Writes of Passage

15 Dock Square
Rockport, MA 01966

Will return.

The decoration could be better but we certainly got the best table in the restaurant. The service is good and the food is even better. The fried Haddock is excellent!

I enjoyed a glass of Sauvignon Blanc Line 39, without any trouble – alcohol wasn’t too welcome in this little town:

In 1856, a gang of 200 women led by Hannah Jumper swept through the town and destroyed anything containing alcohol in what is called “Rockport’s revolt against rum” and banned alcohol from the town. Except for a period in the 1930s, the town remained one of 15 Massachusetts dry towns. The town remained dry for many years until 2005, when it was voted that alcohol could be served at restaurants. Sales at stores were not allowed until March 2019, when a local market was granted a liquor license and began to sell beer and wine.

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Two nice rest stops (without any vendors) are quant and quiet – super nice.

Middletown in Connecticut

Seabrook in NH..

A musical weekend at the Tanglewood in the Berkshires, MA. On Friday, the 9th, we had his violin concerto and Sunday matinee his 6th the Pastoral. A heavenly weekend with wonderful program. This music venue is in the expansion mode: next to the Seiji Ozawa Hall, the Linde Center has just opened in this past June.

Before heading up, we stopped at Innisfree Garden. We hiked the Keystone Arch Bridges Trail on Saturday before the candle night concert, visited Lee, market in Lenox; Stockbridge (with Red Lion Inn) and West Stockbridge (Shaker cafe & bookstore) before the matinee on Sunday – the Pastoral. Shopped at Nejaime’s, market and lunched at  All was great and wonderful, except the traffic nightmare …

Having missed a month, I’m back. The water is dotted with boats …

The Old Opera House
Opernplatz 1,
60313 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

The music is wonderful, so is her performance. Her demeanor is so different from when she was in Shanghai in 2016 when and where she talked to her pianist all the time. The hall looks plusher – did they get a facelift?

Her Mozart night:

1. Violin Concerto No. 2 K.211, D major
2. Violin Concerto No. 3 K.216, G major
3. Symphony N. 1 K.16, E flat major
4. Violin Concerto No. 5 K.219, A major “Turkish”

She gave two encores, one was six minutes long and one was four minutes.

The company that manages or sells the tickets frankfurt-ticket.de is responsive but charges €5 if you don’t print your ticket bec the barcode in the email doesn’t work. What the hick??? Why wastes paper!!!???

52 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis
75010 Paris, France

Will return. Their wine glasses caught my eyes.

It’s on a small street – St. Denis – that’s filled with restaurants and cafes and bars. This one has both indoor and outdoor seatings. We sit inside – I can’t take the smokers. French music. Great food, bread, and great wines. They let you taste the wine first – which is great.

The mozzarella is just simply wonderful. The table next to us – threesome order two -:).

Also they have teas from China – no I didn’t try.

The only down side is – they provide too much bread – I almost eat them all -:) of course it’s their fault ha ha ha

In general I find restaurants, acafes in that matter have less waiting staff and they work very efficiently. They don’t come to chat. They serve and don’t brother you unless you signal them. Well it’s a profession in Europe … working seamlessly is beautiful to watch.

Seen on the Avenue de l’Opéra in Paris. This term or demand isn’t new. If France is out, the EU is over.

Being the big brother isn’t easy, and absorbing their eastern brothers and sisters isn’t easy. Maybe they over extended themselves? Forming the EU isn’t easy either.

German’s two wars had dethroned British dominance in the world. Is the Brexit a payback to the Germans?

Le théâtre musée des Capucines
39 Boulevard des Capucines
75002 Paris, France

My goodness, perfume becomes a hot commodity for the Asians? They don’t even have a habit of using it. The shop at Fragonard Perfume is packed like a refugee camp. Mostly are Indians but a few signs in the small yard are in Chinese only … I’m embarrassed.

Carrousel du Louvre
Address: 107 Rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris, France

The Napoleon’s throne.

MAD is next to Louvre but smaller and much calmer.

We were lucky: it poured while we were inside, that caused some light flood in the area.

… and the exhibit of Chinoiserie, the Europeans’ imagination, imitation and interpretation of Chinese and Eastern Asian. It is rare to see black porcelain; western paintings with Chinese features.

Paris‘ Saint Denis Gate & Saint-Martin Gate (Porte Saint-Denis and Porte Saint Martin) are twins, on Boulevard St Denis, separates by Blvd de Strasbourg, in 10th arrondissement‎. They were both part of the old city wall.

Saint-Martin Gate

Saint Denis Gate

A couple of blocks south on rue St. Martin is the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers / Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts) 国家艺术与音乐学院 / 工艺美术博物馆. Further down is Eglise Church