you find a guide on the resort before you go. We used both the Mad Dog Ski Guide and the Snowmole guide. We like both of them, but found the Mad Dog guide especially helpful as it rates and describes all of the Red and Black runs on the mountains, so you have an idea of what exactly you are getting yourself into before you

Paris January (01/01-01/31)

January in Paris wasn’t nearly as cold as December had been…and it was an exciting month for us!! We finally received our Cartes de Sejour (residency permits) and now could move along to the next step of the French bureaucracy process… We moved into our second semester of teaching—and with a schedule change for Dan, it meant that we both worked on only Tuesdays and Fridays! And, we had our first non-family visitors!

For photos, click here.

Paris January

Kimberly

To compensate for last month’s lengthy analysis of French customer service, I plan to keep this posting short and sweet. The highlight of this month was definitely food! We had two different sets of friends visit us. Both had been to Paris before, so all they wanted to do was take some scenic walks around the city...and eat!

Our friends from the Stanford GSB, Salil and Nicole visited over Martin Luther King Day Weekend from New York. As mentioned above, the majority of their trip was spent eating: We managed to hit Atelier, Le Souk, L’Artisan, and Allard...and one or two others all in one long weekend! We did manage to squeeze in some time for some sightseeing and shopping. We visited Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, and Chopin at the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. We strolled through the artists painting the tourists in Montmartre near the church of Sacre-Coeur. And we hit up the Soldes (big half-yearly sales)...Salil managed to find a pair of Bally boots for less than half price he had seen them in New York!

Another GSB friend, Matt, visited us two weekends later from London. Again, the focus of the weekend was on eating: We tried a new place called Equitable, and took Matt to a few of our favorites: Le Reminet, Gerard-Mulot, and Lauduree. We also managed a little sightseeing, with the highlight being one of our favorite museums, the little known Musee Marmottan in the 16th arrondissement. This private museum is in a restored mansion next to the Bois du Bologne and has one of the largest collection of Monet paintings anywhere. There are many studies of his famous “Waterlilies,” the final works now displayed in the restored L’Orangerie. But the real highlight is the painting “Impression: Sunrise” — for which the Impressionist movement was named.

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
5-7 rue de Montalembert - 75007, Paris – 01 42 22 56 56
(One of Europe's most well-received chefs, Robuchon astonished critics when he turned his back on the Michelin Star system in favor of a non-traditional restaurant focused on innovative food. Unfortunately, this doesn’t necessarily translate into cheap, as a meal here will still put you back at least 100 Euros a person…but that’s still probably half the price of his old 3-Michelin-Star establishment. Atelier is especially known for its “small plates”…which, confusingly, you are not meant to share…ordering family style was very confusing to the staff. The food was excellent though, the decor hip and stylish, and the seating really cool: at a bar before an open kitchen, where you can watch culinary preparations and be served immediately at an upscale counter. FYI, reservations accepted only for first sitting…so come early to get your name on the list.)

Equitable
1, rue des Fossés Saint-Marcel - 75005, Paris – 01 43 31 69 20
(One of our best finds in Paris. This wonderful upscale bistro tucked away in the 5th arrondissement serves some of the most innovative and beautifully prepared food in all of Paris. And the prices are an absolute steal: 32 Euros for a three-course meal! The best part is undoubtedly the service though…friendly, smiling waiters and an owner who seems genuinely happy to have you – even an American – in his restaurant. Order a bottle of the Chateau Margaux wine and you’re all set for a splendid meal.)

Allard
41 rue St-André-des-Arts – 75006, Paris – 01 43 26 48 23
(If you are looking for a standard Paris Bistro experience, look no further…This is one of the mainstays of the Parisian dining scene—opened in 1931, and still booked every night for wonderful roasted chicken, veal stew, and turbot in a beurre blanc sauce. It’s quite pricy, especially if you order one of their specialties…we had a chicken with mushrooms that was wonderful. But the location, service, and overall dining experience make it a quintessential Parisian night out.)

Le Gourmand
22, rue de Vaugirard – 75006, Paris - 01-43-26-26-05
(A very good find, this upscale bistro, just across the street from the Luxembourg Gardens serves innovative fresh food in a very modern setting (for Paris). Lunch is a better deal than dinner, with many of the same exact dishes offered at lower prices.)

Le Souk
www.lesoukfr.com
1, rue Keller - 75011, Paris - 01-49-29-05-08
(Our friends, Salil and Nicole, had just read about this fabulous Moroccan restaurant in a New York Times article. It definitely lived up to the hype. Tasty tagines, couscous, and wonderful pastilla! (a sweet/savory mixture of pastry, cinnamon, powdered sugar, chicken, and nuts.) And, by Parisian standards, quite a reasonable meal.)

L’Artisan de Saveurs
http://www.lartisandesaveurs.com/
72 rue du Cherche Midi - 75006, Paris – 01 42 22 46 64
(Widely regarded as one of the premium “Salons du Thé” in Paris, read: a place for tea and French cakes and pastries, this is also one of the best places for Sunday brunch. A relatively new phenomenon in Paris, unfortunately, it is still generally restricted to 30 Euros fixed-price multi-course meals…as is the case at L’Artisan. Here, at least, the brunch is fabulous…and quite filling…you probably won’t be hungry for dinner after your basket of fresh baked brioches and croissants, salmon blinis (or omelette, or veal picatta or crab cake), and housemade dessert…served with fresh orange juice and coffee/tea/hot chocolate!)