Paris, enfin

My last few days in Paris went something like this: I took a picture of our crappy hotel from the outside so you all could see how deceptively cute and harmless it looks.


.... but if you look closer, you'll see that the hotel is "in the works of renovation" -- i.e. no hot water, excuses for crappy, overpriced service etc. If you lift up that taped-on message, you'll see there are no stars under there. Hmmmmm.



We managed to get to the Centre Pompidou for an hour. It was unfortunate that we didn't get more time, but that's how things sometimes go when you are with a group and you are all very hungry. It was a really good collection and I am definitely interested in seeing it again next time ...


The balconies are pretty but you can't go out on them -- don't know what that's about.


These were part of the design collection -- interlocking pieces that you can hook together to make these branch-like room dividers. Very pretty. And clever.


Here's the outside, which gives me a bit of vertigo ...


Beautiful view, though! (I mean the buildings, not me.)


Here's the courtyard of our school building, where we often ate lunch. This photo proves that French people, in addition to walking around eating baguettes and bicycling while smoking AND talking on their cell phones, really do have banquets outside with wine and salads of haricots verts, and lie on the grass and relax even though it's cloudy and the grass is rather damp. Actually the girl lying there is our classmate and new friend Noemie, who on Friday night took us out in her very cool neighborhood in the 10th arrondissement --


We had food and wine at a really great little French bar, and then took a nice stroll through the quarter. We even passed over the canal that's in the movie Amelie. It was pretty.


Now, after overcoming the hurdles of striking train operators, gigantic hotel bills, and being bumped to a different flight, I am home. Chance had this lovely, tasty, and romantic dinner prepared for me. It's so nice to be back! I had a good time in Paris, but there's no place like home.

Paris, continued

It's been a nice week and a half so far in Paris! I've been hanging out mainly with the group of five students who were in my last post. We saw the Sacre Coeur on Montmartre ...


... checked out the front of the Moulin Rouge ...


Near our school there is an amazing bakery --


with amazing "Macarons" (different from macaroons) --


mmmmmmmm..... (this is Emily and Cadence enjoying the baked goodness).


We visited the Eiffel Tower, the quintessential tourist experience!


They have these funny transparent garbage bags now. It's a bit unsettling.


We saw the Arc de Triomphe ...


(Curtis and Emily taking pictures ...)


On the weekend we enjoyed some gelato before entering the big cemetery, Pere Lachaise.


It's very pretty!


...


On Oscar Wilde's grave there are all sorts of graffiti and kisses of lipstick ...


On Saturday night Paris was having its annual "Fete de la Musique," where the whole city is filled with musicians, official and unofficial. Here is a capoeira troop --


-- in Notre Dame there was organ music --


-- the whole street was like a carnival, filled with people!


(The results of much celebration.)


These were Vietnamese people I believe, and they were singing Karaoke-style French Samba.


We took a rest in front of Napoleon's tomb afterward. :)


On Sunday I went to the Louvre.


...


There was contemporary art installed amongst the Classical galleries. It was interesting!


I also ran across a ceiling of the palace painted by Georges Braque. Who knew there was so much 20th and 21st century art in the Palace of the Academy??

Class is going well. I am looking forward to getting home, though...

A Bientot!

americans in paris

I finally made it to Paris! I'm settled in and already in the swing of daily classes. They're held here:


... at part of the campus of the American University in Paris. It's behind this pretty little church in the 7th arrondissement. Our hotel is just around the corner ...


Here's my room. I thought I would have a roommate, but I don't, which is nice! The thing that sucked for the last three days was that I didn't have any hot water. The hotel is doing renovations. It finally just got working today and I had a luxurious lunchtime shower. I was pretty frustrated with the hotel management, but I'm glad now that it's finally working.



I like this little piece of post-modernism on the Rue de l'Universite nearby. It's a nice integration of the surrounding buildings, and it's a nice use of a glass curtain wall.


Here are some of my buddies from the program. From the left, Emily, Todd and Cadence. I knew Emily and Todd from previous classes. Emily knows Paris better than the rest of us so she navigated us on a lovely walk through the center of the city.


We ate falafel in front of Notre Dame ...


and admired the sunset over the bridges ...


and ogled the outside of the Centre Pompidou ...


... another member of our little group, Curtis, got his caricature drawn ...


Ah, Paris! So romantic! Such midriffs!


In all, a lot of walking, but a good night. I'm enjoying myself alot just wandering around. Classes have been good too!

