A few pics

End of Game

Dang, I fly out tomorrow morning. Where did the time go?

Here's a useful sign you can find on the metro:



Now, my French isn't great, but I do believe this says 'In case of influence, do not use strapons.' Obviously good advice, but not sure why it's in the metro..

Paris 8, Richard 9

The French clap like robots (you wouldn't think it, eh?). I'm counting that as a point for me =). Mostly because my time is running short and I want to win!

End of Third Quarter

Hmmm, time flies. I'm sure there was a halftime in there somewhere. Ah well, take a look at this:



I'm fairly certain that this add not only offends multiple races and nationalities, but that the company is also regretting their choice of names. Also, I want to know how they define success and with what confidence they measured their 97%...

Also, I had to go to Geneva for a day for work this week. Did I mention that already? I think I did. I found this store, seems like a good place to hide a clue, if I were into that sort of thing.

Paris 8, Richard 9

Found the best lunch place ever in Paris. Cosi - a sandwich place. Yummy warm fresh bread, and fresh ingredients inside. We shared an excellent tapenada sandwich today!

On the way home, we saw this:

I thought those little cars were supposed to make parking easier!

Paris 8, Richard 8

Susan and I went to a terrific place for dinner last night. Le Verre Vole. A pioneer of the wine bar bistros in Paris, or so they say. Our waiter was a wine-nerd, wearing a 'Where's da beef' shirt he got from New York. Cool Guy. He told us the place likes to take a 'democratic approach to wine.' When he described it, it sounded like whatever bottle of wine you order will only cost 7 euros. So we ordered a very expensive bottle. It costed us 32 euros, plus an additional 7. Hmmm. Didn't feel very democratic =). The tapas we had were tasty, but we got very drunk last night. Overall, so no score for either side.

Paris 8, Richard 8

Saw my landlords play, La Bombe, then went for drinks with him. The play is a comedy in which a strained couple has to deal with the introduction of a young, hot baby sitter ('La Bombe') into the house and hilarity ensues. Here is a pic of the play I found online. The older couple were the same actors we saw, except our Bombe was different. After the play, the landlord took Susan and I to a local place for drinks. Two beers and a wine for 8.5 euros. That's a good deal!

Paris 8, Richard 7

My stomach is a little iffy right now.

You see, the problem is that I just thought I'de try something new on the menu I couldn't translate for dinner. It turns out I ordered up some nice entrails and internal organs of a butchered pig (as I later found out through wiki). I had a hunch that something was amiss when I saw the dish, but Susan, bless her heart, tried to convince me it was just regular meat. Her mental support got me through eating most of it =). After I finished most of it, Susan took a bite and recoiled...

Thank goodness for wine and chocolate, which are both currently in my mouth.

Delay of game - streaker on the field

Let me just say that the yoga co-ed changing rooms in Paris are a wonderful sight to behold.

In other news that would surely have disqualified Paris from the game, I had to do an overnight trip to Geneva for work (Sunday to Monday). I arrived late in Geneva on Sunday, checked into my hotel which was right next to the train station. I noted as I entered my hotel that there were signs plastered all over it to be careful for pick pockets. This gave me the impression my by the tracks neighborhood might be a little unseemly. Regardless, once checked in, I went out to find some food (around midnight). After getting rudely rejected at a kabob place for not having Swiss Francs (just get with the program and join the union Switzerland), I was accosted by a coozed-up drunk. Apparently the stories are the same in Europe: the guy lamented at his embarrassment of running out of gas (first time ever) and his poor wife and daughter were in the car afraid. He only needed a few francs for gas. Well, I told him there was a police station nearby and they would help him. He then proclaimed me uncool and spat on the floor as I walked away. I suppose I should have expected as much walking around the tracks late night, but I'm still not a big fan of Geneva.


Here are some pics from sightseeing last weekend, but starting with my favorite advertisement from Namibia that I finally found on my computer. After this:











1) Just wanted to get some colors
2) Passed the Opera House
3) Rodin Museum (a great museum, although I prefer Camille Claudel's sculpting over Rodin's)
4) More Rodin, he forgot to sculpt me in
5) Graffiti is everywhere in Paris

Paris 7, Richard 7

Ooops, accidently spent $200 US on dinner...

Also, the place was in Susan's book, but the book gave us an address that was 2 years old...

Also, the place turned out to be really fancy and I was in jeans and a t-shirt...

Also, both of my credit cards didn't work to pay the bill....

