PARIS...LA CHARLOTTE DE L'ISLE

.....FOR THE BEST HOT CHOCOLATE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.

lucky us to be here on a Jeudi when Charlotte de l'isle was open ( Thurs-Sunday 2pm - 7pm ) and when Charlotte herself was available to chat with us a bit.

Double lucky because we learned she plans to move to the country in about 2 years, to, with artist friends, create a place of peace, spirituality and chocolate. She will "translate" chocolate for those who come to learn and, no doubt, continue to make the world a better place. And we will do our best to come back before then and to make tracks to her next venue.

La Charlotte de l'isle

24 rue st louis en l'isle

PARIS...FOODIES DELIGHT

Stumbled onto this great restaurant today...MON VIEIL AMI...where we sat next to another foodie, Kathy from Napa.

We exchanged restaurant recs and websites. Kathy is on an extended vacation until September ( she says" my father thinks I am nuts" .... we think, wow!). her site is www.foodloversodyssey.typepad.com

BONJOUR DE PARIS

...... where we are happily walking and eating our way through a 3 day stay on the Left

Bank.

Today we found a great little restaurant on the Ilse de Saint Louis AND returned as well to Charlotte the best place for cling to the cup ( even when you turn the cup upside down!) hot chocolate in the world.

pics and more to follow soon.

London is...

.....two more images before the aforementioned departure.

While it is typical rainy weather as I write, the days preceeding have been amazingly sunny and all of London savoured it.

London is.....

no not The Twins but.....

...lots of strolling and a good nap here and there for one strollee.

we leave early for Paris tomorrow. i am never sure when and how internet will be available but please keep checking in, there are are five more weeks to this fine jaunt.

london is....

..." on the road again"..well, not exactly, but back on the train. This wee lass has traveled many a train mile. In the above train table shot, Jolie says " she's working it!" ...as, indeed, it appears that she is!

following is the chalet where Dickens wrote a major portion of his novels. It is in Rochester where O. grew up ( singing in the massive cathedral) and where his parents continue to live.

We were all there yesterday to celebrate Margaret and Lynn's 4oth anniversary, the Ruby Anniversary. It was a lovely time and one made especially grand by Lynn's significant improved health. For those of you who know and love Owain's father as we do, this and the pciture above, shoud be reason for a heart swell.

directly above, proof that we are indeed in merry old England....roast beef and yorkshire pud.

the rock stars above are standing on the ancient road to Rome, i.e. the main street of Rochester. When the Romans came to the area they built roads like this to get their miliary around. This one is the road from the port to Rome.

T., Kerry, M and J (and Co.) are standing in front of a 500 yr old church that I was instructed to take a picture of but focused instead on the celebs.

London is...

......a first ride on a merry go round, petting zoo at the big and wonderful London Zoo, petals in the wind and very happy grandparents!

And from London...

...where "Doo Dah" is in love and where "Bomby"?????! is feeling like Rocky at the top of what ever the hell stairs he jogged up at having gotten this picture on the blog.

Anyway, here for the 4 amazingly sunny days of the year. Maybe not, maybe there are more sunny days than that but all of London seems to be out in tee shirts and short, short skirts to celebrate these days.

Our days have been spent with J and M in gorgeous parks - exactly like you think swan swimming, willow lined English parks might be - and walking streets named Regent

Street

Circus

,Marylebone, New Bond, Grovesner, Picadilly Circus,

more and Drury Lane and Baker Street...ah, yes, Watson!

more to follow

Happiness at Teton County Library

Saturday morning was great.  Tashi and almost all ( missing Mt. Holyoke student Thinley) of his family, Stephen Lottridge, who facilitated, and I participated in a lively and, I think, productive community discussion about GNH at the library.  it was well attended, provoked thought and was FUN.

Tashi took the above picture of me that morning wearing the zee bead necklace that he brought me from Bhutan.  The bead has protective properties and is rare.  Look closely, you may see the cat's eyes.

AND NOW OFF FOR LONDON.

PLEASE STAY TUNED DURING THESE 6 WEEKS OF TRAVEL FOR I INTEND TO POST WHEN AND IF POSSIBLE.

