Open Mic

A little while back I went to see my brother perform at an open mic night he helped organize at work. While I can't say I was impressed by everyone's performances, I can say that they certainly had balls. I don't think I could ever get in front of a group of people and sing let alone sing and play an instrument, and they probably wouldn't want me to anyway. So check out my lovely iphone photos of my baby bro jammin at Cool Cafe downtown. Isn't he precious! Happy Birthday Joe!

Home Sweet Home

So I've been home for about a week and am still feeling uncharacteristically sluggish: can that still be jetlag? Anyway, I made it back in time for some much needed rain in the Alamo City and lots of Literacy-related meetings. Oh yeah, in case you don't know I work on this: Literacy San Antonio. It's all very nice and the women I work with are in one word: awesome but it can really beat you down to know how dysfunctional this city can be. I swear it's getting better....

Anyway, today is kind of a sad day. A local institution is semi-closing it's doors: Olmos Pharmacy, lately known as the "Bharmacy" as they now offer adult beverages with your pharmaceuticals. Actually they stopped selling drugs a while back, but you know, it had a real historical presence as an independent pharmacy for many years, so the name kinda stuck and got morphed. I remember going there when I was little to sit at the counter for a grilled cheese sandwich with ruffles chips and a chocolate blue bell shake. Truth be told the food was always pretty mediocre, I mean I make better grilled cheese, but the shakes were heavenly. So, we went there for lunch to toast to its farewell. Turns out they ran out of food. Which was kinda smart, nothing to throw out. But we did manage to get ahold of an old-fashioned chocolate milkshake. I was pretty disappointed by the fact that it was delivered via styrofoam cup instead of the traditional metal shake canister and glass/mini brown glasses. But it was still good. Anyway, I hear good things about the new restaurant that will be moving in and we look forward to some new activity in the neighborhood! We moved on to another local institution for lunch: Chris Madrid's. Gotta love that Cheddar Cheesy! If you've never been you're truly missing out! So go and expect a line, but don't worry they move with expert speed.

Paris Bike Ride @ Night

Probably the best way to see the city, period. Fat Tire Bike Tours holds day and evening bike rides led by American Expats in Paris. The company itself is based out of, where else-Austin, TX! It's such a neat alternative to the walk-abouts that everyone goes on and you can catch all the major sites you saw during the day-but also at night, which I have to say gives the city a whole new dimension. So I went on the ride very spur of the moment. I was actually at a wine tasting hosted by Olivier at O Chateau, enjoying the company of fellow travelers and 5 types of wine. A word about the tasting: funny as hell! Olivier is good-natured, good-humored and good-looking! What else could you want from a wine tasting in France? I highly recommend it! Plus, he's considering moving to Austin, which only adds to Olivier's awesomeness-I told him he should totally do it! Anyway, I was sitting next to two women, Sheila and Julie, who were going to go on a bike ride after the tasting and they invited me along. I am so glad they did because not only was the bike ride beautiful and our guide, Seth, a great guy, but we also got to ride a boat along the Seine with free-flowing bottles of wine at the end of the ride! Also, we had another lovely treat in store: as we rode through Ile de Cite we passed over the bridge to the smaller island of Ile St Louis where we had Berthillon ice cream: the most decadent ice cream you'll ever have with flavors like: pistachio, dark velvet chocolate and Grand Marnier. At this time my dinner consisted of 5 types of wine, some baguette and ice cream but they were the bests French wines a truly fresh french baguette and the most delicious ice cream in France. The best part: taking a few laps around the courtyard of the Louvre: so surreal and such a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The only hitch was this: on the boat we pass under several footbridges, which was normally lovely, as the people walking ont he bridges would wave and smile. Normally. We passed under one bridge where a groups of teenagers thought it would be a good use of thier beer to pour some of their drinks onto the boat. Mind you, not much, but enough to make some people pour out their wine since it was contaminated. There was a huge cultural difference right there: I doubt you would ever see a Texan dump out a beer, much less on people just passing by. Not only because it's rude but hell, why waste a perfectly good beer? I was lucky and missed the spillage, but it was an unfortunate tale for some tourits to tell. Too bad too, since the French were behaving so nicely up to that point. Anyway, we all got over it and kept our hands over our wine whenever we passed under another bridge. Plus, the view helped. It was also a fabulous way to see the Eiffel Tower. I don't know why I hadn't thought about it before but I know every time I've been on a trip and took a bike ride/tour it's been a highlight. So, thanks again to Sheila and Julie for making sure I didn't miss out on this lovely evening!

