Mill Station Veterinary Service

05/01/2026

Day 8 - Notre Dame and Kandinsky! A run through Bois de Boulogne park to the Louis Vitton Center (built to look like 5 of his handbags?), then on to the interior of the reopened Notre Dame after the great fire 5 years ago. Magnificent, with lots of amazing artwork and sculpture, including King Louis IX, and his tunic from the 13th century? Joan of Arc with a giant halberd looked imposing as well.
We were then off to the Kandinsky exhibit at rh Philharmonie in northeast Paris. He was a Russian born pioneer of modern art and music fusion- a genius. Look him up!
Dinner was at Le Procope, founded in the same spot in the St. Germain neighborhood by a Sicilian on 1686! We were at Chopin’s table! And of course Napoleon left one of his hats to pay for dinner two hundred years ago!

05/01/2026

Day 7 - took an morning run through the light snowfall from the night before, only to end up crashing through the ice of a snow covered frozen reflecting pool on the Trocadéro! Then we were off to The Gauloise Cafe for a fizzy warm up, the Metro to Notre Dame (with a stop for oysters and champagne), and a walk along the Seine and the Champs de Elysee as the sun set. I was chased off by security before I could get a pic of the US Embassy. Lots of shouts of “Monsieur no!” by heavily armed guards got my attention…even after I told them I was an American!
Finished the evening at the lovely 16th Avenue Cafe near our hotel with a fantastic medium rare filet of beef and the stickiest pepper sauce known to mankind! Bon appetit’!

03/01/2026

Day 5 and 6! Arrived Thursday night to this view from our hotel’s front door! Sunrise (844am!) in Paris was stunning as well. It was cold and sleeting so I bought a wool coach driver’s hat at a Christmas Market - it worked! It was getting colder and wetter so we popped into a cafe and ordered hot toddies - they worked too! Then on to lunch at Le Deux Magots, one of Hemingway’s hangouts in the 20’s. Then on through the trendy St. Germaine neighborhood to the famed Shakespeare and Company bookstore. Emerged just in time to see the moon rise over the towers of Notre Dame. Returned for supper at Victor, a great little place a few streets over from our hotel - ripped clams and a pikefish dumpling in some kind of insane butter-based brown glaze - good grief it was good!

02/01/2026

02/01/2026

Day 4 - New Year’s Eve! Started with a run through a chilly Hyde Park to see the Prince Albert Memorial (commissioned by Queen Victoria in honor of her late husband) on the recommendation of one of my best friends - beautiful! Jenny and I then did a little pub hopping which included The King’s (namely Henry VIII) Head in Marleybone. Great pub - warm, good cask ales, and open stand up comedy nights weekly!
Later it was off to the Coq d’ Argent (The Silver Rooster) on The Strand for New Year’s Eve dinner and fireworks, and finished up back at the Langham’s new year’s celebration. Happy New Year!

01/01/2026

Bon soirée from the city of lights!

01/01/2026

Day 3 in London! Started with a hike up Primrose Hill for a view of the skyline (it’s the shot that opens the PBS show Sherlock!), then a stroll through Savile Row to check out all the stuff I needed lots of Bitcoin to buy. Wonderful high tea at the Brown Hotel with a great piano serenade. Then Shakespeare’s OTHELLO at the Royal Haymarket with an all star cast led by David Harewood and Caitlin Fitzgerald - best show I’ve ever seen live for sure! Nightcap cocktail with Jenny at The Langham’s Artesian bar. Cheers!

30/12/2025

Day 2 (yesterday - finished up late!). Fun Bridget Jones walk across the Jubilee Bridge followed by a 30 minute turn on the London Eye with champagne before and during the ride! After a quick visit with my old friend Winston Churchill it was on to Wimbledon and the famous Ivy Cafe for smoked beef tartare. After dinner hoofed it to an AFC Wimbledon home game against Exeter City where we met a local University grad whose favorite football team is the Pittsburgh Steelers! (Well, second to AFC Wimbledon, of course!)

29/12/2025

Day 1 in London at the Victorian era Langham Hotel in Mayfair. The city looks great, and Mathan Indian restaurant’s spicy lamb chops with mint were awesome!

28/12/2025

Jen and I are on a Boeing 777 bound for Heathrow and our belated honeymoon! I’m gonna watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - ‘Merica! (Also I’ve already seen all the Bond movies they have available 🤣)