Road Tips

Shoeless Joe's - Rosemont, IL

Shoeless Joe's in Rosemont, IL is located next to the Best Western O'Hare just north of O'Hare International Airport and next to Allstate Arena (see map).  I'd been hearing ads for the place on sports talk radio stations on my trips into Chicago.  I was in Chicago recently and I was in the neighborhood and it was late in the day.  I was tired, I was thirsty and I was hungry - good combinations for me when I want to relax. 

Shoeless Joe's is named after the former great Chicago White Sox player, Joe Jackson.  The owner, Joe Macchiatelli, opened Shoeless Joe's (along with Butch Navarro) about 12 years ago and the place is filled with a large number of White Sox memorabilia.  It's rather interesting to find a White Sox-themed bar on the northwest side of Chicago. 

Shoeless Joe's is not a huge place, but it has over 30 televisions, along with four projectors and screens, and from what I saw, at least 5 or 6 plasma HD monitors.  They have 25 satellite receivers so they can show virtually any game in any sport at any time. 

I sat at the bar and the bartender was right over.  I took a beer and a menu and watched a couple of the games on the televisions.  Their menu is pretty varied, going from standard bar food like chicken wings, burgers and sandwiches, to steaks, chicken marsala and ribs.  They also serve pizza, too, but I sure didn't see anybody eating one. 

I got the Italian hoagie sandwich - about the only thing that I really miss from Pizza Hut was their hoagie sandwiches.  The one at Shoeless Joe's was similar to the old Italian hoagies I loved to get at Pizza Hut.  It was salami, cappacola and pepperoni on a good sized toasted Italian hoagie bun, topped with mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato slices and Italian dressing.  It came with a load of fries, as well.

The sandwich was very good.  The bread was toasted perfectly, there was a lot of meat and ample toppings.  I thought the Italian dressing was a little weak and I asked the barmaid for some extra dressing.  It didn't help.

I'm not big on fries, but I have to say that the fries at Shoeless Joe's were some of the best fries I've had in quite some time.  They were cooked perfectly.  Light and fluffy, but had a little crispiness to 'em, too.

With four beers and a sandwich, the bill - with tip - came to just over $20 bucks.  They must have had some beer special going on as each beer was just $2.00. 

But Shoeless Joe's was a nice place.  Good food, lots of TV's, good service.  I'll be back.

Restaurant L'Aiguiere - Paris

One of the finest dining experiences I've ever had in my life was our meal the last night we were in France recently.  My boss treated all the North American regional managers to a wonderful dinner at Restaurant L'Aiguiere in Paris. 

The restaurant is located on a sleepy side street near the Place de la Bastille (see map).  It was about a 15 minute walk from our hotel.

Restaurant L'Aiguiere is famous for not only their food, but for their world class collection of fine wine.  The name "L'Aiguiere" is French for "The Ewer" which is the decanter used to store wine at a table.  The owner, Patrick Masbatin, is a master sommelier and well-versed in the vast wine list the restaurant has.

Patrick Masbitin (left)

The restaurant has two levels - the upstairs has a couple of private rooms and a wonderful mezzanine overlooking the main floor.  It isn't very large, but will comforably seat 75 to 80 people.  They're open for lunch through the week and for dinner Monday thru Saturday nights. 

We were seated in a room on the first floor that easily accommodated our group of 10 (two of the guys in our group went down to Corsica to back pack and hike the mountainous island for a couple three days before coming back to North America). 

Monsieur Masbatin welcomed us and told us the building that Restaurant L'Aiguiere was in was the home of the Musketeers, Louis XIII's personal guards.  M. Masbatin said that it is entirely probable that d'Artagnon, the protagonist of Alexandre Dumas' epic novel The Three Musketeers, as well as Isaac de Portau (the real life Porthos), Armand de Sillègue d'Athos d'Autevielle (the real life Athos), and Henri d'Aramitz (the real life Aramis) lived in the building.

I'd always thought that The Three Musketeers was a fictional story, but it turns out that Dumas' book is fiction largely based on fact. 

Anyway, that was kind of a neat beginning to our meal.  We started out with a sweet apertif before ordering our meals.  For the entree, I ordered the foie gras - one of which was a regular piece of duck liver and the other was mixed with salt flower (sea salt).  It was outstanding.  No matter what you animal rights activists may say, I did NOT have any guilt in the least when I ate the foie gras.   

The main course, I was torn between the veal osso-buco stuffed with foie gras and topped with a mushroom cream sauce; and the beef tournedos yella - beef tenderloins topped with a rich red wine sauce on top of a bed of vegetables.  I opted for the tournedos, but my boss, Daniel (who was seated next to me), went for the veal osso-buco. 

I just have to say that while my beef tournedos were absolutely fabulous, Daniel's veal osso-buco was out of this world.  In fact, we ended up just eating off of each other's plate.  We didn't give a shit.  When the food is that good, it's a free-for-all.  We had a lot of fun that night.   

And to end the evening, I had a bourbon based creme brulee with real vanilla.  Oh man!  I just love creme brulee and that was some of the best I'd ever had.  Man, was it great.

And the wine - we had a magnum bottle each of a great French cabernet - a 1999 Mazis-Chambertin Grand-Cru; and a very good French chardonnay - a 2000 Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru.  Even our guy from Winnipeg, who usually doesn't drink white wine, had a glass of the chardonnay and was blown away by the taste.

Before we left, M. Masbatin allowed some of us to take a quick peek of the wine cellar.  It was very impressive, not only because of the selection, but because it was a perfect 55 degrees and 60 percent humidity in the cellar. 

I don't even want to speculate what the final tab was, but I have to say that I was ever so grateful to my boss for the opportunity to eat in a place like Restaurant L'Aiguiere, to have the great food and great wine, and to experience something like that with my colleagues.  I hope that some day I can take Cindy to a place like that. 

La Rosita - Crystal Lake, IL

This is one that I didn't know whether to put it in the "Restaurants" category, or in the "Grocery Stores" category.  So I put it in both.  Actually, this place was more of a grocery store that served food than a restaurant that was a grocery store.

During my last trip to the Chicagoland region I was in a number of Mexican supermarkets, or mercados, looking for chili paste for a recipe that Cindy found in a magazine.  I figured that Mexican grocery stores would have chili paste, but none of the three or four I looked in had it.  (Cindy thought it was Asian in nature, but I wasn't certain about that.)

I was in northwest suburban Crystal Lake and I passed this place - La Rosita - in the downtown area that looked like a pretty substantial Mexican grocery store (see map).  I parked the car and went in.  As I went in, I looked to my left and there was a small restaurant within the store. 

Now, some of the best Mexican food I've found over the years has been in Mexican grocery stores.  There's a couple of them that Cindy and I found over in Muscatine, IA (which sports a large Hispanic community) that have outrageously great Mexican food.  Actually, I don't know if those places are still open, we haven't been back here for a few years.  There's not much to Muscatine - other than the food - to keep us going back. 

Anyway, I noticed that a lot of people were in line to get food from this little restaurant.  It had 8 booths and a little cooler that held a lot of Mexican made drinks (including Mexican Coca-Cola - much better than the American version of Coke). 

The two guys cooking the food were moving quicker than a tourist with Montezuma's Revenge.  They were flinging soft corn taco shells, throwing meat on the grill, making tacos right and left.  I watched them for awhile, then went looking for the chili paste.

As with the other two stops I made, this place didn't have chili paste.  In fact, when I asked a girl at the check out counter if they had chili paste, she looked at me like I was from Mars.  "We have chili powder," she said in a helpful manner.  "We have red and green chilies in cans, too."  Sorry, not what I'm looking for. 

During all of this, people were still coming in to the restaurant part of the grocery store.  It was around lunch time and I was kind of hungry, so I thought I'd join the line and see what all the excitement was about.

I ordered two tacos carne asada (steak) with everything (which is onions, goat cheese, lettuce, guacamole and sour cream).  I got a Mexican Coke (which comes in a distinctive green-tinted bottle) and waited for my order to come up.

I got my tacos and took 'em to a booth.  The steak was a little over cooked for my liking.  They leave the chunks of steak on the grille after they've cooked them.  A little dry, but nothing that Mexican Coke couldn't help wash down.

At La Rosita, they have two different types of salsa.  The red sauce was pretty bland and didn't have much of a bite to it.  However, the green sauce, which was an avocado blended sauce, had a great little burn to it after about five seconds.  It was absolutely killer!  I put some of that on my tacos and they were just great!!   Some of the best I've ever had.

With the Mexican Coke ($1.50 for a 12 oz bottle) and the two tacos, it was around $5.50 plus tax.  It was well worth it.   

I'm always looking for new places to eat when I go into Chicago, and I think I just found one at La Rosita.   

(Update - La Rosita closed at the end of March of 2011.)

The Walnut Room at Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's) - Chicago

I was calling on a dealer in the south loop area of downtown Chicago recently and it was around the lunch hour.  He said, "Hey, let's go get something to eat."

So we went over to Marshall Field's flagship store on State Street (see map) and went up to the 7th floor to eat in their elegant Walnut Room restaurant. 

The Walnut Room is legendary in its own right.  Over the years, hundreds of thousands of shoppers have eaten there during the Christmas season under the crystal chandeliers, between the dark Walnut walls and next to the huge 40 foot Christmas tree.  Some people will wait for a table for up to 3 hours during the Christmas season.

It wasn't quite as busy when we went for lunch.  We were seated promptly and had a window table over looking Daley Plaza.  Our mid-60ish waitress - I can't remember her name, but I'll call her Clara - was pushing the stuffed shrimp and their signature drink (orange juice, pineapple juice and champagne) even before we'd settled in our seats. 

I was in need of some comfort food - they had a spinach stuffed meatloaf that sounded good; and my dealer took the stuffed shrimp that Clara was doing a good job of pushing. 

The Walnut Room is very large.  It seats 450 people and there's plenty of room between the tables so you don't feel like you're on top of the person seated next to you.  From the fresh flowers on the table to the linen table cloth to the waitresses dressed in tuxedos, the Walnut Room just exudes class.  I felt a little underdressed in a polo shirt and a pair of khaki's. 

My meatloaf was actually pretty good.  A little dry for my taste, but the gravy that surrounded the bed of real mashed potatoes was great to dip the meat in.  It was just enough to be a spot-hitter for me.

My dealer's shrimp dish was basically the same as what I had - only with shrimp.  It was shrimp on a bed of mashed potatoes with a teriyaki gravy surrounding the potatoes.  It was outstanding.

Clara kept trying to push us into dessert - their Frango Mint pie sounded great, but I was fine with what I ate.  Actually, she was a very good waitress.  I'd call her a sassy broad, but only in the most affectionate way. 

One a visit to Chicago one time, Cindy and I were at Marshall Field's and we looked into the Walnut Room, but didn't eat there.  It's probably a good thing - the bill with tip came to just about $40.00.  And I only had a Coke with my lunch and my guest just had water.  Good thing I expensed it. 

But, still, it was a nice experience.  And I'm hoping the new owners of Marshall Field's - Macy's - keep the Walnut Room just as it is when they change the name from Field's to Macy's later this year.   I'll have to take Cindy there for lunch some time because I know she'd like it.

Twin Anchors - Chicago

Sometimes you find a place that was sort of under your nose for quite some time, but you never really knew what the place was all about.  It wasn't until recently that I found out that the Twin Anchors in Chicago's Old Town section was a famous rib joint. 

Located at the corner of Sedgewick and Eugenie north of North Ave., the Twin Anchors has been in business since the early 1930's.  The building, which was built in the 1880's, was a tavern in the 19-teens and I was told that the Schlitz Brewing Company donated the bar in the building - the same one that is in use today.  The Walters family opened the Twin Anchors just before the ban of prohibition was overturned, and it was said the place may have been a speakeasy in the 20's. 

By the way, the name "Twin Anchors" came from the Walters' family affiliation with the Chicago Yacht Club. 

Phil Tuzi eventually bought the Twin Anchors from the Walters and the legend of the babyback ribs began.  Frank Sinatra first came into the Twin Anchors in the 50's and made the place one of his favorite stops in Chicago.  There's pictures of Sinatra on the walls. 

Phil Tuzi has long since died and his brother, Paul, and their two sisters run the place.  In fact, I think one of the sisters was the hostess the day I was there recently.

I got there early - about 5:30 p.m. and found a place to park on Sedgewick just north of the Twin Anchors across from a school.  (They also have valet parking for $7 bucks if there's no place to park on the street.)  There's the main bar to your right when you come in and there are a number of round booths up front.  I was seated at a smaller table along the wall in a back room to the place. 

Actually, I had a pretty good sized lunch earlier in the day and I wasn't overly hungry.  I was hoping that I could get a half slab of ribs, but they don't do that.  The waitress said, "I can bring you half a slab, but they cost the same as a full slab." 

So, I had to get a full slab (the waitress told me I could get what I didn't eat to go).  I also had a choice of sides - fries, onion rings, baked beans and some other stuff.  I went with the baked beans. 

They have two different types of sauce - the mild and the zesty.  I asked if I could try both and the waitress said that was fine.  She brought out a nice sized slab of ribs.  They were somewhat meaty and I thought at first they may have been parboiled before they were put on a barbecue grille.  Actually, they were sort of burnt, but still edible.  The meat did have a good smoky flavor to it. 

I tried the mild sauce and it was pretty weak.  The zesty sauce did have a kick to it and it was the typical smoky/sweet sauce that barbecue joints use when they do parboil the ribs.

The baked beans - when some of the zesty sauce was added - were pretty damned good.  They had chunks of pork and onion in them.  I was impressed with them.

The ambiance of the Twin Anchors was decidedly 60's in flavor.  Dark wood paneling, some pictures of celebs on the wall, a big "Positively No Dancing" sign on the wall (there's some story behind that, I'm sure) and a neat old jukebox that had a lot of older songs on it. 

I did only eat about half the ribs and the waitress did box 'em up and put 'em in a sack for me.  The hotel I was staying at that evening did have a refrigerator and a microwave in the room, so a snack before bed was in order. 

When she brought me my bill, I made the major mistake of asking the waitress if the ribs were parboiled.  She recoiled in horror and said, "Oh, my God no!  These are slow cooked in our cooker for 7 to 8 hours each day!" 

And it was expensive, too - a slab of ribs and three beers came to $32.33 before tip.  I thought I'd better give her a $6.50 tip since I had the audacity to question if the ribs were parboiled.

The Twin Anchors is as close to a tourist trap that a Chicago neighborhood bar can be.  The ribs are good, not the best I've ever had, but still good.  I thought they were a little overcooked.  The sweet zesty sauce saved them. 

I'd still go back.  It was pretty neat.

The Old City of Lyon

I'm getting close to using up my allotment of file size on my blog.  I thought, "Well, hell - I can spend an extra $40 bucks and get quintuple the file space.  Or I can move my pictures over to my Photo Album area." 

So, that's what I did.  Please click on the "Photo Album" area to see the pictures of my trip to Lyon.

We got to Saint-Etienne on Sunday afternoon around 2 p.m., had lunch at Le Musee d'Art Moderne, then they took us to the hotel to freshen up.  As I've said before, the trick for traveling east to a time zone that is six or more hours from your home is to stay up as much as you can during the day.  So, our host, Dominic Baker, took us to Lyon to walk through the Old City of Lyon or Vieux Lyon.

(A quick lesson in French - Lyon is pronounced LEE-yo with a long "o".  Some English speaking people have called it Lyons in the past, but there seems to be a growing political correct movement over the years to pronounce cities the way the locals do it - Peking/Beijing; Bombay/Mumbai; Lyons/Lyon.) 

Lyon is France's second largest city.  It's in a highly industrialized area of SE France and boasts a metro population of 1.6 million.  It's only about 35 miles from Saint-Etienne to Lyon via a scenic highway that weaves through a valley. 

The Old City of Lyon dates back to the first century A.D. when it was founded by Romans who built a number of buildings and theaters on a hill over looking the modern city of Lyon.  Lyon was part of the Gallo-Roman empire and was inhabited by the Romans until the 9th century.  The hill - called Fourviere ("the hill that prays") - has a good Gallo-Roman museum, as well as two ancient amphitheaters and the Basilica Notre Dame de Fourviere.

One last thing I have to say - Lyon has the cleanest parking garages I've ever seen.  They actually had people - on a Sunday afternoon! - cleaning windows, sweeping the floor of parking ramp and wiping down the entrance and exit gates.  No oil spots, no dirt, no debris.  It looked brand new.  Dominic (who is British) told us, "The French have some phobia about dirt in their parking garages."

Vieux Lyon is certainly a neat place to go and look around.  I only wish we could have had dinner at one of the small restaurants.  But they're making noises that they want us to come back each year.  I'll be voting for an evening in Lyon if that happens.

Ramada Mall of America - Bloomington, MN

Years ago, we'd come up and watch the Minnesota Twins play at the old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN.  One place that we stayed at two or three times was The Thunderbird Motel which was literally in the shadow of the old Met Stadium.  In fact, many of the teams who played the Twins in the 60's and 70's were housed at The Thunderbird.  It was a pretty nice place in it's day.

On one of my trips to Minneapolis/St. Paul a while back, I was driving by the Mall of America - which was built on the site of the old Met Stadium - and I got to wondering if the Thunderbird was still around.  Well, it is, except it's now the Ramada Mall of America hotel (see map) and Thunderbird Conference Center.

I decided that even though it wasn't a Hilton, Marriott, or Holiday Inn property (the three chains I stay at, in that order), I'd stay at the old T-bird the next time I went to the Twin Cities.   

I made the reservations and I was a little taken aback at the price of the room - and in a good way.  It was only $89 a night.  Considering that a very basic Hampton Inn in the Twin Cities is now around $109 a night, I thought that either it would be a great deal or a big mistake.

I checked in one evening recently and I was pleasantly surprised to see the spacious lobby was still in place.  It still has a lot of the Native American motif throughout the place.  They still have The Thunderbird Lounge, the Bow and Arrow restaurant and the Totem Pole coffee shop.  They still have the meeting rooms with the names such as Chippewa, Seneca, Yakima and other names of Native American tribes. 

The Thunderbird logo is still prevalent everywhere in the hotel.  Here's the indoor pool with the big T-Bird logo (shown at right).

The rooms are nice.  Not great, but still nice.  They have tons of drawer space in the rooms, the bed was comfy and it was a good bargain at $89.00 a night.  My room overlooked the outside courtyard which has the only outdoor hotel pool in the Twin Cities.  (Yes, they have two pools in the summer!) In fact, I was reminded by my cousin, Sarah Burke, that I cut my knee on the ladder while climbing out of the pool when I was about 11 years old.  I still have the scar. 

The room I was in also had five different prints of paintings depicting Native American life.  The bathroom, I do remember from years ago, because it had a small tub with a little seat in it sort of like the one in our house when I was growing up. It was kind of neat reliving some of my past in this place.

What is interesting, however, is that the Ramada web site for the hotel sort of downplays the Native American theme.  So much to the point that they don't name the coffee shop or restaurant, they don't really talk much about the Native American and Old West art work and artifacts.  It's like they don't want to let the activists who believe that all things Native American not on Native American soil is degrading to Native Americans know that this place exists other than it's a regular Ramada hotel. 

The internet hook-up was a little "iffy".  It would allow me to take my work e-mails, but it wouldn't let me send out.  The walls are also a little thin - I heard the radio in the room next to me turn on at 6 a.m. and I don't think it was at that loud of a volume.  But it's near the airport and walking distance to Mall of America and the new Water Park of America. (Shuttles are also available to the airport, mall and to the water park when it is opened.)   For the updates they've done to The Thunderbird, the $89 a night room was a good bargain.

Will I stay there again?  Well, I'm so indentured to Hilton properties (I have over 500,000 Hilton points) that I almost have to stay there.  But, yeah, if I have trouble finding a room at a reasonable price on the southside of Minneapolis, I'll go back.

El Sol de Tala - Indianapolis

One of the best - and most authentic - Mexican restaurants I've eaten at any where in the Midwest is El Sol de Tala on E. Washington in Indianapolis (see map).

El Sol de Tala means "The Sun of Tala".  Tala, Mexico is the home of  Javier Amezcua, the owner of El Sol de Tala.  The restaurant was one of the first Mexican restaurants in Indianapolis and a lot of them have come and gone over the years, but El Sol de Tala has hung in there.

The original El Sol is on East Washington, east of the downtown Indianapolis area (see map).  The area is not the greatest in town, but even if you go at night, the parking lot located on the west side of the building is well lit and appears quite safe. 

El Sol's dining room is reminiscent of an old Mexican cantina with a high ceiling, brightly painted walls with colorful murals.  And the food is out of this world. 

First of all, I've eaten there about 10 times and I've never had a bad meal.  Secondly, the entrees are as close to fully Mexican authentic food as I've had.  It's far from "Tex-Mex" or "Southwestern" cuisine and much closer to what one would find in the heart of Mexico. 

They have chicken dishes with great mole sauce, their pork chops with a brown sauce are great, and they have traditional Mexican fare such as great shredded beef tacos and great fajitas made with rib eye steak meat.  Also, be sure to get some of their great made-in-house guacamole. 

But their margaritas are absolutely killer.  They really load 'em up with tequila and they are very smooth going down.  But watch it - they really sneak up on you.   

There are two other El Sol de Tala's in Indianapolis.  One opened in the old Union Station complex a couple three years ago (see map) and I don't think it's a good as the one on E. Washington.  And they recently opened an El Sol de Tala Express on W. 10th St. (see map) that is a take out place.

But if you ever get to Indianapolis, you've got to stop at El Sol de Tala on E. Washington.  I'm tellin' ya, it is an experience you'll never forget.   

My 50th Birthday in France

I was born at on April 27, 1956 at 12:47 a.m. at Skiff Memorial Hospital in Newton, IA.  There were tornado warnings that night and I believe the hospital was on emergency generator power when I was born.  My uncle, Jack, told my dad, "If the weather is any indication, this kid is going to be hell on earth."

I was told back in March that I would be spending my 50th birthday in France on a business trip.  I wasn't too happy about that.  My wife was even less happy - she had been planning a big surprise party on the 29th.  And she wasn't happy that she wouldn't go with me.  Believe me - Saint-Etienne is not one of the those destination cities that you'd think about going to in France.   

Since I was born at 12:47 a.m., that would have made it 7:47 a.m. in France.  I woke up that morning at 7:00 a.m. and started to get ready for the day.  At about 7:45, I sat down at the end of the bed and waited for the clock to hit 7:47 a.m.  When it did, a number of thoughts and emotions went through me.   I thought about how I missed my parents (my mom died nearly 20 years ago, my father about 2 1/2 years ago), about how I missed Cindy, about how I missed the kids, the rest of my family and my friends. 

I thought about the things I did or didn't do over the past 50 years, the things I accomplished and didn't accomplish, and wondered where in the hell the time went.  I got a little tear in my eye, took a couple of deeps breaths, composed myself and got up and went for a nice little walk along the streets of Saint-Etienne. 

My colleagues knew it was my birthday and I got the normal salutations.  But that was pretty much it for the day.  And I liked it that way.  No one was making a fuss, no one was making a big deal. 

That evening, the top 20 Focal distributors from around the world made it to Saint-Etienne and they threw a big dinner at the hotel.  Honestly, the food sucked - well, it was OK, but it wasn't what I would have picked for my 50th birthday dinner.

