11.08.07
Posted in Travel at 10:04 am by rachel
I am finally back from my busy trip to New York City. It was great being back and seeing friends, eating my favorite veggie burger at Quantum Leap, being on campus, and wandering around my old neighborhood. I didn’t have time to do many social activities, but once the symposium I was helping organize was over, I had two days to relax and enjoy myself.
Our friends Amanda and Jonathan hosted me at their apartment in Queens, which is close to a little neighborhood park along the river. We took their dog for a walk and enjoyed the fall leaves.
Sunday afternoon they took me to my first ever professional football game: the New York Jets vs. the Washington Redskins. It was a close game, which made it interesting. I got a good fill of Americana, with all the flag saluting, pretzel eating, and cheerleading. We all had a good time and promise we didn’t take it as seriously as this picture of Jonathan would suggest:
The Jets were ahead almost the entire time, but in the last quarter fell behind. The score was tied, but they eventually lost the game in overtime.
A highlight of going to New York is always the food. I enjoyed some of the best Thai and Italian food last week, but one of the best dishes I had was Amanda’s mac and cheese. I have never been able to make this American classic, but think the bread crumbs, white sauce, and addition of Gruyère cheese is key. Delicious!
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10.21.07
Posted in Crafts, Sewing, Travel at 10:40 pm by rachel
La Poste came through after all. The quilt I made has officially arrived in Hong Kong. I have realized I didn’t post a few of the pictures I took of the whole finished product, so here are a few:
What a crazy pattern this was, but so much fun!
I’m proud of two things in this photo: the other is the geranium plant in our window box that I revived. It’s still in full bloom!
This is what the quilt looks like on our bedroom chair. Those geraniums were a little late to catch up.
We went to Hong Kong in August (the hottest month) 2003. It was our first stop on a trans-mongolian rail (and plane) trip. The whole itinerary was New York - Los Angeles - Hong Kong - Beijing - Ulan Baatar (Mongolia) - Irkutsk (Russia) - Moscow - St. Petersburg - Paris - New York. Whew! I’ll have to write more about that later. In the mean time, here are some photos of the magical place to which the psychedelic quilt has just arrived.
The top of Victoria Peak. Who knew there was so much nature just minutes from the city center?
A Buddhist Spot on Victoria Peak
The long series of outdoor escalators we very much appreciated in the heat.
Hong Kong Night Life
Riding a Junk Boat on the South China Sea
We anchored and swam to this beach. Paradise.
Sunset on the South China Sea. Sweet dreams!
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10.11.07
Posted in Books & Paper, Travel at 1:17 pm by rachel
I’ve been away from Paris for a week, visiting some collections in Lyon for my dissertation and also squeezing in some time with old friends. I haven’t been able to be online very often, but just got the chance to share with you some photos from a little village called Ambierle, in the Loire region of France (about 1.5 hours from Lyon).
Ambierle’s church’s roof is made with traditional tiles from the Bourgogne region, a pattern very prevalent in the area around Dijon.
Ambierle is also the “village du livre” (book village), with several used book shops and a bi-monthly book market in the warmer months of the year. I found some wonderful old journals for a euro each – quite a steal, since they go for at least 15€ in Paris! A little place definitely off the beaten path but worth a visit when in the region.
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09.11.07
Posted in Travel at 9:17 am by rachel
New York City was home from August 2001 until September 2006. We are still nostalgic for the city and probably always will be (if we don’t move back, that is!)
Thinking of you today, New York!
Our apartment on Houston Street. 4th floor walk-up.
Sullivan Street, our second NYC home. Shade Bar, on the left, is our version of Cheers.
Quantum Leap, the best veggie burgers in the world.
VBar was our morning coffee version of Cheers. Such a friendly bunch.
Our rooftop at the Houston St. building.
The site of many summer BBQ’s, complete with squirt guns.
Pizza in the Village
Moondance Diner, located in an old car wash. Where they put cinnamon in your coffee and extra grease in your eggs.
An empty hotel on Barrow Street, along the West Side Highway
The west side was our favorite place to walk. This was taken from Battery Park, so you can see Jersey City in the background.
The Waverly Diner on 6th Ave.
There are still some artists left in gentrified SoHo.
Central Park
Upper East Side Dog Walker
Coney Island Beach
Leaving NYC (with GW Bridge in the distance)
Saying good-bye for now, from the George Washington Bridge.
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08.18.07
Posted in Cuisine, Family, Travel at 12:09 pm by rachel
My sister lives in Monterey, a small coastal town known for its Spanish colonial history & architecture, world-renowned aquarium on the bay, and its famous native son, John Steinbeck.
