If you may recall, last year for my 70^th birthday, my kids treated us to a weekend at the Chelsea Hotel in NYC—complete with all meals out and a Broadway Play. It was, hands down, the greatest weekend ever!  If you hadn’t read it, here’s a link:  My 70^th Birthday in NYC.

This year, my husband took me into the City for my 71^st birthday and I’m thinking it may be a new tradition.

We started out early Saturday morning.  The sun was with us but it was a bit on the cooler side. I packed very lightly—wore linen pants and a shirt (which would suffice for Sunday as well) and a black dress for our dinner at Le Coucou in Soho. Check in time at the hotel (more about that in a little bit) was 4:00 PM and so we decided to drive up to Nyack to visit Vincent’s maternal grandfather’s grave.

Linen blend pants from last year or the year before–Old Navy. The shirt? H & M in France. Last year. I love it.

Comfortable shoes, vintage LV bag and a duffle are all I needed. This outfit would suffice for Sunday as well!

In the car and we’re off!

The drive was incredibly pleasant.  No traffic—which is rare on a Saturday.

Luckily, we didn’t even have to cross the GW!  We headed straight for the Palisades!

We followed our route along the Palisades up to the exit in New York that would lead us to, quite possibly, one of the most charming towns in the Hudson Valley—Nyack!  Vincent’s grandfather moved there after WW2.  He had a job doing illustrations for various companies and he was quite happy.  He lived in a rather large house and Vincent, his mother, and his sister lived there for a couple of years after his parents split.   Although Vincent doesn’t have many memories of that time, the ones he does have are good ones.  He loved the house and loved living in the town. It’s an artsy community and I could easily see us living there—except the 2026 housing prices are a lot pricier than when Vincent was a child.

How beautiful is this old house?  It’s where Vincent’s grandfather lived after he arrived in the States and Vincent lived here for a couple of years as a very young child!

A simple headstone for a not-so-simple man.  Andre Girard was an artist and founded CARTE during WW2–he worked for the resistance. Click his name to read more about him.

As the day went on, the weather became wonderfully warmer.  That spring day when the temperature isn’t hot yet but you are well-aware that winter has bid adieu.   I suggested that we take the Tappan Zee bridge instead of the George Washington because:

The Tappan Zee bridge from a distance looks like a cluster of sails–it is so freaking beautiful!

A. Bridge traffic on the GW is always a pain.  B. The Tap is cheaper.  C.  The drive into the City from the Tap is more fun.  It has been decades since I was on this bridge and it is a beautiful drive across the Hudson.  At some point it was practically rebuilt because when I was growing up, it didn’t look as grand as it is now.

This is one gorgeous bridge!

As we made our way into the city, we passed Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow and parts of the Bronx that brought fond memories to me.  And even as we drove downtown, traffic wasn’t bad.

My husband did a thing. To make our way downtown even less traffic-ridden, we drove through the piers!  Check this Norweigan dinghy out!  It was massive!

We also drove by some sort of filming going on. A movie?  TV show? Commercial? Narcissistic Influencer?

This time around we stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, part of the Marriott chain.  It was very different than the Hotel Chelsea.   This is the hotel where my son, Jake, stays when he’s in New York on business.  My daughter Oona stays there on business trips as well.  But before I go into my mini-review of our stay at the hotel, I have to tell you—we got street parking three blocks away.  Street Parking.  Note:  If you are driving into New York City for a weekend, free parking is available in residential areas on Saturday and Sunday.  And it saves a good amount of money!

The Marriott Renaissance in Chelsea.  (I give photo credit to TripAdvisor because I didn’t take a photo)

Okay. Back to the hotel.  Now, when my husband made the reservation, there may have been a “lost in translation” moment because he apparently reserved a single room. Not a big deal nor a deal breaker because the bed was big enough for the two of us.

So, we headed up to the room and at first glance, it was really nice. Very streamlined.  Very monochromatic.  The view was incredible! For me, it was all about the view.   And as we looked around, we both noticed the lack of bright lighting.  Look—I’m not wanting lights so bright that I need sunglasses, and I realize that subdued lighting can be soothing.  However, there comes a point in one’s aging life that you need slightly brighter light to function! Meaning, to see.  Honestly, the hotels in Paris have brighter lighting.

