Paris Pastry

Check out Susan Hochbaum's homage to Paris' pastries!

We didn't try all of these pastries when we were in town so we'll have something to do when we next visit!

From 2009-04-18

Very sad news...

From 2009-04-27

Stephen Bacon was our first guest when we were in our Paris apartment. I knew Stephen for more than 15 years and also knew of his heart condition. In September, when I was back in Paris for a short visit, I tried contacting Stephen but couldn't reach him. My worst fears were realized when a Google search turned up this article. We're both going to miss him. He was a great friend.

Englishman's search for a heart touches hearts in Cleveland

by Regina Brett
October 9, 2009


This is a story about the search for a heart.

It brought a man from England to America.

Stephen Bacon traveled from Cambridge to Cleveland to get a new heart. He ran out of options back home. His insurance was no good here, but he was ready to pay the price: $400,000 for a transplant. He wanted to live.

His mother died of the heart condition she had passed on to him. The degenerative muscle condition left him with a pacemaker at age 19.

He sold his computer business. He was too weak to continue. When doctors in England declared him too medically complicated for a transplant, he hopped a plane.

The English patient arrived on Sept. 18, 2007, at the InterContinental Hotel with two suitcases and some phone numbers of Clevelanders from his British friends.

It took a while to warm to Cleveland, Ohio. He didn't know a soul. It wasn't quite as cosmopolitan as London.

Cleveland embraced him. Jane Buder Shapiro heard about Stephen from a high school friend. Jane and her husband, Eric, invited Stephen to dinner. It wasn't long before he moved into their home for a few months.

He took up residence in their lives and, soon, in the hearts of all their friends. Stephen was a delicate house guest on and off, a quiet, disciplined spirit who talked politics and movies, cooking and food. He enhanced every conversation, meal and waiting room at the Cleveland Clinic with his dry humor.

A community formed around him. At first, he compared every American custom or culture to the better ways of the British. Then, he fell in love with America. He engaged in lively debates about politics while making gourmet meals of Asian eggs with oyster sauce, pot stickers or homemade ravioli.

There was no one he didn't befriend. He made everywhere his home, resting his giant feet on coffee tables all over Cleveland. He was interested in everything, always analyzing, always questioning, always wondering what you thought.

He never dwelled on being ill, and was fond of saying, "If you have to be ill, you might as well be ill with something doctors are interested in."

When he first arrived, he thought it would take six months to get a heart. But he was too healthy to make the top of the transplant list. A year passed, then another. He became too sick to get a heart.

This is the story about the heart he left behind.

His two years in Cleveland were the happiest in his life. He went back to England on Sept. 9 for medical tests. He had to have so many procedures; he figured he could get them done there under the national health care system. He needed to save his money for the new heart.

He never gave in to self-pity or fear. With every setback, he moved forward, practical, but expecting the best. Every obstacle was another opportunity.

He planned to return for the holidays and had a ticket to come back Dec. 15 to celebrate Hanukah and New Year's Eve with his American family.

Stephen's heart wouldn't last. When Jane got the news, she hopped a plane to England. She sat by his bedside as the respirator struggled. She was with Stephen when he took his last breath. He died on Sept. 26. He was 47.

At his memorial, they compared him to the Tin Man. Instead of Oz, Stephen ended up in Cleveland seeking a heart, but the message from the Wizard still fit: "A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others."

Stephen's journey didn't end the way he had hoped.

He never got a new heart, but he left a part of his here, transplanted into the lives of all who loved him.

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Vous êtes américain?

I went to McDonald’s this morning to get on their free wireless since our hotel’s wireless is “en panne” (broken). As we walked to our table an elderly lady asked us “Vous êtes américain?” - “You are Americans?”. I said “oui” and she gave us both a big thumbs-up. This was just one example of how welcome I have always felt in France.

Yesterday, while we were in a bistro down the road from our hotel we made a little mistake at our table during ordering and I said to the waiter in French “Nous sommes américain” – We are Americans – as a way to poke fun at the mistake we just made. The waiter, with a huge grin on his face, replied in French “Oui, j’ai vu” - “I noticed”. Talk about funny.

My point is simply that by using a few words of French and remembering that I’m in a different country and therefore everyday customs may be different has really made my trips to France delightful. Here’s a concrete example of remembering that customs can be different…

Je vous ecoute! I’m listening to you!

A few times I have been in a shop or the bakery and the person serving me looks at me and says “Je vous ecoute!” If you directly translate this into English you get: I am listening to you. Now, the first time I heard this, I was a little bit surprised and mildly insulted. In all honesty, I felt that if I was in the US and someone in a shop addressed me in this way I would walk out. However, I noted it happening to French people – not just me the American – and it happened in different situations to me around Paris. I finally realized that the literal translation was not really accurate. What the person was really communicating was: “I am at your service – you have my attention”. The fact that I was being addressed formally (“vous”) is what started to tip me off. In French, you are normally addressed formally if you are a parent (by your children), someone you have recently met, if you are older than the person that is talking to you or if you are being served by someone. My light bulb moment was realizing that rather than the person being surly they were actually being formal with me.

My “bad” experiences in Paris have been no different than my “bad” experiences in Manhattan but they are experiences nonetheless!

Windows Café to build buzz in Paris

Well, there you have it! Microsoft is building a café in Paris. Guess where?

Windows Café will open on Oct. 22, the Windows 7 launch date. One report said it will be in the crowded Châtelet-Les Halles metro station.

If you've been to Les Halles you know it is a very crowded metro station. The article doesn't quite explain if the café is on the metro platform itself, up the escalators or in the Les Halles shopping center. If you've been to Les Halles you know they already have a very busy Starbucks right beside the UGC cinemas (Cine Cite Les Halles) so they might have some competition. That said, I guess this is all about trying out Windows7 versus having a coffee.

I wonder how long Microsoft plans to run the café? Maybe if I could get that gig I'd consider moving back to Microsoft! Paris here I come?!

Sunday Market Entertainment

This mime was entertaining the crowd at the Sunday market on rue Poncelet in the 17th in Paris on Sunday. I've always enjoyed visiting - and buying things - at these markets as everything is so fresh. Having the additional entertainment is always a bonus especially for the little kiddies who are tagging along with their parents.

This market has a very famous cheese shop on it - Alléosse, the only Parisian cheese maker to own his cheese-aging cellars in Paris’s underground. This is my friend Stephen's favorite cheese shop - the one he took us to during his visit in April. Turns out the hotel I am at this week for business is literally around the corner from this market - a nice coincedence.

Spice search

While we were in Paris we came across a variety of spices in spice shops and at the local supermarkets.

Bouquet de Provence is a favorite that we added to vegetables and other dishes to give a different yet unique flavoring. Yesterday I managed to find some more at the Franprix and added it to my supplies to bring back home. It's just one of the many things on my re-supply shopping list. Too bad I can't bring back a few cases of wine!

Je suis retourné à Paris!

I have returned to Paris! Just for a week - on business - and without Kathie (pauvre Kathie). She's enjoying the +30C weather in southern California with our son Jake. I'm staying at a nice hotel just down from the Arc de Triomphe in the 8th district.

I'm looking forward to a walk around the quartier this evening and a croissant and café crème tomorrow morning. It's great to be back!