Hotel L de Lutèce: In Memoriam in Paris
February 27, 2025
My mom was a francophile. I’m not sure why, because her French was not that great and she was more of a worldly American trapped in East Tennessee than anything else. She loved Paris especially. Whenever she visited with dad, she always stayed at Lutéce on Ile St Louis.
I stayed here myself a couple of times years ago, and felt drawn to the island to share a bit of my mother’s ghost with Romey. This is the only way they will meet.
The hotel has seen an excellent facelift as a result of COVID, and remains a beautiful little quirky gem. Of course, when you learn anything about Paris (and Lutèce) you find out that ile saint louis is all very new and once was the domain of more cows than people—kind of like where we live now only with much less city. Thanks to Victor Hugo, Notre Dame was rescued from decrepitude and became, once again, the heart of the world.
Speaking of which, here we are standing together on the dot that was once the center of planet earth from which every other place was measured. Our friends Yo and Caroline trained down from Leuven to join us for the weekend—time we will always treasure.
We dropped our bags on a rainy morning (having come down from Hotel de Nell) and headed back up for lunch at Habile. Not to state the obvious, but the French are excellent cooks. Food plays a central role in human existence, and the French have known this for centuries. This is something my mother knew to her core as well.
Habile is superb and fun and neon colored and eclectic. It is also situated in the heart of a set of high-end vintage clothing stores. A coat that immediately caugfht Romey’s eye in the window was a Hermes for a mere 2500 euros. We had fun perusing the stores.
This is the “arc of participation prize.”
Eventually we ran out of steam and stopped for a drink in a random street cafe.
Around sunset we made it down to the seine.
We parted ways for the evening over a glass of champagne in the lobby and headed up to room 61.
61 is a very cool room with an excellent bathroom.
And then it was off to Pur for a delicious old school dinner.
Bright and early the next morning we walked together to the Musée d’Orsay.
View from 61.
After a very brief rest came an excellent private tour of the newly-renovated Notre Dame.
Then it was off for some shopping at Galleries Lafayette. Just go. Nothing was purchased.
We returned to Ile Saint Louis in the very nick of time for a delightful oyster fest at
Poget & De Witte, featuring two bottles of wine and five renditions of the happy birthday song: english, chinese, dutch, german, french and “pissed off drunk guy.”
Romey and Caroline were busy conjuring up words for the various translations.
After dinner we had more mandatory pommes frites at Le Saint-Regis which is about as touristy as they come. Then we packed up and readied ourselves for the trip home.
A warning: we were shanghaied by Dior in the airport somehow on our way out of town the next morning. LOL. A cherished keepsake is now in the inventory.
We had an excellent adventure filled with lots of walking, lots of talking, and lots of love.
Five showerheads and fond memories for Lutèce.
Hotel de Nell: Haven in the Opéra (Paris)
February 27, 2025
It was a last minute change. We hopped our morning TGV after seeing un peu du l’arte nouveau in Nancy, and boom…there we were in Paris just in time to miss lunch.
Hotel de Nell is just a quick minute from Gare de l’Est and ideally situated for walking between Marais and Montmartre in pedestrian friendly (and pedestrian tolerant) zones. We were not able to get a balcony suite at the last minute, but we were assigned an excellent little room with a view and bonus church bells. It may have been 41?
We checked in, freshened up, and headed out for a great meal at La Cantine de Sam. Sam is incredibly friendly and the Lebanese food is out of this world.
Walking from the Opéra both down to the river and up to Montparnesse with no plan is excellent.
We took a left turn into a Banksy pop up completely at random.
And then we fancied up a notch and headed down for some jazz at Sunset-sunside. The show by Karl Jannuska was excellent. Late night pommes frites at Le Magnum Bar at 1am may have happened.
The next morning, we hopped an uber in the rain to drop our bags off at Ile St Louis and meet Yo and caroline for lunch.
A whirlwind five showerheads for Hotel de Nell. We hope to return soon.
