I have not done a blog for a while, but our recent trip inspired me to write this.  Join me for this journey. Hope you enjoy!

Our Summer Journey…

Columbus, Canton and Cleveland

We had planned this trip three years ago but our plans were derailed by my cancer diagnosis. It has always been on Jeff’s bucket list to visit Rabbi Howard and Linda Zack  in Columbus Ohio and see  our good friends Ron and Deanna in Cleveland.

            Our trip began with a pleasant flight, non stop, to Columbus Ohio. When we are on a relatively short flight, compared to our hours-long treks to Europe or Israel, it is a breeze by comparison. We stayed near the airport at the Staybridge Inn which is part of our IHG hotel group. We love this hotel family for many reasons, one of which is that we get free points to use which are never blacked out. We gave up trying to save airline points years ago because they never worked out. We get free nights all the time and have used them all over including our annual stay at the Crown Plaza on the beach in Tel Aviv and even at the Intercontinental Hotel in Paris!

            We called the Rabbi and Linda when we arrived and arranged to meet in the evening to go out for ice cream. They picked us up at our hotel which was not far from where they live in Bexley.  Rabbi Howard and Linda Zack were at Beth Jacob for sixteen years. They were “kids” when they came to Oakland as we were their first major pulpit. We were instrumental in helping them get settled in our community and developed an especially close relationship with them for a number of reasons. I was  very active at Beth Jacob and President for two years and worked closely with the Rabbi. I acted as a surrogate mom for Linda when her own mom couldn’t be here, notably being at her house when she came home with each of her three daughters. Linda remembers this fondly. Linda taught our three daughters in religious school and was important in their lives as well.

            These years were critical for our community. Beth Jacob grew and thrived. We became a center for Orthodox Judaism on the west coast and Rabbi and Linda set the bar for the wonderful rabbis who followed.  From Oakland they moved to Bexley Ohio. Jeff and I fell in love with this picturesque place. The homes in their neighborhood are lovely, sprawling, many with big lawns. It reminded us of Mayberry, USA. We even ventured into a real estate office, noting we could get a beautiful home for far less than our crazy Bay Area prices.

            We visited the Rabbi at his synagogue and asked many questions about their community. This synagogue had started in a storefront until it had grown large enough to undertake an impressive building project.  The exterior of the building is Jerusalem stone. The interior is modern but has a certain old world elegance with a stunning chandelier and rich colors in the sanctuary. The design is unique and impressive. It was fun to have lunch at the only kosher lunch place in town, the employee dining room of the Schottenstein offices. The Schottenstein family is extremely well known in Ohio and the whole Jewish world and are members of Rabbi Zack’s shul. Their name is everywhere including at Ohio State which is in Columbus.  The  cafeteria had an impressive array of food. One can have either a dairy or meat meal. It was a “treat” for me to order a hamburger!

            Later in the afternoon, Linda took us on a drive around town. Columbus, despite being the capitol of Ohio, seems to have less traffic than the Bay Area. Linda, who by the way still looks like she did when she arrived in Oakland, has done interesting work as a lawyer and teaches classes in the community. The Rabbi almost looks the same too except for the little bit of gray in his beard! Over dinner at the Zack’s lovely home, we caught up on all the “girls,” their three and our three, and of course there were i-Phone pics shared of our grandchildren. It was great spending time with them.

            From Columbus we rented a car and headed to Canton Ohio. Our goal stopping in Canton was the Football Hall of Fame. Jeff was like a little kid there and enjoyed every minute of it. We saw the bronze bust of our favorite football team owner, Al Davis! It was interesting learning about the early history of the game and seeing the first headgear and uniforms and tracing the evolution of pro football.

            From Canton, (thank goodness for the i-Phone google map feature,) we headed to Cleveland. We were excited to see our good friends who used to live in Oakland. We drove to their home in Highland Heights passing houses with large swaths of lawns  and patches of tall trees in front and back. I love to see how people live in other places. It was very green everywhere and though we were expecting humidity, the weather was pleasant. Jeff and Ron were roommates and Jeff gets credit for introducing Ron to Deanna. We were both celebrating 46 years of marriage and friendship.

