Paris May 2026

I had an IEA wind and solar integration task meeting in Paris and it happened to be Leo's one week between spring and summer semester so we went to Paris together! Paul was out camping. Rich was in Boulder and we had breakfast before my flight at the French Cafe:

We arrived on a gorgeous sunny spring day and all of Paris was out. This is the Luxembourg Gardens. Few people were on their phones. They were mostly talking, sunning themselves, reading - old-school.

There was some mess on the street where I'm guessing some gay guys broke up and one tossed ALL of the other's stuff onto the street including a massive dildo collection:

We ate really well of course! Escargots:

Our hotel was close to the Notre Dame:

Leo drinking a $10 coffee:

Eiffel tower from top of Arc du Triomphe:

Perrine and Chris were in town visiting Celeste who had just started an internship in Paris:

Leo and I discovered a part of Paris that I'd never been to before, Marais. Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe! So cute and boutique-y with wonderful restaurants and shops and art and just an old homey feel. I could live there! Here's a shop that we would like to go back to - they have all different types of olives and preserved seafood.

Leo with the gourmand dessert which is 3 mini desserts and espresso. 

Our walk back to the hotel from Marais:

One of the several beef tartares over the week. Again, in Marais!

This was one of my favorite Renoir paintings as a kid. At the Musee d'Orsay. We did a quick visit after I finished my IEA meetings.

Took Friday off to train to the Loire valley, recreating the same trip that Tim and I did in 1988:

Turned out that it was a national holiday and it seemed like all of Paris had gone to Blois to the Chateau de Chambord grounds for a giant flea market. We were lucky we didn't drive and park. But the restaurants were full and the place was a zoo:

It is a gorgeous chateau, however! 

Made it back in time to miss much of the rain and get the bikes returned. Only restaurant open was the Congolese place and the owners spent 45 min chatting with a friend before we realized no one was cooking and we'd need to get our food cooked and wrapped to take on to the train home. Yeah, I ate a whole grilled fish out of a plastic bag on the train. The train had problems and we got home a good hour late.

 

We celebrated making it home by getting gelato at one of those late night gelaterias:

Spent Sat at the Louvre seeing the Sphinx, Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, the Hammurabi code:

I was starving so I made Leo do the bourgeoisie thing and eat at the cafe inside the Louvre.

Turns out the 'best pastry chef in the world' makes their desserts so we had 

Entremets chocolat praline noisette, badiane:

Saint Honore vanille bouton de cannelier:

Then we experienced real bourgeois - the Napoleon apartments:

Had to see Rodin in the afternoon:

Also got to hang with Peter a bunch:

And we all hit the nearby little bar/club on the last night out:

Glasgow, Scotland, May 2025

 We tooled around Glasgow, hit the best scotch bars in town, saw the arboretum, listened to a fantastic organist, and ate good food.

Kilchoman, Islay, Scotland, May 2025

Kilchoman is also a little off the beaten path - we took the bus and shuttled up to the distillery. It's the newest distillery and my second favorite, due to the red wine cask bottling that both Erik and Root had gotten for me for my 50th birthday. We learned that American oak extracts peat better; sherry casks are bigger than bourbon casks. Sherry makes the whiskey dark.

We learned all about the guy that started Kilchoman as an "all-Islay" brand and how his kids let the peat malting burn up the building during the World Cup.

We toured the facilities and then had a large private room for our tasting.

Impromptu dueling at the tasting table:

We had a fino cask (dry sherry) that was 5-6 years old, 50 ppm, 50% alc, dry, oily mouthfeel with a golden color, slightly sweet:

We did like the Loch Gorm. This is 10 years old, in Oloroso sherry butts, 46% alc, 50 ppm, with a deep gold color. It was rich and chewy. Yum!

This was a 5 year old port cask matured, 50% alc. It was golden but thinner. I believe they tarred this cask:

There was also a distillery exclusive 7 year old bourbon cask, 57.5% alc. It was sweet, thin, not very peaty. Not my thing.

Kilchoman has THE MOST AMAZING TASTING MENU! All you have to do is show up and they will give you as much free Sanaig and Machir Bay as you want:

We were able to taste, but NOT buy the red wine cask liquor of the gods:

We managed to eke out lunch there - sandwiches and bread for thoroughly happy people: