May 2007 - Paris: Day 3

This was our last day in Paris and we got an early start at the Eiffel Tower. Although I've seen it in a zillion pictures and been viewing it from afar for a few days, it was fantastic to get up close! Despite the long lines, we avoided some of the crowds by walking up the first 2 levels and only taking the elevator from there.

Side note: If you know us, then you know the motto... Even though there were a lot of stairs to climb, they were much easier than the circular, worn, uneven ones in the bell towers we're usually taking. These were nice, wide spaced steps with railings!

Back to the tower... The view from the top is everything you've heard about and more. It was probably the highlight of the trip for me and the one thing that really exceeded my expections (which were pretty high because it's Paris after all).

Our next stop was the Place du Concord, and we could just imagine the Tour de France cyclists zooming past the Obelisk. That's something for another trip though. From there we walked side streets to the Louvre, and then back along the Seine to the Tuileries garden. The rain finally stopped to let us enjoy the open spaces of the park.

The last part of our adventure took us back to Brussels on the high speed Thalys train. It runs over 185 mph, but is incredibly smooth. We traveled in 1st class and got to stretch out and savor a last glass of French wine along the way.

As we got closer to Brussels, the train came to a sudden stop with no station in sight. The conductor came on the intercom with messages in French, Dutch, German, and English. We got a kick out of the difference in the ways that the announcer phrased the situation:

In English it was very politely put, "The train has temporarily come to a stop." This was followed by a suggestion to please stay seated.

However, in German, it quite different, "Der Zug kann nicht weiter gehen... (more)" Translated, it roughly meant "The train can't go any further. Don't open the doors and don't get off the train!"

After a short while we did get moving again and arrived to find out hotel was just a block from the Grand Place (see the blog from October 2006). Brussels is becoming one of my favorite places to spend an evening. The restaurants and shops were open much later than on our last trip, so we had a stroll around the city and a great dinner in the Ile de Sacre. We finished off the a final Belgian beer before saying good night and good bye to Europe.

May 2007 - Paris: Day 2

For our second day in Paris, we got up early and headed straight to the Louvre. Like everything else, it was incredibly crowded. With opening of the museum as flood of Asian tourists streamed towards the Mona Lisa. We went to see her, but waited about 1/2 hour until the craziness started to die away. She's not very big or as impressive as some of the other works. I was particularly impressed with Winged Victory and the Veus de Milo, as well as the huge collection of Egyptian artifacts. Napolean's apartments are also a must see. The Louvre is enormous and it's impossible to see and appreciate everything in one visit. The building itself is an attraction and we found ourselves exhausted by late morning.


New and old at the Louvre:







Napolean's Apartments:

We stopped at the cafe in the Louvre to take a rest and figure out what to do next. Eric ordered a Coke and I ordered a Coke Light (Diet Coke for those in the US). His Coke arrived, frosty and refreshing. The waiter brought me a chicken salad sandwich. Hmmm. This time I sent it back and finally got my drink. It was beginning to seem like regardless of what I ordered in France, I would be getting something else. C'et la vie, as they say.

It had started rain, so we decided to see a few more indoor sights. Next stop was St. Sulpice church. If you've read the DaVinci Code or seen the movie, this is the church with the obelisk and the "rose line" running accross it where the monk goes to dig up a clue. It's not nearly on the same scale as Notre Dame, but it didn't have the crowds of people. Inside, it was much more reverent, and the visitors were quiet and not snapping photos everywhere. I actually think I liked it better than the famous cathedral. It's also worth noting that there are a few signs in multiple languages explaining that the line on the church floor is really a marker for one of the Meridians that runs through Paris, and that the obelisk is a monument to recognize the geographers/cartographers who cooperated with the church to map the longitude lines. It also noted that it has nothing to do with a certain movie. Well, it was fun to imagine it anyway.

Since it was still raining, we headed over to the Army Museum and Napolean's tomb. Much of the Army Museum is closed for refurbishment, but, of course, you don't find that out until you've already bought the ticket. However, Napolean's tomb is worth a look, though. The building, the tomb, and the surrounding monuments inside are pretty impressive. They really challenged my Anglo-centric view of him as some kind of maniacal despot bent on destroying Europe. Here you see him as a great strategist, general, and leader. (I'm not yet convinced he wasn't the self-centered crazy man we've been taught about, but he's more interesting to me now.)

There is a display of one of his uniforms and many personal items. It reminded me of a strangely similar display at the Maritime Museum in London dedicated to Nelson. It really gives you a different perspective on these world events.