            Ron and Deanna live in a spacious townhouse. They have the cutest dog, Sophie, who is more like a person than a dog. Confession…I am not much of a dog person but Sophie isn’t really much like a dog. This cute pure bred Havanese does all kinds of tricks and does not shed. She gets VIP treatment from Deanna and has quite a reputation in the community. Sophie goes all over to hospitals to visit patients, including children being treated for cancer, and seniors in convalescent hospitals. She completed special training and is gentle and very smart. I could see how she could cheer up patients. We really enjoyed being around her.

            Friday evening when we arrived we had Shabbat dinner with their good friends. By the end of the evening we were comfortable like old buddies, laughing and sharing stories. Saturday we visited a botanic garden. Sunday morning Jeff and I headed to the Maltz Museum, the Jewish museum of Cleveland. We especially enjoyed the stories of Jewish immigrants  settling in  Cleveland.

 Sunday afternoon we headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This large building has six floor of displays  and exhibitions. We meandered through it watching several films, listening to music along the way and seeing favorite rock stars and bands. We noticed a featured album in a display of the 1960’s flower power era, from our favorite rock star, Neska.  We then went to meet our son in law’s aunt Marilyn and Uncle David for dinner who live in Cleveland. Of course they knew Ron and Deanna…It’s a small world!

Bedford

The next morning we piled in the car we had rented heading to Shanksville PA. We were going to the Flight 93 memorial. Ironically, the cataclysmic events of 9/11 became a leitmotif of our journey. We had to make a detour for a Subway tuna sandwich which we found after a few wrong turns then got back on the freeway.After close to three hours of driving, we got to the Flight 93  Memorial passing old farmhouses, small towns, some adorned with  American and Confederate flags and following signs on a long and curvy road. The memorial  visitor’s center and museum is a stark concrete building which contains the photos and stories of the brave passengers who diverted the plane from its path and  told the story of that fateful day, September 11, 2001. 

 This jet liner was one of four which were hijacked, two crashing in to the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and this one was meant to  crash in Washington DC. This  plane crashed into an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania in the Laurel Highlands. The 40 passengers and crew of Flight 93 had found out from phone calls about the planes which hit the World Trade Center. They figured out  this was part of a larger plot, and they quickly developed a plan to try to take back the plane. They succeeded in this effort, but, unfortunately, lost their lives.

 I was struck by the phone messages of a few of the passengers and crew. They were calm and told their loved ones about the hijacking, where to find documents and that they loved them. It made me think of what I would have said in that moment.  Those words were chilling. The first morning news reports from Katie Couric and Matt Lauer  were running which reported the  initial crash of the plane hitting the World Trade Center. Who knew at that moment how the world would forever change?

There is a viewing platform which traced the flight path of the plane. From the platform, one can look down on a peaceful green field. In the distance, a fence blocks anyone but family from going to the actual spot of  impact which is marked by a large boulder. Once again, it was hard to wrap my mind around the events of 9/11 and the confluence of circumstances which had to work for the hijackers  to succeed including learning how to fly a jumbo jet.

After the memorial we headed to Bedford PA where we had reservations at a quaint B and B in a two hundred year old historical house restored by the owners. This place was a bit disappointing. The room was nice enough but the owners were rather stuffy. Jeff, who is a breakfast person, was not excited by the breakfast and had to eat part of mine or he would have been left hungry. The town itself did not have much going on. The owner of the B and B told us to go to a restaurant he raved about but it was a bust. We are spoiled by what we can get in the Bay Area. There were some amazing historical homes which we discovered on an early morning walk. One of our favorite things to do is go exploring on foot wherever we find ourselves.

Washington DC

Our next stop was Washington DC. We got on the road in the morning for the 2 ½ hour drive to DC. Our car ride was fun with the four of us chatting back and forth about a variety of topics and having a few good laughs. There was a light rain, probably remnants of hurricane Harvey,  and when we arrived at the Capitol Hill Hotel the rain was coming down fairly hard. I had found this hotel from a recommendation on Trip Advisor. I really liked it. The rooms were comfortable, great L’Occitane amenities, and a friendly staff. We parked in front of the hotel and dropped off our luggage. I wish I could learn to pack like some of my friends with just carry-ons but I have not mastered this yet. We checked in and left our luggage then maneuvered to drop off the rental which turned out to be at the close by Union Station in their parking garage. After a few wrong turns, we found the right way in and left the car. 