Villa Nancy Thermae: Should I Stay or Should I Go
February 26, 2025
I mean, maybe the Clash was not singing about us, but our opinion is that you should go but you should not stay. See, the thermal baths are awesome and one of the great things to do in Nancy (France). But you shouldn’t stay at Villa Thermae. Sadly, we’re not really sure where you should stay when you visit Nancy.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves…
We were invited to Nancy to talk about our ancient thesis of yore (Letter Spirit) which you can read about here. I mean, how wild to be asked to talk about 30 year old work on creativity, AI, and letter perception. What an honor. Here is a posting about the talk.
Scott Kim shows an illustration of gridfonts that I made 30 years ago.
Nancy is really a small provincial town with a long history and important links to design and fine arts. There are plenty of great places to eat, including: Sèves, Excelsior (about more which below), and le capu.
Avocado toast at Sèves is to die for
Excelsior has excellent oysters in a classic setting
An edible doohicky at le capu
The spa at Villa Thermae is worth a visit. But it is run by tiny French bureaucrats who should be replaced. And it is not upscale in the least. It’s very public and very French. Hilariously, I was forced to buy tiny little Euro bathing pants since bathing suits of the US variety were not allowed. We had serious scheduling issues with this place, so be forewarned.
We were assigned hamster cage 215, which was, all told, an awful room. It had a musty smell that could not be dispersed (coming from the dishwasher), the shower was plastic and too small, and the room was generic and uncomfortable. But it was free, and it was very close to the conference site. We failed to take pictures.
École nationale supérieure d’art et de design de Nancy
The famous Place Stanislas is actually quite boring. We went to see it so you don’t have to.
While we were at the aforementioned square on our first day, we were targeted by thieves who spotted our roller suitcases and jet lagged state from a distance. The group of 4 were easy enough to avoid, but certainly colored our visit to Nancy for the worse. Mostly people were friendly and helpful and the bus system was really easy to use. But the tourist zone can be skipped without reservation.
A group dinner at Excelsior was really delightful. Romey and I showed up way early in our quest to stay awake and had some secret oysters before the others arrived. Then we temporarily joined the wrong group…something about secretion?! LOL.
We had an absolutely amazing time at the NORM opening in My Monkey Gallery. See lots of content about that show on apothecaryshed.
The NORM artists by a gridfont-like machine observed by the lego throned gem
A visit to Musée de l’École de Nancy will steep you in l’Art Nouveau and set you back 100 years.
We switched up our TGV tickets and trained to Paris early. Nancy is certainly worth a visit, but Villa Thermae earns a paltry and musty two showerheads.
Brice Hotel Savannah: History Collides with the Future
February 15, 2025
Oh how NPS used to love kimpton. We mean SO SO much. But since the IHG takeover, standards are falling all around. The Brice in Savannah (which is fairly new and independently owned) is no exception. Almost Kimpton. Almost.
Fortunately there is Tim. No not that Tim, another Tim—the operations manager. Tim is great. He made our stay much better.
*
We were originally assigned a park view suite (as we reserved on the net). We had no idea that the suites at the Brice are cobbled together out of stables and that the park is over a busy highway. Lets just say the rooms look great on the net but they are design disasters in real life. Here is 125.
I mean that sitting room is not bad. Unless you try to sit in it. Situated in an illogical place it serves more as an obstacle course on the way to the bedroom through the very skinny tiny dark hall. Do not sit in the sitting room.
Back in the back bedroom, the bed and the TV stand thing take up the room with no room to spare (so to speak). Getting around at night in the dark without damage to yourself is impossible. And the bedroom adjoins the busy street at street level? What? ha ha ha…park view.
As you can see, the design elements are great. In fact, in a normal king room (which we switched to after a bad night in 125) they kind of fit the funky vibe. We switched to 258 which was fine, but we took no pictures.
Want to put your suitcase somewhere not in the dark? Good luck with that. The closet may well have some of our stuff in it.
The bathroom looks great. And it should be. It’s especially great for eavesdropping on others in the hotel through the vents. And great for water fowl who want to be randomly soaked by the broken shower head. Plus it stays wet for days! So close and yet so far.