Check out that view–huh?  Now THAT’S a view I can live with–even if only for a weekend!

One thing about Marriott Hotels–the beds are always incredibly comfortable.  And this was no exception. Total comfort and even though a single room, the bed was large enough for the two of us!

Then there was the bathroom.  Very nice.  But when I saw only a shower and no bathtub I was slightly put off.  Not put off enough to create a “moment” because I was just grateful and happy to even be back in New York.   Then I looked around some more.  There were no little essentials such as little body lotions or shower caps or Q-tips.  Granted, there was body gel and shampoo attached to a wall shelf in the shower stall but—no shower cap when you have a shower and no bathtub? I thought for the price of a hotel in NYC, that was downright cheap.

What can I say?  The bathroom was on the small side, no bathtub but no extras.  Do your duty and get off the throne

Looking around some more, I opened the closet and realized there were no robes. What is this?  A roadside inn? I love hotel robes. After a shower or, preferably, bath, the robe is such a cozy and luxurious item to wrap your body in and they make you feel a bit special—like at a spa.  And because Vincent never travels without it, he brought Champagne from home for our before-dinner aperitif.  We found a small ice bucket and I called the front desk to see where on our floor the ice machine was.  There was no ice machine and I was told someone would come to our room with said ice.  In the meantime, my husband left his dinner jacket in the car so he went off to get it.

Yes. I like my hotels to have robes so I can be treated as though I am at a spa. No Robe? No spa queen!

A couple of minutes later, one of the staffers arrived with my ice. In a thin plastic bag.  I tipped a five and he was incredibly appreciative (and I’m thinking—doesn’t every tip these guys?).   So off I went to place the large bottle of Champagne into the little ice bucket and proceeded to fill it with the large amount of ice.  I had to laugh because in my extreme clumsiness, I kept dropping ice cubes on the floor then as I picked them up, more ice would fall from the bag.  In the end—the bottle was firmly ensconced in a bed of ice and chilled beautifully!

Yeah. My biggest fear was that my clumsiness would have the ice melting because my aim into the ice bucket was that bad!

Allow me to say this—If we were younger, let’s say between our twenties through forties, we would have gotten dressed for dinner, and at the hours preceding sour journey to dinner, we would have hopped or skipped or gaily sprinted to a nearby bar for our aperitif. If the bar was crowded—who cares? Noisy?  Like music to my younger ears. But now, we’re older and aged out of that scene.

Honestly, a crowd of twenty-five people looks this big to me these days!

Aperitif time for us was quiet time in the hotel room, before getting dressed for dinner.  Relaxing in front of the view from the window and having conversation that allowed us to hear what we were saying to each other.  And the older I get, the more I like those times.

Our conversation centered around the price of New York hotel rooms vs. Paris hotel rooms.  Paris won because of better pricing and bathroom amenities.  Oh yeah, and robes and slippers. Yes. This is what old people do. They compare stuff. From groceries to hotels to anything that pops into the still functioning mind!

We got dressed, ordered an Uber to take us down to Le Coucou and enjoyed the ride through the Village down to Soho.  The first time either of us were at Le Coucou was my birthday one year ago and the dinner was spectacular.  This year, it was just as good.

Dressed and ready to go.  I don’t know why I made that face but I love the black dress!  My husband cuts quite the suave figure!

All dressed up with a hanging bra strap. Now that’s classy!

The only “con” so to speak was the price of a bottle of wine.  According to my personal French Sommelier, aka, my husband, the wine was ridiculously overpriced so we went with a glass of wine instead.  It was good too because I didn’t get acid reflux from it!

This is a pretty pricey wine list but by the glass, it’s fine!

The food. Wow. The food was incredible. I started off with quail and it was wonderfully crispy and delicious.  Vincent had the leeks with hazelnuts, which he enjoyed but after seeing my quail, he regretted his choice.

The quail was excellent. I don’t know how the chef did this!

I’m a fan of leeks. And of hazelnuts. And Vincent enjoyed this but was regretful for not ordering the quail. And I did NOT let him have a taste of mine!

