Reflections on Paris and London 2018

Two weeks ago the husband and I along with two friends flew out of Washington Dulles to start our 2018 visit to Paris and London.  For me, it was likely the 7th - or more - visit to Paris and like the 5th or sixth visit to London.  My first visits to both cities were back in the 1981-1983 time frame when I was in-house counsel working for an oil company handling various international matters.  Our travel companions, a straight couple, but gay friendly, had never been to either city and were paying our airfare and accommodations in exchange for us planning the trio and serving as tour guides, if you will.  The goal was to show them an amazing time and to also indulge our love for both cities, each of which is a world capital yet so very different in so many ways (both are very LGBT friendly and when we went by London City Hall today, a rainbow flag was flying)

If pushed to choose which city I love more, my vote would go to Paris.  I love the architecture and the way in which the central city has been spared from modern monstrosities or soaring towers which are a total disconnect with the beautiful historic buildings.  London, in contrast is often modern next door to 18th century buildings in part because sections of London were destroyed during the blitz in World War II.  Paris escaped destruction due to the commanding German general's refusal to destroy parts of the city notwithstanding Hitler's orders to do so.

Both cities offer wonderful dining opportunities with London perhaps having more diverse offerings.  But for the nearly 100 miles we walked over the last two weeks - the husband and our travel companions all had apps that measured the amount of their walking - I hate to think how much weight we would have gained.  

In terms of getting around, both cities have amazing mass transits systems that make most American cities look very pathetic at best.  In both cities we bought unlimited 7-day travel cards and we made extensive use of the Metro/Underground systems which make New York City's system look very poorly maintained in comparison.   The train systems for travel outside the cities make Amtrak look positively horrible and the speed at which the trains travel - not counting the Eurostar which is in a class by itself - are amazing.  America could learn a great deal from both the UK and France on how to build remarkable and cost efficient mass transit systems (they could do the same on the issue of healthcare, especially France).

Since this is an LGBT blog, I'd be remiss if I did not mention the local men in each city.  Both being world capitals and deeply involved in the fashion industry, both cities have LOTS of handsome men (and women for female LGBT readers), but the men of Paris, in my opinion are the "hottest" - to quote the husband - and most style conscious.  

If you have never visited either city, I recommend that you do so.  There are economic ways to do so, including looking for discount flights, sharing an apartment with friends, using travel cards as we have to get around freely, and getting a "London Pass" or the "Museum Pass" for Paris which saves a considerable amount of money - the London Pass even got us free rail travel to Windsor Castle.

I'm not sure when I will return to either city, but I suspect I will see both again, especially Paris.  As for blogging tomorrow, we head to the airport in the morning and then need to drive back to Hampton after we arrive in Washington Dulles International.  Post will be sparse at best.

Circa 1918 - A Wonderful Dining Experience

I do not typically write restaurant reviews, but on Saturday evening we went to a relatively new restaurant in Newport News located in the Hilton Village area called Circa 1918. The name comes from the date when Hilton Village - a unique village within the larger city with older homes with wonderful architectural detail and shops and restaurants within walking distance - was first developed. The food and atmosphere were wonderful and the mostly male wait staff is not only attentive but gorgeous to boot. We will definitely go back. It is always a treat to find restaurants that are on a par with those in New York, Key West and other destinations we love to visit right here in our own backyard. Here's a sample of what one reviewer had to say:
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Chad Martin and his team of hospitable professionals have 'created' a tucked away setting on Warwick in the Hilton Village neighborhood of Newport News called Circa 1918. I heard a couple of friends of mine from the industry had found this nice little restaurant that they, as servers and bartenders, could call home. My friends are legends in Newport News fine dining with Meredith Guthrie, Andrew Hyatt and Kip Mullen, who manned the bar as he is known to do so well.
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Creative American cuisine describes the excellent menu, with Crab Cakes and duck, ribeye and crispy salmon. I was tipped off that the fish was going be good. Andrew selected Babich Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, a glass of seafood wine that was perfect for what was coming. Three lines down on the small plate segment was a mussel dish with carrot broth and portugese sausage crumbled in, and the ricotta gnocchi served with the seared Halibut special sounded too good, so the three-man kitchen went to work.
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All of this great food, and the service never slipped. Timing of courses was excellent and every detail was accounted for. . . . From the friendly, professional service to the perfectly executed meal, Circa deserves its kudos. When in Newport News, make Circa 1918 a destination to dine. May your experience be as good as ours.
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I agree totally with the review sentiments and would urge local readers and visitors to the area to check out Circa 1918.

If It Tastes Good, It's in Charlottesville

As regular readers know, I have a long affiliation with Charlottesville, the home of the University of Virginia and now my mother and two of my siblings. In terms of sophistication, Charlottesville has come a long way from what it was like when I first arrived at college more than 35 years ago (there was only one "night club" at the time and restaurants were limited). Now, the city and surrounding Albemarle County have as much going on in terms of arts and culture as far larger cities. True, the area has a lot of New York City, Hollywood and European money - my brother and his wife regularly fox hunt with a German baroness - since it has become fashionable to have a country home in Virginia, but in large measure I believe the liberal and tolerant atmosphere set by the University and non-Virginia natives has fueled much of the transformation. Unfortunately, much of the rest of Virginia has yet to wake up to the fact that diversity and tolerance are key ingrediants for economic and social flowering. As these highlights from today's Washington Post describe, even the restaurant scene is increasingly sophisticated and high quality:

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Revolutionary Soup looks like your average student joint. A bit grungy but cheerful, with a menu of comforting and, more important, cheap soups and sandwiches. Besides the prices, there's nothing cheap about the food at Rev Soup, as the locals affectionately call it. The tofu in the signature spicy Senegalese peanut soup is organic and local, made just 30 miles away in Louisa. The wheat for the homemade biscuits is grown in Virginia and ground at Byrd Mill in Ashland. And diners can pick from an impressive selection of wine bottles for sale at retail prices -- and then open and drink the wine at one of the cafeteria-style tables at no extra cost. "It hurts my margins," admits chef-owner Will Richey, who worked for five years as a sommelier around town. "But I love the idea of people drinking a nice Burgundy with a paper cup of really good soup."

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That way of thinking is typical in Charlottesville. And that's why the food here is far better than it should be in a place with about 40,000 year-round residents and 20,000 broke college kids. True, college towns tend to have a disproportionate number of educated, affluent residents, but even by that standard Charlottesville's food scene stands out. In a city best known for Thomas Jefferson's architecture, there's sushi worthy of Nobu in New York (the chef, Bryan Emperor, trained there), rustic but transcendent tapas, plus all the other things a great food town requires: standout bread, real espresso, artisan chocolate and locally brewed beer. The vibrant city farmers market supplies ambitious local chefs and the community, which, thanks to restaurateurs like Richey, is used to food that's a cut above.

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Not everything in Charlottesville is upscale, and that's part of the charm. There are authentically retro diners, the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar (a hippie-esque tea salon) and, my favorite, Timberlake's Drug Store, whose lunch counter seems to have been frozen in time circa 1940. Besides Revolutionary Soup, the best casual food I tried was a few minutes' drive from downtown, in the Barracks Road Shopping Center. Aromas is a bright Moroccan-inspired cafe that opened here in February after eight years in an old cafeteria close to the university. The space, with its warm red walls and bright watercolors of Marrakech, is much improved, by all accounts, but the food remains as always: fast, fresh and undeniably good.

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Those eateries are just the beginning. Across the board, Charlottesville's food scene is inventive, diverse and brimming with talent. It's enough to give Monticello a run for its money.