Wagner & Me

Kathy and I went to see the Lyric’s production of ‘Die Meistersinger’ last night and as it promised to be a 6 hour event I was filled with trepidation.  After all, a flight to visit family in California takes a bit less than 5 hours but renders me (at 75) a bit stiff and achey; and a 7 hour flight to London taxes my endurance fully.  Fortunately, intermissions relieved the pain and I was able to walk out without a limp.  Of course other considerations had tempered my enthusiasm for the outing.

I’ve seen all 4 operas of Wagner’s ‘ring cycle’ (about 16 hours!) and I confess that I have found the combination of beautiful music, staggeringly dull plot (a synopsis of which could be printed on the back of a cereal box), warm opera house, comfy seat and dim lights to be a guaranteed soporific.  In fact whenever I think of Wagner, I think of two stories, the first involving English author Evelyn Waugh and the second the late Fritz Reiner, great one time conductor of the Chicago Symphony.

During World War II Waugh volunteered for service in the British Army; and though he was well into his 30s he was fit enough to be accepted into an elite British Commando unit.  As fate would have it, his unit’s first deployment was to cover the British Army’s evacuation of Crete in 1941; and it was there he made his, to me, memorable comment.  As his commanding officer and Evelyn were standing in a slit trench enduring a seemingly endless German bombing attack, the senior officer turned to Evelyn and remarked, “You know, Evelyn, you really have to admire the Germans for their thoroughness” (I hope that quote is accurate).  Waugh thought for a second and replied, “Yes, but rather like Wagner, they do tend to keep it up a bit too long.”  That quote, firmly implanted in my mind and coupled with my experience of the ring, has tended to imbue my approach to Wagner with a cautious willingness to ‘bail out’ if I can endure no more.  

Reiner, on the other hand, was a Wagner enthusiast; but when, on one occasion, he was interviewed about his conducting career, he could not keep himself from telling the following story.  In the late 1930s he’d been conducting Wagner in (I believe) Cleveland and had made an after concert dinner date with friends.  So after the cast and he had taken their bows, he made for the nearest exit - which happened to be through the departing crowd.  While in their midst, he heard the following husband/wife exchange.  Husband, “What time is it?”  “10:45,” she replied.  “No, No,” he said, “Just tell me, is Roosevelt still president?”  A witty comment, but one that added to my Wagnerian angst.  So it was, anticipating pain, suffering, boredom - and a high priced nap - that I went to what my wife had promised me was a ‘one in a lifetime experience’.  Thankfully, she was right; and though the time didn’t quite fly, I enjoyed it thoroughly.  The voices were wonderful, the story amusing and the staging lush - things any theater lover will appreciate; and my experience is illustrative of the ‘post hoc’ fallacy.

It’s the “if this, then that” fallacy which presumes perfect connections and knowledge without either being present.  I had presumed that my prior experience and understandings were sufficient knowledge upon which to base my a priori judgement of a work of art.  In point of fact, it wasn’t; but it raised another question - that of the importance of empirical knowledge to understanding the world around us.  Though I’ve seen a bit of opera over the last quarter of a century, I’ve not seen it all; so I should have known that, above and beyond any particular composer, I delight in a combination of melody, story and performance.  How like appreciating a gem; and how like the internet gem auto didact I was.  I should have known better.

As our business is primarily diamonds, I encounter the ‘self trained’ diamond ‘expert’ on an almost daily basis.  That is, without having ever looked at a diamond, people come to me asking for a, “One carat G, VS1”, all of this, of course, without understanding what such a diamond might look like.  ‘Carat’ is a unit of weight (0.2 grams) and a statement of weight is no guarantee of an appearance of size.  Then there’s color, “G?”  Color grades are ranges, so a ‘G’ can be very close to an ‘F’ at one end or an ‘H’ at the other, and clarity, ‘VS1’ is still another story, as clarity grades are, again, ranges.  Caught in the details of rarity, but not understanding them, these wonderful diamond savants usually bundle ‘carat weight, color, clarity and cut’ together as if they are co-equals in their effects on appearance.  They’re not.   Beauty is a product of what light does when each of these, in its appropriate proportion, makes a diamond ‘sing’ with light, sparkle and, yes, color.  The very best cut diamonds must, like Die Meistersinger, be experienced to be understood, appreciated and treasured.  It is the power to astonish that makes art great.

