Who takes Diners Club any more?

Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, London, overlooking Kensington Palace

I am sitting at my desk on the 9th floor of the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, London, overlooking Kensington Palace....

Posted by Ian Mcintosh on Thursday, 17 March 2016

Baptism in Grasse

Aston the adorable chihuahua

Up at 0400 to leave cold, cold Paris to get to sunny Grasse via train, bus, taxi, donkey if necessary. It took until 2pm to finally reach our destination which was to meet a perfumer. Spent a couple of amazing hours with her before we dragged fatigued, hungry bods into the town square where my early evening began with two vital necessities...a brick of chocolate covered nougat and a large coffee. Then along came Aston...the friendly chihuahua and we simply had to have a cuddle!

We were fortunate enough this morning to witness the baptism of children at the 12th century Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Puy.

Each child received a double handful of chilly water from the priest, much to the surprise of most of them. Parents were there with towels and hugs to save the day. The beautiful family ceremony at Grasse in southern France concluded with each child lighting a candle.

Really enjoying strolling about Grasse without a tourist in sight. Surely it is time for the French government to take control of taxi services outside of Paris. The cabbies at the Cannes railway station are in a word 'crooks' - demanding a price before you go anywhere and insisting on cash only. How do they get away with it in this day and age?

- compiled from Ian's Facebook posts

Fun, love and nothing to do in Paris

Wandering about Paris with no particular itinerary in mind is a great way to really get to know this beautiful city.

I was staying at the Cordelia Hotel in Opera at 11 Rue Greffulhe and started my morning stroll by walking a minute down the road to a new restaurant called Boco for a coffee. This is an amazing new concept in economy gournmet food. Leading chefs have contributed favourite dishes which are purchased in glass jars. After selection, your meal is heated and served with thick slices of delicious bread. More on Boco later.

It was Easter in Paris – crisp in the morning, tiny green shoots just beginning to poke out of carefully pruned street trees. Gardens were yet to be planted adding to a rather drab effect – however colour is everywhere if you seek it out.

So, off I go on a five minute walk to the Saint Lazare Train Station which was once upon a time linked to the elegant, Victorian style Hilton Opera Hotel (previously Concorde Opera) next door. Here you will find one of the most beautiful foyers in Paris – go in and have a look. The property was recently taken over by Hilton and I wanted to know if renovations were finished. Sorry, but one floor still to go, I was advised. “This summer we will be finished”. Pity the poor guests who were told that same story last year. The renovated rooms are an improvement, particularly the bathrooms, but the old Victorian style elegance has been lost along the way. That's progress for you. Continuing along Rue Saint-Lazare the first burst of color and rich perfume emerges – beautiful long stemmed roses being whipped out of boxes and pressed into eager hands. These sellers have to move quickly – this mobile streetside “shop” is illegal and the police chase them away on a regular basis. I have to sneak a photograph – everyone is tense and very suspicious.

Across the road and I head into the basement of a department store to be greeted by beautiful girls spinning about on rollerskates handing out promotion sized cups of coffee and chips of chocolate. You have to smile. All of Paris seems to be on sale these days – the country is going through difficult economic times much like Australia.

Even big names like GAP is offering was a whopping 50 per cent off. I move on, heading up to street level and emerging at rue Caumartin. There is a basement Monoprix as you head towards the Printemps department store where you can buy just about anything, including wine. Not that I have ever bought a bottle that impresses me – quite the reverse in fact. Sadly the French have still not heard about screw caps so always take a corkscrew with you. The best advice I can give other than to buy Australian wine (boring I know) is stick with rose. Interestingly the consumption of wine in France is on a downward slide. Look carefully at the streetside cafes and it will be the tourists who are drinking wine. The locals prefer coffee or even Coke.

Anyway, we often use this supermarket – but keep in mind the French have absolutely no idea about speedy check-out. If there are crowds shopping, get set for a long wait. Just want a salad or delicious bread rolls or pastries? Head for the counter on the left hand side before you enter the supermarket.

Things are warming up now – the pale sunlight is finally having an effect. Printemps is turning up the temperature as well – the entire building has turned bright pink in celebration of its 150th anniversary.

Galeries Lafayette (France Tourism)

I march on past Galeries Lafayette towards the Opera House which is sporting the most enormous advertising sign for Miss Dior. The purists will simply gasp in horror at such blatant commercialism – but times, as it said, are tough.

