It’s always great to be getting out of town to go on a vacation, and this past trip was no exception…the

anticipation was exceeded only by the actual experience. In England, I stayed in a charming stone

cottage in a small village that looked like I might expect a knight on

horseback to appear any second.

I walked along the Thames and saw the sights of London

I took the Eurostar to Paris and had coffee and croissant in a cafe on the street

I went to the Janvier studio in Paris by arrangement…which was very cool, because otherwise I never would have gotten into one of the most important decorative arts destinations you never heard of and couldn’t get into anyway.

Where I met Joelle, manager, who let me stick my nose everywhere and gave me a great tour…I was able to look at several hundred thousand of the most incredible stampings ever made.

I had lunch in a fabulous Chinese restaurant

And then, I had to come home

jet-lagged

behind on my work

snowed on

with my mind elsewhere

and then I rallied and made three new

Cigar Band rings

h.