Herr Wagner, I apologize - and, diamond buyers, as one of you, but now a humbled, reformed and chastened auto didact, you need to come see me.   We love the art of the diamond and we understand it perfectly!  Our only interest is in making the most beautiful diamonds and other fine gems available to you.   So lean on us; check out our website, hurstsberwynjewelers.com, then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment with your perfect gem.  We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers, not a common jeweler.

P.S. If you have diamonds or broken or unworn pieces of jewelry that you would like to sell, come in and we’ll help you establish their market value; and perhaps, we’ll make the best offer to buy them.

Old But Still in the Game

Yesterday I was buying a diamond for our second line of diamonds; and of course,
cut weighed heavily on my decision. If you’re a newcomer to diamonds, the term
‘cut’ does not refer to the diamond’s shape; it refers to the execution of the cut for
beauty - defined as a combination of brilliance (light return) and sparkle (the prismatic
breakdown of light produced by facets in the diamond’s top).  A beautifully cut diamond
stands out because it presents a bright and  'colorful' play of light.

The staff had narrowed my choices down to two diamonds that were, in many respects,
comparable; but one weighed in at a carat while the other was a little shy of a carat. The
carat was more expensive by virtue of its ‘cost per carat‘ (just like buying something
sold by the pound); and despite its marginally higher cost, I knew that the its
weight would most likely help it sell faster. On the other hand, I felt (and always
do) that I owe our clientele the benefit of my experience in selecting diamonds.
Unlike the neophyte diamond buyer, who often reads a diamond’s physical attributes
as the key to understanding its price, I had to look at them, without prejudice,
to establish their value - important to me because price and value are two different
things. Price is determined by the market while value comes from within. It is the
emotional content that accompanies a gift or possession; and I am convinced that
beautiful emotions are best expressed by beautiful diamonds. So I looked at them;
and at little more than a glance, I was charmed by the slightly smaller diamond. It
‘popped’ while the larger one did not. Then it was time to look at their paperwork.

The common sense object of cutting diamonds is to take a ‘rock’ and make it beautiful;
their paperwork (Gemological Institute of America Gem Trade Laboratory
grading reports) would tell me whether my old eyes, as a judge of diamond beauty,
had failed me. Nope, I still have it. The smaller had been judged ‘Excellent’ in cut
whereas the larger diamond had been judged ‘Very Good’. The difference may
sound small; but unless you know how to read them, certificates can be deceptive
that way. The GIA laboratory’s cut grade is a statement of a diamond’s brilliance;
that is, its ability to return the light that enters its top to the viewer’s eye. The
smaller diamond’s cut grade of ‘excellent’ is a statement of superior brilliance and vivid display;
the larger’s cut grade of ‘very good’ means that it falls a bit short of the lab’s standards
for brilliance. Notice, please, that I have somewhat qualified, a laboratory’s report
of cut grade. In point of fact, I find two problems with current laboratory cut
grades.

Laboratory statements of cut grade are statements of white light return, only; so
while they do measure brilliance, they say nothing about sparkle. You have to look
at them to see ‘sparkle’. Beyond that, laboratory cut standards have been made in
observance of the best practices of the best diamond cutters, but not of the diamonds
that are the best in cut. You see, more than 99% of the world’s diamonds
are cut on equipment derivative of the very first (about A.D. 1475) diamond polishing
wheel, not the most technically advanced cutting equipment. Using traditional
equipment, the angles of a diamond’s facets are all at slight variance with one another;
using the most technically advanced equipment, the angles are exact. The
difference, when it comes to brilliance, is obvious; but if diamonds are to be sold, it
is equally obvious that gem laboratories have to gear their cut reports to the best
practices of the vast majority of diamond cutters. So it is that diamonds that are
observably the best in cut are lumped together with those that are merely the best
of laboratory standards.

