Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais, Le Marais

I found reviews online that lead me to this charming little hotel in the Marais. It looked like something I would appreciate--filled with antiques, chandeliers and Provencal-type furnishings. They also gave me a price break when I inquired about the rates online. This was only a two-night stopover in Paris, so renting an apartment (which is something I prefer, but usually requires a 7-night stay) was not an option.

Too bad Bea wasn't going to be in Paris this weekend. I've gotten used to having a French-speaking cousin beside me all the time that I've become too lazy to learn even a few basic French words (but that's going to change soon!). N'est-ce pas?

 The lobby of Caron de Beaumarchais

The hotel is as quaint as their website and the reviews describe. There were French antiques, daintily-printed wallpaper in the halls, and a beautiful chandelier in our rustic room. The lady at the reception desk was also very  warm and gracious.

The hotel offered free wi-fi unlike some bigger chain hotels that still charge a daily internet fee. B likes alternative-type hotels too, but his taste leans towards modern and retro, while mine is rustic and antique. Watching him connect his laptop in our room though, against flowery drapery and lady-sized furniture, made me think I overdid it this time.

This is a girlie-girl type of hotel--the type I should book when it's a girls' trip, or maybe when I'm with my daughters. Everything was just too...floral and dainty.

The "historic" thing about this hotel is its name; Pierre-Augustine Caron de Beaumarchais is the author of the "Marriage of Figaro" and 'The Barber of Seville". The location of the hotel was also the breeding ground of the revolution. Other than that, the hotel is just a charming theme hotel. Good thing it's in Paris, or it would look contrived.

 Breakfast room
 

The hotel is located right in the Marais, an area I love exploring. We could be out late into the night and just slip back into the hotel. And even when the rest of Paris shuts down on Sundays, shops in the Marais are open and the streets have lots of action. The closest Metro is only 4 blocks away, either at Hotel de Ville or Saint Paul.

I look forward to another trip to Paris, and yet another discovery. I'm glad B is game for anything, and lets me plan everything as I wish, even if it means ending up in an uber-dainty girlie-girl hotel.


Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais
12, rue Vieille du Temple 
75004 Paris

Gas Station Gourmet Meal

On a spontaneous whim, we decided to drive from Las Vegas to San Francisco instead of fly.  B had read that there was still snow in Yosemite and thought it would be nice to surprise the kids with their first snow sighting.  We broke our trip in Mammoth Lakes after 5 and a half hours. The next morning, we continued on to the Bay Area, which was another 5 hours away through Yosemite National Park.

 Tioga Pass is the road that cuts through Yosemite National Park

When the innkeeper at Mammoth Lakes learned we were continuing on to San Francisco, she said she heard Tioga Pass was closed, and to expect a long drive ahead. Tioga Pass cuts through Yosemite National Park and is the quickest way to get from Las Vegas to the Bay Area. 

If the Pass was closed, we'd have to drive up  north and pass another highway, and if that was also closed, we'd have to go even farther north and go through Lake Tahoe. That route would add 3 hours more to our already long drive.  I'm usually very good at planning trips in detail, but I didn't bother for this particular road trip.  I had general directions in my iPhone anyway, and how complicated could it be to just drive west?

It turns out Tioga Pass is only passable from May to November each year.  People who plan a drive through the park during this time of the year monitor the weather very closely because sudden storms prompt the park authorities to close the road. Did we even know that? Of course not--we were being spontaneous, remember? This was mid-May, and it seemed like a beautiful clear day. But inside Yosemite National Park, a mini snowstorm was developing.

At a place called Lee Vining, right before turning left into Tioga Pass, a highway sign confirmed that the Pass was closed.  There was nothing else in sight except for a Mobil gas station on the corner, and the picturesque Mono Lake across from it. We decided to stop at the Mobil mini-mart to ask about possible re-routing options.

We walked into a lot of excitement at the mini-mart.  "You guys are sooo lucky--they just opened the Pass five minutes ago," the man at the counter greeted us.