London Calling

I went to London the other day, just for the day, to visit a friend from college (Betsy) who just moved there. She was sweet enough to meet me at the train station at what was insanely early in London. In fact, we had to walk a while before anything opened just to grab a coffee/tea. I had no real idea what I wanted to do for the day and she was new in town so she whipped out two guide books each equipped with some very useful maps and we were on our way!

First stop though, Betsy found a flat, yay! So we met up with her new roomie, who we no doubt woke up to sort out some paper work. While the letting company was not much help, we did have a pleasant walk through the neighborhood and Victoria Park. A bit more walking and sme tube hopping and we fund ourselves in the Saturday morning Borough Market where vendors were selling everything from fresh fruits and veggies to poem recitations. One orator had a particularly large selection of Yeats, but not many takers. We made our way through the market and had lunch at sunfilled sandwich/pizza place I can't remember the name of, it kind of reminded me of Panera.

After lunch it was on to the Tate museum to check out some art. We got the audio guides, which helped us navigate the spaces efficiently but found the most curious pieces lacked any commentary, leaving us to contemplate things like why is a 30+ foot piece of rope on the floor considered art? Then it was out to walk the Thames before hitting up Parliament and Big Ben. We tried to go by 10 Downing Street only to find it crowded and roped off. Westminster Abbey was absolutely beautiful and a perfect stop for a refreshing ice cream.

Buckingham Palace was next, and though we missed the changing of the guard they two on duty did give us a little bit of action. The "real" guard dressed in military garb, with the automatic rifle seemed annoyed that this was his post...It was quite the sunny day in London so alot of my pics ended up being a bit back-lit; I guess we just walked right into the sun without realizing it, but it turned into a really nice day. Warning: London mornings are a bit frigid.

It was back to St. Pancras train station via St. James park, which was brimming with wildlife (ducks, geese, squirrels, etc).It reminded me alot of Central Park and made for a relaxing end of day stroll. At the station Betsy and I grabbed a pint before boarding our respective trains and when I returned to my flat in Paris I just crashed. Great day, great company-thanks Betsy!

Museums Galore!

I'm going to make this quick b/c I have to get to bed soon if I have any hope of getting up early enough to catch my train to London in the morning...The past few days were full of museums including the Musee d'Art et d'Histoire de Judaisme (Jewish Art and History Museum, which did not allow photos), the Musee Carnavalet (two mansions filled with an entire history of France through art and objects), National Museum of Modern Art at the Centre Pompidou.

The Musee du Judaisme was so incredibly peaceful compared to the bustling streets of Paris. It's a short walk from the apartment and there's a stone filled courtyard off the rue du Temple that leads into the museum. Like I said, no pics inside but I got a few of the courtyard. Inside had a rather complete history of the Jews in France (it seemed like a vicious cycle of constantly being kicked out and then "requested" to return). But, it did reveal how diverse the culture is here and sprinkled throughout the museum were little vignettes of Jews living here today, which was an interesting contrast to the medieval and revolutionary relics that were on display. I enjoyed the visit very much and was glad I stopped in.

The Musee Carnavalet wasn't on my list of sites to see until later but when I got to the musee de Picasso I discovered it was recently closed for a three year renovation. So, on to the Carnavalet, where they had a beautifully lush and manicured garden as well as dozens and dozens of rooms filled with art and furnishings that date back to pre-revolution eras. I was really impressed by the detail of the preservation, the goldleaf on the walls was still intact and the stained designs in the wood floors were still sparkling. The house itself was immaculate and easy to get lost in.