And Tonight....JH

two days, two sunsets.  not bad for bedroom windows, eh?  said she with a hugely grateful heart.

SF last look

so, it was good bye yesterday to SF until next year.  

Back now in Jackson, blue skies and white, white mountains.  No complaint! 

 

HAPPINESS ON NPR

WEEK OF MAY 6 - SAVE THE DATE AND TUNE IN!

below is a press release  regarding an interview that Tashi and I did on Gross National Happiness of Bhutan for New Dimensions. it will be on National Public Radio the week of May 6 as well as a free download at www.newdimensions.org from may 6 - may 20.  you can check below to see if and when this program will be available near you.

In Jackson, and I understand it is similar in other places, the program airs Sunday mornings at 10.

you can also check out the book, Gross National Happiness of Bhutan at www.amazon.com. if you click on "look inside" you will get a good idea about the book's contents - photography and text.

i think you may find New Dimensions, both as a radio program and site, enjoyable and thought provoking.

hope it speaks to you!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Friends,

New Dimensions Media is featuring an interview with me on its worldwide
broadcast schedule, in May
"Measuring Our Gross National Happiness with Anne Muller & Tashi Wangchuk"
Hosted by Michael Toms. Program 3286

Here are three ways you may hear this program:

1)  For the week beginning Wednesday, May 6, 2009, New Dimensions Media will
feature this interview heard in over 300 communities on radio stations
around the U.S., and many more around the world including Canada and
Australia.

(To see if there is a station near you where you can hear the program go to
the New Dimensions website).
www.newdimensions.org < http://www.newdimensions.org/>
click on left menu --  Where to Listen.

2)  It can also be heard on New Dimensions' website for two weeks of free
streaming, listening beginning Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

www.newdimensions.org < http://www.newdimensions.org/>
scroll down the homepage and look for  --  Programs of the Week – Free
Listening!

3)  You may download the interview on MP3 from the New Dimensions Media
website for a small fee.  It will be made available as of the first week in
May. Please note this program will remain available as part of the extensive
archives of New Dimensions Media and may be ordered from that point on for a
small charge. It is program 3286

4)  You may find other interviews on the "New Dimensions" website regarding
Personal Transformation or Social Change. Just enter either of those phrases
in their search engine to find them. There are over 800 programs in the New
Dimensions archive.  New Dimensions is working to digitize their entire
archive of over 6000 hours of deep dialogues with hundreds of the most
innovative movers and shakers on the planet on subjects such as health,
spirituality, ecology, and more.  More hours are added to the archive every
month.


Listen to New Dimensions Internet Radio (NDIR).  Six hours of original
programming including the current "flagship" program and gems of timeless
wisdom from the extensive archives heard 24/7.

www.newdimensions.org < http://www.newdimensions.org/>
click on Listen to NDIR now!

SF IS....

....packing to leave.  No cat or mouse left behind.

SF IS....

....Eddie in his condo catching some warm California rays.  

Just checked the weather for Jh - rain, snow, rain, snow and on Weds. when we travel - SNOW.

sigh.

SF IS....

...an Easter bonnet worn by a volunteer at the children's easter egg hunt at Union Street and a morning walk at Chrissy Field with Lauren and Ariel. 

 Photo credit: Ariel, who while protesting "one gets so easily branded" has more than once been irritated at an ever camera toting mama!

SF IS...

...AHA YOGA and Wendy.

The 1 1/2 hour classes are, for me, transporting.  The postures are demanding and require absolute attention be paid.  Each class ends with corpse* pose, a well earned restful pose on one's back, and then a quiet moment seated. This is followed by words very akin to benediction.

Occasionally during this peaceful moment the sun has fallen across this lovely woman, our teacher Wendy, in a way that has demanded a picture be taken.

*there is a proper yoga name for this pose which, even if I could remember it, I couldn't spell it.

SF IS...

.....Gross National Happiness of Bhutan at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum museum store.