With a sigh of relief we decided to take it easy, look around and maybe grab some lunch before driving on. 

I checked out the menu--hmm, this was expensive gas station food. We had just had a big breakfast a couple of hours back, maybe a pizza slice or two would be okay.

Just as I was about to order,  B, who had just come from the restroom, said he wanted to order the World Famous Fish Tacos. Huh? Well, okay, he must be hungry. I'll just order something the kids can share too, like the St. Louis Style Baby Back Ribs for $18.95. I wasn't really hungry so I didn't order anything for myself.

We walked over to the dining area near the glass windows facing Mono Lake. On the way there, I admired the watercolors of Yosemite on the walls. I particularly liked this one below except that it was a print and not an original watercolor.

Then our food came. Gasp! When did mini-mart food look like this?

This was the "famous fish tacos" dish that came with a side of mango salsa and refried black beans. I was surprised at how delicious this was, the flavors and textures familiar at the same time, unusual.

The kids attacked the ribs, which were meaty and falling-off-the-bone tender. G loved the potato salad and wanted to order another serving. C enjoyed the "stringy stuff" and in between mouthfuls, kept asking me what it was (she eventually went back to the kitchen and found out it was spaghetti squash). We enjoyed every bite and licked both platters clean.

 

Maybe I'm being too gushy here, but remember we were in a gas station in the middle of a vast expanse of nature with no other establishment in sight.  I really didn't expect this type of food.

It was only when I kept saying I couldn't believe how good the food was that B casually said, "yes, this place is supposed to be quite famous for the food, that's why I wanted to try it." Whaaaat?! He knew? We should've ordered one dish each, if only to try as many dishes as we could!

A number of framed articles dating back to the early 2000's fill the hallway walls at the back of the store, and B had read them on his way to and from the restroom. People who know about the "Mobil gas station mini-mart", which is really named "Whoa Nellie Deli",  make the effort to drive an hour or two from their "nearby" homes to get here. Others who make the cross-state drive regularly also make it a point to stop here for their gourmet fix, and tourists who do some research will be on the lookout for it.

But for us, discovering it was pure serendipity.

We were all happy after this delightful surprise of a meal and we were ready for the upcoming five-hour drive to the Bay Area.   I don't think we'll ever find ourselves on this route again, so I'm glad that the food gods lead us here. I'm also thankful that B had to use the restroom. 

The Mobil minimart looks over Mono lake

Our luck continued. Tioga Pass was passable and we made our way through Yosemite in the mild snowstorm without a hitch. The park was covered with newly-fallen snow, thrilling the kids to no end.  Our road trip was full of exciting surprises that if I were not one of the two-person non-planning committee, I would've thought that this road trip was planned with much effort and thorough research.

Tioga Gas Mart / Whoa Nellie Deli

info@whoanelliedeli.com or 760-647-1088
P.O. Box 253 or 22 Vista Point Road
Lee Vining, CA. 93541

Las Vegas Natural History Museum

This is the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, whose driveway we drove into, by mistake, while looking for the Lied Discovery Center. They are across each other on Las Vegas Boulevard North.

The museum has different sections but the most interesting part for the kids was a recreation of King Tut's tomb. They told me they knew all about Egyptian tombs and embalming because of the book, Beyond the Grave, Book 4 of the  39 Clues series.

G was happy to point out things she knew about, just like these Shabtis here below.

Both G and C love to read and the 39 Clues is one of their favorite series (there are 11 books).

Even if it's a small museum, there's still lots to see and fascinating things to learn about. We spent about 3 hours here.

After going through all the three floors and having a vendo-chip snack in between, we went back again to King Tut's room and went through all the displays all over again.

 
Our last stop was the Young Scientist Center, beside the dinosaur display, where you could play with the displays.

G took notes and wrote down her impressions of everything she saw. C liked the more interactive displays.