And on to the Pompidou: not known for particularly "pretty" art but important works nonetheless. Though I disagree with the previous sentence there were alot of arguable pretty pieces by Matisse and Picasso as well as Chagall on display. The structure of the Pompidou is interesting b/c the arichtect designed it so that the front of the building was actually the escalators, elevators, and stairs that led throughout the museum, so when you look at it it looks like a maze of pipes on the outside. (Super Mario Bros. anyone?) The main floor of the museum focused on an exhibit on Feminist Art, which by its virtue focused on women's struggle in the art world. It was definitely eye-opening if not a bit raw and maybe even a little obscene for most Western sensibilities. It certainly made you think and I spent a great deal of time going through the exhibit, making me grateful for my Gender Studies concentration in college. I discovered a French sculptor I really liked named Henri Gaudier-Brezska. He actually died at the age of 23 fighting in WWI, but he had some really interesting stuff, again no photos allowed. I think I'll actually go back to this again since it's so close to the apartment. Anyway, here are soe photos, enjoy cuz I'm off to sleep!

Rainy Paris

So this morning it rained, putting a damper on some of my plans, which incidentally were mixed up anyway since the Musee d'Orsay is closed on Mondays. Anyway, this afternoon it lightened up and I made my way to Ile de Cite and the Seine before heading to Notre Dame Cathedral. There were plenty of people waiting in line to climb the 402 steps, but it was well worth it to get some shots of the gargoyles. I also went inside the cathedral while they were holding vespers where I lit a candle and said a little prayer. The rose windows were not as brilliantly illuminated as I had hoped since it had become overcast again, but they were lovely nonetheless. As I was sitting in the the courtyard of the church I met a Frenchman who is an English teacher named Acene. We had a chat about languages over a cup of coffee and we also discussed the delicacies of French versus American courtesies. As we parted ways he gave me his info in hopes I would make plans to meet up, perhaps-though Luke thinks I shouldn't... and maybe he's right. But, I will call to thank him for some good advice and conversation.

Tomorrow calls for sunnier skies so perhaps I'll get some shots of the arc d'triumph and the Eiffel Tower. until then, enjoy some pics from Notre Dame!

Paris: More Than Just Coffee and Wine

So I realized after my post yesterday that all of the photos I posted were of beverages. I promise I'm not getting overly caffeinated or crunked while I'm here. Just to prove it, I'll load some other pictures that I took today at the Louvre. I was surprised how easily I made it to two out of three of their prized pieces: the Winged Victory and the Venus de Milo, alas I needed some direction to the great room where the Mona Lisa is held. I picked up an audio guide for a mere 5Euros and was treated to some in depth info on the three pieces previously mentioned and some info on pieces I came across that I simply found interesting. I'm starting to get the hang of the streets here and was able to find my way back to the apartment without a map! (that's huge for me, considering every street is named Rue Something and hardly any of them run in a straight line).

There was one letdown at the Louvre: the interior exit leads to a small wing of a shopping mall! Imagine my surprise to exit the Louvre and the ground floor gift shop to see a Sephora and Espirit! While some see convenience I was more than mildly disturbed at the intrusion of modern commercialism mixed in with my art. But I quickly got over it when I spotted a "pay as you go" restroom. You pay one Euro to use the facilities and they sell things like fancy water bottles and printed toilet paper. (The hot pink rolls with the poodles printed on them immediately caught my eye!) Unfortuately, I just realized I took every picture with my "good" camera and I forgot the USB cable back home. C'est la vie! I'll be sure to take some more iphone pics tomorrow so you can see what I see.

Tomorrow will be packed with stops at the Ile de Cite and St Louis, Notre Dame and the Musee D'Orsay. Until then, bon nuit!