Main plate?  He had his usual filet mignon while I had sweetbreads.   I’m telling you, if you find yourself in NYC, having dinner at Le Coucou, by all means, try the sweetbreads.  They were crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside and I was in food heaven!  The sauce was so outstanding and I couldn’t stop raving about it.  It was that good.  Finally, the Matre’d gifted me with a plastic container of this liquid gold.  It is now resting in our fridge and I’m figuring out how to duplicate it.

The meat was melt-in-your-mouth and the bonus was bone marrow. Vincent did not give me a taste of the bone marrow!

My sweetbreads were “offally” delicious!

In fact, the sauce was so incredible that as I write this post, I am preparing to make sweetbreads and figure out the sauce for dinner tonight!

Dessert was spot on too.  I had the Marjolaine and it was a perfect portion.  Vincent had the Ile Flotante which, he loved but did manage to say that mine was better.  He’s such a nice man!

What a nice birthday surprise! And that one candle made me feel so youthful! Vincent’s favorite dessert was spot on!

We Ubered back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep because it would be a busy Sunday.  Roman would come to meet us for brunch then we would all head to the Museum of Modern Art.

The night sky illuminated by the buildings–a hint of a fog afar. NYC at night is astounding!

Ok! Sunday morning.  Vincent, who is as obsessed with parking spaces as I am, decided to walk the three blocks to our car and look for a spot closer to the hotel.  Trust me this is normal behavior for any human being who has lived in a city.   And didn’t he manage to snag one right in front of the hotel! Now that’s lucky! That is one of the successes of life!

Roman met us and we really didn’t have any set plans on where to have brunch.  We approached the in-house restaurant at the hotel to see if they had space for three.  Instead of charging our room, I inquired about just paying as we had taken care of the bill.  I was told brunch was a buffet and the cost was $48 per person.   Sorry not sorry.  My son was treating us and that price was absolutely insane—especially for a buffet.

Then Roman remembered a sports bar/pub down the street.  Smithfield Hall.  When Jake is in town he and Roman often go there.  And, there was an important soccer aka “fewtbawl” game that both guys wanted to watch and I was all about it.

Smithfield Hall is that neighborhood bar/pub everyone needs. At 11:00 AM, the place had a great crowd.  TV screens lined the back bar and people were sitting enjoying lager, food, and the game!   Roman had the Irish Breakfast and was very fond of the blood sausage.  I figured, what the hell, and went for the breakfast burger.  A burger topped with cheese, bacon and an egg.  It was so juicy that I had to eat it with a knife and fork.  The coffee was excellent—nice and so strong it would put hair on your chest!  Vincent ate most of my fries.

TV screens lined the entire back of the bar area. No time for pics during an intense football game!

Then it was off for the drive up to midtown to the museum.  There’s a parking lot directly across from MOMA which was practicality at its best.   A typical Sunday in the City means a crowded museum.  MOMA handles the crowds so efficiently.  The wait to get in was less than five minutes.  Now, MOMA isn’t my favorite museum because I prefer a more classical form of art; however, the museum houses two of Jacques-Henri Lartigue’s photographs.  It was fun to see them.  Then we made our way to the Marcel Deschamps exhibit which was quite interesting.

Photos for MOMA a gift from Vincent’s grandfather!

And a proud grandson!

More wandering around and admiring some of the works.  In the meantime, the crowds grew and it was time to leave. These days, I just can’t deal with crowds. It’s difficult to figure out because when I was younger, I was a very social butterfly.  Now I am more of a misanthropic cockroach!  We did pick up a book with Vincent’s grandfather’s photos which was nice. I picked up a couple of notebooks and we were back out on the street.

Entrance to the Marcel Deschamps exhibit. It was a pretty big deal.

Picked up some goodies!

My favorite modern art?  The Sabrett Hot Dog umbrellas.  My favorite hot dogs? NYC dirty water hot dogs. True culinary art!

I think traveling, whether domestic or internationally is a completely different mindset for many of us as we age.  What are your thoughts on this?

We exited the museum and Roman headed for the subway as we headed to retrieve the car.  It was a wonderful weekend!

And the rain held off until we got in the car to go home. Thank you Mother Nature!

A weekend in the City is always a good thing—whether a special occasion or a “just because” weekend.  Hope Birthday 2027 is as enjoyable!