We grabbed a cab and went to the museum I had scouted out for this afternoon, the Newseum. Ironically there was an article the next day  in the Washington Post that this museum is having financial difficulties. I was so glad we could see it. It was quite fascinating and traced the history of newspapers, showed newspapers from around the world, and had historical papers from important days. For example, there was a newspaper relating the events of Krystalnacht, in November of 1938. We spent around three hours there looking at the different exhibits. There was a fascinating display of iconic photographs, all Pulitzer Prize winners. We watched a number of short videos as well.

Following this museum, Jeff and I headed to a restaurant where we were going to meet my cousin Harriet, her husband Harvey and their daughter Robin. Since we got to the restaurant, Zantinya, too early we headed across the street to the National Portrait Museum. We cruised in there for a half hour until our feet and my twitschy back were ready for a rest. We hustled back across the street in a light rain. This restaurant was bustling. It was Mediterranean serving a large variety of small plates. It was great seeing my cousin and family and catching up. We headed back to the hotel.

The next morning was sunny and beautiful. The hotel offered a substantial breakfast though it was labeled as” Continental”, it was more than that. Jeff and I get up really early so after breakfast we took off walking. Ron and Deanna would meet us later at the museum I had booked for us months ago. Let me say there is something thrilling about being in DC. Despite all the uncertainty and concerns about the direction our government is going in, seeing the Capitol in the early morning light is awe inspiring. I was struck by the number of armed soldiers, barricades and police everywhere. We walked to Kamala Harris’ office thinking we might get a pass to see the Senate in action. The Senate was still in recess and she was not in her office (she was in Oakland for a town meeting). We got the passes but did not use them.

            From there we walked to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. This museum is one of the hottest tickets in town right now and I got free tickets months ago by getting on line at 6AM on the day the tickets were available. Then I was put in a queue and ordered the tickets with a specific entrance time. Our friends met us in front of the museum and we joined hundreds of people to tour the museum. There were three lower floors which traced the history of slavery. There is a tremendous amount of history to absorb and this is a museum one can spend days, not just hours. I always try to get the flavor even if I don’t read every word of every exhibit.  I saw exhibits depicting the painful stories of the slaves wrenched from their homes in Africa, families brutally torn apart on the auction block, and the economic ramifications for slavery. The conflicts of our founding fathers, some slaveholders themselves, while still espousing human rights was important to consider.

            The history of the early civil rights movements was depicted in large photographic displays and videos as well. We spent most of the time on the first three floors and missed the upper floors. Touring a museum like this requires stamina. I looked around at the African American people in the museum, young and old, wondering what this experience meant to them. I thought of how I felt when I went to the Holocaust Museum in DC on a previous trip or Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

            We took a cab to the White House though we could only see it from a distance. Barricades kept us from going close and we would have had to book a tour in advance. Then Jeff and I went to the American History Museum. I enjoyed seeing the elegant ball gowns of the First Ladies. There is so much to see in DC. The offerings of museums are remarkable, and this is a city I would definitely come back to.

            We met up with Ron and Deanna back at the hotel. They had gone to one of the venerable art museums. Tonight we were going to Chevy Chase to have dinner with my niece Julie, her husband Rusty and her four beautiful  children, ages ten to two. We called Uber to got there. Since I have not used Uber too much, it is a bit of an adventure. Our cab driver got us there driving across town , around a 40 minute trek.

            We had a lovely evening, finding out about their life and work and enjoying the four lively adorable children. My great niece Noa, only seven already “gets” what happened in Charlottesville.  It made me think that this world we are living in can be a scary place for children.

The Big Apple

The next morning we caught an early train to New York. It is fun figuring out where to go and what to do at the rocking train station with people scurrying everywhere. My friend Deanna pointed out there was no security when  we got on the train though there were many armed police around. I had to chuckle to myself in irony when a railroad employee yelled out to us as we were waiting to board, “if you see something, say something.” Oy...

            The three hour train trip was pleasant. I read and closed my eyes a little. Jeff was working on crossword puzzles. We arrived in New York around 10:45AM. The moment you hit the street in New York you feel you are in a different world. There are horns blaring, sirens everywhere, crowds, hustle bustle. You know you are not in Bexley. We took a cab to our hotel in Midtown which was recommended to me by a friend. It was very well located, in walking distance of Central Park, across the street from Carnegie Hall, and not far from Times Square. The rooms were smallish but definitely adequate and this hotel was busy with tourists from all around the world. I heard many languages. 

