A "Piper" Kinda Night

Song - The Pied Piper by Crispian St. Peters


Friday night I got to check off one more item on my 100 Things To Do Before I Die list!  Mr. B took me to the Palace Hotel in San Francisco to see Maxfield Parish's 1909 Mural of the "The Pied Piper of Hamelin".

So we had planned this trip several years ago but suddenly the hotel's management decided to auction off the painting and it was taken down off the wall at The Pied Piper Bar & Grill.  After the ownership was deluged with protests, they decided to refurbish the painting and in August of 2013 it was reinstalled!

The beautiful floral arrangement at the hotel's lobby

The stunning garden court

The entrance to the bar with a small bit of the painting showing

SIGH......

"The tale of The Pied Piper dates back to 1284 in the rat-infested town of Hamelin, Germany. The piper was hired by the townsfolk to lure the rats away to the river where they drowned. Upon his return, the townsfolk refused to pay him. Seeking revenge, the man played his pipe again, luring the children from the town, never to be seen again.

Dark stuff.

Enjoy your Manhattan." - From SF Weekley - By Rhys Alvarado

 So after a very yummy cocktail and appetizer we took a cab over to a Basque restaurant where we were meeting some of Mr. B's business friends.  The restaurant happened to be named "Piperade" and therefore the title of my blog - two pipers in one day!

Mr. B and Chef Gerald Hirigoyen

The chef came out mid-meal to see how we were enjoying our dinners.  Mr. B and he got to talking and found out we have Basque friends in common.  Small world and great food!!!


" San Francisco has only one drawback - 'tis hard to leave."
- Rudyard Kipling

Pierre Herme

Yes it really was an incredible croissant! Yesterday morning for breakfast we walked over to Saint-Sulpice and found Pierre Herme's beautiful little shop. They only had 5 croissants left by 11:00am. My friend Sydney got one with rose jam in the center! All I can say is...Yum and we will be back!

Painting Detail

I love the painting detail of this woman's gloves, jewels and lace. I'm normally not into realistic painting but I do appreciate the talent! This was only a small portion of a very large painting.

"Keep good company - that is, go to the Louvre." --Paul Cezanne

Saint-Sulpice

As I walked into the cool church of Saint-Sulpice, I realized that there was a class of art students sketching different views of the churches interior. This is supposedly the largest church in Paris, Notre Dame included and was used in the movie The Da Vinci Code.

Soul Mate

>
Black is still in fashion in Paris....and red hot shoes!


"A shoe has so much more to offer than just to walk". -- Christian Louboutin

100 Things to Do in My Life

Another project that I have been working on is coming up with a list of 100 things I would like to do in my lifetime.  I saw the idea at Karen Walrond's blog www.chookooloonks.com/blog  who was inspired by Mighty Girl (Maggie Mason)  http://www.mightygirl.com/  They both have incredible lists and plenty to say about how to come up with your own list. They were able to sit down and in 2 hours come up with their lists. For me, I need to spend some time mulling over all of the possibilities and see what fits.  You are not allowed to add things that if you don't accomplish, you will feel bad about (like clean the house or losing weight).  You also do not need to complete the list.  They are just ideas and once you write them down, you will find ways of making some if not all of them happen.  They also do not need to be things like going to the other side of the world and doing something outrageous.  Some can just be doing something you may have already done before but just with a different person  (fly fishing with my dad) or multiple times (taking 1,000 photo's of dogs).  I am only up to #16 on my list but everyday I get newly inspired by something and "Ah - that needs to go on my list!" Hope you have fun coming up with your list of 100+ ideas of exciting things to do in your lifetime!

 Here is my list so far -

1. Photograph 1,000 faces
2. Climb Mt. Tallac
3. Stand on the Great Wall of China
4. Eat a Crossant in Paris with my girlfriends
5. Bake cookies with my granddaughter or grandson(some day!)
6. Go to the Smithsonian as an adult
7. Fly fish with Jim in Montana
8. Go to all 50 states
9. Learn conversational French
10. Kiss Jim at the top of the Eiffel tower
11. See Maxfield Parish's Pied Piper at the SF Palace Hotel
12. Travel across the US in an Airstream
13. Go see Mt. Rushmore
14. Visit John Lennon's "Imagine" in Central Park
15. See the rose gardens in England
16 Live in another country for a month