After a drink and a nap, it had finally stopped raining so we headed out to find a restaurant. Our walk gave us the first good view of the Eiffel Tower, and it was amusing to see the reporters covering the French Open using it as a back drop for their interviews. What better way to prove you are in Paris?

Once again we came face to face my nemesis...the Parisian waiter. This time we ordered steak filets, and all signs seemed positive. However, when he came back to say they had no steaks left, I wasn't surprised. Eric opted for chicken instead. Now, I've been told that meat is generally served much more rare in Europe than in the US, but I didn't expect that rule to apply to poultry. His chicken arrived pink and nearly raw, so it was sent back to kitchen for another round on the grill. I'm starting to think they are out to kill us.

When we finally did get our food, it was great. We finished it off with an excellent Bordeaux and then some Creme Brulee. All is forgiven. Yum.

May 2007 - Paris: Day 1

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything (that wasn’t for work), but a recent trip has sparked me to start again. Since we just got back from Paris, I’ll start there, but then I’ll get back to last year’s trips so there should be some more activity here in the next few weeks.

This latest trip started as a random comment by the(other)eb. He casually mentioned that there was a conference and training session in Belgium that his company might attend. It turned out that the person who was supposed to go couldn’t. He volunteered and the rest just happened. I know that for most people, the idea of going to Europe for a long weekend seems crazy, but there you have it – it’s what we do. Looking back, we’ve spent 3 of the last 4 Memorial Day weekends in Europe. More about those trips some other time.

Anyway, since we were *just* in Belgium last fall, we decided to meet in Paris since neither of us had been there and it’s one of those “must see” places in the world. I was in Vegas the week before for a tradeshow and left there to fly to Paris. Eric met me there after coming in on the high speed train from Brussels. The contrast between Vegas and Paris was a dose of culture shock.

We arrived around noon and set off to find our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Tilsitt Etoile just off the Arc du Triomphe. My review of the hotel should be posted on Tripadvisor.com soon, but I give the location a thumbs up. After checking in and dropping the bags we headed out to explore the city. We made a pact not to try to do too many things in the short 3 days that we had, but instead relax and let things happen. We didn’t have much of a plan, other than a few key sights that everyone told us we had to see.



At this point we stopped at a café for lunch and immediately realized we were going to have to be more selective about where we ate. We ordered ham sandwiches (baguette et jambon), but the waiter brought us ham omelettes. What? I was too hungry to argue, so we ate them and called for the check. Our second surprise was that we were charged 8€ each for our Cokes. Yikes! Expensive lesson learned.

Leaving the café behind we went to visit Notre Dame. It’s unusual and beautiful, but the experience was slightly tarnished for me because of the huge crowds of people. There were hundreds in line, as well as some who just walked up and pushed in ahead (the American/English idea of a queue is nonexistent).



Once inside, the cathedral’s stained glass windows are everything you hear about. However, the crowd of people talking and tramping through make it feel a little less sacred and special. Back outside, the carvings and gargoyles are fantastic. We especially liked this one of St. Denis who was beheaded and now holds his own noggin (2nd from right).

After Notre Dame we walked around the Ile de Cite and the Latin Quarter, and then to a café for a beer before dinner. This time, we checked the menu and prices first (beer and wine are cheaper than soft drinks). After a great Italian dinner near our hotel, we went for a walk, or really, more of a wander. We ended up at Porte Maillot and then headed home to the Arc, happy, full, and tired!

November 2006 - The Galapagos: Day 11 - Otavalo

It was election day in Ecuador! Everywhere we went there were posters, political graffiti, and people talking about the candidates. We met our guide and driver who were going to take us to Otavalo, a market town about 2 hours North of Quito in the Andes mountains. Our guide started off the drive by explaining all about the elections (see the previous day’s blog), as well as her opinion of Noboa, (“he’s corrupt”) and Correa (“he’s as good as Venezuela’s Chavez”).

Nearly every else who we had talked to in the Galapagos didn’t seem to think it would matter much who won. The general opinion is that each side was just as crooked as the other. Our guide spent a good part of the ride up to Otavalo telling us about the local political issues and she turned out to be quite an activist. I followed along politely for a while, but when she told us that Cuba’s health system was a model we should all follow, and that the US Army had secretly dumped nuclear waste in one of the rivers in Ecuador, she lost me.