            We decided to have a quiet afternoon, took a walk in Central Park dodging bike riders and carriages. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit as we were going to the theater in the evening. I chose a kosher restaurant not far from the theater, Mr. Broadway, which was OK. Jeff and I shared a brisket sandwich which was huge. Ron had shwarma which was fair and Deanna had matzoh ball soup. We saw War Paint with two excellent actresses and singers, Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersoll. The show was about a supposed rivalry between two cosmetic empires, headed by Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden. I liked the show but can’t say I loved it. I was surprised that the audience did not dress up at all. I suppose those days are long gone.

            Friday morning we had reservations to see the new 9/11 museum. Outside the large museum  are two enormous reflecting pools, each nearly an acre in size,  which are beautiful and evocative. We paused silently and observed them.  The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of every person who died in the 2001 and the earlier  1993 attack are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools.,…” a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history.”
            The museum is a lot to take in. There are photos of every victim including of course the rescue personnel with bios of them. I read some of them.  It was so sad to read the name of one young woman who perished with her unborn baby. There were twisted steel sculptures and the remnants of a staircase hundreds of survivors used to flee from the towers. Once again we heard recordings and snippets of new briefs. One section had a collection of years of covers of the New Yorker which had the World Trade Center Towers in the background. A mangled fire truck and remnants of shoes and papers were haunting. After a few hours we had all had enough and needed to go out to the air and sun to regroup.

            Our afternoon plan was to go to the Lower East Side to have a tour at the Tenement Museum. First we had to stop at the famous Katz’s Deli. I had cheese blintzes. It is hard to believe the size of the sandwiches! I had looked at my credit card bill on line and by chance saw I was charged $816 for the blintzes. Oops…someone hit the wrong key.( It never hurts to glance over one’s charges). Our tour at the Tenement Museum was called “Shop Life.” Our tour guide was excellent and I found out she was a former history teacher. We loved hearing about the life of immigrants who settled in these crowded streets and  the merchants who had their stores on the lower floors of the tenements. One of the featured merchants we learned about had a kosher butcher shop and he ended up going out of business after a strike by the housewives protesting a price increase.  Another story we heard was a German immigrant who had a pub which was an important meeting place for the community.

            After the tour I spoke with our tour leader in the gift shop. After I complimented her, we spoke about the current political climate with the threat to rescind DACA which was in the news. Her parents were Holocaust survivors and she was born in a DP camp. I told her I was the child of immigrants as well. We both lamented the current state of turmoil that immigrants had to deal with in our country. We were on the same page and had a heartfelt conversation.

            Back to the hotel for a few hours before we were to head to our good friends Russ and Toby Winer who live in New York and invited us for Shabbat dinner. We joined them for Shabbat services in their little shul right near their stunning apartment on Fifth Ave. near NYU where Russ is a professor. We had a few good laughs reminiscing about their time in Oakland. It was a special treat to see their son Andrew and his son Asher. I remember Andrew as a friendly smiling kid and now after years of study,  he is a urologist. However, he has not changed and still is  the cute, friendly and smiling Andrew we knew years ago. We chuckled over his memorable Bar Mitzvah party on a Blue and Gold boat on the bay when we stopped to pick up some fishermen whose boat had capsized. Some things you never forget… and some things don’t change. Russ and Toby are the same wonderful gracious hosts they have always been.

            The next day we spent a quiet morning walking again in Central Park very close to our hotel. In the afternoon we ventured back to the area around NYU. In the evening we went to a terrific comedy club, Stand Up New York in the upper West Side owned by my cousin’s son. It had started to pour and we were lucky we had brought umbrellas.  Gabe Waldman welcomed us and we had some big laughs listening to the four featured up and coming comedians. Then my cousin Celia and her husband Alan met us and we ventured out in the downpour and  found a  Starbucks to sit down and schmooze. Three of my father’s four brothers had settled in New York and Celia is my first cousin. We had fun for the short time we met catching up.

