In July this blog displayed images and commentary from the rousing start to our Paris “Staycation.”
Here’s a quick wrap-up to Summer 2009.


Early in the summer our dear pal Su-Yin e-mailed a heads-up that her friend Denise Kaufman was coming to Paris with a band called The Durgas.

At the OPA with Durgas drummer Rainer Baumgartner and Denise.

Lead vocalist Benjii Simmersbach.

Marti and I really dug this band. Shown at left are Christopher Simmersbach and Katy J Arnovick. Not pictured: Alex Czerny, keyboards.

My bride and I schmoozed with the folks in the band before and after the gig, then we went in search of late supper.

It was July 23, anniversary of our first date. Marti’s raw meat main course served as a romantic reminder. I love this town.
And Marti, of course.


The office park where Marti works features her building (the tall white one), a gawd-awful sculpture-planter and the Grande Arche.



The march of progress at the junction of rue Cambronne and rue Lecourbe. These are Marti’s before-and-after pics of our newsdealer’s kiosk.




I love Métroing across town to buy CD and DVD blanks because if I time it right, I get to enjoy lunch at La Feria, my preferred Spanish resto.

Scallops and saffron rice. Deelish.


Susan Tedeschi Band at New Morning, July 29.

We spoke briefly with Susan after the gig and enjoyed an extended hang with saxman extraordinaire Ron Holloway, a favorite from our DC days. He has amazing tales of the road. (Once everyone kicks the bucket, he can write his book.)


Oh yeah. While she was in town in July, Britney Spears visited the Tour Eiffel. If only my friend Eda had known!


One morning I awoke early, headed down to Paris Plage -- our temporary beach along the Seine – where I shot this coal barge chugging past the Conciergerie.

On Friday night July 31 Marti & I dropped in to hear five minutes of music at a Les Halles bar, then dined outdoors at the classic Pharamond restaurant.




We’ve got to get ourselves / Back to the garden.

Parc Floral.

The opening concert of the Festival Classique au vert featured pianist Alice Ader in a program entitled Paris - Saint-Pétersbourg.

Marti and I enjoyed a picnic in the park, then took seats in the pavilion to listen to compositions by Moussorgski, Hersant, Ravel and Debussy.


Oud busker at the Centre Pompidou, August 2.


Marti and I had stopped by the Pompidou Center to see the Kandinsky exhibition, but it was Free Museum Sunday and the line stretched to Belgium. We just cruised the ‘hood instead.


Later that week we took advantage of the museum’s late hours and went to see the show. It was marvelous.



August 9. I don’t customarily commemorate deathdays, but this year we honored Jerry with the installation of a new dishwasher. On a Sunday morning, no less. Bravo Darty!


Often when Marti works from home we go out to lunch. This was a delightful one at Krua Thai in Montparnasse. I’m rockin’ my new camo Chucks. (Crackberry® Mirror Photo.)


Our friends Dawn and Dan came to town on August 13. We had a fun late hang with them at the Café Laurent.


The following week our pal Maria visited from Atlanta. These are the gal pals at the Café de la Mairie, people-watching paradise.

That evening Marti and I went to dinner at Louis Vins with Maria, Ileana and Jorge.

With Maria, Jorge and Ileana.
The after party, at La Pomme d’Eve.


I continued my periodic cultural missions to Amsterdam. The power of powerful weed: I could swear I saw a pig strolling in the Centrum.




Passage des Panoramas.

Our buds Kelly and Noah were in Paris en route to a wedding in Spain. We met for dinner on Monday August 31.

Noah turned us on to Racines, a small wine bar-resto in the Passage des Panoramas. I’m always happy when someone else picks the restaurant. An old Paris hand, Noah’s clearly been staying up-to-date -- even from a distance. (San Francisco.)

Oh get a room.

After dinner jazz break at the Duc des Lombards.

”What’s that?” Kelly and Noah asked. During all their time in Paris the Tour Saint-Jacques had been shrouded for renovation. We’re talking like seven or eight years.




On Sunday September 6 Marti and I joined Ileana, Jorge and Antonio for drinks at Maria and Charles’ hotel room. We brought three-year-old Maximilian a set of farm animals.

Cousins at play.

Antonio to Maximilian: “Okay. Here’s how it is . . .”

A former Secret Agent For Castro, currently on bearsitting duty.


Hank in the Métro.

Marti & I parted company with the hotel krew, grabbed a quick Japanese dinner nearby, then went to La Maroquinerie to see Hank III, Hank Williams’ grandson.

Hank III was terrific. He kicked down the Country, Hellbilly and Assjack sets.

I’m here I'm here to put the dick in Dixie / And the cunt back in country.

Here’s a clip of him singing one of his grandfather’s songs. This was before the Hellbilly and Assjack sets helped clear the room!




That’s the rest of the summer in a nutshell. Busy as ever, but not too busy to finally get my Podcast online.

The first two programs are dedicated to Woodstock music in the mid-1970s and Leonard Cohen.

Click on “Posts” in the player to select the program.


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More to come soon. But not too soon.

The fall season is officially underway.