I was seated at a table with Dominic Baker, my colleagues John Bevier and Ian McArthur, the distributors from Portugal and the distributors from Norway.  I turned to John and I said, "Man, no offense, but this is one of the last places I want to be on my 50th birthday."    He fully understood.

The evening was pretty low key.  The Portuguese guys were nice, but didn't understand English very well.  The people from Norway - a husband and wife - spoke impeccible English.  And they were kind of fun.  We had the guys from the United Kingdom come by our table and talk with us for awhile.  They're fun people, as well. 

About 10:30, I saw my boss, Daniel, get up and go over and talk with the head waiter.  Then he walked over toward our table.  Suddenly, the lights dimmed and Daniel said, "Can I have everyone's attention, please?"

I said, "Oh, no!  Oh, shit!"

Daniel said, "Tonight is a very special night for one our guys from America.  It's his 50th birthday.  He's a big guy and he's got an equally big heart.  I want everyone to wish Will Veber a happy birthday!" 

Oh, man!  I was so frigging embarrassed.  Daniel came over and gave me a hug while the whole room - about 85 people - sang "Happy Birthday" (well, at least those who knew the words to "Happy Birthday" - there were people there from China, Russia, the Ukraine and other Eastern Countries).   As he was hugging me I said, "Well, if I couldn't be home with my wife on my 50th birthday, I'm glad I'm here with you guys." 

And they brought me out this little cake with this sort of shooting sparkler thing on it with a single candle.  Here I am blowing out the candle.

After all the hubris died down, Jacque Mahal, the founder and main guy for Focal, came over to me and said, "Will!  How old are you?"

I said, "I'm 50, Jacque."

He got this surprised look on his face and said, "50?!  Oh, my!  I didn't think you're that old!"

I said, "Jacque, I'll take the surprised expression on your face as a complement."

Here's Jacque just after the surprised expression went away.  I wished that they would have gotten the surprise on his face when I told him I was 50. 

The guy from Norway said, "I would have never guessed you were 50.  I would have thought, maybe, early 40's.  You have such a full head of hair for a 50 year old."

I feel good about that because I get that all the time.  When I tell people that I'm either getting ready to turn 50 or have turned 50, there's always an incredulous verbal or bodily expression that follows. 

After the dinner was over, we retired to the bar and I had a few Scotch's with my colleagues and some of the other distributors.  It was a good birthday, but it just wasn't as good as being home with my wife, family and friends.  It wasn't what I envisioned my 50th birthday being.

At least I made it to 50... 

Bud's Skyline Inn - Moline, IL

For our anniversary last night, Cindy and I went out to Bud's Skyline Inn next to the Quad City International Airport across the river in Moline, IL. (see map)   

Bud's is a classic Midwestern style supper club that has been around since the 30's.  It is fairly casual and caters to more of an older crowd.  Even though we don't feel that we're old, we certainly like going out there.  Cindy and I went out there for dinner the night before I went to France.

Bud's interior is cozy and plain.  The bar area is big enough to handle the inevitable weekend night overflow of people waiting to get a table.  Reservations are suggested, but I think the longest we've had to wait for a table on the weekend is about 30 minutes.  The older crowd, they get their food and get out. 

It wasn't that busy when we got there around 7:15.  We had to wait, maybe, 3 minutes for them to clean a table and then they sat us down.  I don't think we've ever gotten in so quickly on a Friday or Saturday night out there.

Being that it's next to the airport, there's a lot of aviation-themed pictures, models and other motif.  The windows are big so you can see the planes land and take off.  And they have a video screen near the bar that has not only the airline schedules for departing and arriving flights, but they also show a U.S. map with real time images of where the planes going to and from the Quad City airport are positioned. 

I've had the prime rib many times when we've gone in the past.  I had that on my last visit the night before I went to France, but I wanted something different for dinner last night.  I thought about the Orange Roughy, but I still haven't been able to handle fish since I got sick in France.  I had beef on Thursday night, so I thought about getting the Chicken Cordon Bleu.  But when Cindy ordered her favorite - the beef filet tournedos in a Bearnaise sauce - I knew I had to follow suit.  She got hers cooked medium and I got mine medium rare.

A trip to Bud's also means a trip to their salad bar which features many made-in-house items including their dressing.  They have a good French dressing and Cindy always opts for the garlic dressing.  Last night, the garlic dressing was so strong and fresh, it was spicy.  Have you ever had fresh garlic on anything and it tasted spicy?  We laughed at how garlic laden it was. 

The beef tournedos were great.  Tender meat, rich Bearnaise sauce.  We each got their signature hash browns with cheese and onions on top.  Topped off with a shrimp cocktail before dinner, the bill - with drinks - came to just about $80 before tip.  We did it up right.  And we realized that a meal like this in Chicago (or at other "higher end" restaurants in the Quad Cities would have easily been over $100). 

Our waitress, we've had wait on us before, and she was as good as gold again last night.  Cindy wanted some of their pickled beets from the salad bar, but they were out of them at the time.  She mentioned something to the waitress when she came back to take a drink order and the waitress brought out a big bowl of the pickled beets for us.  I never liked pickled beets until I had Cindy's grandmother's pickled beets and the ones at Bud's are almost as good. 

We were out of there by 8:20 - by far the earliest we'd ever gotten out of Bud's.  Maybe we are like the old people.  But we went out drinking and listening to music after that. 

It's kind of funny - Cindy and I each talked to separate people on Friday who have lived here all their lives (they both were in their late 40's, early 50's) and they both said they'd never eaten at Bud's before in their life. They don't know what they're missing. 

Bud's Skyline Inn is not the fanciest place to eat in the Quad Cities, but it could be the most underrated restaurant we have here.  The food - and service - is consistently good all the time. 

(Update May 2011 - While Bud's was one of our favorite places to go to for a great meal, we began to notice that the food quality had begun to noticeably slip in 2010.  A lot.  We kept giving them a chance to come back to the level they were at when we first began to go there, but they haven't.  I have an update on Bud's and how we feel the quality has gone down since this post was originally entered.  Click here to see the update.) 

Happy Anniversary!

A happy 11th wedding anniversary to my lovely wife, Cindy.  Actually, I'm kind of wondering where the time has gone.  We have a lot of fun together and time has just flown over the past 11 years.  This is a picture I took of her just after I told her that I was giving up drinking.

Eric Sardinas

Delta blues disciple Eric Sardinas blew into town to play the Redstone Room recently and having seen him tear up a guitar three times previously, I knew I had to go see him again. 

I first saw Eric Sardinas at The Renassaince in Dana Point, CA in 1997.  Playing in front of - maybe - 75 people, he put on a show like he was playing for 10,000.  Playing an electric dobro, the guy just didn't slow down.  He played what I would call "amphetimine blues" as song after song was just faster than the last one.  But it was all traditional Delta blues that he was playing.  He had a bass player (playing an upright bass) and a drummer and he just rocked the place.

I went back to Iowa and was telling friends about him.  They couldn't fathom a guy just playing fast traditional blues all the time.  He finally put out his first CD in 1999 and though it was good, it didn't capture the energy of his live shows. 

I saw Eric Sardinas again on a Thursday night back in August of 2001 at the old Music Box in Omaha.  I went with a couple of buddies and I said, "You just aren't going to believe this guy."

And they didn't.  They hadn't seen anything like him or heard anything like him before.  Sardinas put on one helluva show in Omaha that night.

The next time I saw him was at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in 2004.  Once again, he just tore the place up.  It was probably the best performance at the fest that year and a lot of people still talk about it.  He actually set his dobro on fire that night.  It was quite a sight.

Here's a great picture of Eric Sardinas at the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest by Cindy

Sardinas was born in Florida in 1970 and moved across the country playing music after he got out of high school.  He ended up in Southern California in 1990 playing music on street corners for spare change.  He met up with bass player Paul Loranger, and with a drummer they began to play some of the clubs around Southern California.  His reputation grew and he suddenly was touring the United States and parts of Europe. 

Ten bucks was the cover charge to get into see Eric Sardinas at the Redstone Room when he recently came into town.  The crowd wasn't as big as the night Junior Brown was in town, but it was a weeknight in the middle of the week and not a lot of people get out on those nights.  It was a lot easier to get a drink and a pleasure to not get jostled around all night.

Sardinas was backed by Patrick Caccia on drums and Levell Price on bass guitar.  Once again, he put on a great show.  I was telling a couple people there that night that he does things with an electric dobro that some people can't do with a regular electric guitar.

He did two sets - the first one was about 90 minutes in length, then he came back after a 30 minute break and did another hour.  He actually did some slower blues tunes during the show, the first time I'd heard a more "soulful" side to him in the times I'd seen him. 

After the show (no he didn't light his guitar on fire - he only does that for outdoor shows), I was sitting with Lon Bozarth, the president of the River Music Experience, and Tom Swanson of Jim The Mule, who is the new marketing coordinator for the R.M.E., having a couple of drinks.  Lon was telling me that he lost his camera the night Junior Brown played.  Lost it, as in, someone stole it.  He said he set it down at the back of the stage to go talk to Junior, and when he came back it was gone.  He said, "I would have thought that someone would have found it and brought it up to the bar.  But, no.  Someone just slung it over their shoulder and walked out with it." 

He said with all the attachments, it was probably worth about $3000.  He said, "I checked our insurance and found that we have a $1500 deductable for theft up here.  So, I guess I'm out the money for all new gear." 

I sat and talked to Tom while the crowd was thinning out and Eric Sardinas was signing autographs outside the Redstone Room.  I waited until the "groupies" had cleared out and I went up to him and shook his hand.  I said, "I just wanted to say that I first saw you in 1997 in Dana Point, California..."

He immediately lit up and said, "The Renaissance!!!   Man, all you had to say was Dana Point and I knew you were talking about the Renaissance!  You know, we were the opening act the first night that place opened up in 1995." 

We stood and talked for a bit and he looks scary and menacing on stage, but he was very well-spoken and mild-mannered off stage.  A very nice guy. 

He's on the final leg of a tour in the Midwest, but if you're into blues and good guitar work, I wholeheartedly recommend you see Eric Sardinas if he gets close to you sometime down the road. 

Le Musee d'Art Moderne - Saint Etienne, France

We arrived in Saint Etienne on a Sunday afternoon, wrung out from flying across the ocean, being up all night, and our body clocks all screwed up (2 p.m. in France is 7 a.m. body time for me).  With our stomachs doing jumping jacks looking for food, our host, Dominic Baker took us to a place where I'd eaten before on my previous trip to France, the restaurant at Saint Etienne's Le Musee d'Art Moderne (The Museum of Modern Art). 

The museum opened in December of 1987 and features modern works of art from Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, Joan Miro, Francis Picabia, and Kurt Schwitters.  Yeah, I know, I'd only heard of Warhol and Picasso before. 

I didn't get to see much of the museum, being that I was starving and would rather look at a work of art on a plate than on a wall at 2 p.m. on a French Sunday afternoon.  We had our choice between a seafood dish (I forget what it was) and a steak tartare that just screamed, "Pick me!!  Pick me!!"

And I did.  And it was great.  But, then again, with my body clock at 7:30 a.m., I could have eaten a shit sandwich and thought it was good.  I've eaten worse things after an all night drunk.  Only I wasn't drunk.  Well, other than all the free wine I got on the flight over because my overhead light didn't work and the nice stewardess from American Airlines let me drink wine for free the rest of the flight.  But, that had long worn off by the time I was in Saint-Etienne.

But the steak tartare was served on a bed of rice with a light cream sauce over the top.  It was a spot-hitter.

We did have some wine, I can't remember what it was, nor did I care - I just wanted food and some good French wine.  I was so burnt out by the time I was done with lunch, my "give-a-shit" factor was pretty low.  But it was a good time for our first meal in France. 

Like I've said before - there aren't a lot of great places to eat in Saint-Etienne, but they are fun.  And Le Musee d'Art Moderne is a pretty fun place to eat. 