            On Sunday, Ron and Deanna left in the morning and we wandered in the light rain to Rockefeller Center and around the area. The streets even on Sunday morning were packed and we found ourselves in the midst of a lively green and yellow-clad  crowd for a Brazil festival. We were getting tired and made our way back to Times Square where we were going to a matinee before heading to the airport for our flight home.

            This musical was the perfect coda to our trip. We saw Come From Away, the fascinating and inspiring story of the people of Newfoundland, especially in the town of Gander who opened their  hearts and homes to the seven thousand passenger from 39 jets forced to land there on 9/11 when all planes were grounded. The play was so clever with the cast switching roles between the bewildered passengers, to the townspeople and their reactions all on a minimal set. We loved this production.

            Then we returned to our hotel to pick up our luggage and head back to Oakland. What a journey, filled with a variety of museum experiences,  seeing friends and family, sightseeing,  and taking time reflecting about the ramifications of 9/11 and our crazy world today.  I am filled with gratitude that we could do this trip which three years ago was not possible.

A few thoughts on Passover

I am taking a break from Passover preparation. I do love this holiday though it is challenging for my back. Too much standing, as I cook, not to mention the bending in order to get the house ready is  tough, so I try to get off my feet every so often. Yesterday morning Jeff showed me an article from the Chronicle about  the places all over the world where you can go for Passover including Orlando, Scottsdale, Puerto Rico  or how about a kosher for Passover African Safari? (oy!)

Hmmm...that sounds a little tempting...not the safari, but going somewhere without feeling like a slave in Egypt doing all the shopping, cleaning and cooking. One year we were all with Devora and Andy  in Jerusalem which was quite an experience. I got to see some of the pre-Passover customs which are done in a communal fashion. For example, if you wanted to kosher a pot by immersing it in boiling water, you could do a drive by. You  got in your car, then handed your pot to someone  who would drop your pot in a gigantic pot of water on the street, circle around in your car and pick it back up. Then the last morning when the final remnants of the leavened foods had to be burned, there was a smoky pall over the city from the many little fires in every neighborhood. That is something we would never see here in Oakland!

As I prepare the house for Passover, getting rid of the chametz,  I do it in a certain way that I have been doing for years. It puts me in touch with the Jewish women who have prepared their homes for Passover for generations. I remember seeing very old etchings of women cleaning for Passover  in the Jewish museum of Amsterdam.

 My "tradition" is bringing in my housekeeper Vilma and her niece Patty for a day, and the three of us get down and dirty and do a major cleaning. Jeff  brings in the six boxes of our special Passover dishes and utensils which I store in the garage. I chuckle over last year's headlines from the newspapers which cover the dishes. I take out my mother's elegant gold rimmed Rosenthal china that I only use once a year for Seder.  I can't help but think about last year when I had just completed my radiation treatments.  I am filled with gratitude that I can do this holiday preparation even though it is tiring.

It is also a time I think about my mother. She began her Passover preparation a month before the holiday and she did everything, way more than me, from washing the curtains in the bedrooms to polishing the brass doorknobs. Once she turned over her kitchen we would have our meals in the garage. Her Passover Seders were legendary and she had several families who came to her every year treasuring her marvelous food. My mom's matzoh balls were dense, made of matzoh, the size of golf balls. I guess they could be classified as "sinkers." I make my matzoh balls (shhh, don't tell anyone) from one of the boxes I get at Safeway, either Streit's or Manichewitz. They are light, delicious and closer to the size of a  (small) baseball, and definitely "floaters."

The week before Passover I make Jeff crazy. I call it no man's land" because there is not much regular food left, the kitchen is mostly covered for Passover, and Jeff is stuck in a corner in the kitchen trying to figure out what to eat.

The neat thing about this holiday is that every family has its own particular traditions, recipes and interpretations of the customs, but it all seems to work. The important part is gathering around the table with family and friends. My son in law's family has a huge Seder and all the children even the big kids, gets a dollar for finding pieces of  afikomen wrapped in foil hidden all over. My daughter's wonderful father in law, wears a frog hat, has plague finger puppets and has his own funny sayings that he says every year.

This holiday makes us remember, not only the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt, which we are commanded to teach  in every generation, but our own family stories and especially those who are no longer sitting with us at the Seder table. My Uncle Herman used to say the Seder all in Hebrew and us kids thought it took days to finish. My aunt made a special raisin wine for the children. I think of them.  Another relative loved to sing the Passover songs.

