We’re all gonna put it out there at Bistrot 52 With the late night festivities and the need to organize and send some stuff home with my mom and Bob, the day was off to quite a late start. We have guide books from Vietnam, clothes that we have never used, and random paperwork that can be sent to California. We pack up one of the big red bags and load it with maybe 40 pounds worth of our stuff. It’ll be great to not have to lug this stuff around Greece, Spain, and Canada. We also have to pack for [View Full Entry]

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How to *Do* Modern Art Today I get to be the guide. That promises a lot of circular walking. I’m good at maps, I just don’t always know in real life which way I’m facing. I suppose if I put the map on the floor like Joey from “Friends,” I’d do better. I kiss Leroy goodbye and wish him a wonderful free day in Paris, and off I go to meet the rest of the crew at Metro Villiers. I hit up the ticket machine for a carnet (10-trip pack) since my 5-day Paris Visite pass has expired. We ascend from [View Full Entry]

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F-in Bahlee It’s moving day. Mom, Bob, and Bett are switching apartments to the one they originally wanted (but was not available) on Rue Claude Pouillet. This new one is bigger, with a full kitchen and adjoining breakfast room, a foyer, a real living room, a larger bedroom with a queen-sized bed, and a bathroom with a combination washer/dryer. The new spot is only two blocks away from their Rue de Levis apartment, but our move is delayed by three hours. Hmm, three hours to kill with five of us in a “miniscule” (say with French accent) apartment. I pop “Bil [View Full Entry]

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La Tour Eiffel and the fastest TGV ever Giverny and Ave Maria must have pooped us out, because we got off to a terribly late start. Our Paris days have somewhat of a routine - Leroy and I get up and get ready, then walk from Maman’s on Boulevard Malesherbes, up Rue Legendre, and left at Rue de Levis. After the lavender-colored storefront, we punch in the door code, walk up one flight up the warped wooden stairs, and ring the doorbell. After some bonjours, we all leave the place for a new adventure. Today, we go to one of our [View Full Entry]

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Giverny: A Day at Monet Headquarters The day was planned out pretty well - almost. Bob got up at 5 AM!!! I think he’s the type of man who needs to have “chill” mornings, not just get up and go. So he had his coffee and read his online news while Tita Lut and I stayed in bed until it was our turn to get ready. We met Leroy and Melissa at 8 AM at Metro Villiers. It was a short ride to Saint-Lazare to connect to the train toward Rouen. The train ride itself went pretty fast considering it was [View Full Entry]

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Typical Paris: Champs-Élysées, the Louvre, the Seine, Notre Dame, Crêpes, Cheese and Wine True to form, Bettina gave us an account of our second day in the city of lights. We could get used to this kind of blogging. Keep it up, Butters! Marcher-ing Down the Elysian Fields My recollection is starting to fade as the days pass. Leroy and Melissa phone us around 1030 and agree they would be here in an hour and a half. Apparently Melissa was catching up on some much needed zzz's after a grueling four days of travel and a late night at Hubert's. The [View Full Entry]

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It’s official. The guest blogger curse is over. We had to call out OG in Argentina. We had to call out Xandra in Manila. We even called out my mom a little bit, although she never promised to blog in the Philippines. But we’ve been warning Bettina for months, and she’s been feeling the pressure. Once in Paris, we asked for just one - “Just one day! You can pick the day!” - but she gave us so much more. Hooray for Butters! As an introduction, Bettina has been my best friend since 5th grade, when she told me not to [View Full Entry]

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Meli: A Much Needed Rest in Cairo At Cairo, I was picked up by Khaled after only five minutes of waiting, and back to Maadi it was. Apparently, there was a kamsin, a sandstorm, because Cairo looked completely different with no bright sun. There was light, but its source was not apparent, as though clouds had moved in but instead it was sand. There had been a car on fire on the highway to the airport, and when I passed, there was nothing but a burnt out shell. There had also been a fire at a market in Maadi close to [View Full Entry]

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Meli: The Real Longest Day: 40 Hours to Leroy What is there to say? I got up, packed, took a cab to Orlando airport, and boarded a Delta flight to JFK AT 10:10am. Less crowded this time, so it was better. At JFK, I got the seat I should have gotten (reserved by Expedia, but he booted me off and gave me a crap seat when I checked in at Cairo’s counter), and that made a huge difference. I was not looking forward to the flight, but it was better than the way over. The people were a bit more seasoned [View Full Entry]

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Meli: All That for Nine Minutes I wake up in my lovely bed and realize I have to practice giving my Powerpoint presentation. That’s enough to make you want to stay in and draw the curtains. But instead, I spend my morning trying to shave my presentation down to the ten minute timeline, aiming for eight minutes in order to leave room for questions. Gosh, I hope they don’t ask any questions. Three practice sessions later, I’m at 11 minutes. I go down to the speaker ready room at least three times to upload shorter and shorter versions of the presentation. [View Full Entry]

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