Dad's Town Pump - Revisited - Clear Lake, IA

The Town Pump in Clear Lake, IA was the first burger joint that I wrote about on my blog.  At one time, the Town Pump had some of the best burgers in the Midwest.

There were sold in 2004 to another person ("Dad", I'm presuming) and I've been back a couple times.  Both times, I just didn't feel the burgers were as good as when the old owners had the place.  They looked like they were pre-formed and frozen, and the buns - which I thought really made the Town Pump burger what it was - weren't quite as fresh as when I first started going there years ago.  The burgers were no where close as juicy as they've been in the past. 

On my way back from Minnesota recently, I thought I'd stop in for one last try for the Town Pump.  Immediately, I'd seen that they cleaned the place up.  It had a lot of new woodwork around the bar, the bar stools were all new, and there were a lot of Coca-Cola signs and lights around the bar.  It was also a lot more bright in there than I remember. 

I ordered a cheeseburger with wet fries (french fries with gravy) and had a bottle of beer.  The burger came out and it was slightly overcooked, the fries were thin and lifeless.  Even the gravy, which used to be great tasting and probably homemade, tasted like it came out of a can.  I was highly disappointed. 

I also noticed that the place didn't seem to have the same "hop" to it when I went in.  There were always a couple of cooks in the back by the grill.  They place was nearly empty, actually, and it was 1:00 in the afternoon.  I was the only one seated at the bar.  Sometimes in the past, I would have to work my way into getting a seat at the bar if I got there during the noon hour or soon thereafter. 

When I left the place, I sort of looked around at the building, thinking that would be the last time I'd be going to the Town Pump.  I saw a sign in the window of the building next door to the Town Pump in "Dad's Family Dining" - a restaurant that I'd never noticed being there before.  (In fact, I think it was a retail store the last time I was there a year or so ago.)  It was a "For Sale" sign.  I looked into the family dining restaurant, but didn't see anyone sitting in there and it looked like it was closed.

I got all the info off the sign and looked up the listing on the internet.  I found the realtor selling the building and saw that both the Town Pump and Dad's Family Restaurant were for sale for $425,000.  Well, I hope that whoever buys the Town Pump restores the burgers to the way they were before.  Too many times I see people come in and buy restaurants and they either change the menu or change the way they make the signature items.  It usually spells doom for that new owner.

I won't be back up that way for awhile, but I will try to check the Town Pump again in about a year, hoping they got the place sold and hoping the new owner brings back the glory days of the Town Pump I once knew.

Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites - La Crosse, WI

I don't know if Holiday Inn is working hard to get my business lately, but they certainly have been taking care of me.  The last couple of times I stayed at a Holiday Inn they've put me up in suites.  Nice suites.  At no extra charge. And they continued that when I stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in downtown La Crosse, WI.

Let me first preface this by saying that as far as hotels that I've stayed at in La Crosse, the Holiday Inn in downtown La Crosse is, by far, the best.  I stayed at the Hampton Inn and it's sort of old and tired.  Actually, it's so old, as far as Hampton Inn's go, it doesn't have an elevator.  When you're lugging a huge suitcase (I always overpacked when I go on the road) and a lap top in a briefcase up a flight of stairs, it's a pain in the ass - no matter how great of shape you're in.

And the Courtyard by Marriott just down the street from the Holiday Inn, well, it had to be the worst Courtyard I've ever stayed at.  The beds were uncomfortable, the rooms were worn and tired.  It was not a very pleasant experience.  Let's just say that I've stayed in much nicer Fairfield Inn's at a much lower price than the Courtyard in La Crosse.  I haven't given them the chance to win me back, but I'm not looking for them to do that. 

Now, I will say that I've not stayed at the Radisson that is connected to the La Crosse Center (just across the street from the Holiday Inn), but so far, the Holiday Inn is the nicest I've stayed at in La Crosse.

The Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites La Crosse has its own restaurant, Ebeneezer's, that serves from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a connected bar.  I understand the pizzas they make are wood fired and I've been told they're very good. 

There are a number of good restaurants within walking distance from the Holiday Inn - Piggy's, Buzzard Billy's, and the Freighthouse are all wonderful places to dine.  And you're in the historic downtown area of La Crosse with a large number of neat little shops and and the riverfront nearby. 

The only problem with the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in downtown La Crosse is that the parking is a little convoluted.   There's only about 15 spots directly in front of the hotel and over flow parking is directed to a municipal ramp directly behind the hotel.  It's best to park your car at the front door and take your bags to your room before you park the car in the ramp because you could get stuck parking on the second tier of the ramp and there is no elevator (what is it with this town and no elevators?) to take you from that level to the hotel lobby.

All in all, some of the nicer hotels I've stayed in recently are the Holiday Inns.  The one in La Crosse was certainly no exception.  I don't know if it has to do with a questionnaire that filled out recently (actually, come to think of it, it probably does), but they've certainly been trying to get my business.  If I didn't have so many damn Hilton points, I'd probably be staying in more Holiday Inn properties.   

Bob Gibson's - Omaha

Former major league baseball player and Hall of Famer, Bob Gibson, grew up in Omaha.  After he retired, he settled back in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue doing a number of things.  But one of the investments that he had was his restaurant, Bob Gibson's.

Bob Gibson's was located just west of the downtown Omaha area off of Interstate 480 and right near Creighton University.  It had a big window on the east side that showed the Omaha skyline.  It was adorned in dark wood paneling throughout - it almost looked like it was old barn wood paneling. 

Bob Gibson's was more of a sports bar/sandwich place, not a fine dining eatery by any stretch of the imagination.  It featured good burgers, good sandwiches, soups and salads.  And cold beer and baseball on TV in the summertime. 

I remember one of the signature burgers that Bob Gibson's had was a pepper burger that featured pepper jack cheese over a 1/3 lb. burger topped with a roasted sweet red pepper.  I forget what they called it, but it was damn good. 

I do remember they also had a great tuna melt, too.  It had a spicy bent to it and it was always good.

For a baseball nut like me, Bob Gibson's was like heaven.  He had a number of his awards on display including a Cy Young Award, and numerous Rawlings Gold Glove awards.  There were pictures and other memorabilia on the walls, behind the bar, a few autographed balls.  It was pretty neat.

One day, I went to Bob Gibson's to have lunch and it was shut up.  No sign on the door, nothing.  Out of business.

A year or so later, I actually met Bob Gibson at his home.  (Look for that story in an upcoming "Brushes with Greatness" post.)  He lamented that he missed the restaurant and alluded to the fact that he may have been getting ripped off by the guy who managed it for him and that's why it had to close down.

It's a pity because it was a neat place with good food.  And a lot of neat baseball memorabilia from one of the all-time greatest pitchers in major league history.

Junior Brown

The Redstone Room at the River Music Experience here in downtown Davenport continues to get a number of great acts to come through the place.  The recent Junior Brown show was certainly no exception. 

Junior Brown is a Tulsa, OK based guitar player who plays a unique guitar that he invented and calls the "guit-steel" which is one half guitar and one half steel guitar.  He perches it on a little stand and just stands there and plays it.  I think the thing is abnormally heavy so he can't wear it on his shoulder with a strap. 

Junior played the River Roots Live show last August in Davenport.  I was probably more excited to see Junior play his manic style of country/rock/rockabilly/blues/surfer music more than any other perfomer there that weekend. 

I got to meet Junior back stage for a moment when he first arrived at the event and he was a nice guy, kind of quiet, but very unassuming.  In fact, it was kind of funny - a while after I'd talked to Junior after he'd shown up, he was walking along back stage in a golf shirt and a pair of slacks that looked like he'd gotten them at K-Mart.  I was standing with Ken Krueger of K-Square Productions, the producer of the event, and I said, "Man, Junior is looking old!"

Ken looked over at this balding, paunched-belly, bug-eyed guy shuffling along and he said, "THAT'S Junior Brown!?!  I haven't seen him in a long time.  He IS looking old."

Junior was 52 at the time. 

But he sure didn't play like he was 52.  He is one helluva guitar player.  He put on, arguably, the best show of the River Roots Live festival.  In fact, he was playing so hard that at the end of one song, he literally ran off the stage.  Not knowing what was going on, I jumped up on stage to announce something like, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Junior Brown!"  But he'd only played for something like 35 minutes (he was supposed to play for 75 minutes). 

Then, I looked over at Ken Krueger and he was holding Junior Brown up off by the side of the stage.  Junior sort of nodded his head a couple times and walked back up on stage to start playing again.

I went over to Ken and I asked, "What was that all about?"

Ken said that Junior was so worked up playing that last song (and he was just hammering that guit-steel) that as soon as he was done he had to go compose himself.  Ken said, "I asked him if he was all right and he told me that he just had to take a minute to pull himself back together.  He told me, 'I'd never done that before.' "  He was playing his ass off that day, I'm tellin' you. 

Well, his show at The Redstone Room was a little more subdued than his performance at the River Roots Live.  He battled sound problems at the start and his voice sounded a little out of kilter at times. 

Still, he put on a spirited show with his bass player, Jason Rathman, and his drummer, Pete Amaral.  Both played with Junior at River Roots Live last year.  Pete Amaral has played with Junior off and on for over 30 years.  And Pete's set up is rather unique for a drummer - he just has a snare drum and a ride/crash cymbal.  That's it.

I talked to Pete briefly at the River Roots Live show last August.  Jason, Pete and I were sort of joking around waiting for Junior to come to the stage before the show and I said something along the lines that my body didn't behave like it used to.  And Pete told me that his didn't either as he was "well into my 70's".    

Jason Rathman (left)

And Junior's stage set up is one of the most unique of any bands I've worked with over the years.  They have absolutely no stage mixing.  (They have no stage monitors to listen to what's going out over the P.A. system.)  For those of you who have played in bands in the past, you know that is almost unheard of in live performances.  When I asked Jason at the River Roots Live fest why they didn't have a monitor mix, he said, "Junior likes it that way."  Oh, OK. 

Junior's wife, Tanya Rae, used to play in the band for a number of years.  She didn't play with him at the River Roots Live event last year and when I paid Junior after the show, I asked him where his wife was.  He told me that she was back home in Oklahoma.  I asked, "Doesn't she play with you any more?"

He said, "No, she hangs around home and handles the business end of things.  My wife and I are better off when we don't play together." 

I had a friend from Ames, IA, Scott Cochrane, who actually played bass guitar for Junior Brown on the road a number of years ago.  Scott told me that Junior and Tanya Rae would just fight and fight on the road.  They'd fight about silly little stuff, Scott said.  He told me, "It got so bad that I had to quit the gig after about 4 months.  The constant fighting was too much."  He said they looked all lovey-dovey on stage, but once they got off, it was a dog and cat fight of biblical proportions.

I asked Junior how he met his wife and he told me that he'd moved from Austin to Oklahoma in the early 80's and was teaching a guitar class at a small college.  He said that in one of his classes was Tanya Rae.  He told me, "When the class first started out, she was the best guitar player in the group.  As time went on, everyone passed her.  So I had to give her some special one-on-one lessons, if you know what I mean."

I asked Junior if he remembered my friend, Scott, playing for him and he said, "Buddy, I have trouble remembering the names of the two guys I got playin' for me now.  I've had a lot of good musicians play in my band over the years."

Opening for Junior Brown that night was a three-piece surf/rockabilly band based here in the Quad Cities by the name of The One Night Standards.  I've heard about these guys and have wanted to see them to possibly get them to play one of the Davenport summer festivals this year. 

They were great - surf music from hell.  I talked to the guitarist, Scott Haut, after the show and got band information from him.  They reminded me a lot of a band Cindy and I saw a couple times in Memphis, The Dempsey's.   The One Night Standards did a great job and were fun to listen to. 