Our Seder is a mix of English and Hebrew. One of the best Seder practices I like is if everyone takes the time to bring a little something to share at the Seder, a paragraph even, about some aspect of the story. It is not hard to do with so much available on the internet, just a click away. I learned this from a Seder I went to years ago. It really works well because everyone is more engaged. Our haggadahs are getting worn and the pages where we eat haroset have stains, but I love that too. I suppose I should replace them with something more modern but those books wouldn't feel like "home."  We will be treated this year to Elana and Saul's musical talent!!

I have a special box where I keep the haggadahs and some of the things my daughters made in Hebrew school like decorated matzoh covers as well as the "visual aids" they used to bring to the
Seder. They are precious mementos.  Our Israeli grandchildren are very well versed in the songs and the haggadah which they study in school. They have the week off before Passover as well as during Passover. The entire country, secular and religious, seems to take off and when we were there traffic was crazy as were places to visit like the zoo in Jerusalem. It was filled with families, from Hasidic clans to Ethiopian groups picnicking with Passover food. This was something to see. It was such a mob that I was afraid we would lose one of our kids. Large families "color coded" their children and had them wearing matching shirts. I could understand why.

When Jeff sees me in the midst of all the preparation, he is tempted to go back to Israel for Seder. That might be a plan for next year but I'm sure some part of me would miss all the preparation which puts me in the spirit of the holiday. Happy Passover!!

A Taste of Paris

We are sitting at the airport waiting for our plane to Tel Aviv after wending our way through the maze of custom control then security. It is time to breathe and reflect on the last six days. We had not been to Paris for more than forty years . When we came the first time, we were kids in our twenties. I had blonde hair to my shoulders. I still have the picture of when we left at the airport (Jeff in 70's style plaid pants) with our parents gathered around us saying good bye. Remember the days when your family could bring you to the gate?

 It was my first trip abroad and we were on an American Express two-week blitz through Europe, then we were going to Israel for two weeks.Though some of the sites of Europe were viewed breezing by looking out the bus window, it was a trip I can never forget. We visited London, Rome, Florence, Lucerne and Paris,  a dream come true for me as I had not done very much travel. Our guide told us he was a count and we believed him. He looked a tad aristocratic, albeit a bit run down, but count or not he knew his history.

I’m not sure why in all of our travels over the years we had not been back to Paris. Maybe there was a little of the rumor, ”Parisians are not friendly” or you’ll have to spend $20 for a coke. Anyway we decided to combine Paris this time as we have with other European stops (London, Amsterdam, Madrid) on our way to see our family . It is a great way to adjust to the time and arriving in Israel we are not hit with the full-on jet lag. We had scheduled this trip two years ago but had to cancel because of my cancer treatment so this journey felt like an important milestone.

Because of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, we were a bit apprehensive but didn’t think too much about anything once we got here, caught up in the bustle and magic of this city. There were some armed police around, otherwise we did not notice too much else in the way of security. Perhaps ignorance is bliss… When we took the train to Normandy, I was concerned that there was no security at the train station before getting on the train or metal detectors or anything. However, what caused me a little chill was the blaring of emergency vehicles.That alternating sound of horns  reminds me of every World War II war movie and Nazi nightmare.

I have to say that Paris is a city that is easy to love. First let’s get rid of the notion that Parisians are not friendly. Everyone we met, from waiters to the concierge in our hotel, to people we asked for directions on the street, was friendly. What is very nice here is that there is no overt tipping. Before I could even hand the bellman who brought our bags to the room some Euros, he was out the door. We only had one experience with a cab driver who took us for a “ride”, but that was it.

                For me, the best part of being in Paris is the ability to walk and discover and then walk more. And we did walk. I had my Fitbit on and some days we hit over seven or eight miles. One can’t describe the feeling of stumbling upon a magnificent edifice, hundreds of years old whether it be an ancient cathedral or a humble home with stables in the courtyard hidden behind a wall. In the United States, even our oldest historical sites are “babies’ compared to the buildings here. Our first hotel was near the Notre Dame. We were in awe of the medieval builders and craftsmen who could construct a cathedral without electricity, modern machinery and cranes. We marveled at this over and over.

