April 30, 2010 · 11:32 pm

Loire Valley – takemewithyou

Yes, I know I was going to share more info on Dordogne – and I will eventually – but my brother is in need of Loire Valley info so here goes. We stayed in the village of Chenonceau at a very pretty and affordable hotel called La Roseraie, http://www.hotel-chenonceau.com/again with a good restaurant.  (There was a fancier hotel across the street but we liked our’s just fine.)

The hotel was in the shadow of the amazing Chenonceaux chateau (www.chenonceau.com) which we toured. There are many chateaux (don’t know the plural form) to visit and after careful consideration, for reasons I can’t remember now, we chose this one and it was spectacular, built right into a river, complete with a moat, gorgeous formal gardens and a long entrance lined with ancient Sycamore trees.

We picked in a nearby tiny village called Sache (i think). Also went to the town of Chinon which has a lovely Medieval section with half-timbered buildings and a castle (natch) with high ramparts. Also liked the town of Amboise.

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April 29, 2010 · 10:49 pm

France’s Dordogne region – takemewithyou

My lucky brother and his wife are looking for suggestions for visiting the Dordogne region of France, a fairy tale land of villages built into high cliffs of golden rock, with castles and chateau rising out of the cliffs and dotting the green valley which the Dordogne River glides through.  So here are some tips from my journal entries during our 2006 visit:

-We stayed in the town of La Roque Gageac at the Hotel Belle Etoile. Beautiful old limestone hotel with good restaurant but town is touristy and the hotel is set back from a sometimes busy road, albeit with a pretty view of the river. Here’s some good photos: http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g657817-d673346-Hotel_La_Belle_Etoile-La_Roque_Gageac_Dordogne_Region_Aquitaine.html#18003187

I’d stick with the great place  Dad found last year in Sarlat.

– Speaking of Sarlat, it’s the biggest town we visited but don’t let that put you off. There’s actually street life – especially on the market day(s). Don’t miss the market(s) where you’ll find all kinds of local delicacies – fois gras (politically incorrect, I know, but delicious), bread, pastries,  strawberries, goat cheese (cabe nous is what I wrote in my journal for some reason). Sarlat also has lots of artists and you can visit their studios/galleries, with help from a map we got from somewhere or other that gave us a studio/gallery walking route. We bought some lovely small oil paintings of vegetables that now hang in our Iowa kitchen. Pretty well-kept Medieval buildings along the open square where the market is held and narrow streets lined with oft-interesting shops.

– With our Sarlat goodies, we picnicked at a spectacular garden in Vezac (see: http://www.marqueyssac.com)   that was surprisingly empty. It’s high on a hill with stunning views of the river valley –  the fortress of Castelnaud, the château de Fayrac; and the Roman chapel of Saint-Julien de Cénac. (I found this description on a knowledgeable-sounding website. http://www.frenchgardening.com/visitez.html?pid=31162916853519)

MORE TOMORROW.

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April 28, 2010 · 10:24 pm

Thinking about the Dordogne

It’s time to pull out my journal from four years ago – or was it five? – when D and I went to the Dordogne region of France during a trip to visit D’s daughter who was doing a junior year abroad in Bordeaux. My brother and his new wife (still getting used to that phrase) are hoping to go their on their honeymoon after a visit to Provence. The only name that jumps out at me right now is the lovely market town of Sarlat – but fortunately I was pretty good about writing done specifics in my journal, safely stowed in a packed-to-the-gills  fireproof filing cabinet.

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April 27, 2010 · 10:28 pm

When in Brazil

D went to Brazil three years ago, right after his 50th b’day (perfect!), on a two-week agriculture tour (ostensibly for work) and I got to stay home with the kids and listen to a CD of Brazilian music (which I loved.) Ever since, I’ve been itching to get there myself – preferably with D – and a short item in the NYTimes travel section last sunday had all kinds of advice or where to go/what to see. during a first-time trip to Brazil, including goign to Ipanema rather than Copacabana for “beautiful people-watching”; a visit to the colonial towns of Minas Gerais including Tiradentes and Ouro Preto; a visit to the coastal city of Bahia (with its modern at museum) and cobbled hilly streets of the Pelourinho district. Best time to visit: September (rather than August.); Travel agency to use: Florida based Brazil Nuts (no joke)

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April 26, 2010 · 10:29 pm

Minneapolis – new place to explore?

Apparently there’s a new area of northeast Minneapolis to explore – I thought we did that when we were there last winter but according to a story in yesterday’s NYTimes we didn’t do it all. The story mentions a stretch along 13th Avenue with a bunch of bars, restaurants and galleries including Northeast Social (a bistro); Modern Cafe (good brunch); Spinario Design (“mid-century” antiques…not sure what that means. 1950’s?); and Anchor fish & Chips (i usually only eat fish and chips in London but this place has a cool bar – made from the beam of a 115-year-old barn.)

This area appears to be about 1.5 miles northwest of the other NE Minneapolis neighborhood we explored along East Hennepin Ave. in December.