There were so many issues with 125 that we spent some time talking to aforementioned Tim about them. Tim was gracious, empathetic, and delivered a businesslike solution with panache. Thanks Tim. People like Tim are what made the Kimpton brand tick way back when.
—
Anyway, we were at the Brice for Savannah and friends and art and eating and the superbowl (?!). So lets turn out attention to our many side quests for a minute:
Savannah is gorgeous. The historic part of town is the first properly planned and laid out grid plan city in north america. The parks and the trees are awe inspiring and might just remind you why you are alive. Go for the trees alone.
And the food is world class. Seriously. We had one of the best meals of our lives at Elizabeth on 37th. We had so much fun with the excellent waiter/sommelier and the company we were with. We laughed until we cried as we experienced one of the best meals of our life. The only picture we managed to snap was of the menu. (FWIW, Eliabeth ranks right up there with the Waterside on the Thames and Bare in Bergen.)
Equally excellent but in more of a city hipster style was Common Thread. The food was once again excellent, the service delightful, and not one speck of stuffiness. You could well be in any major city.
Also of note Repeal 33 and Collins Quarter are both superb places for brunch. Best dive bar you ask? Why Bubba Gumbo of course.
There is also lots of funky artiness to be found everywhere in Savannah. This is mainly due to the influence of SCAD, which as far as we can tell is in a fight to the death with RISD. SCAD spends bazillions to toot its horn in an impressive (and manipulative) manner. Go SCAD!
Honestly, though, we are very proud of our friend April Claggett for being a professor at SCAD. April took us everywhere: an art opening,, Saturday market, tybee island dive bars, fancy dinners. What a great time.
There is Tybee Island and its associated dive bars nearby. So nice to walk on the beach.
It is warm enough to swim in February? Your mileage may vary.
The African Art Museum is a gem. Just go.
A horse and carriage ride is exactly what the tour guide ordered. We learned lots during our cloppy ride through town. For example, there is a statue of a cross-dressing horse trainer up a pedestal in one of the many green squares. And the original Savannah charter disallowed lawyers and slaves. And the underground railroad was very active in the city. Makes you wonder about history…
Did we mention art and SCAD? Because we meant to.
We could not pass up a visit to “the cathedral” which is theoretically modeled after Notre Dame. LOLs. We’ll see about that next week when we are in Paris. Same goes for the Paris market.
Superbowl Sunday happened at Maryjane’s house with Tom. The game was a blowout. As was the food and beverage selection. Best Superbowl party evah!
Just blogging about this trip is tiring. What an excellent adventure. We will return for sure.
We bookend our Savannah visit with this gem of a picture…
Four showerheads and even more Tim for the Brice. Maybe Kimpton will rise again.
Marriott Does Corporate: Alida Hotel Savannah
February 15, 2025
We’re in town for a TAB meeting attended by nobody even remotely from Georgia. So we all arrived from everywhere and convened at the Alida. The tribute portfolio properties by Marriott are designed to attract middle management and they execute their mission to a T. They try so hard to be hip that they miss by a mile—like coming to a chess game with a bag of checkers.
NPS was assigned a long skinny room on the ground floor (102) with a window bank overlooking the pool. You might thing that sounds fun, but in their quest to “be young,” the Alida pipes crappy music of no discernible genre into the pool area 24/7. At 4am, that sucks. Hazy bass thomp and ever repeating generic rhythms are so much worse than NY city noise or even, say, silence deep in the night.
As you can see by the pictures, what we have here is standard hamster cage. Who even uses two king beds in one room?!
The bathroom shower situation seems to be becoming common now. The shower features a glass door (nice) but the shower stall is hollow plastic simulated tile. Cheap. We’re trying to decide whether that constitutes the new “plastic shower” of which we want none.
But we are in Savannah and we’re not here to sleep. Perhaps a Negroni will help?