If you’re still curious about the technical difference between the two diamonds, it
is this; the average angle of that smaller diamond’s pavilion facets (the ‘bottom’
ones) is .4º closer to the ‘ideal’ for light return than the average angle of the larger
diamond - a difference you can see. Of course, it is a traditionally cut diamond,
not a ‘high tech’ diamond; so it has to be part of our second line of diamonds. Our
first line of diamonds are our Hearts On Fire diamonds. They are cut on the most
technically advanced equipment in use today; so the angles of its cut are both more
accurate than those of a traditionally cut diamond and far closer to the ‘ideal’ for
light return. They’re so good that looking at them almost causes eye-strain; and
they’re available here at Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers. Check out our website,
hurstsberwynjewelers.com, then, for nothing less than beautiful diamonds, phone
us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment. We're not a common jeweler.

P.S. If you have diamonds or broken or unworn pieces of jewelry that you would like to sell, come in and we’ll help you establish their market value; and perhaps, we’ll make the best offer to buy them.

Photo in the Louvre

Following is a Wiki explanation of the above picture.  It's 'Gilgamesh' represented on a 4,000 year old huge bas relief panel (from Mesopotamia) at the Louvre.  The connection between jewelry (at its best, not 'meatball' jewelry) and the arts is so strong that Kathy and I can't stay out of museums.  They're both places of 'wonder' and inspirations.  And one of the great things about the Louvre is that (as long as you use 'available light' no flash) it is openly picture friendly.  If you go, take a reasonably good digital pocket camera with you.  This picture was taken with a 'Sony' recommended by 'Consumers' Report'.

"The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from Mesopotamia, is amongst the earliest surviving works of literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five independent Sumerian poems about 'Bilgamesh' (Sumerian for Gilgamesh), king of Uruk. Four of these were used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. This first, "Old Babylonian" version of the epic dates to the 18th century BC and is titled Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few fragments of it survived. The later, Standard Babylonian version dates from the 13th to the tenth centuries BC and bears the title Sha naqba īmuru ("He who Saw the Deep"). Fragments of approximately two thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in thelibrary ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal."

Look At It My Way

How and where new fashions “get started” is not always an easy call, as some fashions (no surprises here) are generational. If you turned twenty 4 years ago you might have wanted jewelry fashioned in a skull motif. A ‘wannabe’ rapper of that same moment in time might have shelled out a lot of money for a ‘grill’, Now I’m not seeing much of either fashion; and I’ll bet that more than a few skulls and grills found their way into ‘cash for gold’ shops. As a more experienced jewelry buyer, you now may want to keep an eye out for more enduring fashions - even though it may sometimes be hard to sort out the ‘durable’ from the fad.

Internet video (OMG!) and super popular TV series may arouse your interest in a particular fashion; or if you’re a ‘senior citizen’ you may be inspired by television gem sales. Strangely enough, I’ve seen the latter generate a sudden demand for a particular gem in a matter of a few weeks. Do you begin to see a pattern here? Regardless of one’s age group, contemporary Americans tend to take their fashion cues from what they see on the internet and on television. For this reason I will be watching “trend setter central” (the show business awards) over the next few months. Of course, this takes us back to our original question, “How and where do fashions (in our case, jewelry fashions) get started.

A few years ago I went to a breakfast lecture in which a fashion analyst attempted to answer that question; and after analyzing the analyst's observations since then, I’ve come to consider them accurate. As with trends in clothing fashions, jewelry fashions very often have had their origins in the preceding autumn’s couture fash- ion shows. While most eyes are on the clothes themselves, some are always on jewelry worn by models for houses, such as Channel, that sell both clothing and jewelry. By way of illustration, let’s look at earrings.

Earrings are ‘basics’ so the notion of fashion significance may seem odd; but in late 2002 “chandelier” earrings appeared on several runway models. In size and motion they were a big enough fashion departure from what had previously been seen that those in the know watched closely to see if they appeared at the Grammy’s, the Golden Globes and on the “Red Carpet” at the Academy Awards. When they did, jewelry fashion leaders knew that the “look” had gained the sup- port of Hollywood’s “fashionistas”; so they had prototypes of their versions of them ready to show the jewelry trade at the end of May. Bold jewelry retailers picked up on them; but most jewelers held back to see if the fashion carried over into sales throughout the following autumn. It did, but whether chandeliers were a fad or a trend was something only time would reveal. At the following year’s Golden Globes, Grammies and on the “Red Carpet” they were still “in”; not only that, they were somewhat more “extravagant” in size and shape than they have been over the last year! Interesting; and in fact chandelier earrings have since become a trend and a basic part of most jewelry collections. This leaves open the question of whether or not it’s a durable fashion; but the evidence is that chandeliers, or at least larger drop earrings, will be with us for a bit longer. In jewelry the strength of a fashion always comes down to wearability; and this has an obvious aspect, versatility, and a somewhat less obvious aspect, acceptability.