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April 23, 2010 · 1:11 am

In and out of Indy

Quick trip to Indianapolis for a writing project and I had just enough time to wander around for a few hours in the Mass Ave Arts & Theater District which is still fledgling but has potential. Kind of makes the East Village in Des Moines seem like a long-established hip neighborhood by comparison. It dawned on me today – and I don’t know why it didn’t earlier – that I’m drawn to these revived neighborhoods where small entrepreneurs open up little galleries, boutiques, cafes and restaurants in old renovated brick buildings because my mom and dad did the very same thing in the 1960s when they opened their gallery in a then-very-unhip Royal Oak, Mi. (The hipness there came, alas, after they moved the gallery.)

Anyway, it was a gorgeous day in Indy – in the 70s and sunny so fun to walk the few blocks down Mass Ave. I stopped at a good gift shop – Silver in the city – and bought some tchotkes for friends; then ate at Yat’s, a hippie dippie fast food creole/Cajun restaurant. It had a line out the door at noon – and better yet a fast moving line – so I joined the crowd. Didn’t care much for the jambalaya (where’s the sausage?) but liked the moch chous or macque choux (or”mock shoe”) a lot – a sweet spicy  cajun dish made w/carmelized onions, sweet corn and chicken. Also found a cute cupcake store and great old shoe store. I wished I had a bike to ride around some of the residential streets just west of Mass Ave which looked like they were filled with restored wood frame houses re-painted in lovely bright colors. Next time.

Walked past the amazing Soldiers and Sailors Monument/fountain downtown which was full of sunbathing office workers lounging on the steps leading to the tall ornate tower erected in the 1860s to honors Hoosiers who fought in various wars. Reminded me a bit of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square – so I got some postcards of it to send my London pals.

I stayed overnight at The Canterbury Hotel – (yes, someone else was paying ) a lovely boutique hotel right downtown. I had a tiny room on the 12th floor – the door looked like it would open right into the wardrobe but narrowly missed smashing it.   I had a great view of downtown. Ate dinner at 14 West Restaurant – nice ambiance, so-so food – too much mayo-or-cream inspired sauces on things. Word to wise – instead of paying $39 for a cab to the airport (which we did on the trip into town) the best deal around is the $7 airport shuttle which stops near various hotels including mine.

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April 17, 2010 · 6:34 pm

Macalester College…in St. Paul

I’ve had a little time to catch my breath after long day to and from Macalester. Pretty campus right on Grand Avenue, a little west of the area D and I used to visit now and then – near Cafe Latte (as usual – my landmark is a restaurant. It used to be a bookstore but that’s long gone, as is the case with many an independent book store.) Cafe Latte is still going strong – we picked up a sandwich to take on the drive home (note to self: next time, skip the guacamole on the turkey sandwich, much of which ended up on my black sweater as I tried to eat while driving.) and resisted the temptation to take home a piece of luscious german sweet chocolate cake too. Did get a bread for home and our neighbor, who kindly walked our dog yesterday. Noticed a new (or new to me) store across the street “Bread and Chocolate” (the kind of store I’d notice!) as we were leaving but didn’t have time to stop and later realized that on the other side of my Cafe latte carryout bag it said “Bread and Chocolate” so guessing the two are related. Also a Brasa in that neighborhood – a branch of the rotisserie place loudly advertising it’s good ingredients that we visited in Minneapolis last year.

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April 17, 2010 · 2:00 am

Visiting Macalester – (“where’s that?”)

Nine times out of ten, when I mention Macalester College people’s response is “where’s that.” I can confirm after visiting the school today that it’s in a very nice area of St. Paul – in fact I must have driven by it several times during past visits and didn’t notice. Small liberal arts college – we found it pretty impressive.

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April 15, 2010 · 10:50 pm

Healthy Deli?

Yes, it seems like a contradiction in terms – healthy deli – but apparently some Jewish delicatessens are making a stab at providing more healthful food – some even going so far as to ban salami. (Say it’s not so.) A story in the NYTimes about this featured several delis I’ve been at or near recently, including Kenny & Zuke’s, a deli we visited for breakfast last month in Portland. Apparently the thing to have there is the specially-made pastrami – we came close. We ordered a corned beef sandwich which we happily shared – it was huge – in the Denver airport during our trip home.

The story also mentioned Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor which we visited last summer – who knew they made their own cream cheese although I wasn’t surprised they made their own rye bread. (I think we were supposed to have pastrami there too – again, we had the corned beef. Noticing a trend here?)

And earlier this month, we were on the lower East Side of Manhattan, standing outside of Katz’ s deli debating whether to join a long, albeit fast-moving, line at Saturday  lunchtime. We decided not – and I guess this is good since the article seemed to single out old-school delis like Katz’s as, of course, serving stuff that’s not good for us (even if it tastes good.)

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April 14, 2010 · 11:06 pm

New Iowa B&B? (or maybe just new to me)

The DM Register’s story on Iowa B&Bs today mentioned some I hadn’t heard of before. One in particular caught my eye because it’s in a town I  like to visit –  the pretty Northeast Iowa river town of McGregor. The place is Stauer House Bed & Breakfast.

In McGregor, we’ve had good luck with the Little Switzerland Inn.  Two summers ago, I stayed there with a friend from London and we got the   entire upper floor of the inn, complete with a full kitchen and balcony looking out on the Mississippi. In the past, we’ve rented the 1850’s cabin next to the Inn’s regular building, which is perfect for a family with kids – even if it’s a little strange being in a cabin smack dab on the busy Main Street. (The cabin was relocated, presumably from a more rural location where a cabin would more likely be built.)

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