I had no idea this place was here, so I was happy to have discovered it by mistake.

Las Vegas Natural History Museum
900 Las Vegas Blvd N.
Las Vegas, NV 89101
(702) 384-3466

http://www.lvnhm.org/

Cafe Gourmand in Paris

I first saw them at Chez Dumonet, where we shared a beef bourgignon and confit de canard, B's most favorite dish in Paris. Our meal ended with regular cafe cremes and we were happy with what we ordered until...

I saw dessert plates on other tables on the way out. On each plate was an empty cup of espresso, with remnants of a macaron, a cookie, a small cake and a little pot of mousse. I was intrigued--what did they order?

Later that evening, I asked Bea about it and described what I had seen at lunchtime.  She said "oh, that's a cafe gourmand--an espresso with a sampling of the restaurant's desserts."  "Really? since when did they serve those things? This is the first time I've seen them! And why didn't you tell me about it?!" She looked at me like, "huh?.." (as in what's all the excitement about?)

Sometimes you don't realize what's commonplace and what's unique in a place where you've lived for a long time. Bea's been in Paris for almost nine years now.

I counted how many more meals we had on this trip. I was going to order a cafe gourmand after each one, and nevermind if I didn't drink espresso.

I had a cafe creme instead of an espresso here

Restaurants have their own versions of cafe gourmand--some more elaborate than the others.  It's a little surprise at the end of the meal because you don't know what you're going to get. Your coffee bill will go from 2 euro to about 8 euro, but it's a small price to pay for non-guilt-inducing, pleasurable dessert.

There Are Places I Remember...

No this is not a travel post. I just need to say I love my iPhone and Draw Something.

The Post Office on Hamilton Street, Palo Alto

On our list of errands was a stop by the post office to mail a gift to New York. The closest one to us was this Hamilton Street branch. I already liked the facade so told the kids to "hold that pose."

Love the grillwork at the top

The last time I was in a US Post Office was at a typically utilitarian one at the Ala Moana shopping mall in Honolulu. I didn't expect this post office to be any different so I was surprised when I walked in and saw this.

I was fascinated with the grills, the exposed wooden beams, the lighting fixtures, and the patterned floor. The PO boxes looked like they were straight from set of a period film.

Original ornate brass PO boxes

The kids were not interested in the interiors and was wondering why I was oohing and aahing, taking pictures of everything. They were more thrilled seeing and experiencing a real working post office.  I don't think they have ever been to the main post office in Makati. Come to think of it, neither have I.

They wasted no time trying to figure out how to use the Priority Mail envelopes and the self-serve station. They weighed their package, wrote the label and then got the rate by punching the zip code into the machine.

Package to Sloatsburg costs...

They could've printed out the stamp and dropped the package right here but they still wanted to talk to a live person and see exactly what a post office clerk does.  I think they also wanted to make sure their package was in good hands, and not just dropped into an impersonal box.

This post office was built in the 1930's by Birge Clark, Palo Alto's first architect. Clark was also responsible for designing many other Palo Alto landmarks, giving the city a cohesive Spanish Revival feel, or something Clark liked to call "early California." 

In the 30's, space was not a premium and lots of people were probably coming in to mail letters and packages, perhaps even socializing here like a community center. But in this age of email plus other alternatives for sending parcels around the country, dedicating all this space to a post office seems like a waste of prime property.

It didn't surprise me then when the post office staff mentioned they were moving to a smaller location sometime soon.

 

The post office experience must've made quite an impression on the kids because when we got home from this trip, they promptly set up a "post office" in their room complete with free envelopes and lots of stamping paraphernalia.

For a couple of weeks they got everyone in the house to write notes to each other,  which they  delivered to the rooms in the evening (for a fee of course, just like in the post office!).

These would look good on my porch trellis

I wonder what will happen to the building when the post office moves out. Would the new tenants preserve the building exactly as is, with grills and light fixtures intact? I look forward to my next trip to see what becomes of this historic building.