As an aside - the Redstone Room was packed.  It had to be well above the 225 person capacity they list it as.  Because of that, there was some infrastructure problems - the time to get a drink at the bar was excrutiatingly long, there were people standing in front of people who had seats, and it was just a little overly crowded. 

Still, it didn't detract from the great performance Junior Brown put on.  If he comes around again I'm sure that I'd go see him. 

L'Auberge du Sapt - Saint Genest-Malifaux, France

One evening, our host from Focal, Dominic Baker, took us to a little French village - Saint Genest-Malifaux - just south over the mountains from Saint-Etienne.  In "St. Gen" (as the locals call it) is a little inn called "L'Auberge du Sapt".  An "auberge" is a small restaurant where the food they serve is grown in the immediate area of the restaurant. 

Saint Genest-Malifaux

The restaurant building was built in the 1800's and has been updated over the years to modern standards.  But the stone is still the original stone in the building.  The restaurant is owned by the Sapt family - the mother and her sister are the main cooks.  A daughter and son wait the tables.

Since it was an auberge, the food on the menu was beef, veal, lamb and salmon.  Wait a minute.  There are salmon runs around here?  Dominic told me, "Yeah, there's a gray area where some auberge's can serve seafood.  I don't know exactly how they get around that, but they do."

Since I was getting over the flu/food poisoning from the day before, I went with the safe choice and got the sirloin steak with a brown wild mushroom sauce.  It was absolutely great.  However, one of my colleagues, John Bevier, got the veal dish in an herb sauce.  Oh!  My!  God!  It was un-friggin'-believable.  I thought mine was great, but he offered me a taste of his and it was a taste sensation that blew me away. 

The red wine they served was the Domaine de Bonarieux Saint Joseph, a great cabernet from the Rhone Valley.  It was robust and had a nice finish to it.  It perfectly complemented my steak and mushroom sauce.  There are a lot of good little wineries in the Rhone Valley.   I hope to be able to find some of the Rhone Valley cabernets in the states. 

The food is so good at L'Auberge du Sapt that they drive from Canada to eat there!  This is a pick-up truck that was parked out in front of the restaurant.  My boss and some of my colleagues from Montreal thought that was pretty wild to see in France. 

L'Auberge du Sapt may have been the second best meal I had while I was in France, but I will say the building and the setting were by far the neatest.

Hotel Mercure Gare de Lyon - Paris

When we got to Paris for a Saturday afternoon and overnight before we flew home from France, we stayed at the Hotel Mercure Gare de Lyon, which is attached to the Gare de Lyon train station in SE Paris (see map).   This hotel was also listed as a 3 star hotel, but it was much nicer than the Hotel Mercure Saint-Etienne Parc L'Europe. 

Once again, the rooms were small compared to American hotel rooms.  The bed took up most of the space in the room and it was a queen size bed.

The bathroom didn't have a bidet like the one in Saint-Etienne - and not that I'd actually USE a bidet - but it was pretty good sized compared to the room itself.

Also, here's a good tip if you ever go to France - take along your own soap, shampoo and toilet paper.  The bathroom amenities at 3 star hotels in France aren't the best.  The shampoo is watered down and it takes a lot to work up a lather; the soap doesn't lather (or offer much deodorant protection, as well); and the toilet paper is a step above what you'll find in most port-a-potties at construction sites. 

The soap, shampoo and toilet paper at both Hotel Mercure's I stayed at were pretty much spot on with the above description.

My room was up pretty high and offered a glimpse of the Seine River, which was about a block away.  Here's a picture of a little boat house on the "Rive Gauche" (Left Bank) of the Seine.   

Also, when we were in Paris that afternoon and evening, there was a big soccer game taking place between Marseille and Paris - Saint Germain out at the Stade de France, the huge stadium on the northeast side of Paris.  It was for the French equivalent of the Super Bowl - The French Cup.

When we went out on a little walk for lunch and just to look around, we noticed a number of police in riot gear situated around our hotel.  One of the guys in our group thought it may have been because of the demonstrations by young French people against the government's labor policies a few weeks prior.  But there didn't seem to be anything going on as far as any type of a gathering. 

About 5:30 after we got back from our walk, I kept hearing some commotion out the window and noticed the police presence had jumped up considerably.  Suddenly, I heared a lot of rhythmic clapping and cheering.  I looked out the window and saw this: 

It turned out that it was the Marseille fans who were in a tightly controlled parade after they had gotten off a special train from Marseille to go to the game that evening. 

I was impressed by the show of force by police in keeping the demonstration in tow.  I'm sure they've had a ton of problems in the past with "hooliganism" directly tied to soccer fans.  Some of the soccer riots in Europe make the Watts riots of 1965 look like a backyard birthday party that erupted into a food fight.

More soccer fans from Marseille

The little parade that was pretty much peaceful other than the Marseilles fans chanting and clapping ended up at the Gare de Lyon and from there they went out to the stadium for the game.  By the way, Paris Saint-Germain beat Marseille 2-1 to win the French Cup later that evening. 

The Hotel Mercure Gare de Lyon had a nice restaurant in the place, as well as a little wine bar with a nice selection of scotch behind the bar.  A couple of us got together in the bar for a couple of drinks before dinner and even though the bar was pretty small, it was certainly comfortable.

Every person who worked in the hotel that I encountered spoke impeccable English.  That is the thing that is pretty common in Paris - a lot of people speak English so it's pretty easy to get around. 

And I've yet to encounter a French person who is surly and rude.  It's not to say they aren't out there - but we have 'em here in the States, too.  And I never really got any anti-American vibe when I was there, either.  Sure, the majority of the French people don't agree with the United States foreign policy, but they know that a lot of people in America don't agree with it, either. 

The Hotel Mercure Gare de Lyon is a wonderful place to stay.  It's not too centrally located (the only things that are close by is the Notre-Dame Cathedral and Paris' Latin Quarter), but you can take the Paris Metro system to virtually any of the great places to see in Paris. 

However, it will definitely take you more than an afternoon to do that...

Les Domaines Qui Montent - Saint-Etienne, France

On our first day at the Focal factory, they took us out by the Saint-Etienne Airport to a unique little place called Les Domaines Qui Montent (which, I was told, roughly translates to "The land that goes up" or "the land of hills", which makes sense since the area around Saint-Etienne is so hilly).  Domaines are the common term for estates where French wines are made.  Some are bed and breakfast type villas.

Les Domaines Qui Montent was a newer building (sorry, no pictures - I left my camera back at the Focal plant) that housed a combination restaurant and liquor store.  Their selection of French wine, I was told, was impeccible.  A number of the guys in our group grabbed two or three bottles - some grabbed more to take home with them. 

There was 16 of us in the group (our host, Dominic Baker, brought three of the ladies from the office with us) and they sat us at a long table in the back of the wine area. 

Now, so far I've told you of some wonderful food that we had in France (and I've got many more places to talk about) but this one, we hit a stinker.  Lunch consited of a small salad, then they brought out a bowl of egg pasta noodles and a warm pan of cooked salmon with a cream sauce on them.  The salmon didn't taste very good to me, the noodles were kind of cold and the sauce on the salmon was sort of bland to me. 

The salmon also was some of the most boney salmon that I've ever had in my life.  One of my colleagues took the right approach - he just had the pasta. 

The highlight was the wine - a good French cabernet and a wonderful French chardonney that was better than the cab.  I like the fact that the French drink wine at lunch like it's milk or pop.  I think we should adopt that practice here.

All in all, Les Domaines Qui Montent was a neat place to visit, but I wasn't impressed with the food.  In fact, later that night I got sick.  Now, I don't know if it was the flu or food poisoning - no one else in our group got sick - but the purging out of both ends had a strong fish smell.  I was down and out for about 24 hours.  And for the rest of the trip, I couldn't stand the smell of fish so I didn't order anything other than fowl or beef.  Which is too bad because I really like fish.

That was the only bad meal we had on the trip to France. 

Maytag to Close in Newton, IA

Growing up just outside of - and living in - Newton, IA for a number of years, the local economy was powered by the Maytag Corporation.  At one time, Maytag was the largest washing machine company in the world with their headquarters in Newton, along with two large manufacturing facilities and a small manufacturing facility.  They had a number of other manufacturing plants in places like Herrin, IL, Searcy, AR, and Jackson, TN; and they also owned the Amana refrigeration plants in the Amana Colonies and near North Liberty, IA.

Maytag got into trouble a few years ago after they acquired the Hoover brand of floor care products and were saddled with extreme amounts of debt.  Never able to turn Hoover around, and with Hoover being too big of a financial albatross to cut it and run, Maytag slowly slid in profits. Their stock, which was over $70 a share a few years ago, was trading in the mid-teens late last year. 

A couple of companies came in to look at taking over Maytag, and Whirlpool made an offer to buy up the stock and debt of the Maytag Corporation last year.  The Justice Department took a long hard look at the takeover as it would give Whirlpool something like 70% of the appliance market in the U.S.  They finally allowed the sale to go through in April and people in Newton have been sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear if the headquarters and the manufacturing facilities would be closed.

The announcement was made this morning - the headquarters in Newton would be consolidated with the Whirlpool headquarters in Benton Harbor, MI; and the factories will be closed in Newton.  2200 salaried and hourly workers will be let go sometime between now and into 2007.  Factories in Herrin, IL and Searcy, AR will also be closed.

The announcement really wasn't of any big shock, a lot of people in Newton were expecting the worst.  Maytag had gone through a large purge of high salaried and highly paid hourly workers over the past 18 months, and the manufacturing costs at the Newton plants (including salaries, health care and retirement plans) were extremely high.  Whirlpool estimated that they can make five appliances in their factories at the same cost of what it takes to make one appliance in Newton.

There is an air of uncertainty going on in Newton today, no doubt.  The population of Newton has been dropping over the past few years, going under 16,000 at the last census count in 2000.  Newton High School has been losing enrollment over the years and they will go down a class in most of their major sports beginning next year. 

This will affect a number of people whose life is either directly or indirectly touched by Maytag being in the community.  Even though the number of Maytag employees affected who live in Newton will be around 1100 people, that's still a large chunk of the population for a city like Newton.

I talked to two buddies today, Jeff (Burph) Versteegh and Bob Jackson - both of whom have worked at Maytag for over 19 years, and they were pretty much resigned to the fact that the plants would close long before the announcement.  It wasn't quite the shock to them, nor to many people in the city of Newton.  But it was something they didn't want to think about until the announcement was made.

Still, both Burph and Bob kept their sense of humor about things.  Burph said that he was going to move to Davenport and move into Jane's house, while Bob said that he was going to go join the Navy. 

Still on the bright side of things - the infrastructure for a manufacturing facility remains in Newton.  They could possibly use the two main Newton plants as an incentive for another manufacturer to come to town, or they could use the factories as an "incubator" type of facility where a number of manufacturers are housed under one roof. 

My sister, Julie Rose, who is realtor in town, is optimistic that if people do move from Newton that the housing market will still stay strong because of Newton's close proximity to Des Moines (about 35 miles from downtown Newton to downtown Des Moines).  She's hoping people in the Des Moines area would look toward Newton because of lower housing prices and lower property taxes. 

Still, it's a considerable blow to the community.  Newton certainly didn't have a lot going for it and the local chamber of commerce has been struggling for years to promote the city.  The new Iowa Speedway being built just south and east of Newton will provide some economic boost, but not enough to sustain the loss of Maytag.   

Earlier today, the governor of Iowa announced a proposed $10 million grant to the city of Newton and Jasper County to help spur economic development in the area after Maytag closes it's doors.  Already, officials in Webster City and in Mount Pleasant were criticizing the governor's plan because both communities will be losing manufacturing facilities this year.  They want to know where their economic development money is. 

Still for a city like Newton, losing Maytag is a much larger blow to the psyche of its citizens.  Maytag has been part of the culture of Newton for over 100 years.  At one time, more washing machines were built in Newton than in any other place in the world.  Years ago, the city boasted a number of washing machine companies.  A lot of them went out of business or were bought out by others, but Maytag persevered. 

