I ended my day with a visit to the Eiffel Tower...I walked to the 2nd level and took the Elevator to the summit... With my small, dinky camera... [View Full Entry]

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I found Les Invalides very somber...It is very inviting and picturesque from the outside, but from the inside, I had a different impression...It was probably because I entered from the area of the Dome and the tomb of Napoleon that was brought to Paris From the Island of St Helena in 1840...The tomb is designed such that the visitor bows down from the top level and looks up to it from the bottom level...It feels unreachable...The army museum, the museum of Charles De Gaule, and the exhibit of model reliefs of French fort cities and citadels within the compounds of the [View Full Entry]

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The TGV train ride from Gare De Lyon of Paris to Geneva is a beautiful one...It goes thru fields, forests, lakes, and mountains...It was a smooth and pleasurable ride... I arrived in Geneva at 2:30 pm and met my cousin S at the Station...She took me to the UN headquarters where I took a tour of the Palace of Nations...It was a very interesting and informative one hour tour... Geneva is a beautiful small city with a very international crowd...It is geographically well situated, surrounded by the Alps and Jura mountain ranges (with a view of the Mont Blanc peak), adjacent [View Full Entry]

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Cousin M treated me to a French cooking class at the Atelier Des Chefs in the 15th Arrondissement...Loved it!!! L' Atelliers Des Chefs: The theme was crumbles with Potage Poitrine avec Langoustine: Pumpkin Soup and Scampi Citron avec Crevette: Citrus fruits and Shrimp Vin Rouge avec Poire: Red Vine with Pear The thing is that my crumble did not turn out very good... Apparently my hand temperature is somewhat high, witch caused the crumble to dough up... I suppose I can not ever become a Sushi chef, sigh :-(!!! I will add the pictures later... HAPPY VETERANS DAY!!! Marriage Freres: [View Full Entry]

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An old French songs CD is playing...I am sitting by the window, looking out at the tree lined Blvd, sipping at a warm French Berger tisane, and munching on some canelle and chocolate cake that M baked...Life could not taste better... It is mid fall and the leaves are changing colors...A one day excursion to a couple of small towns along the forests of Fontainebleau, outside of Paris made for a very pleasant weekend... The first town was Barbizon, which was and is a haven for impressionist painters..It is a very quaint small village, with stoned walls, beautiful trees and flowers, [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was Place Royale/Place De Vosges, the 3rd and the 4th arroundissements, and the Marais and the Jewish neighborood, where M and I had coffee and Tarte Titin in a quaint cafe with a little courtyard along the Place Vosges. We were on our way to the famous Picasso museum. To our great surprise the museum was closed, under rehabilitation, and it will open up sometime in 2012. All the paintings have been loaned out to different museums around the world. in Place de Vosges there is this amazing tea store by the name of Damman Freres...It is such an experience, [View Full Entry]

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1105-Paris: It has been a few days of rest and I have not taken any pictures. I have mainly walked around the city, run errands, shopped for groceries, and tried to live the everyday life... I Paris it is a pleasure to shop for groceries...The products are fresh and tasty... M and I visited the Musee Du Quai Branly to check out the 165 Years of Iranian Photography Exhibit, which was not too large, but was very interesting...In the 7th arrondissement, with the Eiffel Tower as the background, and across the street from the river Seine, the museum makes for a [View Full Entry]

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Barcelona, Barcelona!!! Thank you for all your recommendations...The city has exceeded my expectations... From the Ramblas to the "La Boqueria" Mercat San Josep, to the Gaudi apartments, to the Sagrada Familia, to the Park Guell, to the Cathedral, to the old Roman walls...This is a spectacular city...Easy to navigate, great to do shopping at, wonderful to walk in the parks or along its docks...This city does not sleep, the food is spectacular, the people are friendly and courteous, and I am thoroughly enjoying every moment of it...I am staying until Sunday...Tomorrow checking out the Barcel [View Full Entry]

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Granada... A beautiful city, perched in the skirts of the Sierra Nevadas...The Alhambra standing gloriously in the midst of it... This is the deal...You can not just walk to the Alhambra and buy entry tickets...It requires reservation and the only way for that is either at the Caixa Bank Automatic Machine or through the internet...The tickets sold are limited...They recommend two weeks advance reservations...There are people who reserve it one year in advance...I found this out from the Taxi driver in Seville driving me to the train station...A moment of panic...I talked to a lady in the tra [View Full Entry]

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Ole!!! A Flamenco guitarist, a singer, two Flamenco dancers, one man and one woman, in the middle of a enclosed courtyard of an old house in the Jewish quarters of Seville...The audience seated in the cloister area surrounding the courtyard...Firm, angry, determined, the Flamenco dancer stomped the audience into transcendence...The singer sounded like a Muadzin, his voice penetrating...The guitarist's fingers elegantly and effortlessly strobed the guitar strings...The Flamenco performance and the ambiance was magical...A great end to an eventful day... Yesterday I visited The Real Alcazar, S [View Full Entry]

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