If went to the Art Institute’s recent exhibit of ancient Greek, Roman and Byzan- tine art (I would have stayed longer; but after nearly five hours I was ‘burned out’), you'd have see that earrings have been a constant in fashion over the last two millennia and more. It’s attributable to their wearability. Unlike rings, they’re not dependent on a specific size and they’re much more ‘friendly’ to different clothing items than necklaces which can be ‘too short’ to wear with some clothes and ‘too long’ to wear with others. The style of particular earrings is a different question, however, since it brings us back to fashion; but this time not in clothing so much as in what society in general sees as ‘acceptable’. In general, this has meant that less extreme versions of stud earrings, hoops and modest drops are (unless ears go out of fashion) always going to be worn; while bigger versions of any of the basics will always be statements of self.  Back now to the chandelier. It’s popularity seems, in part, to stem from the longer hair styles favored by most contemporary women. Small earrings just aren’t seen; so the chandelier, as a result of both size and motion, offers wearability that will make them valued fashion accessories until women cut their hair - a lot.

Here at Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers we’re proud of the range of sizes, styles, materi- als and prices we have to offer in our earring collection. So check us out on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment to select the perfect gift. We’re not an ordinary jeweler.

P.S. If you have diamonds or broken or unworn pieces of jewelry that you would like to sell, come in and we’ll help you establish their market value; and perhaps, we’ll make the best offer to buy them.

A Valentine for Max

 Max Overtop is an odd duck. He grew up in the shadow of an older sister; and she must have so dominated him that to this day he is a bit fearful of women in general. A large man, intelligent and handsome enough that women seek him out, he’s avoided commitment for years. In practice this has meant that he will ‘dump’ any woman he was been dating before Christmas, not so much a matter of being stingy as to avoid any appearance of lasting affection. So I was a bit surprised when, a few years ago, he announced that he had a big date set for Valentine’s Day. “What’s she like?” I queried. Almost expectably, he replied that she was tall and buxom, his ‘kind of woman, not the skinny sort’. He went on to wax enthusiastic over his plan to ‘take her out for a romantic dinner’ and did it to such end that I grew bored and changed the subject. Nonetheless, his enthusiasm for the new woman in his life led me, when I ran into him a week after Valentine’s Day, to risk boredom by asking him how it had gone. ‘A disaster’ he glumly responded.

It had all begun when his car wouldn’t start; and then, like a row of dominoes, misfortune after misfortune followed. After fiddling a bit with his battery cables, and getting his new suit a bit greasy in the process, he realize he was in over his head and called his buddy, Mike Pronto. Mike, a frugal man, prided himself on his ability to buy ailing cars others had given up on, restore them to mechanical health and sell them for a quick profit. He always had a spare car or two around and generously offered one to Max. In gratitude, Max brought Mike a case of beer; and in good fellowship Miguel insisted that he and Max have one before Max had to pick up his date. Needless to say, one turned into five; and Max left Mike’s in good spirits, if a little unsteady. In fact, he tripped as he got into his borrowed car and ripped his trousers; but at the time it went unnoticed.

It was a typical Chicago Valentine’s Day in that it was wet -both snowy and slushy. Traffic had been slow; and with his late start, Max was more than 20 minutes late arriving at ‘Miss Perfect’s’ home. Anxiety built on anxiety when she greeted him a bit frostily; so he gallantly, if somewhat clumsily, tried to ‘warm’ her up. He commented on her appearance. “You look wonderful!’, he exclaimed as he walked her to the car; then seeing a largish puddle next to the passenger’s door, he romantically swept her up and into his arms and placed her in her seat. Getting in on the driver’s side, he noticed that she hadn’t put on her seatbelt. “Traffic’s bad and the street’s are a bit slick; so put your seatbelt on”, he urged. She said nothing and did nothing. Max turned to her to remonstrate again and only then noticed that she was ‘out cold’. In point of fact he had rendered the knock out blow when he had inadvertently banged her head against the car door’s frame. Guilt overwhelmed him as he shook her gently. She responded, but seemed unaware of her whereabouts. Having suffered a life of misadventure, Max recognized a concussion when he saw one; and with that he took her to a nearby hospital’s emergency room. 