Nonetheless, it was an interesting ride as we shared the mountain road with buses packed with people. The route we took up to Otavalo went through a town called Tabacundo, but when we came back, we took a different road, this time through Cayambe. When we got to Otavalo, we found out that there are actually 2 markets there. The food market is where farmers from all around the Imbabura province bring their crops to sell. There are all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and meats (well, dead animals anyway) for sale. Everything looked good, but unfortunately we didn’t eat anything here – our stomachs were getting back to normal.








The other market is the one that most people come to Otavalo to see. It’s the textiles market. We heard that because it was election day, it was very small, but it was still enough to satisfy our curiosity. The stalls here had sweaters, hats, scarves, and all sorts of things made from Alpaca wool, as well as embroidered blouses and tablecloths, jewelry, wood carvings, and other local crafts. I was very happy that we had gotten a guide. At each stand she would tell us whether the prices were reasonable or we should bargain more. After we had shopped enough, we headed to a Spa/Hotel call La Mirage for lunch.




La Mirage serves traditional styled meals, but they are done in gourmet style. Over our delicious lunch of corn on the cob, pork BBQ, avocados, and empanadas, we had time to think our morning in the market. Most of the locals are indigenous people who speak Kichwa (I’ve also seen this spelled Quechua). They wear traditional dress – white “Capri” pants for the men and long blue skirts with lacy tops for the women, and everyone wears espadrilles. It was very enchanting and exotic, and made me feel very far away from home.

I really did feel very foreign in the market. Before we went on this trip, a few of the travel guides that I read mentioned that you should not dress as “a conspicuous tourist.” Given that Eric and I were at least 6-12 inches taller than any one else in the entire town, and the only blondes, I don’t think what we were wearing could have made us stand out any more. However, the people in market stalls were pleasant, and seemed to find humor in trying to find a sweater big enough to fit me – whispering and laughing “muy grande!”

After lunch our drive took us to Cotacatchi National Park, which has a beautiful crater lake surrounded by volcanic mountains. The view was fantastic and you can look down into the valleys with all of the of the lush green farms in the countryside. We went for a short walk, but soon realized that the altitude (about 12K feet) was taking it’s toll, so we headed back to catch our breath and be on our way back to Quito.





On the way back we stopped on the equator for a quick photo op – I’m in the southern hemisphere and he’s in the northern.



We left the Hilton behind to try to get a better sense Ecuador. Instead we stayed in a small hotel called La Mansion del Angel, which had been a private house. It was decorated in a pretty and eclectic mix of Victorian and 1920’s antiques with Angels everywhere. We spent our last night relaxing at the hotel, re-packing all of our bags, and preparing to say good-bye to South America.

November 2006 - The Galapagos: Day 10 Quito

Saturday was our last morning in the Galapagos and the mood was definitely a little sad. However, I think most of the crew were excited to get back home for a few hours before starting to prep for the next cruise. We said our good-byes and waited at the dock for a bus to the airport.

Baltra airport is typical of the other “tropical” airstrips we’ve seen. It’s mostly open with just a roof, but this one also has a little street of shops nearby for those last minute souvenirs. We picked up a map of the islands and headed for the check-in. We had heard that you can get your passport stamped there, but it took some searching, asking, and waiting until the “customs” guy with the stamp arrived. It’s actually a pretty cool stamp with a big tortoise.

We had been told that we could go back to Royal Palms VIP lounge from the first day to wait for our flight. After looking around the sparse terminal, we decided this was a good idea. However, we had to go through the security checkpoint first. When we got there it was closed. Since no flight was scheduled for next hour, they just shut off all the x-ray equipment. We explained that we wanted to go to the lounge, and begrudgingly they turned on the scanner, waited for it to boot up and then let us through.

The flight back to Quito was a little unnerving because it was completely foggy. Knowing that there are huge mountain peaks all around, but not being able to see them is uncomfortable. However, we arrived with no problems and got to hear the strangely phrased landing announcement in English: “Please forget… (unusually long pause)… none of your belongings as you exit the plane.”
We settled in back at the Quito Hilton Colon and were given a warning that no alcohol would be served with dinner. As it turned out, it wasn’t just about dinner. The next day, Sunday, was election day and the entire country was dry from Friday night to Monday morning. Since voting is mandatory, I guess they want to be sure that everyone shows up sober at the polls. Even though we obviously weren’t Ecuadorian, and didn’t have to wake up early to vote, there was no getting around it. No happy hour cocktails. No wine with dinner. No beer after dinner. Nada. We ate at an Italian restaurant and it was very strange to look across the tables and see only water glasses.