Until today...

Time Out Restaurant and Sports Bar - Elk River, MN

I screwed up some reservations at a hotel and ended up in Otsego, MN one night recently at a Holiday Inn that I thought would be right next to Interstate 94, but it turned out that it was about 8 miles away from the freeway.  But right across the Mississippi River from Otsego is Elk River, a nice little Minnesota town that is growing right and left because of the urban sprawl from Minneapolis.

I didn't want to eat at the restaurant in the hotel, which I usually stay away from if I know there are other options available in the immediate area.  So I went up the road a couple miles to a sports bar that I found listed called Time Out Restaurant and Sports Bar.

Time Out is a nice place situated on the corner of a small retail complex.  It looks relatively new both on the outside and on the inside.  They have a number of 32 inch televisions throughout the place, a dance floor with a little D.J. perch, and a projection television and screen just off the dance floor. 

It also has all these words such as "Dance" or "Smile" or "Happy" made out of wrought iron that are hanging on the walls and ceiling.  It was strange, to say the least.  It was like they were trying to remind you to have good time while you're in the place.   

When I went in, I expected to see a number of baseball games on the TV - at the very least, the Twins on TV - but they had "Revenge of the Nerds II" on a couple TV's, some lame ESPN programming on a couple others and the rest of the sets had a random potpourri of non-sports shows on them.  Hell, even the NBA play-offs were on and they didn't have the game between Detroit and Cleveland on any of the TV's.  I don't think they even had a satellite dish, at least I didn't see any when I left. 

Then again, there weren't a lot of people in the place and there was only one bartender and a waiter and waitress.  It really appeared that no one was watching any of the TV's.  In fact, when I asked the bartender if she could change one of the channels to the Twins game, she had to go in the back to find a remote control.

Time Out had a full menu that featured pastas, steaks, burgers, sandwiches, and interestingly enough, pizza.  Something kept calling me back to the pizza when I was looking at the menu.  I thought, "Geez, I'm going to have pizza tomorrow night with my guys in St. Cloud.  I'd better get something else."

Do you ever get that feeling in your stomach that only one thing will taste good?  That was how I was feeling with the pizza. 

Their specialty pizza was called the "Elk River Pizza", which featured my favorite combination of toppings - Italian sausage, pepperoni and mushroom.  I asked the bartender if the crust was thin and she said, "Well, it's not thick, but it's not thin.  It's good." 

And it was good.  Surprisingly good.  The sausage was good and spicy and in big chunks.  There didn't seem to be a lot of mushrooms and pepperoni on it, however. 

They also had one of my favorite beers in the world on tap - Summit Extra Pale Ale.  And the prices were very reasonable for beer - $4.50 for a 23 ounce glass. 

It turns out that Time Out Restaurant and Sports Bar has a second location in Blaine, MN, a suburb in the far north area of Minneapolis.  The menu at the Blaine location is similar to the one in Elk River with a few variations. 

I don't know if I'll be staying in Elk River/Otsego area any time too soon, but I'd go back to Time Out, if just for the food.  I didn't think that it was too much of a sports bar rather than an entertainment complex.  But it was still a lot nicer than other sports bars I've been in. 

Driving in France

We had a couple of the Renault Espace vans for rentals when we were over in France recently.  The engine is a 3.0 liter, V6 diesel and it incorporates a six speed transmission.  These little things actually will seat 7 somewhat comfortably, but don't think about putting any bags or carry-ons in the van when you try to put that many people in the thing, or you'll be carrying them on your lap. 

The Renault Espace had a little "git-up and go" from the start, but it was a real pooch when you needed to jump on it in second or third gear. 

One of the unique things about the Renault Espace was the way you started it up.  First of all, there is no key.  The "key" is a card about the size of a normal credit card that you insert into a space next to the stick shift.  Once the card was inserted into the slot, you hit the "Start/Stop" button to start the car.  The vehicle automatically went into the parking brake mode when you'd start it up. 

I got to drive one day and it's a little weird to drive in France.  No, you drive on the right, like you do in the States.  But the yields and right-of-ways are a little confusing.  Actually, you may be driving down a road and suddenly you come to an intersection where a road is coming in at angle.  It could very well be that the road coming in at the angle has the right of way.

And the signs are a little confusing.  I knew what the "yield" signs were all about, but I couldn't understand what the "no" with the blue inside meant.  (Found out later that it meant no parking.) 

Driving on the freeway system, or highway, was a little confusing since signs for exits seem to come up rather quickly, especially when you're going 90 kilometers (about 55 mph) or faster.  Or signs to towns, such as Saint-Etienne, don't always take you to Saint-Etienne.  Actually it took me a day to figure things out - both with the vehicle and with the directions - to make me feel comfortable enough to get around on my own.

We had to take the vans back on Thursday night, so our host, Dominic Baker (right) got one of my colleagues, Jon Baker (no relation to Dominic), and myself to follow him in the vans.  He took off from the hotel like a bat out of hell, screaming down the street, around the roundabout, then down one of the main streets in Saint-Etienne.  He got on it and passed a car and I followed suit, except I got hung up in the left lane and needed to turn right.  I aggressively nudged over and got in behind Jon who was smart enough to stay put in the right lane. 

We took a right and Dominic took off again up a hill.  The Espace just wouldn't keep up his Volkswagen Passat.  I was on Jon's tail and Dominic pulled over to the left lane and got into the left turn lane at the light.  He turned when the light went yellow, Jon followed suit when the light turned red.  I tried to follow, but got hung up by oncoming traffic - who, for some reason, didn't allow me to turn left when I had a red light and they had green.

I finally waited and turned left on a red light - hitting the median curb in doing so.  Hey, it was a rental!  And as I learned years ago, in times of need, you should treat all rental cars as off-road vehicles. 

I did catch up to Dominic and John with some more wild driving through the side streets of Saint-Etienne and then ended up going the wrong way down an alley way to drop off the vans in front of the Hertz rental office.  It was a large time to drive like that with a "devil-may-care" attitude behind the wheel.

But the hell of it is - they ALL drive like that in France.  Signs and rules, be damned.  You have to be overly aggressive or you're going to be going around and around the damn roundabouts for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.  Streets are narrow, the highways (freeways) are curvy, and then you have to worry about how main streets must yield to people coming in from side streets. 

I'm glad I've had years of driving experience in the Chicago area.  It has certainly schooled me on how to properly drive in France they way their drivers do.

Celebrity Sightings at O'Hare

Actually, I'm bending the rules regarding the "Brushes with Greatness" category on this one.  I usually only talk about celebrities that I've met and interacted with.  But coming back from France a week ago, I had to go through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and I saw a couple famous people that I wanted to tell you about.

First of all, I was seated at the bar in a restaurant in the American Airlines terminal during my 3 1/2 hour layover and one of the waiters came up to the bartender and said, "Hey, I've got Scottie Pippen at one of my tables." 

The bartender said, "No way?  You've got 'No tippin' Pippen' in your area?  You poor guy." 

Scottie Pippen is a former NBA basketball player whose hey-days were with the six time World Champion Chicago Bulls.  He was Michael Jordan's "wingman" on those championship teams.  He was in town working for TNT on an NBA broadcast for a play-off game between the Bulls and the Miami Heat.  And he must have a bad reputation for not tipping.

I asked the bartender what she meant and she said, "I waited on him one time and he didn't leave a tip.  He told me, 'The honor of waiting on me should be enough of a tip.'  He said that telling friends and family that she waited on Scottie Pippen would be more than what he could pay her in a tip."   

Sure enough, when I walked out of the restaurant, he was seated with another big black guy who I thought looked like either Horace or Harvey Grant.  I had the sports section for the Chicago Tribune with me and there was a picture in there of Pippen getting way-layed during his playing days.  I thought about going up and asking him to sign it, but it was a pretty unflattering photo and thought better of it. 

But he was just seated there like he was holding court.  He knew people were staring at him and it was like he was sitting there on display for everyone to see.  Sort of weird. 

But the celeb sighting that got the blood up was when I was walking back from the United terminal to the American terminal. (I went over to see if I could get into the Berghoff Cafe out in the C concourse at O'Hare - but with all the flight delays the place was packed with a long line of people trying to get in.)

I saw this statuesque blond with very large mammary glands walking with a black guy that I instantly recognized as a rap star and actor.  They were walking with a United Airlines security person.  He was dressed in a Chicago Bulls uniform and she was dressed in a tight black outfit with her boobs showing a lot of cleavage.  Now, if I hadn't seen her, I would have NEVER seen this guy.

I couldn't remember the guy's name, though.  I kept wanting to say he was Ice Cube, but I knew that wasn't him.  But I knew he was on one of those crime shows on, I believe, NBC.  After I got home, I ended up asking some friends who I might have seen and Tom Kakert said, "You saw Ice T."  Well, I wanted to say his name was Ice T, but then I got to thinking that Ice T was a name from a Saturday Night Live skit or something.  But no, it truly was Tracy Morrow, aka Ice T. 

I got to wondering about the girl that was with him and Kevin Gertsen said, "It was probably his wife."  And he sent me this photograph of them together and an accompanying newspaper article.  The incomparable "Coco" is 23 and she is something else.  When I found out she was 23, I was incredulous - she looked older than my wife!  But she definitely had a major pair of manufactured bazoombas, I'll tell you that. 

Then Dr. Gary Gaffney sent me more information and pictures of Coco.  Turns out that Coco, whose real name is Nicole Austin, is a model who has her own web site.  It's a pay site and mildly X-rated, so you've been warned if you go there.

So, yeah, I didn't really meet or talk to either Scottie Pippen, or Ice T and Coco, but just seeing Coco was something else.  I mean, God...  She was tough to miss.  I figure that Ice T must keep her around because he is an aging rapper (he turned 48 this year) and the only way he'll get his picture taken in public is if she's with him.  That is one scary lookin' couple.  And I'm not talkin' about her boobs, either.

Bob Dorr and the Blue Band

Bob Dorr and the Blue Band have been making music around Iowa and the Midwest since 1981.  Actually, Bob was one of the founding members of the old Little Red Rooster Band in the mid 70's and that's when I first got to meet him when I was throwing the big parties in my parent's pasture.  Although I never booked the band, we stayed in touch over the years and got re-acquainted with Bob when I began to work the annual Wells Fargo Street Festival a few years ago. 

The Blue Band started out as "Bobby's Blue Band", a take off on the name of the great bluesman, Bobby "Blue" Bland.  As time went on, the name of the band was shortened to just "The Blue Band", but it's no mistake whose band it is.

Bob Dorr is the lead singer and plays a good harmonica.  Bob's main gig is on KUNI Radio as a disc jockey/announcer and does a couple of shows that showcases local and unique musical talent.  He's been doing that for a number of years.  Bob was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 for his efforts in promoting local rock bands via the KUNI airwaves, and he was recently inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame for his years of great music with the Little Red Rooster Band and with The Blue Band. 

Jeff Petersen is Bob's longtime partner on his signature Gibson Flying V guitar.  Jeff is the only original member of The Blue Band still playing with Bob. 

Sam Salomone plays the Hammond B-3 organ and also plays the bass notes for the band, as well as doing some occasional singing.  Sam is a long time member of the Iowa music community and has played with artists such as The Duprees and Del Shannon.  He is also a member of the both the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame and the Iowa Jazz Hall of Fame. He is simply one of the best keyboard players playing in the area today.    

The drummer, Steve Hayes, is an old friend who I first met nearly 30 years ago when he was playing drums with Patrick Hazell and the Mother Blues Band.  Steve had been playing off and on with The Blue Band over the years, but also had been playing with Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey and a number of other musicians over the years.  He joined back up full time with The Blue Band in 2003 and we became reacquainted when The Blue Band played the Street Fest that year.  It's always good to see Steve and we always seem to talk about anything and everything when we see each other. 