                Our first day in Paris we took the Hop on Hop off bus to get our bearings. We visited the Eiffel Tower, the ultimate icon of Paris. It is still awe inspiring. The weather was cool and we were glad to have brought the right clothes; long underwear, warm jackets, hats and gloves. That first afternoon we went to the Musee d’Orsay filled with my favorite Impressionist works. I had selected this museum because it was highly recommended by Trip Advisor and much more compact than the Louvre. I find the walking and stopping in museums to be difficult on my back but I did great in this museum. We saw our fill of Manet and Monet; Degas and Pisarro. Jeff, who doesn’t rank museums as his favorite thing to do, thoroughly enjoyed this museum as well.

                On the second day we had a tour of Le Marais, the old Jewish neighborhood, now very artsy and a treasure of old homes, courtyards, captivating history, boutiques and restaurants. By chance the tour was just us and our guide Corey, from the states, now a French citizen, and it was fantastic. We learned about gargoyles and heard stories from when Paris was occupied by the Nazis. A private tour is a real treat and we were able to ask tons of questions. Corey also was interested in finding out about what it means to “keep kosher,” and he had lots of questions for us.

                Paris boasts more than 250 kosher restaurants. Some are falafel or sushi but compare that to the Bay Area were there currently isn’t one kosher restaurant to go to for a good meal. However, we unfortunately picked two bad restaurants, one a kosher Chinese and one a deli. ( How could a hot pastrami sandwich be  bad?)  Anyway, we did enjoy our share of crepes and loved the baguettes, a little sweeter than our sourdough baguettes.

                We took the train to the Normandy area and were met by our private guide Sylvain Kast at the train station in Bayeux. I had found his name on-line and we had him booked two years ago when we cancelled our plans and were glad to finally meet him. We had an intensive nine hour tour of the D-Day beaches, Utah and Omaha as well as the cemetery which was both sad and inspiring. There was much to learn about this historic invasion and once again we could ask many questions of our extremely knowledgeable guide. At the end of a long day, Sylvain dropped us off at our Bed and Breakfast in Bayeux, a very charming home.

We were only a short distance away from an incredible soaring cathedral. Bayeux is an ancient town with evidence of structures like city walls centuries old which we just came upon strolling around. Though there is a famous tapestry here, we missed it as we had to catch the early train back to Paris. Train travel is really pleasant and I had booked our seats on-line very easily.

                Back in Paris, we moved to a fancy hotel (nice to have IHG hotel points!!), the Grand Hotel Intercontinental directly across from the Paris opera building also a magnificent structure with classical statues decorating the outside of the incredible building. It was convenient as well because we walked there from the Gare St. Lazare (train station.) This hotel is in a bustling area surrounded by department stores such as the venerable Galleries Lafayette, that I enjoyed visiting. We had decadent hot dark chocolate at the Linz chocolate shop. There were too many tempting chocolate shops with colorful Easter eggs in the windows and bakeries with pastel shaded macaroons (yum). The Galleries Lafayette had a separate gourmet food store jammed with everything one could imagine; rows of chocolates, pizza, dim sum, a butcher shop, caviar and slabs of lox and refrigerators of ready to eat food for purchase. It was fun to just cruise through the store. The Intercontinental Hotel was elegant, think the Fairmont and very pricey in every way.

                For Shabbat we went to a local Chabad house for dinner. It was located directly on the Champs Elysees. There were many people from all over and Chabad provided a very nice dinner. Saturday morning we walked to the Grand Synagogue of Paris which was close to our hotel. This synagogue is the nearest to a grand cathedral, Jewish variety, that I have ever seen. There were soaring stained glass windows, incredible chandeliers, an enormous sanctuary, a world class cantor and choir who were definitely not California style. There were not many people in attendance, and we decided we way prefer our cozy synagogue on Park Blvd. in Oakland sans cathedral trimmings. Jeff was honored to be called up to the Torah for an Aliyah and the locals at the synagogue were quite friendly. We stayed the first half of the service until the Rabbi started his sermon in French . That afternoon we took a long walk from our hotel down the Champs Elysees up to the Arc de Triomphe, a fitting way to end our trip to Paris.

               Next chapter...our trip to Israel to see our family.