Above signing books....left hand in brace because of a very silly bit of yoga at home I was inspired to do recently.   That prevented me from signing even my name very well and  precludes much  more writing here.

the exhibit is The Gift of the Dragon

www.asianart.org

SF IS...

Part of making a life here  - I suppose it could be named settling into a routine  - has been a weekly Saturday morning trip to the Ferry Building Farmers Market.  We generally end up at the door to Slanted Door at 11 am- yes, country folk hours but no less part of a gang crowded there, waiting to get in - and, making our way past those in line to claim their ressies,  "settle" into the bar counter for lunch. 

 This Vietnamese restaurant  is one of the top, top spots for great food in this great food city and perhaps I should not broadcast it but lunch at the bar, albeit early in the day, is a doable thing.

With a couple exceptions- the various fresh veggie stand, the flowers, the tofu stand with silken tofo that I have only tasted in Japan, - our favorites turn out to have...ta da! ...websites.  and you can order, if you wish, and you should,on line.  This is good for us and, if you will trust me on this, great for you too. So here they are with their addresses.

First image - the source for a most wonderful brown rice.  With a pinch only of salt, another scant pinch of sugar, this rice is unlike any you know and..good for you.  Check out www.masaorganics.com

Segundi - Rancho Gordo beans.  Now it is not easy to say that these beans have changed my life so, well, just disregard that I managed to say that.  These beans are heirloom beans, that is to say rare and nearly lost variety of bean from around the world.  And that fact really doesnt matter so much to me as that they are fresh dried bean and there is a fantastic cookbook that is available that has guided me to some super dishes.  Ok, so I shall not go on about bean properties.  But, truly, these beans are so good, the recipes are so good and, well, ok, it is up to you to follow through.  A cool site to check out too.

www.ranchogordo.com

Finally, the stand of G.L Alfieri.

Well, here is where the TOFFEE begins.  It is so good.  Just a bite here and there, yes? Or ...a good bit more when you cant help yourself.  They give out samples infront of the stall and that is the end of will, mine anyway.

But also this is  the source of super, super almond butter.  and it is fresh. That is to say it has not been sitting on the grocery shelf a long time.  The clue at the grocery is the layer of oil on top, lots of oil, lots of age.  It has been a great treat to buy, as needed, this not your grocery shelf almond butter. 

 Only if you know about it and now you do, you can also order apricot pie filling - a taste of summer whole fruit - in the winter.

www.alfierfarms.com

SF IS...

......so many opportunities to learn.  

Because we were here in the city longer than we ever have been, we have had the opportunity to,  what I call, " make a life".  True there are the obvious plusses of San Francisco that we do not have out there on the prairie - the ballet, museums, theatre, great restaurants and the super Ferry Building Farmers Market.  And we most definitely have taken good advantage of those but "making a life" is, for me, having a stimulating daily routine and  learning something.

Above, then, are my teachers during these three months in San Francisco.

Marco, in the first image, opened the door to Italian for both t. and me.  He did this with astounding patience and philosophy and drawings that not only explained the content of the lesson but kept up laughing uproariously at every class.

On the board behind him you can just make out; sapere, volere, potere -  to know, to want, to be able.  Marco, the philosopher, paralleled  these to la vita, la liberta e la vicerca della felicita - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  I'd say no ordinary beginners Italian and bravissimo for that.

The second image is of Steve Snelling.  This talented musician, speaking of patience, seems to have an endless supply of it.  I have been studying jazz piano with Steve and he has been diligently pounding me with theory for which, when I grasp the language, I am intensely grateful.  He is a super teacher, performer, composer and singer with a weekly gig at Sheba Jazz Lounge on Fillmore.  His site is www.dharmajazz.com

Tom, directly above, is one of the teachers at Aha Yoga, an outstanding  yoga studio down on Union Street. www.ahayoga.com  What can I say about Tom that isnt already in the image? Can you believe this pose?  And he was still as a rock! Tom is such a great teacher, such a fine person, such a yogi. 

 I have been going to Aha 3 times a week and even though the class is difficile and the next oldest person has to be 40 years my junior - easily - it has been the glue of "making a life". 

What a privilege to have these opportunities, to have the great teachers!