Ah well, on the up side, Chez Vincent was an incredibly fabulous experience. Vincent himself makes these beautiful carpaccio dishes right in front of you and truly has a passion in his food and his music (it wasn't uncommon to find Vincent singing loudly while his pianist played an old Italian tune or to find him playing an air violin with surprising accuracy). The night ended with my oddest moment in Paris too: there were pieces of baguette EVERYWHERE on the way home. In the street, in the park....everywhere... I can't explain it...

End of First Quarter

Wow, whoduthunk I'de be up after the first quarter? Just lots of work this week lalala. nothing special... I expect to for something more interesting this weekend. Kind of want to see Versailles and/or the Rodin Museum. Did I mention anything about the studio I'm in?
It's an old servants quarters (actually two servants quarters put together--still only 225 sq ft by my measure) on the 7th (top) floor (index 0) of a building with no elevator. Or, to be precise, the elevator doesn't give access to the servant's quarters, so we're forced to hike up and down every time we get in or out.
The other day, on the way up, Susan and I met a lady with a cool black lab downstairs. The dog must have liked Susan's scent, because she just followed Susan up and up. The poor owner of the dog was helpless in getting Bridgette back down (we of course learned the dog's name as the owner kept pleading with the dog to come back down in French, she didn't know English so we couldn't help her). In fact, Bridgette followed Susan all the way up to the top floor, sniffed around a bit, then Susan sent her home.
Not minutes after we walk into the room, we get a call from the complex owner. Uh Oh...Well, it wasn't so nefarious, but it was the girl friend of the owner, so we got ratted out. But really all the owner wanted to do was meet and greet us, so no problem. His girlfriend happens to be a famous French actress. I was going to put up a link, but I only got a quick look at her and I don't know her last name AND it seems her first name coincides with a famous French porn actress. Hmmm...

Paris 6, Richard 7

I got another point on Sunday, but it wasn't really until night time. In the morning, Susan and I went to Notre-Dame for a Gregorian chant Easter service. It was really cool and the singing was great, but the overwhelming incense and hypocrisy was too much for Susan--giving her a headache. Boo. Afterwords, though, we had brunch at a nice little place from Susan's book and then made our way to Musee d'Orsay (no pics allowed). There was a nice Rodin collection in addition to the impressionist art. The 1889 self portrait of Van Gogh was just sitting there on the wall. I definitely felt that the man in the painting didn't trust the painter (this was a year before Van Gogh killed himself). I couldn't believe you could just go right up to it and touch it. Luckily no one was touching it, but annoying tourists were flashing thier cameras...so silly. Actually, I also enjoyed Lautrec, my favorite painting being Femme au boa noir.
At night, we decided to give the 'TimeOut: Paris' book that my coworker left in the studio a try. Our first stop was Le Panier for sundowners. Two cool things about this place: 1) After the waitress said several sentences of quick Parisian French to Susan and I which neither of us understood, I just blurted out 'duex biere' in bad French and she went on her way to the next table. 5 minutes go by, 10, 15. Just when I figured no beers were coming, the waitress comes out with our beers (I assume she gave us the cheapest beer :). Somehow it worked out. Next, a cool dog came by. It was clear that this dog was doing rounds along the various bistros and cafes trying to get a nip of food and attention here and there. Awesome dog with personality.
Dinner was also great. We went to a Vietnamese place noted as a must see in the TimeOut guide, Dong Huong. It was a cute place with 4 different rooms. Completely packed but Susan scored us a table somehow. Again, things just worked out for us yesterday.
Oh the other thing that worked out was duping netflix. It turns out they (and many other online TV options like NBC, etc) don't export their shows overseas. Luckily, my brother told me of an easy way to spoof my IP and pretend I'm in the US. Managed to trick netflix with that!
Today we're just relaxing...

Paris 6, Richard 6

We've been using Susan's Knopf Mapguides (Paris) guide and it has been great. It's how we found dinner yesterday and lunch and dinner today. All the places have been local and had tons of character. Tonight, we went to Point Ephemere (bar-restaurant) for drinks. We sat on the covered terrace next to canal Saint Martin, but after awhile, a lady told everyone in the terrace to leave--they needed to prep for dinner. It started raining hard outside, but we were able to finish our beers inside the bar. We were hoping to eat dinner at Point Ephemere as well, but after they finished prepping the terrace, there weren't letting anyone in! Well, eventually we decided to order one more beer, then leave. As I ordered the beer in bad French, I told them (also in bad French) that I wanted to eat and asked if it was possible (actually I told them it was possible). Sure enough, they just needed someone to ask for dinner! They let me and Susan in, soon after which a bunch of Parisians followed us and got some food too! Definitely a plus when you beat the Parisians at their own game...

