Blog Archives

My commute in was quick…four songs long to be exact. U2, John Denver, Van Halen, and Frank Sinatra. I love my iPod…still 🙂

This weekend was the 32nd annual Pride Parade in San Francisco, so Jeff and I joined hundreds of thousands of gawkers along Market Street to catch this year’s cast of bikers, go-go dancers, and leather daddies. And of course, this parade brings out EVERY politician in the area…particularly our well-dressed mayor.

At the end of the parade, we got to join the masses along the route to walk to the Civic Center. The morning fog rolled back for a sunny parade, and then rolled back in to cool the evening down.

This was my first trip to Paris. (Jeff’s second.) So, even though we were in Paris one day longer than London, Paris felt like a blur of postcard images. BEAUTIFUL images, but not yet personal. We had a really fun visit, and we plan to return soon to get to know Paris better.

Sainte Chapelle is a hidden gem and probably my favorite single site in Paris. This small gothic chapel is tucked away in the most unlikely of places–within the walls of set of government building. The 13th century chapel is unimposing and gives no hits of the interior. The ceilings of the chapel look like they are held up by walls of stained glass…photos hardly do it justice.

We’ve all seen so many photos of Notre Dame, that its hard to take it all in when you see it. The cathedral is mammoth, yet has so many small personal spaces.

One lesser know site on the Ile de la Cite near Notre Dame is the Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation–dedicated to the memory of the 200,000 individuals deported from France to German concentration camps during World War II.

On the truly grand scale…the Louvre…full of treasures so familiar that they hardly seem real.

THE icon of Paris: the Eiffel Tower. A magnificent structure with breathtaking views.

To be sure…Jeff and I will return to Paris…soon.

Buddy issued me a challenge yesterday to find a picture of an art nouveau Metro station in Paris similar to one he had taken this spring. This photo search spurred me to complete a series of images that I’ve been working on that represent the urban modes of transportation that we used in and in-between London, Paris, and Venice.

We begin in London with the Underground and its ubiquitous logo. The Underground fascinates me. It began operations in 1863 and is the “oldest underground system.” We used the Underground quite a bit, particularly to get to and from train stations for our trips to Windsor and then to Paris.

Our 40-minute trip to Windsor was on the traditional national rail system. We left from the Waterloo train station (shown below).

The train to Paris, on the other hand, was on a Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel. Unfortunately, the excitement of the uniqueness of the route was vastly overshadowed by annoyances: excessively long lines, a narrow crowded terminal, confusing boarding procedures, and lack of luggage space. The trip from London (Waterloo) to Paris (Gare du Nord) took about 2.5 hours. We watched the British countryside, ate lunch in the Chunnel, and then relaxed as we watched France fly by.

The Parisian Metropolitain (“Metro”) is a behemoth of a subway system that dates back to 1900. Our hotel was well-situated at the Charles de Gaulle Etoile station (Arc du Triomphe), where two major lines cross (the #1 and #6 lines). The #1 line was soon our best friend since it connected us directly to the Louvre, the Marais, and other fun locations.

Hands down, our best inter-city travel was between Paris and Tours on the high-speed TGV. We also took an overnight train from Paris to Venice on the Artesia service operated by Trenitalia. Finally, from Venice to Milan, we hopped a very nice Eurostar Italia train.

But our public transit experience wasn’t restricted to trains. No trip is complete without squeezing onto a crowded vaporetto in Venice. I think vaporetto may translate as “cattle car,” but I can’t confirm that. Here is one vaporetto stop near our hotel.

I swear that I’m not LOOKING for toilet materials for my blog. This is just a string of odd coincidences. But this morning, as I was scanning Yahoo news (and avoiding getting out of bed), I ran across the headline: “Toilet cleaners are ‘restroom specialists'”. How could I not read that?

It seems that Singapore is increasing training for its restroom attendants, including a 3-day course “taught by Japanese experts in the latest toilet technology.” The event is sponsored in part by the Singapore-based World Toilet College.

I looked the college up and found it on the World Toilet Organization’s website. On that site, I also found a link to the online game Urgent!, described as “a game, in 3D format, which aims to educate toilet users on proper toilet hygiene and toilet etiquettes.”

You have GOT to go play this game!!

One final note: World Toilet Day is declared on November 19 of each year. Book your holiday travel now.