Happy New Year Everyone!

Hello to all our family and friends. We hope this reaches you all with a full belly of love, laughter, good health, cookies, turkey, rum cake, champagne, Bordeaux……

First and foremost, I am very happy to say that as of October 21, I am and we are , officially,and happily, Mr. and Mrs.Quigley for one whole year. We have had an adventure of a first year of marriage, a new job, my first transatlantic crossing and three weeks later, my second transatlantic crossing, a second honeymoon in Dubrovnik, third honeymoon in Paris, family visits in Newport , going backstage on Broadway with cousin Eryn’s top running show “Spring Awakening”, learning to drive Pat’s new CJ – 7 jeep, the closest to being with family at Christmas, and fishing in my princess dress for our crew’s "Christmas in Margaritaville" party. For years, friends and family have kept the full court press on by insisting they live vicariously through us so I hope we are keeping it interesting for you.

I do want to take a moment to celebrate a great, kind, and loving man, who never shied away from good old fashioned potty -humor , or a good red wine, Mr. Michael Ferrier, who left this world too soon but leaving behind a template of what love and family and fun is all about. So, from atop of the Arc de Triomphe, cheers and thank you Mr. Ferrier.

The week after Thanksgiving, Pat and I took a vacation to Paris. We have to thank the Cole’s for their walking directions of the streets of Paris and to the Johnson's for their culinary tour. Ed, that is the best “la glace noir” and I think we have tapped the secret of treating post-menopausal symptoms. A big thank you to Ann for coming from London and introducing us to Marias, the Latin Quarter and Pat’s favorite, the white linen staff of Mariage Freres salon de The.

Yeah, Paris is okay… and Hillary expected she’d be placing third in the Iowa caucussesssesss. I think Pat said it best when he noted that the French just have an eye for beauty. We both wish we had read up on our “History of Paris for Dummies” bc you can’t help but feel like you are missing out on the significance of the palatial architecture and statues that await you around every corner. And it truly is a city for everyone. I couldn’t be happier walking thru the restaurant supply store in Les Halles while Pat could spend hours de-constructing the mystery wand of the “surprise!” toilet + bidet combo in our bathroom. Funny how one little thing can inspire a sense of awe for one person and absolute gag reflux for the other.

We didn’t have to much of a plan bc you simply can’t see it all in one week but we don our scarves and hit some of the biggies, the gargoyles of Notre Dame, the Japanese tourists snapping photos of the Mona Lisa in The Louvre, opted out of the extremely long line and 1665 stair climb of the Tower Eiffel, trekked up the 342 steps of the Arc de Triomphe at night, sat and had double espressos on the Champs Elysees, drank champagne with the can- can dancers of the Moulin Rougue, and shaped our palettes with the likes of pate and moules marinieres. From the magnificent displays in the shop windows on Rue d Rivoli (or ravioli as I liked to call it) to the little crocks of mustard, a staple on all tables, we loved every thing we experienced about Paris.

Not only are the building’s spectacular but the people in Paris are unbelievably put together. You could give a woman a Hefty cinch sack and she’d pull it off as cashmere. And then there is the food. You really can’t get a bad meal any where, except if your husband humors you so you can go to “Hippopatomus” (somebody’s favorite animal) which turns out to be a chain restaurant equivalent to our Bob’s Big Boy.

Seeing that the writers strike is still going on, I’ll give you our own top ten list of Paris favorites.

10. “Wow, that is stunning, honey,(1 second pause) now let’s get moving bc we have a lot to do.” Quote of a random woman looking at Venus de Milo.

9. The stained glass windows of Saint Chapelle.

8. Our favorite but complete accidental discovery of the restaurant "Citrus" (run by a chef who trained under Thomas Keller at the French Laundry.)

7. Both of our facial expressions upon the dicovery of the bill from our dinner at Citrus.

6. Winged Victory of Samothrace My friend once explained he had a "religous expereince" walking past the Louvre at night and now I know what he meant.

5.Pat in is bright orange scarf.

4. “I #hit on your book!!!” a direct quote from the owner of the Rue de Balzac restaurant which was not mentioned in our tour book...but should have been.

3. Conquering the metro and the RER and getting to the airport without asking more than three questions.

2. The absolute, extraordinarily loud eruption of applause from the Japanese businessmen when the Moulin Rouge dancers went topless.

1. Leaving Paris thinking to yourself, “People don’t say ‘when I was IN Paris…..” they say 'when I come back to Paris…...”

And now we are off for our spring adventure on the S/Y Keewaydin. Ten days from Key West we will be "stern to" in Guadeloupe awaiting our trip down the chain to Grenada. We may be bouncing around from town to town but we love hearing from you so keep 'em coming. cheers and all our best to you and yours for the new year. love, reagan and pat