On a further note about the elections, we found out how they “enforce” the mandatory voting. When you vote, you are given an ID card with your picture. If you want to apply for a job, get a mortgage or other loan, register a car, etc. you have to present this card. No voting card = no job, no house, no anything. It’s not hard to imagine why they get about 99% voter turn out. I wonder how the elections would turn out differently in the US if we had a policy like this. Then again, maybe it’s better that some people here don’t vote.

We had some time to kill in the afternoon, so we ventured out for a walk in the park across from the hotel. There was a small market of local crafts and people playing volleyball. This was the start of the wet season and pretty soon they daily afternoon rain began. We rushed back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night watching TV for the first time in a week: the highlights included Bullfighting and The Two Towers in Spanish with “Senor Frodo.”

Sorry there are no pictures from this day. More to come!

November 2006 - The Galapagos: Day 9 Seymour/South Plaza

At this point in the trip we had already seen so many amazing things, it was hard to believe that there could be more. We started the morning with a walk on Seymour island where we got a closeup of the frigate birds we had seen flying the day before. On this island they are mostly Magnificent Frigate birds, but there are also Great Frigate birds. The difference is in the eye ring and neck feathers, but I won’t go into the details here. When they are ready to mate, the males inflate a pouch of red skin on their necks to attract females (apparently the bigger it is, the more attractive they are to the ladies). Here’s one of them showing off for us:

After the walk, we went snorkeling and I finally got to see a Moorish Idol. We also saw another White Tipped Reef Shark. However as we followed him, our guide called for us to come to where he was. As we got closer there was another shark about 8 feet long. And then two more. And then more. I saw at least a dozen by the time I arrived, but there were many, many more who started to scatter. Even though they don’t pay much attention to humans, it was very unnerving to be surrounded by them.

After the shark encounter, we continued to swim along the island. I felt a weird scratch on my arm and thought maybe I had brushed against some underwater plant. Then I felt another one, and this time it clearly wasn’t a scratch, but a sharp sting. By the third one, I knew I had run into a bunch of jellyfish. The stings turned bright red and itched for a few hours, but they didn’t hurt as much as I expected. By the afternoon, the “aquamora,” as they are known in Ecuador, were just a memory.

The afternoon was spent on South Plaza Island. Here we saw Land Iguanas, Sea Lions, and Swallow Tailed Gulls. We actually saw some of the gulls mating, which involved a very difficult maneuver where the male has to stand on the female’s back. After seeing that, it’s amazing that these birds are thriving.

Finally, we had our farewell cocktails and dinner back on the boat, complete with cake with an icing shark on it! At our final dinner with the captain, we had discussion about the position of the moon. Here at home, we tend to see a crescent moon as a “C”. However, on the equator it appears rotated as more of a “U”. According to the Ecuadorians, our moon is wrong!

November 2006 - The Galapagos: Day 8 Genovesa

I've been slowing down over the holidays, but now it's back to blogging. I hope you all had a great New Year's celebration! On to the Galapagos.....



For the last two days of the trip, I had been secretly happy that I was not the one who had gotten a stomach bug. I was able to enjoy completely the fantastic meals that our chef had been preparing. The universe saw fit to pay me back and I spent the night curled up with the most intense stomach cramps I have ever experienced. With the help of Immodium (amazing stuff), I was able to go ashore for our morning walk on Genovesa, also known as Tower Island. Genovesa is a crater with one side open, so it forms a bay that is about ¾ of a circle.

The key attraction here are the birds, and we finally got to see the Red Footed Booby. Unlike the Blue Footed or Nazca, they build nests in trees, especially the mangroves here.

I was still recovering so I passed on the snorkeling today. However, after lunch we went for another walk. This time, just 4 of us went ashore and we were the only people on the entire island. We were outnumbered by thousands of Red Footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies, Red-billed tropic birds, Swallow-tailed gulls, and Great Frigate birds.

Frigate birds are really the pirates of the bird world. We watched as they would follow a booby or gull who had caught a fish. The frigates swoop down on the bird in flight and shake/bump/harass them until they cough up the fish. The frigate bird will catch it in mid air and take off to look for another victim. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but they are very good at it.

When we returned to the boat for dinner, we found that the chef had made us a turkey for Thanksgiving, complete with all sorts of vegetables and side dishes. For me, dinner was just chicken soup, but everyone else seemed to enjoy the holiday celebration. We were all definitely thankful for the afternoon alone with the birds.