I mean there is one of those fireplace things that runs on gas (also near the pool). We wonder if it burns all night as the music thomps to itself.
The meeting was excellent, though the room down by the restaurant in the basement is cold. The A/V system down there is ungovernable by usual algorithms it seems.
We had some time in the morning to see the trees and walk up to Forsyth after breakfast at the ’80s themed Traylor Park. The newish southern chain is fun, but the trees are magical. And the trees in the morning fog are otherworldly.
Tea at Gryphon (worth a visit).
Lunch at Wright Square Bistro was excellent. Coffee at the Coffee Fox. Later, dinner at Husk was really fun but not really up to Savannah standards it turns out.
Late night cocktails and planning at Congress Street Up were outstanding. (We did not attempt the museum nonsense.) As we discussed how AI is taking over software development, Regan Cannon made us a Good Advice:
1 oz Hayman’s Old Tom
.5 oz Plymouth Navy Strength
.5 oz CioCiaro
.75 oz Ciocci Bianco
2 dashes orange bitters (unspecified)
2 dashes cardamom bitters (Boizers)
absynthe spray
Orange and lemon peel expressed and dropped in.
All told we were here for work, and work was excellent.
Three showerheads and an off switch for the all night music for the Alida. Too corporate for Savannah. But we were not done with Savannah…it was off to the Brice!
Back to the Pittsburgh Monaco
January 25, 2025
It is very fitting that our first trip of 2025 is to Pittsburgh and the Hotel Monaco. We’ve been here a bunch as we are planning our 5/25/25 bash here. (NPS first came to the hotel when it just opened in 2015.). Because we were spoiled rotten during our first visit, we always try to stay in 835.
One of the best things about the Pittsburgh Monaco is that it is doing all it can to hang on to the old Kimpton goodness from before the IHG takeover. We miss those days, and visiting the Monaco reminds us why. That’s bittersweet of course. Much of the goodness comes from the top. Rob Mallinger is a very good GM.
We arrived after a chilly drive just in time to meet with Sydney from catering and do a tasting. We did have a minute to deposit our stuff upstairs. Thanks for the flowers and the welcome note.
The bathroom involves very little plastic.
We spent some time in the grand ballrooms agonizing over how to transform the space into something less sparse. Word to the wise, the hotel does not have a stash of furniture or lighting that you can use to do this. That would be up to you.
For the record, here is what the spaces look like empty.
We also looked at the rooftop terrace again (which we are likely to fold into our event). It was covered in snow.
We provided some feedback to the hotel directly WRT space recombobulation and our tasting experience. As always, the Kimpton staff was all over it and was very responsive. This is a sign of good management. Thanks to Sydney and Erin for being good eggs.
While in Pittsburgh, we decided to attend the Pittsburgh Symphony. That was a very good plan—what a talented orchestra.
Before the show, we had dinner at Gaucho Parrilla Argentina. The experience was ok. Delightful staff but food that was honestly pretty generic. Not much like, say, Argentina. The best thing was that it was right across the street from the Heinz Symphony Hall.
The next morning, before our meeting with the Warhol (also a 5/25/25 destination), we had some donuts at Peace, Love, and Little Donuts followed by a better espresso at De Fer.
And then it was off to the Warhol in the snow. It snowed maybe 2 inches while we were in town.
One our way out of town, we swung by a very swank Aveda Spa (Lapamponee) in Mt Lebanon, which led us through sheer luck to Piyola. Holy cow is Piyola excellent.
And then it was back home over the mountains in the snow. The trip was very cold and a bit slippery.
Five showerheads for the Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh. We can’t wait to be back.
Boston for Lunch
December 20, 2024
This has happened before: you get to the end of the year of travel and you remain just on the wrong side of the 100k finish line. Alas. The only solution is to fly to Boston for lunch. Of course things never work out as planned, with the chances of travel SNAFU during the return trip are 100%! LOL.
We did eventually get home, but were not credited with our (expensive) travel PQP and remained trapped on the wrong side of the finish line. Fortunately, a quick call to United fixed the whole thing and we’ve secured our 100k status for next year. (Surprise! United was great.)