Sunset view from Fisherman’s Wharf
We used some frequent flyer miles to go visit, flying into San Francisco and renting a car (for cheap - using Hotwire). Our first stop after arriving in the late afternoon was Fisherman’s Wharf. Though filled with some cheesy touristy shops, it’s still retained some authentic charm (unlike the Wharf in San Francisco, for example). Dinner at Old Fisherman’s Grotto was the highlight: it’s been run by the same family for almost 60 years and is also where my parents dined on their honeymoon in 1976. The owner (and a statue of his father) greet you at the door, creating a welcoming and familial atmosphere from the start. Beautiful picture windows line the bay side of the restaurant and the food was divine: sipping a local white wine made classic chowder in a bread bowl into a fancy meal (trust the owner’s wine suggestions: we were very pleased). The seafood appetizers were delicious as well, and I ordered a local specialty, sand dabs, for my main course. Best of all, Old Fisherman’s Grotto participates in the Seafood Watch program to ensure the seafood they serve is both healthy to eat and sustainable to the marine environment.
Fisherman’s Wharf to the right and the marina, at left
The old city of Monterey itself is pedestrian-friendly and filled with book stores and little artsy boutiques. Even the Wells Fargo bank building is architecturally interesting with a large vaulted ceiling and painted wooden beams. Stop in to check it out. You can follow little circular bronze plaques for a walking tour of historic Monterey, which will take you to all of the old adobe buildings and homes.
The two-story kelp forest, site of educational scuba shows.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is what most people see when they visit, and I will warn you: entrance fees are surprisingly high at around $25/person. But when you consider all that they do for the local environment to keep Monterey Bay the way it is, it really is worth a few bucks more than a ticket to MoMA. I would even suggest joining if you plan to visit twice in a year. It’s a good cause.
The Jellyfish wing, my favorite exhibit
Rockfish
Rockfish populations have decreased dramatically in the last 30 years. Because they live for about 100 years and reproduce relatively late in their lives, they are easily over-fished. Now that I know this, I will no longer order them in restaurants. Rock fish are more commonly known as red snapper.
A Jellyfish bids farewell for now…
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08.14.07
Posted in Art, Travel at 9:53 am by rachel
I couldn’t leave Milwaukee last month without a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM). It’s one of my favorite museums because it houses a broad range of art for its size, with examples of virtually every major artistic period in its collection. The museum also exhibits some important examples of folk art, American design, Haitian art, and photography. The most obvious work of art here is the building itself: the new addition, designed by Santiago Calatrava and opened in 2001, resembles a bird with wings that open and close.
Until September 9th, MAM is holding an exhibition entitled “Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape,” which focuses on the artist’s landscape painting from the 1860s and 1870s. This period was a formative one for Pissarro, who evolved from the realist tradition of the Barbizon school to a new impressionistic aesthetic, the theory of which he helped found.
The exhibition shows fifty of Pissarro’s paintings, arranged in chronological order. This arrangement highlights the contrast between his earlier, more academic paintings, and the artist’s experiments with color and brush-strokes into the 1870s. A wall-sized map of Paris and its environs indicates the locations Pissarro worked on landscapes and countryside scenes such as his 1864 Strollers on a Country Road, La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire (at right).
My favorite Pissarro painting, Hoarfrost at Ennery (below), is one of the last on display. After showing it at the Impressionist exhibition of 1874, Pissarro was fiercely criticized for painting shadows of trees that lie outside the boundaries of the canvas, a technique which gives the painting depth and interest. What is most striking is the geometric composition of the scene, with criss-crossing diagonal lines dividing the plane into large fields of contrasting warm and cool colors. It should come as no surprise, then, that Paul Cézanne – whose paintings are so geometrically composed many consider him a proto-cubist – was a pupil of Pissarro’s.
Pissarro, Hoarfrost at Ennery, 1873
We took advantage of the afternoon and stayed at the museum until closing. As soon as we walked out of the building, MAM’s “wings” began to close, so I snapped some quick shots of the action.
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08.03.07
Posted in Family, Travel at 6:00 pm by rachel
I am relieved that our family and friends in the Twin Cities are safe after the horrific bridge collapse in Minneapolis Wednesday evening. My thoughts are with the families of the victims and the entire community.
As my homage to Minnesota, I thought it was appropriate to post about my recent trip there. Two weeks ago, my mom and I spent a weekend in St. Paul to see my sister, Monica and her husband Jeff. We managed to cram in a lot of summer fun before having to leave Monday morning.
Upon arrival, our first stop was to the outdoor music and art festival going on in a park not too far from my sister’s place. We heard an alt country band while sitting on the grass and feasting on the Minnesota festival specialty: Fried Anything – almost as popular as the Anything On A Stick. Monica enlightened me about the vast array of foods served on sticks, including pork chops and spaghetti (how do they do it, you ask? ball up spaghetti, dip it in batter, and deep fry it, of course!) The deep fried cheese curds were divine. It sounds crazy, but my sister’s French Canadian sister-in-law recommended I order them with ketchup. Je suis d’accord.
After Sunday brunch and the Grandview Grill, an old-school diner and home of the original cajun breakfast, we spent the afternoon at the same festival. During the day, however, all the art stalls were open. One artist was making the coolest wind chimes out of antique silverware. He bent a single fork in such a way that it looked like a man and woman dancing. Amazing eye for finding the possibilities in such an ordinary object.