By the time they were there, she seemed normal; but Max insisted on going in. After a two hour wait, not without incident, she was seen, diagnosed, prescribed for and pronounced able to return home. During the wait Max’s somewhat disheveled appearance and ‘beery’ aroma had, however, attracted the attention of a policeman there on a call. ‘You been drinkin?’ he asked of Max. Max lied, of course, and said, “Just one beer, Officer.” The Cop turned to Ms. Perfect. “He been drinkin while he’s with you?” Being the soul of honesty, she replied, “No, Officer; but I think he had been before he picked me up.” Pierced to the heart by her judgement, Max faced the Officer again. Stonily, the Officer advised, “I see you driving tonight; and I’ll run you in.” Prudence being the better part of valor, Max took him at his word and he and Ms. Perfect enjoyed a socially and physically frigid cab ride back to her home. Not inviting him in, she delivered her ironic encomium, “Thanks for a great Valentine’s Day. Stay away from me and never call me again.” Chastened, Max returned home.

This Valentine’s Day don’t try to top Max’s story! Instead seize the day to demonstrate your love. Here at Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers we offer a tasteful array of jewelry priced from $50 to $50,000; and if you’re thinking diamonds, we hand select each and every one of ours for their beauty. You can’t do better; so check us out on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment. We’ll help you let the “Ms. Perfect” in your life know just how much she means to you. We’re the uncommon jeweler and we’ll do our best to keep you from ‘Maxing Out’.

P.S. If you have diamonds or broken or unworn pieces of jewelry that you would like to sell, come in and we’ll help you establish their market value; and perhaps, we’ll make the best offer to buy them. 

Valentine’s Day

I confess, my head is spinning over St. Valentine. To begin with, there appear to have been more than one sainted Valentine; and the confusion is great enough that St. Valentine was omitted from the ‘Catholic Calendar of Saints’ as revised in 1969. On the other hand, "Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome" is still on the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics. So there is something to the story; but how did Valentine’s Day become a celebration of romance?

A pair of antiquarians, Alban Butler (1756, ‘Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal Saints’) and Francis Douce (1807), attempted to explain Valentine’s day as, perhaps, Christianity’s attempt to co-opt ancient, and dismally pagan, Roman festivals. Butler seems to have fabricated a festival to illustrate his argument, writing, "To abolish the heathens lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls, in honour of their goddess Februata Juno, on the fifteenth of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in billets, given on this day." Half a century later Francis Douce then jumped in and attached Butler’s story to Lupercalia.

Lupercalia was celebrated at about the same time as we celebrate Valentine’s Day, so there is a certain ‘post hoc’ synergy to the claim. For those of you who’ve never heard of it, it was described by Plutarch, born (for those of you who saw the great PBS series) during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius, as follows. “Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea.  At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs.  And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.”  That doesn’t sound much like our Valentine’s Day, to me; so I think this makes the Butler/Douce story just another great story ruined by an eye-witness - except for one thing. It became a popular myth. In fact, it was one I learned in my (long ago) childhood. So where is the romance?

It may go back to Geoffery Chaucer and his ‘Parlement of Foules”, and no, it’s not about fouls or fools, it’s about love birds - royal ones.  As a good soldier of Edward III (during the 100 years war), an officer of John of Gaunt (the king was a minor) and a recognized man of letters, Chaucer was called upon to write a poem to honor the first anniversary of Richard IIs engagement to Anne of Bohemia (both were 15 when they married). The telling lines follow: “ For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.” Of course, English hadn’t been standardized in Chaucer’s day so perhaps you’d like a translation - “For this was Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird comes to choose his mate.” Now as the engagement had taken place in May, 1381, that left February out of the running - but not Saint Valentine - no, not the one buried buried at the Via Flaminia, the one who had been the bishop of Genoa.  In the liturgical calendar of Chaucer’s day May 2 was the saints’ day for Valentine of Genoa (circa A.D. 300); and in some way, this does connect ‘Valentine’s Day’ with romantic love, and who knows, perhaps (with an apology to the Bard) all’s well that ends well. All, however, did not end happily for Richard and Anne.

