Just came back from New York City courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue. Had a fun filled two days of jewelry and fashion. I tried really hard to be as upscale as the other people with me. I succeeded – well, sort of.
At dinner the first night I had a chance to meet Marc Metrick, president of Saks. He is an engaging man and has some amazing insight about how to maximize the growth of the company combining brick and mortar stores and online sales. Here’s where I may have slipped up, just a little. (I couldn’t help it.) He asked what I did. I said I was in the publishing business. As most people do, he responded, “What do you publish?” And I said, with a pause, glancing both ways before looking into his eyes and in low voice, I said, “Pornography”. He didn’t blink, just smiled. I said, “No, just kidding. I publish tax research. Kind of boring, but it pays the bills!”
I have to admit, I used the same line at Cartier and I could feel the gulp in the young woman’s throat but her smile stuck. I took the pressure off by telling the truth.
I also visited David Yurman's studio, where I saw and tried on some of the most amazing jewelry I’ve ever seen. The Yurmans, David, his wife Sybil, and son Evan were absolutely charming. Their jewelry is inspired by David’s early sculpting and Sybal’s painting. Evan is fascinated by stones and we spent quite a bit of time going over books and looking at some exquisite necklaces that he had created.
In short, it was a wonderful trip, finished off with a visit to the original Saks Fifth Avenue – 9 stories of amazing fashion and cocktails at the Rainbow room. And I will try not to use my story again, but I can’t promise.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Mere Poulard hotel: The challenge of the Mont
My daughter, granddaughter and I are doing the girls’ tour of France. Stop two was Mont San Michel, in my opinion, the most amazing place in the world. But it comes at a price!
I decided we should stay on the Mont to get the maximum benefits of not only the Abbey, but the quiet time in the morning and the amazing tidal events. So we stayed at the best hotel on the Mont: Le Mere Poulard. It’s a three star hotel. Whoever gave the stars was extremely generous.
To get there we took a train from Paris. Then we had to transfer to a bus taking us to the visitor’s center where we took a tram to the site. The tram drops you off about 1/3 of a mile through hardened sand and packed rock to the entrance.
We dragged our luggage into the site and found Mere Poulard. Whew! We checked in. Our room was on the third floor. This was a bit of a misnomer because it was on the third floor of the building up the side of the Mont, accessible by three flights of stairs, one of which was an outside narrow rock stairway. Then we went up two more flights of stairs. There is no elevator and the hotel does not have bell service. The kind desk clerk carried the two heavy pieces while we carried the rest to our room.
The room was sparse, but clean. There was very little light in the bathroom, no washcloths, and they took our dirty towels but did not leave new ones. The worst part was there was no air conditioning and it was in the low 90s. So window open! It cooled down at night to probably 75 and we listened to the noisiest seagulls you ever heard.
Undaunted we spent the next full day on a great tour of the abbey and nearby Bayeux.
I decided a taxi was in order to avoid the long trek with bags to the shuttle and bus to the train station. It was about $75 more than the bus. Well, unfortunately we were told we would have to go back via the tram and meet the taxi in the parking lot and there was nobody at the front desk in the morning to help us.
I asked, “So there is no way we can have a taxi pick us up here as we have lots of luggage and I’m elderly.” (Yup, I pulled the old card.) He replied, “No, only if you are a very special guest.” I wasn’t feeling special.
We cancelled the taxi, made it to Lyon where we stayed in a five-star hotel, Cour de Loges. This amazing place deserved 10 stars! Guess what: We didn’t have to schlep our luggage.
I decided we should stay on the Mont to get the maximum benefits of not only the Abbey, but the quiet time in the morning and the amazing tidal events. So we stayed at the best hotel on the Mont: Le Mere Poulard. It’s a three star hotel. Whoever gave the stars was extremely generous.
To get there we took a train from Paris. Then we had to transfer to a bus taking us to the visitor’s center where we took a tram to the site. The tram drops you off about 1/3 of a mile through hardened sand and packed rock to the entrance.
We dragged our luggage into the site and found Mere Poulard. Whew! We checked in. Our room was on the third floor. This was a bit of a misnomer because it was on the third floor of the building up the side of the Mont, accessible by three flights of stairs, one of which was an outside narrow rock stairway. Then we went up two more flights of stairs. There is no elevator and the hotel does not have bell service. The kind desk clerk carried the two heavy pieces while we carried the rest to our room.
The room was sparse, but clean. There was very little light in the bathroom, no washcloths, and they took our dirty towels but did not leave new ones. The worst part was there was no air conditioning and it was in the low 90s. So window open! It cooled down at night to probably 75 and we listened to the noisiest seagulls you ever heard.
Undaunted we spent the next full day on a great tour of the abbey and nearby Bayeux.
I decided a taxi was in order to avoid the long trek with bags to the shuttle and bus to the train station. It was about $75 more than the bus. Well, unfortunately we were told we would have to go back via the tram and meet the taxi in the parking lot and there was nobody at the front desk in the morning to help us.
I asked, “So there is no way we can have a taxi pick us up here as we have lots of luggage and I’m elderly.” (Yup, I pulled the old card.) He replied, “No, only if you are a very special guest.” I wasn’t feeling special.
We cancelled the taxi, made it to Lyon where we stayed in a five-star hotel, Cour de Loges. This amazing place deserved 10 stars! Guess what: We didn’t have to schlep our luggage.
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