I now decide to head towards Concorde Square via the famed Angelina with its astonishingly beautiful pastries and permanently packed out tea rooms to view this year’s Easter offering. It's called the Belle Epoque Egg which according to the management “shows mouldings, gildings and fine details reminding of the timeless elegance of Angelina. Its Peruvian dark chocolate hull holds dark, milk and white chocolate fish.” Sounds amazing and should be considering the price tag of $30.

You just have to head into these famous tea rooms and choose from the scrummy range of pastries.

Close to Concorde now, I stroll past a motorbike taxi lurking beside a fountain - looks like the traffic can be so bad these days that two wheels are an answer. That certainly is the case in Bangkok. Everywhere shops are enticing me to sample croissants cakes, pastries, chocolate, pies, baguettes. Now hungry, I head for rue de rivoli which is usually so packed with visitors it is best avoided. I enjoy more people spotting sitting at a street-side table enjoying lunch and then head home very pleased with my relaxing morning. Just as I reach the square I am lucky enough to spot a wonderfully iconic Paris moment. With perfect almost theatrical timing as the sun really breaks out, a beautiful girl with long dark hair rushes around the corner of rue saint florentin and falls in the arms of a tall dark stranger. Seemingly oblivious to the hundreds of tourists and motorists milling about (the traffic was shocking that morning) they kiss and hug before she unwinds and disappears as quickly as she had arrived.

Even at her most drab before Spring rejuvenates the scarecrow trees and empty gardens, Paris is still very much for lovers, an walkers.

Five star food in Paris on a tight budget

Can Paris possibly cook up a new new concept in dining for lovers of fine food on a small budget?

The answer is yes, the restaurant is called Boco.

In a nutshell you enter a warm and welcoming environment and choose your meal from an astonishing array of enticing mains followed by an equally long list of yummy deserts and other goodies - all prepared in glass containers called Weck jars. There is also a small but carefully chosen selection of well priced red and white wines which can be puchased by the glass. Our restaurant was at 75 rue des Mathurins, a short walk from the Hotel Cordelia in Opera where we stayed. The restaurant was never overcrowded and the staff charming and helpful. We enjoyed the experience so much we dined there two nights running.

Some of the finest chefs in France have been enlisted to prepare organic gournet delights like marinated mackerel with orange-eggplant caviar, duck with black currant seeds and baked polenta. Brothers Simon and Vincent Ferniot asked five chefs, all with Michelin 3-star credentials and three top pastry chefs to develop the recipes which are revisited twice a year.

Since the first shop opened at Opera the business has expanded into four other areas plus Orly airport. Starters range from Salmon gravlax, black radish salad and potatoes: “a fresh salad of tart apples and survey radish, topped with a few slices of sweet marinated salmon gravlax.” (7.60€). The hardest part of the experience is choosing from the list of mains – for instance Pig simmered, melting polenta with roasted corn: ”The pig slowly simmered in its own juice served with creamy polenta flavored with rosemary. To add a crisp notes we sprinkled with roasted sweet corn kernels” (8.60€).

Garnishes include Eastern carrots, parsnips and celeriac roasted: 
”We cooked these roots with an oriental touch that brings the sun: olive oil, orange, spices and sesame”. Still hungry – the cheeses range from Soft blue Vercors-Sassenage and dried figs: 
”The softest blue cheese and dried figs retained sugar. Marriage tasty but never strong. “
(4.60€). Desserts to die for were headlined by Crème caramel with salted butter 
"A smooth cream with gelling" cold "keeps all the flavor of the farmer cream and organic eggs. The soft caramel grain of salt prevents this dessert too sweet note. A top of the caramel cream." 
(4€). Or, how about Black sesame cream, pistachio crumble 
”It is in its unusual gray livery that sesame cream reveals all the flavors of a delicious praline oriental supported by the fineness of pistachio crumble.” 
(4, 20€). Like a cookie with your coffee? There is plenty to choose from including a Cookie with dark chocolate (3 00 €) and Cookie White Chocolate Hazelnut (3 00€).

So what did it cost for two? Main courses plus bread 20.10€ – drinks 10.40€.

This is a dining experience I can thoroughly recommend. Check out the website for other locations. www.boco.fr

Boco on TripAdvisor

Time Square New York City

You never quite know who you are going to bump into strolling through Time Square in New York - even when it is snowing.

Loving Blacklane Limos

Have to be impressed with the Blacklane limo service. The driver is always on time, vehicles are superb and they keep you informed via phone and email - right down to advising who the driver is and how to contact him if, for instance, you left something in the car.