Paris 6, Richard 5

More pics from Louvre:
1) Susan standing out
2) Another cool scultpure
3) Couldn't help myself

Paris 6, Richard 5

Dern credit and debit cards aren't working here at restaurants!! I called my banks, but no luck. I'll probably just withdraw cash and use that instead. On the up side, I went to the Louvre today. Some pics, in order:
1) Statue Reading a Map
2) Favorite Featured Artist (Yan Pei-Ming)
3) Me as a Coffin Stuffer
4) Extremely expressive bust
5) Favorite Sculpture (the veil is amazing)

Paris 6, Richard 5

An ABSOLUTETLY fantasic dinner at a Thai/Chinese place (Lao Sain) in the exotic decor de rigueur. Mmmm...

Paris 6, Richard 4

Stepped in a big steaming pile of dog poop. I guess people don't have to clean up after their dogs here.

Paris 5, Richard 4

All Susan and I wanted to do was get a simple lunch--a lunch baguette or something. Somehow, after investigating 3 or 4 baguette places, we ended up in a mediocre bar and ate mediocre bar food!

Paris 4, Richard 4

Susan arrives at the train station. Now I get to have some real fun in Paris!

Paris 4, Richard 3

Day 4

Good Friday! Seems not a lot of work gets done here on Good Friday.

Paris 4, Richard 2

Day 3

More work....no fun. But the real problem is that yesterday I went to my studio (the place I'll be staying the rest of the month). It's a great little (~225 sq ft) place near Parc des Buttes Chaumont, but my studio has the disadvantage of being on the 7th floor of an evelator-less building. In the morning, I got up and packed for work and headed down to the street. As soon as I exited my complex....I realized I forgot my little French book with phrases and all my notes (both language and work related). Arg, time to trudge up and down seven flights of tiny stairs again.

Paris 3, Richard 2

Day 2

Quel dommage! I was hoping for another easy goal, but I woke up a little late in my hotel room (Castex Hotel) and rushed to get ready for work. It was 11 AM and I was to meet my co-worker at 11:15 am. I figured everything in Paris runs late (like everywhere else I travel), so thought I'de get some breakfast. The hotel flat fee for le petit dejeuner is 10 euros (13.14 US at the time of writing). I go downstairs, disturb the breakfast staff, who have already cleared all the tables. I get a stale croissant and some coffee. Not after one bite and sip do I hear my co-worker upstairs. A cab is waiting.... What a way to spend 10 euros. The rest of the day was work...

Paris 2, Richard 2

I make it to Bastille realizing that I never bought a map of the city. I was told my hotel was close to the station, but I only had a street name to go off. Thank goodness the Parisians have good maps in their stations, or at least the Bastille station did. I noted the general direction of my street, then turned my GPS on and, with her wisdom, was guided to the comfort of my hotel.



Clearly I have all the momentum now...

Paris 2, Richard 1

At Gare du Nord, I noticed a broken exit turn-style--good luck for me. I took the opportuninty to get out and buy a ticket for the remainder of my trip (1.6 euros). Again, the kiosks, though not out of order, would not take my card and only accept coins as cash input. I had a 10 euro note. I knew that there was another set of turn-styles to get to the #5 (none broken), so I had to go wait in a lengthy line to get a manned booth for the ticket purchase. I call that a wash.

Paris 2, Richard 1

After weighing my options, I decided the best course of action was to board the train ticketless. I needed to get to Gare du Nord, then transfer to #5 and take that to Bastille, where my hotel for tonight is located. After going 8 out of the 10 stops to Gare du Nord, I was essentially in the clear, I thought to my self. Sure enough, on the 9th stop, a train employee boards...but he seemed to be content just getting a ride. I made it to Gar du Nord.

Paris 2, Richard 0

Although there were plenty of trains leaving the airport, 19/20 kiosks were out of order and the one working kiosk wouldnt accept cash or my credit card (I did call my card company to let them know I was going to be in France). Also, the manned ticketing area was closed for some reason today right after my flight arrived. For some reason they decided not to work after 3 PM today.

Paris 1, Richard 0

Upon arrival, I am sad to see that the ATM in the airport doesn't support my card. I look for any different types of ATM machines, but they are all HSBC. Of course I didn't get Euros before hand, not wanting to get a bad exchange rate. Alas, I was forced to change my only US cash at one of those booths. 20 dollars turned into a measily 11.5 euros. Arg.

Luckily the train to Paris is only 8.6 euros. I head to the train station.