Deja Vu in Dijon

Caveua de Mosigny. Chico was unimpressed - he crapped in the wine cellar

DIJON -- We pulled into Dijon late Tuesday afternoon and went straight to a hotel Toni and I had stayed in years ago - the Hotel Wilson (named for US President Woodrow and located conveniently on Place de Wilson - apparently the good people of the land of mustard have an enduring admiration and appreciation for our 28th president).

We enjoyed Dijon back then, and found it just as enjoyable and attractive this time around. It's in the heart of Burgundy, which is prime wine producing region and we sampled the local fare extensively, even stopping at a vineyard called Caveau de Mosigny, which Hubert highly recommend (he even thought he might know someone who used to work there but the manager on duty surmised the guy must have died years ago since Hubert met him in the 1970s and he was pushing 70 then). Dinner that night at an aptly-named place called L'escargot, which is another staple of the Burgundy economy, and we feasted on that local delicacy as well.

If it's Tuesday, it must be...

BRUSSELS, Belgium - We arrived this morning in Belgium and after only a slight bit of panic retrieved our luggage and Chico. Chico was only casually examined by the friendly customs people (more for their amusement than any real regulatory issues), and his paperwork checked out fine.

After clearing customs, we were promptly met by Hubert and Elizabeth - with two cars! One of them, a BMW SUV is to be ours for the year, and after a quick breakfast at the airport hotel, we loaded her up and hit the road. Our target destination: Dijon, home of the famous mustard

Check in at JFK

That's Toni behind the mountain of bags. Actually, not too bad all things considered. Chico is banished from the cabin and will ride underneath with the unwashed masses of other canines.

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Rotary meeting in NYC

My good friend and fellow Rotarian 'New York' Steve hosted me at his club's meeting. Held at the posh Harvard Club, the New York club is the 6th oldest in the world and a eclectic bunch of wily old timers and feisty up and comer New Yorkers. The guest speakers on this day thrilled the crowd with their story of starting a company that develops a product to address sexual satisfaction in women. Steve and I both volunteered to perform field testing on their behalf.

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Giusti girls at the Plaza

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Worcester boys trek to NYC for the send off

Good to see the boys from Worcester in the Big Apple

NEW YORK, NY - The home boys from Worcester made the trip to the Big Apple for our final weekend in the US. Wentz and Moses - never ones to shy away from a memorable drinking experience - took the opportunity to crash with Wentz's nephew Garrett. The three of them managed to help me high jack Ed from Philly, who was also in town with his wife and kids for the send off (much to Kathy's chagrin) for a tour of the city, culminating with a strong session at McSorley's.
Garrett couldn't answer the bell for Round Two on Sunday and Ed judiciously decided at day in Central Park with his wife and son was a prudent move. So the Worcester boys carried on as a trio...

Worcester meets Philly in NYC

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Chico does New York

Chico got into full tourist mode during our weekend trip to the Big Apple. Plenty of strange smells and hydrants to keep him occupied, and we managed to sneak into a few establishments, although attempts to pass him off as a seeing eye dog failed miserably. He even enjoyed the subway rides, avoiding paying the fares by walking backwards through the turnstiles to make it look like he was exiting. Don't let that "I heart NY" t shirt fool you - he's a wily New Yorker at heart.
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Brooklyn: Don't knock it til you try it

BROOKLYN, NY - Our first stop en route to our new life in France was New York, New York; the Big Apple, the city so big they had to name it twice...sort of. We actually had the great pleasure of staying 'across the bridge' in Brooklyn, thanks to our new friends and home exchange partners Jen and Stephan (and their two boys, Maceo and Van).

The family (minus Maceo) stayed with us in TCI earlier this year when they came for a friend's wedding. We hadn't met them before but had connected with them on Home Exchange. It was bit of an unorthodox home exchange as we were still at home when they wanted to stay at our house, but Jen and Stephan didn't seem to mind sharing our digs and the girls got a kick out of hanging with baby Van, a kid brother for a few days.

Stephan (left) and Jen are very talented musicians and have jammed with the Boss

Jen and Stephan returned the favor when we needed place to crash en route to France. They have a great townhouse in Brooklyn, which I have to admit I had never been to before. We were pleasantly surprised (we shouldn't have been surprised since Jen and Stephan had talked it up so much when they visited us, even showering us with Brooklyn based gifts and paraphenelia - including, would you believe, wine?). On top of a super cool and eclectic neighborhood, and easy transport into the 'city', their place afforded us some much needed 'spread out' room to get our 8-suitcase packing strategy refined. Plus, it's pretty close to JFK, which made life easier.

Jen and Stephan were the perfect hosts (although Stephan had to head out to a gig in California while were there). They are both extremely talented musicians - Jen, a folk style singer whose dad was the great Harry Chapin, and Stephan a bassist in a jazz trio. Their home was large and comfortable, and we even got to meet two of their other friends who were visiting from North Carolina.

As part of their profession, they travel 'heavy' quite bit so they could identify with and advise on our suitcase challenges (perhaps not the additional challenge Chico presents). I'm just glad we didn't have to travel with Stephan's bass!

Stephan and his traveling bass

Jen and Stephan's place gave us a great base to launch our European adventure from, but more importantly, helped us to get to know two great friends (and two super kids) even better. Hopefully, we'll see them on tour some day - maybe even in France!