The horn section for The Blue Band is manned by saxophonist Nathan Peoples who joined the band full time in 2004.  Sometimes, Heath Alan also plays saxophone with the band in the summertime (or when he can get time away from his teaching duties).  Both guys are smoking saxophone players. 

Bob and the Blue Band played at the River Music Experience last Friday evening.  Actually, they were supposed to play outdoors in the courtyard next to the place, but it was sort of cold and the powers that be at the RME decided to bring 'em inside to play at Mojo's coffee shop. 

Upstairs in the Redstone Room, country-alternative rocker Charlie Robison was scheduled to play at 9 p.m. and it turned out that the bass player for his band The Enablers, Scott Esbeck, was one of the original members of The Blue Band when they were formed in 1981.  Scott came down to play a couple songs on the guitar with Bob and the guys and it was a treat to see and hear him play with the band. 

I've worked a number of gigs around town as the stage manager when The Blue Band has played.  Last year and again this year, The Blue Band has had scheduling conflicts that kept them from playing the Wells Fargo Street Fest.  Bob grew up in Davenport so it's always a homecoming for him when he plays the Street Fest. 

Bob gave me the highest compliment one time a couple years ago when they were playing the Street Fest when he told the crowd, "We play a lot of shows each year and I have to tell you - Will Veber is the best stage manager of any place we play.  He makes sure that everything is in place and on time.  Heck, the guy even called me from North Dakota the other day to make sure everything was fine with us!  There's no one that does that for us!"  (I happened to be in North Dakota on business when I had to talk to Bob about something minor, it was no big deal, but he made it sound like it was a big deal.)

I talked to Bob at length on Friday night because he and I had been talking in the past few weeks about the band playing at the upcoming Sturgis on the River motorcycle rally.  I got a call from a couple of the organizers in charge of hiring bands who wanted to know if I could get them in touch with Bob about hiring The Blue Band. 

At first, it appeared that Bob was going to do it and was enthusiastic when I told him that I'd make sure that I'd work the event if they were going to play (he likes the work I do).  Then I heard that they had to pull out.  Bob was telling me that he felt like a real turd about the whole thing, but it was just a question of economics - he didn't think he could justify playing in Des Moines on Thursday night, then in Davenport on Friday night, then back to Des Moines for a Saturday night gig.  He ended up getting a gig about 30 miles away from Des Moines for more money on that Friday night.  He said, "Man, I feel really bad because we really did want to play that thing, but it just didn't work out economically." 

Bob Dorr and The Blue Band have legions of fans all over Iowa and the Midwest.  They've been rockin' and singin' the blues for nearly 25 years and I'm sure they'll be playing for a few more years.  Their gig in Davenport this last Friday night was the only one they'll play in the Quad Cities (so far) in 2006.  So it was good to see Bob and the guys even though we won't be working together again this year. 

Chez les Fondues - Saint-Etienne, France

One of the more fun places we ate at in Saint-Etienne was our Sunday night meal at Chez les Fondues on Rue de Marengo (see map).  That's right - it was an honest to God fondue restaurant. 

I've learned that traveling from west to east when there's a time zone difference of six hours or more is to get to the city you're going to in the morning or the early afternoon.  Your body time will still be on what time it is back home, so more than likely you'll be pulling a 30 to 36 hour straight stay-awake shift (that is, if you're like me and can't sleep on planes).  The trick is to stay awake as long as you can and to go to bed at the regular time on the first night you're there.  We didn't leave to go to the restaurant until about 7:30 p.m., French time, so I wasn't certain I'd be able to stay awake at dinner.

Chez Les Fondue is a small little place that seats, maybe, 30 people.  We had a party of 14 including our host, Dominic Baker, the chief engineer and international sales manager for Focal; and Jacques Mahal, the founder and president of Focal (shown above at right). 

After first bringing out about four bottles of wine, they brought out all the fondue pots, along with the pots of melted cheese.  Then they brought out bread and piles of cubed steak, chicken and pork.  Then they brought out cubed pieces of fried potatoes (yes, they called 'em French fries). 

It was like the fondue you did at home back in the 70's and 80's when it was so "hip" to fondue.  You put a piece of meat on the end of a little spear, stuck in the boiling hot oil, kept it in there for three to five minutes (depending on how done you wanted your meat - I had nothing but the beef, so I was sticking it in for 90 to 120 seconds, tops), pulled it out and ate it.  You'd take bread or the potato cubes and dip those in the cheese fondue pot.  It was great. 

Then they brought out this thing that was some sort of a melting device and they stuck this half-moon hunk of stinky friggin' cheese on it.  I wasn't certain what it was, but when I tasted the cheese melting off the device I immediately fell in love with it.  I was just introduced to the heavenly cheese called Raclette.  It smelled like hell when it was room temperature, but it was heavenly when it was warmed up and melted.

The Raclette cheese would melt off this little contraption (similar to the one shown on the left) and you'd scrape it with this sort of narrow wooden knife.  You'd put it on bread, or on potatoes, or on meat or whatever.  Hell, I'll bet you could even put it on dead mice and they'd taste great.  It was that good.

The name Raclette comes from the French word "racler" meaning "to scrape." I was told that Raclette began in Switzerland at the end of the 19th century.  Workers who gathered grapes for the annual harvest had made a fire and legend has it that one of the grape gatherers cut a piece of cheese with a hot knife.  The cheese began to melt with a golden brown color and stringy texture.  The worker immediately scraped the melted cheese of his hot knife and on to a piece of bread he had in a backsack and it tasted wonderful.  Raclette was born. 

Raclette has long been a tradition in both Switzerland and France, although one of my colleagues told me that he'd had Raclette once before about 20 years ago at a small ski lodge in upstate New York.  But he said it tasted nothing as good as this. 

Chez les Fondues was so fun, the food just kept coming, the wine kept flowing.  I was literally busting at the seams.  I'd not eaten so much for a long, long time.  All in all, it was one of the most decadent displays of gouging ones self on food that I've ever participated in. 

AND THEN, just after 10 p.m. locally (3 p.m. body time - I was now up 31 hours in a row) they brought out Chocolate fondue for dessert!  Holy shit!  I was ready to explode from eating too much and ready to pass out from lack of sleep, and they brought out Chocolate fondue with marshmallows, peach slices, pear slices, strawberries and other things to dip into the chocolate. 

Jesus, what didn't they bring out to put on a stick and put it in melted chocolate?  And it was SWISS chocolate, to boot! (Saint-Etienne is about 135 miles from Geneva, Switzerland - see map.)

I was so frigging stuffed after all that food that there was no way that I could eat anything else.  After many protests to my colleagues that I couldn't possibly eat another bite, I did break down and dipped a marshmallow into the warm chocolate.  Oh man!  I don't eat chocolate very often, but this was absolutely great.  I had to have another one.  And another.  I was REALLY ready to explode.

You ever eat so much that your body physically hurts?  That was me that night.  Thank God for the slow walk back to the vans or I would have really been in a world of hurt. 

Chez les Fondues was fun, but it was too much food, too much cheese, too much wine, too much chocolate.  And I loved every minute of it. 

Amora Mustard

Before my first trip to France over three years ago, my buddy, Steve Weiner from Abt Electronics in suburban Chicago, asked me to bring back some Amora Dijon Mustard.  He said it was the best mustard that he's ever eaten.

Amora's history dates back to the 18th century when mustard was sold from large crocks on the streets of France.  Mustard salesmen would fill small crocks of mustard for the people while they made their rounds.  Amora then became a family enterprise in the late 1890's and became one of the more popular Dijon mustards in France.

Amora mustard is now owned by the big European food and cosmetic company Unilever, who also owns such well-known American condiments as Hellman's mayonnaise, Wishbone salad dressing and Country Crock margarine.  They also own such diverse brand names as Lipton teas, Slim-Fast, Lifebuoy and Dove soaps, and that good ol' American bathroom staple - Vaseline. 

During my first trip to France, I did find a couple 10 oz. jars of the stuff in a small grocery store in Paris and I bought them.  One for me and one for Steve.  The taste of the Amora Dijon mustard is strong and goes well on ham sandwiches.  But I don't eat ham sandwiches all that much and the Amora Dijon mustard doesn't keep well past three or four months after it's been opened.  I used about a quarter of the jar before I had to throw it out. 

This time, I found a number of different sized jars at a Casino super market near our hotel in Saint-Etienne.  I grabbed three of the above size, not only because they were small, but because they looked like they could be used as juice glasses or something like that after the mustard was out of them.

I did pick up some ham slices after I got back this week and I made a ham sandwich yesterday with Amora mustard.  Man!  Just new out of the bottle, the strong mustard and vinegar taste is just explosive.  It doesn't overwhelm the overall taste of the sandwich, but really adds some zip. 

On the label, it says, "Fine et Force".  That means "Good and Strong" in English.  They sure as hell aren't kidding.  They also make a "medium-strong" Dijon mustard that is somewhat smoother than the "Good and Strong" stuff, but I'll take the stronger tasting stuff any day. 

And I have a recipe for a good French Dijon vinaigrette that I want to try with the Amora Dijon Mustard.  If I like it, I'll probably be upset that I didn't get enough this trip. 

Unfortunately, Amora mustard is very tough to find in the United States.  I looked for it during my trips to Jungle Jim's outside of Cincinnati, but they don't have it in their French area. 

There are a couple web sites that show Amora Dijon mustard.  One of them - French Feast - is an American site that shows the mustard, but doesn't have it yet.  They say they're still working on getting some.  Another site is a British site - French Gourmet Store - which shows the medium-strong Amora Dijon mustard on their site. 

Amora mustard - Par Amour du Gout!  (For the love of the taste!)  And it is damn good stuff...

Hotel Mercure Saint-Etienne Parc de L'Europe

During my stay in Saint-Etienne recently, we were housed at the Hotel Mercure Saint-Etienne Parc de L'Europe.  That's quite a long name for a hotel that is a three star hotel in Europe (and what I would categorize to be a low two star hotel in the U.S.).  The hotel is located next to one of the many parks in Saint-Etienne - Parc de L'Europe - and one of the more popular parks in the city, as well.

The Hotel Mercure Saint-Etienne Parc de L'Europe is part of the Accor hotel chain, a European-based chain that has worldwide hotel chains such as Mercure, Ibis, Sofitel, Red Roof Inn and Motel 6 as part of their empire.  The one in Saint-Etienne is nothing more than a business hotel and is somewhat situated in a residential area of the city (see map).  The one thing that it has going for it is that one of the finer restaurants in the city is located in the hotel - La Ribandiere.  But Saint-Etienne is a highly industrialized city (they have over 400 manufacturers listed on a map in the hotel) and there aren't a lot fine restaurants in town. 

My room on the second floor was somewhat smallish and spartan.  The view out of my window (right) was not too great.  It was of a high-rise apartment building, one of many in the immediate area of the hotel.  Actually, I was somewhat surprised at the large amount of apartment buildings in Saint-Etienne.  I was told that over 20% of the total population of Saint-Etienne (which is about 225,000 in the metropolitan area) live in small apartments.

I found out later on that the upper floors were being renovated into more of a modern mode.  I wouldn't say my room was tired, but let's just say that I've stayed in Comfort Inn's at $59 a night that were much nicer compared to the room that I stayed in.  (By the way - the rooms were listed at $92 Euros a night - roughly $116 US.)

But the bathroom did have a bidet.  I joked with my colleagues after we checked in that I certainly liked "that there foot bath thing in my bathroom."  They initially didn't know what to think until I cracked a half-ass smile when I realized they thought I was serious. 

One of the big reasons I didn't post anything for a week is that I had to choose between taking my camera or my computer.  I opted for the camera.  I figured that I may have a chance to use a computer that the hotel may have.  But that went away when I found that they charged for usage of the computer in the lobby - 5 Euros ($6.25 US) for 15 minutes. 