Perhaps they could have used a little lupercalia magic, as their marriage produced no heirs. This led to a clouded line of succession to the English throne resulting, in the 1450s, in the Wars of the Roses fought between two ‘cadet’ lines of inheritance - the house of York and the house of Lancaster. While this has little to do with romance (but Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’ has its moments - with a politic leer or two), it may be worth noting that while the English were fighting it out, one of the House of York’s collateral relatives, Mary of Burgundy, was being romanced by many; and she finally accepted, with the gift of the first diamond engagement ring we know of, the marriage offer of Archduke Maximilian of Austria.  A man of the moment, the Archduke’s diamond had probably been polished in Mary’s estates on equipment that had been invented (and patented!) less than four years earlier.

We love Valentine’s Day.  This year we’ve made a special connection with Shamrock Gardens Florist in Riverside, Illinois, to make your Valentine’s gift even better; come in and learn about it after you’ve bought that perfect Valentine’s Day gift.  Remember, our diamonds and our diamond jewelry have been carefully crafted for lasting beauty; so check us out on line at hurstsberwnjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment to select the perfect piece for you. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers, an uncommon jeweler. 

P.S. If you have diamonds or broken or unworn pieces of jewelry that you would like to sell, come in and we’ll help you establish their market value; and perhaps, we’ll make the best offer to buy them.

Back at Work

Wow!  Between the Christmas rush (up about 15% from last December) and vacations I've been 'out of action.

Kathy and I went to London & Paris in January (snow & rain - but no crowds) for a little 'R&R'.  For me that meant museums, for Kathy it meant fine dining and shopping (Ralph Lauren on sale at Harrod's, January sales in Paris).  In the course of our visit we stayed in posh neighborhoods in both capitals, so one would think that the prices/services value equation would be similar.  Such was not the case.  Paris was significantly more expensive than London and I can only attribute this to an over valued 'Euro'.

Turning from the macro to the micro, South Kensington was a wonderful place to stay in London.  If you don't know it, it's home to 3 major museums, Royal Albert Hall and (of course) Harrod's.  We managed to find a very nice boutique hotel within a 10 minute walk of all of the above and only a 2 minute walk to the 'tube'.  In addition, there were an abundance of dining venues ranging from 'Patisserie Valerie' (great breakfasts and 'goodies'), cozy pubs (iconic English food & beer) and an easy commute to one or more of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants.  I have to say that Ramsay knows 'small business' is all about the client.  I was impressed by the hallmarks of good service I witnessed, not only in the wait staff but by the bartender (drinks were mixed and then - hygienically - sampled for quality before they were served) and the sommelier (she listened to carefully to my wife's taste in wine that the 1/2 bottle we were served - o.k., we're a couple of light weights - was so perfect that I had to fight her for every drop).  Since we were in the 'inner zone' of the London 'tube' system it was also an easy commute to Trafalger Square and its attractions as well as the London theater district.

For the novelty of it all, we took 'Eurostar' under the channel to Paris and found the trip to be easy (about 2 1/2 hours) and comfortable - if not particularly scenic.   Once we arrived at the Gare du Nord, it was easy to take the Metro (less expensive than the tube and a good value in Paris) to our hotel in St. Germain.  Very different from our London hotel (smaller), but the staff was congenial and helpful and we were in easy walking distance from the Musee d'Orsay, the Louvre and Notre Dame.  As we'd never been to Paris before, this was very much a museum driven visit - as it developed, a staggering task.  I think that it would have taken us 3 full days to see the Musee d'Orsay and easily twice as long to see the Louvre - but we did our best.  Kathy found Notre Dame inspiring; and with that, I'll refer you to  'Back from vacation'.

Back from vacation

This is Kathy at Notre Dame.  She was unaware of the photo until I showed it to her on our return.  I'm not sure what she was communicating, but her sincerity is unquestionable.

We visited London and Paris on this trip and now we're back at work; so pick up on my views on Valentine's Day