Great views from top Arc de Triomph

We all met Saturday afternoon at the Trocadero which is a fantastic spot to view the eiffel tower. Had a freak thunderstorm that although lasted only 15 minutes had people screaming and scrambling for cover. I had an umbrella which wasnt quite enough to cover my pants and shoes from the rain that was blowing sideways! The pictures after the storm was nice though!

As we walked by the arc de triomph we noticed that you can actually go to the top. So, for 10 euros we got to climb the 250 step of spiral staircase (whew!) to the top for some fantastic views of the city including the famous champs des elysees street.

After that we took the metro to Montemarte which another place I have never been to. It's famous for the art, this is where artist come to paint or sell their paintings. It's such a quaint area and SO paris! I got a crepe from the sidewalk and it was so good! The area sits on top of a hill that's north of the city center and crowned by the famous Sacre Ceour church. Poeple come here to sit on the steps below the church to watch the fantastic view of the city. As souvenier I bought a small black & white oil painting of the eifel tower with the seine river as foreground. So touristy but I don't care, it's my favorite scene of paris.

Night photo tour - a whole different perspective

I think the highlight of this trip was a night photo tour that my niece had recommended to me. She did it last year and loved it! I will always remember this because it was the moment where I stopped using the auto settings on my camera and went to manual settings. OMG! what a difference that made to my pictures! I practiced the next day and somehow my pics are much sharper. I am convinced that I will take more classes when i get home.

Anyway back to the tour, it was supposed to be a group tour but I think due to the sporadic weather that weekend people must have shied away. So, as a bonus I was the only one and got a private lesson! My guide was David who seemed to have drunk 10 cups of expressos before he got there. But it was great because all of that energy was put into photography and in teaching me how to be a better photographer. He was so passionate about it all that it became contagious. We met at 9:30pm and finished up a little past midnight. Our focused on areas around the louvre. Now I'm hooked on night photos. It's a time when the city is quieter and you can actually have opportunities to take pictures without hordes of people. Will have to do this with my nieces when I'm home. One new thing during this tour was an outdoor exhibit by a famous architect. It's an active exhibit where you can touch and feel the work. The story of it was not posted anywhere so it was nice to have David tell me the meaning of it. It was the center spot of the city and honored the prisoners of auschwitz death camp. The marble columns are all the same height but displayed at different height from the ground level. Some go through the ground below so from where you are walking you see differents heights. This represented the different stages of life of the people. Some die very young (you only see 6 inches of the column), and some are 6+ feet tall (the person grew up to be someone great), there where some where the columns were flushed to the ground to mean that they died at birth. In the area there were some lights on the grounds were you see it as green if walking in one direction and red if walking from another. This is the artist's message on the right way to see the sculptures. Anyway, this exhibit made a really big impression on me.

I had so much fun taking pictures with david. He gets so excited whenever we take a great shot. In the beginning he was showing me how he was setting up my camera and had me push the button to take the picture. Then little by little he had me do some of it so that by the end of the night I was in full control of my camera. Sneaky but it really worked! My world just opened up and now I feel I have so much more to learn!

Cafe au lait&crepes, oh what a way to pass the day!

I decided to skip the free tour on Sunday morning with Bea and Didac, in lieu of sleeping in. I would go into city center and meet with them later in the afternoon. I have to say that even though I see many times where lone poeple are sitting outside of cafes and drinking wine or coffee and poeple watching, I have never done it myself. Thought I would feel too self conscious. It was a wonderful experience. Found a cafe right behind the louvre museum and sat at a table outside and ordered cafe and a chocolate crepe. Must have sat there for an hour relaxing, it was SO great!

Paris - a nice bowl of beef noodle soup!

I think when I am traveling vietnamese food becomes comfort food for me. That's why it was so great to be in the area where there were plenty of good vietnamese restaurants. It's packed full of vietnamese so I knew it was authentic as can be.

On Saturday I stopped in a restaurant for a bowl of bun bo hue which is a beef noodle soup from the central region of vietnam. It's one of my favorite dish and I was doubtful anyone anyone could top the way my sister makes it. Hell, when I come home to visit my sister would make it especially for and I would take home frozen portion for the plane! I have to say this was a very close second! It even came with the pigs feet! The vegies that came with it even included shavings from banana blossoms. It was so good and really hit the spot!

The restaurant was very crowded and I later shared a table with an older couple around my parents age. We eventually started talking and it turned out the husband came from the same town where I was born! They were so nice and reminded me so much of my parents. The wife kept telling me several times how cute I was. No, I'm too old to look cute, she was referring more to my manners and the way I spoke the language. They had a son my age and said he did not speak the language as well as I did. There was a chance that the husband knew my dad since he was in the army as well. After the fall of the country he was imprisoned for 9 years before escaping to france. He gave me a magazine to take home to my dad and wanted my dad to contact him so they could talk. The magazine featured him and the story of how he is involved with helping old war veterans of vietnam. Anyway, they were asking how long I am in paris and would have invited me to their home for a meal but I was meeting my colleagues later in the day. She told me that the next time I am in paris I have a place to stay at their house. That made me all warm inside. It was a really pleasant meal. I thought it was lovely to observe them and thought even though they are elderly age they are still a little romantic and thoughtful to each other.

Weekend in Paris

June 17-19

Wait, just the fact that I can SAY weekend in paris is awesome enough! I've seen paris before but everytime there is something different. This is the kind of place where it's great even if you do nothing but walk around and soak in the atmosphere. Michael and Bea met their significant others and we all spent some of the time together. I really wished gary could have been with me. He's been here before but we have never been here together.

We stayed at a nice hotel right next to Place d'Italie so it's very convenient to get around since several metro lines connect here. As a bonus I discovered that a 5 minute walk took me to an asian area with at least 6 or 7 vietnamese restaurants, score! Great time to get over my cravings.

I felt right at home walking around the city. So many cafes where you can sit outside and people watch. On the first day a french couple asked me for directions!

Images of a typical french village - nemours

Yep, just what I thought a typical french village should look like. Old stone houses, narrow cobblestone streets, locals walking home with loaves of baguettes from the patisserie, and a serene river to give the town a perfect setting. I went for a quiet morning walk and reached the center of town in less than 30 minutes, didn't think about taking my camera with me so I took the pics above with my blackberry. I loved the old church that looked like a mini version of notre dame cathedral in paris. On the way back I stopped at the market to pick up some groceries, including a baguette which made me feel like a local. Now if only I can speak like a local! My limited french will come back to me but for now I try to at least say hello and thank you in french.

Back in france again

Monday June 13

As if being in france is a chore! I remember well my first time in Paris in 1987. I loved the city back then and have always loved coming back. This is my 5th time back to paris and it never gets old. Would you believe I've never been up the eiffel tower or have gone back to the louvre since the first or second visit. What I love most is just walking around and soaking in the atmosphere.

For this assignment I go about 60km south of city center, to the small town of Nemours. It's a village of only 12,000 people. Damn, even dover delaware had a bigger population! This picture is just a view outside the hotel window but you get the idea, all countryside! There's supposed to be a lovely river and castle in town but I'll explore that later with the team. We will spend this coming weekend in paris. Got in last night and today (monday) is a public holiday so I have 1 day to get adjusted to the time difference and do some prep work. Tomorrow morning is the opening meeting and I'm excited to get started. This time I'm the team leader and it's going to be a challenging assignment. The rest of my team gets in tonight and tomorrow morning. Going for a walk to get some fresh country air. It's only 70F here, can't believe that 24 hrs ago I was in 100F in phx!