A bientot!

on my way to paris, but still in new york

I am sorry there is no picture to go with this post, but I just needed to share the insanity that I have witnessed today at JFK airport! My flight to Dulles (Wash DC), which was supposed to connect to a Paris flight, took off, flew to Washington DC, and then had to turn around because there were storms and they didn't have enough fuel to sit in a holding pattern! So after a very long, protracted flight back, I stood in line with a bunch of very bitchy, very INSANE customers.

It took forever for me to get to the front of the line. There were people who didn't speak English, people who seemed not to comprehend anything about airlines, baggage, gates, etc., and one guy who was loudly hassling the poor gate agents. Having sat there for an hour listening to them tell others that they needed to go to the baggage claim, get their bags, go to the other terminal and check in at the other airline, the guy then needed to WRITE DOWN those instructions. Now there is a hysterical lady at my gate asking to get on a plane that's about to leave.

I am calmly laptopping and reading. I am checked in for a flight at 10.50pm. Hopefully all goes well.

back in new york

We made it safely back home to Greenpoint on the redeye Jet Blue flight from Seattle. Dragging our suitcases home from the subway at 7.30am, we couldn't help but notice that it was already in the 90s and quite humid! Our apartment was nightmarishly hot. So we went straight off to Target and bought us an air conditioner. Isn't it beautiful? Now it is a lovely 77 degrees in our office. Unfortunately, our apartment is a railroad, which means that the kitchen and guest room are still pretty warm. Word to the wise: wait until October to come stay with us!!

two lovely weeks in Seattle

We had a really lovely time visiting our hometown these past two weeks. We haven't been back since we moved to New York last August.


The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was how good it smelled! You can smell the fir trees even in the airport parking lot. The first few days of weather were absolutely gorgeous.



Chance's mom and sister picked us up at the airport, and we all went to dinner before taking a little stroll around Volunteer Park.


Yes, Seattle was letting us know what a bad decision it was to move away.


Paul (of Paul's House fame) offered to put us up, and he even made up a little bunk for us, complete with directions as to where to put our heads and feet.


We grabbed a drink at Flowers with some good buddies before crashing late that night. Flowers has an awesome mirror ceiling, which is what's in this picture.


Paul's garden is even more effulgent than last year ...


...


And so is Paul!


On Memorial Day we hung out with my brother Kyall and his wife Candace, who have a strange thing called a "trikke" -- to ride it you do a slalom-type motion and twist back and forth. I managed to fall a couple of times, but Kyall and Candace have really mastered it.


One of the things we made a point to do was hang out in a couple of real Seattle coffee shops. We went to our favorite, the Joe Bar, and here is Chance at the Solstice on the Ave, trying to get some studying done for the GRE.



We had lunch with my friend and former boss Susan and her partner Larry at their new house in Mountlake Terrace ...


... and we got to play with the kitty, Sprig!


On one of our bus trips, we noticed that Seattle is using the same slogan that New York does -- "see something? say something" -- and that they also advertise against using your cell phone for loud conversations on the bus. I am fully on board with that one. Luckily cell phones don't work in the NYC subway!


We spent an evening our awesome friends Jenn and Chris, bar-hopping in Lower Queen Anne. It's a cute neighborhood with lots of good watering holes. The company wasn't bad either!


There was a barbeque/potluck at Paul's house on the weekend. Chance enjoyed pulling out our fancy grill that my parents have graciously been storing in their garage for us all this time. Kyall and Candace came,



... and so did my sister Gillia ...


... and so did Chance's sister Elyse, who this week decided to shave her head, inviting brotherly noogies.


Then we crossed the Sound to Bremerton to see the rest of Chance's family!


(His sister Jeanette and Sophie, the adorable yellow lab mix ...)


There were more noogies, of course.


And there was some really awful concocting of various sugary substances. This is green frosting squeezed from a tube onto red licorice. I have to confess, I don't get it. They are obviously related.



Then we headed up to Mt. Vernon to visit my grandfather and my aunt. Grampa has a kitty cat who loves to relax on his lap ...


... Kyall and Candace joined us (that's our awesome hostess, my Auntie Anne, on the left).



The next day we drove out to North Bend to hang out with my parents, grandmother and sister who all live there. My dad and I got a little music time in too!


We wrapped up our visit with a classic Capitol Hill pub crawl, which began at the Chapel. It actually turned into a bit of a pub "hop," as we pretty much just went to the Cha Cha after this ...


... the Cha Cha is still cool (especially when our friends are there) but we noticed a little different crowd is encroaching on the usual punk rock vibe of the clientele. It looks as if Capitol Hill really is changing a bit. Sad!


One last breakfast at 14 Carrots ...


... one last Humbau at Yak's ...

(mmmmmmmmmm...)

We had an absolutely wonderful time seeing our friends and family! We miss you all!