A major highlight was the kettle corn my sister had me try. I have the impression I’ve heard of this before, but wow, I have never tasted popcorn so airy and subtly sweet. Because of the giant kettle used to prepare it, the corn gets a crisp outer shell. Seasoned with salt and just a touch of sugar, it’s the best popcorn I’ve had. Seriously. It even beats that crazy Chicago mix of cheese, butter, and caramel I used to crave.
Say what you will about Minnesota, but St. Paul has a kind of free and accepting attitude that I find refreshing. Don’t want to weed your garden? No problem! Let it grow! Walking around and seeing all the century-old houses with beautiful, wild secret gardens made me want to sign right up. I suppose I should go back in January before jumping in…
Oh yes, and my favorite singer, Mason Jennings, is from Minnesota.
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07.16.07
Posted in Family, Travel at 4:28 am by rachel
I’ve been on my whirl-wind tour of the States since June 19th and won’t be back to “normal” life in Paris until July 26th. I do look forward to updating the blog about:
~How I sold all our belongings in New York as we moved out of our lovely Sullivan Street abode.
~Our cross-country driving trip with books, mementos, and artwork filling the rental van.
~A good ol’ fashioned Fourth of July in Wisconsin.
~Northern California in all its tide-pool-laden glory, which I just left last night.
~The new Canon Rebel digital SLR camera that I have been abusing throughout all the aforementioned adventures.
A bientôt, my friends!
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06.08.07
Posted in Cuisine, Paris Life, Travel at 7:58 am by rachel
When it comes to eating a classic French meal in the more touristy areas of Paris, quality food and a pleasant experience are sometimes hard to find. Here are some of the tried-and-true dining establishments we’ve come to love.
3rd arrondissement:
Chez Janou
2, rue Roger Verlomme
01.42.72.28.41 You will need this phone number to reserve a table; this restaurant fills up fast!
Traditional provençale cuisine with an emphasis on fish dishes. Try a pre-dinner “apéro”: a large selection of pastis, the anis-flavored liqueur from Provence. The atmosphere is busy and the walls are covered in vintage posters of films based in Provence (notably screen adaptations of Marcel Pagnol’s popular books).
5th arrondissement:
Café Panis
21, Quai Montebello
Reliable classics like French onion soup and croque monsieur, with a friendly waitstaff. To accompany your lamb or steak-frites, order a bottle of Cotes du Rhone for 12.50. Old Latin-quarter feel with old books filling the walls of bookshelves. Hard to believe such an “authentic” feeling place could be just across the Seine from the tourist center that is Notre Dame Cathedral. I wouldn’t say there are no tourists here, but it doesn’t have the high-stress atmosphere of some other Latin Quarter restaurants a few blocks over on rue de la Huchette.
6th arrondissement:
Le Bistrot d’Henri
16, rue Princesse
01.46.33.51.12
Metro: Mabillon
Traditional French cuisine, from the foie gras entrée (if you dare…) to the crème caramel dessert. Prix-fixe menus under 20 euros.
La Bastide d’Opio
9, rue Guisarde
01.43.29.01.84
Provençale cuisine that may even beat Chez Janou (see above). Fish, chicken, and brochettes (skewers of meat) are delicious here. The daily specials are particularly recommended - classic flavors with creative flair. Don’t forget to order a dry rosé from the Aix-en-Provence area: not sweet, but an oh-so-refreshing complement to the sunny, savory food.
10th arrondissement:
Chez Julien
16, rue du Faubourg Saint Denis
01.47.70.12.06
The Flo chain of restaurants has received some bad press, but I was impressed with my dining experience at Chez Julien. The exquisitely preserved Belle-Époque dining room is quite a marvel, with stained glass peacocks and art déco paintings of muses. My salmon was tasty, as was my île flotante dessert (”floating island,” in the above picture). A friend was disappointed in her crème caramel, which was flavored with a hint of orange. Nonetheless, a friendly and fun dinner.
18th arrondissement:
Le Bruant
rue des Abesses, in Montmartre
Prix fixe menu for 17.50 or 23 euros, depending on how fancy a dish you’d like to order. Bistro classics (steaks and chicken) and live jazz several nights a week.
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05.29.07
Posted in Books & Paper, Paris Life, Travel at 9:20 pm by rachel
What was it like to visit the Eiffel Tower in the 1890s? Today while following some leads for my dissertation at the Bibliothèque Nationale, I came across a fun little guide for the Eiffel Tower, published in Brussels in 1893. It’s always a pleasure to discover these sources that don’t necessarily have much to do with my project, but that show some aspect of fin-de-siècle French culture.
This 64-page guidebook seems to be mainly concerned with the statistics: how many kilos of steel, how many visitors, how much revenue? It’s fun to think back at what this tower meant in 1893: it was only four years old that year (it was built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris) and was quite the marvel of modern science and engineering. More than just a “must-see” of rich Parisian history, the Eiffel Tower at that time represented modernity itself.
You can download this guide, and many, many other original documents at the Bibliothèque Nationale’s portal to digital documents, Gallica. Just do a title search for “Guide Offiicel de la Tour Eiffel.” Happy researching!
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