The airports were a zoo.
Lunch with Spool was great.
The fifth anniversary present was procured.
But on the return to Logan, the EWR drip delay began. Ultimately we flew straight back to Dulles. Too much time was spent drinking bad negronis at the Red Carpet Club.
Maybe does not care.
The Peninsula Chicago: High End for the Win
November 30, 2024
Fancy some art in Chicago? Stay at the Peninsula in high luxury while you’re there! Our visit to the city was excellent in most of the ways.
Of course our room was not ready when we arrived before noon on Sunday, and then the powers that be switched our assigned room out from under us while we visited the MCA. The switch was very much likely for the better as we moved from an executive suite on 12 to a grand deluxe suite on 9.
The room was, in fact, amazing. Comfortable, well-designed, modern, and spacious. We were in 910 overlooking the Water Tower and Michigan avenue. Christmas was upon us (and winter too).
910 has banks of windows.
The shower is not plastic. In fact, there might not be any plastic at all in the entire room.
One of the best aspects of the peninsula is breakfast. No really. Just exquisite and interesting: fresh juice, great coffee, myriad international offerings. Possibly the best breakfast in Chicago. We had two.
The MCA is terrific, including the Maripol restaurant inside.
Tiffany is a good place to visit after some art.
The Art Institute of Chicago is absolutely world class.
Duck Duck Goat is very good mid-level Chinese. Sadly, we couldn’t get the Peking duck.
About the only thing not up to snuff during our visit was pizza at Pequod (an old school Chicago deep dish institution). The pizza is great, but the decor is dirty even for an old Denny’s. And the ordering app? Don’t get us started. Just skip it.
Cocktails at the Peninsula bar, Z bar, are solid, but the experience is not worth writing home about or paying extra for.
Oh, and the Spa at the Peninsula…your mileage may very, but your bill will not.
But those wrinkles aside, the trip was excellent. Here are some more pictures.
Rebranding Chicago, one building at a time.
The view from 910.
The windows are really clean. Really really clean.
Five showerheads for the Peninsula and for Chicago art. Yes please. We would do it all over again.
Lake Eden Retreat: Vantage Point for American Idiocy
November 20, 2024
Our clan convened in Black Mountain in a GOTV effort just before election day. We came from Virginia, DC, and LA. Sadly, in spite of our work, the country has chosen bigotry and blustering ignorance over progress. Lets hope democracy survives four more years of selfish “leadership.”
Lake Eden Retreat is a beautiful though desperately suburban place. If you’re looking for the countryside, this is not really it. We stayed in the studio. It’s a peculiar structure with the bedroom up some spiral stairs, the massively distributed bathroom downstairs, and a sink in the corner of the living room.
And yes, the shower is plastic. Horrors.
But we were here to work. And work we did under the leadership of walt.
While in the Asheville area (still recovering from the massive floods), we had some great meals.
Itto ramen is a top notch place for lunch.
Sunny point cafe is excellent with fun service and down home cooking.
The mixology at Chemist Spirits is top notch.
Also worth a visit is Firestorm books.
And if you are in Black mountain, Pure and Proper is very good indeed. They can even accommodate an entire state’s worth of McGraws…kinda.
Two showerheads for Lake Eden Retreat. Maybe we’ll try a different building next iteration. Anyway, here’s how we all feel about the election results.
Terre Haute, Indiana
October 31, 2024
Welp, its not a hotel, but if you can, stay at Sid’s house. Terre Haute was a really fun place to visit.
It all started with a talk at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which you can watch here.
The campus is full of art.
And it features the largest collection of hot sauce in the entire Midwest.
There is world class mixology to be found between the beers in Terre Haute. Try Bar Bosco if you can.
And dinner at J Ford’s Black Angus is not to be missed. The wine list has some secret hidden gems. We split the porterhouse.
But really the best thing in Terre Haute is Sid’s Waffle House.
In and out through Indy. A picture courtesy of Kurt.
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