Jeff and Kevin's travel blog

Yesterday, Christmas Day, we dined at the Jules Verne restaurant on the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower.  Another over-the-top meal, as this place also has a Michelin Star.  The elevator up the side of the leg of the tower was - well, terrifying.  I assume this lift was more or less original equipment or at least original design.  I was pretty sure that, as Jar Jar Binks would say "We's a all gonna die." It was a complete mob scene at the base of the tower.  I can't imagine what it would be like during peak tourist season.  Hopefully I will never have to find out. This morning (Boxing Day) we woke to sunshine - the first we've seen since our arrival.  It was dazzling, especially shining on the buildings and monuments that feature gold gilded components like this one: We took up Julie's suggestion and took in the first elevated park in the world - called the Promenade Plantee, or the Couree Verte.  Like the High-line in Manhatta...

Yesterday was a walk-around day - just exploring and getting lost in Paris.  We stumbled onto the Pompidou museum - something you either love or hate (Jeff the former, me the latter).  The building really brought modernism architecture to a new place - put all the guts of the building on the outside of the building, keep all the nuts and bolts exposed, etc.  I think it's a hot mess, as maintaining it has proven to be impossible.  In only 40 years the plexiglass is etched and cloudy, and the architectural components are stained, weathered and look beat to hell.  But - it certainly evokes a response, and in that regard, the building is a huge artistic success. Here's a pic I took from inside one of the galleries; you can't argue with the way the new and the old go together here. Last night's dinner cruise was an utterly unique way to celebrate Christmas Eve.  The boat sailed up and down the Seine while we were dining.  Everybody was dressed to t...

Last night at 11:00 on the dinner cruise, we were passing by the Eiffel Tower when the sparkly-shiny lights went off.  The guests on the boat all burst out in cheers and applause.  This is what it looked like: Sparkly Shiny Eiffel Tower

Jeff here - Guten Tag from Paris! Are you familiar with food porn? It's a social media trend of people taking pictures of food, usually predicated on it being a unique preparation. Walking around Paris, I coined the phrase "tourist porn" to represent the uber pictorial qualities of this beautiful city. From buildings to tree lined streets, the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, and the wealth of museums and churches, there are countless things to photograph. I don't think the pic I have attached counts as tourist porn per se, but it was fun to take. As many of you know, my friend Christian spent his formative years in Paris before his family moved back to the Pittsburgh area where we met in 6th grade. Kevin and I went to see the house he lived in. HIs front door opened onto the back of the Grand Palais - a large historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex on the Champs Elysees. Definitely a change from where we grew up in Bethel Park. Kev twisted his ankle b...

We visited the Musee D'Orsey Museum on the 23rd (our 20th Anniversary); it's a massive museum located right across the river from our hotel on the Left Bank.  A former Beaux Art train station, it was converted into its current form as a museum.  The building was almost lost to progress, but it was saved and the conversion was completed in 1986. This museum houses many notable works, including Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait along with a few other of his more famous pieces, several Rodin sculptures, and a really interesting collection of Art Nouveau furnishings.  If you like impressionism, this is must-see. One of the (many) things nice about this trip has been the crowds (really, the lack of them).  There are plenty of people around, but no lines.  That said, Paris is NOT a place for parents with children in strollers, or anybody in a wheelchair. Accessibility hasn't been implemented here, and there are stairs everywhere.  Strangely, circular staircases...

Some random musings about Paris... Still haven't seen a poodle - french or otherwise, but DID finally see  a French Bulldog.  Dogs aren't nearly the big deal here that they are in SF. WAY more smoking here than California... Lots of motorcycles and scooters, which makes sense in this very crowded city. Strangest thing is, we estimate one in four scooters on the road here are Piaggio MP3 - the model with the two wheels in the front that Jeff and I owned for several years (and happily donated to KQED last year when it died on the 280 Fwy). Parisiens will do anything to dine or drink outside.  We've had no real downpours since we've been here, and it's not wet enough to warrant using an umbrella (it never does in Seattle, but never mind that for now...).  But everything in the city is wet from mist and fog and..,. winter . Yet still Parisiens sit outdoors in protected spots sipping their coffees or cocktails or having one of their famous 3-hour lunches. Sinc...

If you want a healthy tourist business, you need to have lots of things for visitors to do... and Paris really steps up to the plate by having literally dozens of museums all over the city.  Today we went to the L'Orangerie (famous for the series of huge canvases called "Water Lilies", given by Claude Monet to the City of Paris as a gift; they quite literally built two huge oval rooms to display these spectacular pieces of impressionism - a pic below, including a close-up of one of his brush strokes that caught my eye. We crossed over the Seine on the bridge where lovers put their locks to signify the permanence of their love (photo).  We went to see St. Chapelle, an ancient church just a couple blocks from Notre Dame (heavy Catholic influence here).  St. Chapelle recently restored its famous stained glass windows, along with everything else (exteriors, steel, etc).  A huge and very successful undertaking - I wondered where they got the money....Then we checked ou...

We took the TGV (France's famous high speed train) to the Champagne district this morning.  Took 40 minutes to travel 90 miles - we were going 200 MPH at one point (yes, this feel very fast).  We toured the only place in the world where Champagne is made (if it's made anywhere else, including anywhere else in France, they have to call it Sparkling Wine).  We got deep (20 meters) into the bowels of the earth in soil made (mostly) of chalk.  We spent time at Moet Chandon/Dom Perignon and Taittengiers, all three highly acclaimed labels.  The Moet complex has over 27 miles of caves below their mansion above. We will win any game of trivial pursuit that includes the category "Champagne". The Champagne district, northeast of Paris, has suffered immensely over the centuries with more wars than you could possibly imagine - from the barbarians, to the French Revolution, to WWI and then WWII - and yet these people rebuild and keep going forward, over and over.  ...

Jeff here - Hola from Paris! Travelling for work can have its perks. Not many, mind you, but they're there. Take this trip, for example. The plane tickets and the hotel are on points. But as anyone who has done business travel knows, it aint glamorous. It can also get lonely. This trip has been great because I get to travel with Kevin and see Paris through his eyes. It's also happening over the holidays - a time when work slows down...at least for a few days, so it's a chance to unplug a little (he says as he types a blog post) and really be together. And he gets to benefit from my being gone at various times throughout the year. Good stuff! Random thoughts: I started the year off flying an A380 for the first time. I ended it flying a 787. I've become a plane geek - sorta.  If NY and LA had a traffic baby, it would be Paris.  When we left the Louvre the second time, we went out through a shopping plaza where a group of soldiers were hanging out with machine ...

Travels to Paris were great - the "lie-flat" seat in the new 787 was fantastic, and we both got a good amount of sleep on our way to Paris.  We both give two thumbs up to the new plane - don't you just love that new plane smell? Random observations:  traffic in Paris is probably worse than anything I've seen in the US.  The trip to the hotel took 75 mintes; we finally got out of the car and hoofed it the last block to the hotel.  This city smells amazing - I've yet to be assaulted with a nasty city smell... even in the subway. So far, only one homeless person has been spotted.  The inner (old) city of Paris has almost no graffiti.  Parisiens aren't big on piped in music - and we have yet to hear a single Christmas Carol since arriving.  Charles de Gaul airport is as bad as it's reputation.  In my best Bette Davis imitation: WHAT A DUMP Drivers here are many, but they aren't particularly aggressive.  A bajillion motorcycles....