Plus the fact that the keyboard layout was sort of funky - it was obviously set up for French language and wasn't a normal "Qwerty" set up.  (Click on the above picture to see an enlarged photo of the keyboard.)  I tried to use it once and realized that I'd use up a good portion of the 15 minutes trying to figure out where the hell the individual keys were on the keyboard.   

The front area of the hotel was very nice - they had a nice little flower garden and a terrace that looked out over to the park.  It was nice to go out in the morning after breakfast to hang out looking at the flowers waiting to go over to the factory.

And speaking of breakfast, the Hotel Mercure Saint Etienne Parc de L'Europe had a nice little spread for a continental breakfast.  Each day I had a homemade croissant and three or four 6 oz. glasses of orange juice.  Why so many?  Because they had this awesome juicing machine where you would put oranges in a little chute, they would feed into a cutter mechanism that would slice the oranges in half.  Then they would catch on a wheel that would squeeze the juice out of the oranges.  There was a mesh tray drain at the bottom that kept the pulp out of the juice, and then you had a little spigot that you'd pour your juice into a glass.  It took about 4 oranges to get a 6 oz glass of juice.  But it was great.

It was so great that my boss, Daniel, said that he wanted to look into distributing the juice machine in North America.  However, I found out that it's already being distributed in the states.  I also found that the suggested retail price of the machine they had at the hotel was just a scad under $4000 (US).  But it was way cool. 

Here's some pictures from the Parc de L'Europe across the street.  Parc de L'Europe is a good sized park, I'm guessing somewhere around 5 to 6 acres in the center of the city.  I went for walks through there on three or four occasions early in the morning.  Here's a picture of the main walkway through the center of the park.  I like how the sun is filtering through on the trees in the background, but the ones in the foreground are still in the shadow of the hill behind me (Saint-Etienne is a very hilly city). 

They had a large jungle gym in the park, too.  I thought it was pretty cool.  You'd never see anything like this in America, mainly because we have such a litigious society and the first time a kid fell off this thing, his parents would be swimming in money. 

Here's a neat statue at the front of the park.  I tried to get the sun filtering through the sculpture, and it would have worked had I taken time to screw around with it.

One of Saint-Etienne's "sister" cities is Des Moines, IA.  Since I grew up near Des Moines I thought it was kind of neat that I was in one of Des Moines' international sister cities.  However, the only acknowledgment to Des Moines that I could see in Saint-Etienne was this sign for an alley near the hotel.

For mid-priced European standards, the Hotel Mercure Saint-Etienne Parc de L'Europe is a nice place.  I hope they have the lower floor rooms remodeled the next time I go back - which may be next year.  They're making noises they want us to come back each year now.  I guess I don't know if I like that idea or not. 

Aux Anysetiers du Roy - Paris

We got into Paris from Saint-Etienne last Saturday around 1 p.m., checked into our hotel to freshen up, then took off on a little walk along the Seine River.  We found that we were probably more hungry than eager to sight see, so we found a little street that had a number of small restaurants up and down the way.

Many of the restaurants were packed (Parisians - actually all Europeans -  have a tendency to eat later than Americans), but we did find one little place that was able to handle our party of 10 - Aux Anysetiers du Roy on Rue St. Louis en I'lle in Paris' 4th arrondissement (district).  It's actually on the island of St. Louis in the Seine, just west of the Notre-Dame Cathedral.  See map here.

Aux Anysetiers du Roy is a tiny place.  It probably seats no more than 22 to 25 people.  In doing some research on the place, it turns out that the restaurant was one of the more "hip" places to hang out and have dinner in the 60's and 70's with celebrities.  Salvador Dali, Bridgette Bardot, Jerry Lewis and other celebs would grace the doors of Aux Anysetiers du Roy, primarily for their famous chocolate fondue. 

In fact, Aux Anysetiers du Roy has a number of crocks of chocolate and herbs that are sold all over the world. 

They sat us along the wall at Aux Anysetiers du Roy which afforded us a look into their very small kitchen.  It was just one chef, a woman, and one waiter working in the place.  The chef had no sous chef in the kitchen, it was just her.

The restaurant's specialty is grilled meat.  One of our guys went with the grilled veal and he said it was just outstanding.  I'd never had grilled veal before and he said it was moist and flavorful. 

I opted for the chef's special of the day - Beef Bourgogne (Beef Burgundy) - which is basically a beef stew that uses cubed pieces of beef in a rich wine based gravy with some vegetables.  I almost opted for the steak au poivre (sirloin steak in a black pepper infused sauce - the base of which they sell, as well), but I figured that after a week of eating rich foods I needed some comfort food - French style.   

We got a bottle of the 2002 Chateau Cartier Saint Emilion Grand Cru from the Bordeaux region after we ordered lunch.  Now, I don't know French wines at all, but even for a wine that probably needed a couple more years to go before we opened the bottle, it was outstanding with our lunch. 

The food was just outstanding.  This a picture of my plate after I'd eaten a couple of the pieces of beef.  Man, it was great.  The sauce had a robust taste of a good red wine, the potatoes were fried beforehand in a little olive oil.  There were mushrooms and carrots added.  It very much reminded me of my beef stew recipe. 

We didn't do any of their chocolate fondue, although had I known the historical significance and how famous the place was for their chocolate fondue, I may have tried something.  But I ate so much friggin' chocolate on this trip.  I probably had more chocolate in a week than I've had in the past year.  I just don't eat that much chocolate. 

Our lunch gave us enough fuel to get us around on our little walkabout Paris.  It was the ultimate in comfort food.  It was definitely a "spot hitter". 

The TGV

Even though you're not driving when you take the TGV in France, it's still one of the neatest experiences you can have while traveling. 

The letters "TGV" are short for "train a grand vitesse" or "high speed train" in French.  The TGV's are run by the French government's rail operator, SNCF.  The first TGV went between Paris and Lyon in the early 80's and since then more engines and lines have been built with a number of European countries connecting with the TGV's central hub in Paris. 

With speeds of up to 200 mph, the TGV has taken over as the primary way of moving people from city to city throughout France and parts of Western Europe.  It's especially appealing for trips of 3 hours or less because the train stations in most French cities are centrally located and there is minimal check-in and pre-boarding security that you find in most airports these days. 

Here's what happens when a TGV hits a magpie at 200 miles an hour.  Check out the lower left front of the TGV engine.  Most TGV lines have high fences and raised grades to all but cut down on the chance of a collision with an animal or motor vehicle. 

The TGV car cabins are spacious and comfortable.  With the low axles, the specially built tracks and the amazingly high speeds, the TGV is one of the smoothest rides one can have in any mode of transportation.  I have trouble staying awake when I ride on them.

And you should stay awake.  The French countryside between Paris and Lyon is sensational.  The rolling hills of Central France soon give way to the foothills of the Alps as you go further to the southeast. 

My colleagues and myself flew into Charles De Gaulle airport northeast of Paris and all met up at the train station within the airport.  The TGV has a direct line from the airport to the station in Lyon, France's second largest city.  The train station at De Gaulle is modern and clean (except they charge you 50 cents euro to use the bathrooms).  Not only can you board TGV's, but conventional trains can take you to points in Paris and beyond, as well.

The trip to Lyon is a shade over 2 hours.  Lyon is about 287 miles from Paris, so you're averaging speeds of about 140 miles an hour.  The French countryside zips by so quickly that it's tough to take pictures out of the window of the great views.

The train station in Lyon - Gare Lyon Part Dieu - is sort of a big shopping center and community hangout.  It's situated right smack dab in the center of Lyon and handles hundreds of thousands of people annually.  The "Part Two" part comes into play because Gare Lyon Part Dieu was built in the early 80's to accommodate the TGV's that began to come there from Paris. 

The train station in Saint-Etienne is part of a renovation area in the Ville Centre (central) area of town.  I remarked that the next time we come back, the area around the train station is going to be drastically different.  A number of shops, modern buildings and office areas are being built within 100 meters of the station. 

And Gare de Lyon, the main station in Paris for all points south and east, is one of the architectural marvels of western Europe.  Built between 1895 and 1902, the Gare de Lyon was designed by French architect Marius Toudoire and opened during the 1900 Exhibition Universelle (World's Fair) in Paris.

Toudoire was helped by over 30 artists to make the Gare de Lyon one of the most spectacular buildings in Paris.  Known primarily for it's stately clock tower, the Gare de Lyon was the starting point for thousands of Parisians who would make the annual trek to the Mediterranean coast for their vacations, or "holidays". 

The Gare de Lyon was modernized in the 70's and 80's to be able to handle not only the TGV's, but the increased traffic in and out of the station to and from Switzerland, Italy, Greece and the French Riviera. 

Traveling by train in France is a great experience.  I can't tell you how many times we wondered why there wasn't anything remotely close to this in the U.S.  One of our guys said that the airline lobby would never allow something like this to happen.  I know there have been studies about regional high speed rail lines between St. Louis and Chicago, Boston and Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco - with trains that would approach the speeds acquired by the TGV.    

But if you ever get the chance to go to France and want to venture outside of Paris, take the TGV.  Just once.

I'm Back from France

I'm back from an 8 day business trip to France.  Our main importer, Focal Loudspeakers, had their top worldwide distributors come to Saint-Etienne (see map) for their annual distributors meeting.  However, they wanted the North American regional sales managers (of which I'm one) to come a few days early to get trained on new products that will be hitting the market later this summer. 

Unfortunately, there wasn't too much time to do sight seeing.  We did walk around the old city of Lyon for a couple of hours a week ago Sunday.  And we did get to walk around the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Left Bank area along the Seine in Paris for a couple hours last Saturday.  But for the most part it was strictly a business trip. 

When I told people that I would be going to France - especially during my birthday - everyone seemed to be thrilled for me and showed some signs of envy, whether it was real or mock envy.  But I kept telling everyone that Saint-Etienne, a very industrial city in the Rhone-Alpes area of SE France, is not a destination one would like to go to in France.  "But it's still France," people exclaimed.  Seriously, it's like going to Cedar Rapids only the city is a lot older and it tougher to get around in. 

My sister-in-law, Anita, told me before I left, "People don't realize that business trips are not vacations.  They're grueling and take a lot out of you.  They are certainly over-rated."

And she's absolutely right.  Monday thru Friday last week meant getting up at 6:30 or 7, breakfast with the group (12 of us from the U.S. and Canada), meetings, demos, factory tours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.  Dinner at 8 and that would usually last until 11 p.m., at the earliest.

And the food went from very good to pretty bad.  It's difficult to serve prepared meals off the menu for groups of 14 or more people, which is what we had nearly every night in France.  Most of the night meals were at restaurants where Focal had negotiated a pre-selected menu and price.  I don't remember some of the food being that bad on my previous visit to France.  Then again, we had a much smaller group when I went before. 

Still, it was France which is a beautiful country full of history.  The stereotype of the French people being snobbish and rude is something that is completely overblown.  It's a nice place to visit and I'll tell you, if I ever hit a mega lottery in my life, Cindy and I will own a small villa in the south of France along the Cote d'Azur.

But it is nice to be home.  The travel to and from France is somewhat tedious.  I'm downloading pictures right now and will be sharing with you some of my impressions of the trip, the restaurants we ate at, the wine we drank, the hotels we stayed at, and the sights (albeit limited) we took in. 

And actually, the picture at the top of this post is something I found on the internet.  Here's the closest I got to the Eiffel Tower on this trip.  This was taken last Saturday from a bridge over the Seine looking Northwest toward the Eiffel Tower.

Wow!  I was in Paris two days ago.  The miracles of modern travel.  As I settled into bed with Cindy last night after I got home, I laid there for a second and said, "Geez, I woke up in Paris this morning..."

But, yes, once again - it sure is nice to be home.