tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69961638245959619892024-03-13T22:33:52.369-07:0035-hour work weekThe experiences of Americans, Michael and George as we make a new life in Lyon, France.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-77488922808981484342011-12-07T07:12:00.000-08:002011-12-07T19:27:57.030-08:00Green Tea Addiction<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZRGmSqaRALc/Tt-HJmK-SNI/AAAAAAAAE2M/AjEQTSb4y9s/s1600/green-tea-drink.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZRGmSqaRALc/Tt-HJmK-SNI/AAAAAAAAE2M/AjEQTSb4y9s/s400/green-tea-drink.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683409853699999954" /></a><br /><br />If you are like most people, you have probably drank green tea before, and it probably looked something like the above picture. I actually like green tea quite a bit, although I usually prefer it cold. But did you also know you can eat green tea? In fact it seems you can make just about it anything out of it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6kuTjHyRWfs/TuAuNWt_BTI/AAAAAAAAE24/yzcV_-Q15ak/s1600/tiolet%2Bpaper.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6kuTjHyRWfs/TuAuNWt_BTI/AAAAAAAAE24/yzcV_-Q15ak/s400/tiolet%2Bpaper.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683593536713196850" /></a><center><i>Green Tea TP</i></center><br /><br />I have tasted a few different green tea treats on various occasions. Green tea flavored Sprite, green tea Kit-Kats, and various other green tea cookies or biscuits. I enjoy them.<br /><br />But some people really enjoy them. One of those some people is my wife.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MYmzG8BbwvI/Tt-IJUzgqLI/AAAAAAAAE2U/HUCz9UyaBCc/s1600/main%2Bhaul.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MYmzG8BbwvI/Tt-IJUzgqLI/AAAAAAAAE2U/HUCz9UyaBCc/s400/main%2Bhaul.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683410948549814450" /></a><center><i>The main haul</i></center><br /><br />My wife is absolutely addicted to green tea. With very few exceptions (green tea sprite) if it has green tea in it, particularly Japanese matcha, she wants it. On a recent trip to Japan she acquired the above stockpile of green tea related treats, and over the next few weeks she acquired the additional treasures below. Cookies, candies, noodles, cake, ice cream, cooking powder to make her own green tea goodies, and even some of the regular stuff you can drink. I don't think there is a green tea related product she has not yet sampled.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HJ0dYGJiMeo/Tt-I-XMH3CI/AAAAAAAAE2s/wYksO_BfoAk/s1600/latest.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HJ0dYGJiMeo/Tt-I-XMH3CI/AAAAAAAAE2s/wYksO_BfoAk/s400/latest.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683411859722984482" /></a><center><i>The second find</i></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YEsFSVid8AU/Tt-I46wsJlI/AAAAAAAAE2g/xwBE1V8ygl0/s1600/later.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YEsFSVid8AU/Tt-I46wsJlI/AAAAAAAAE2g/xwBE1V8ygl0/s400/later.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683411766192383570" /></a><center><i>and even more.</i></center><br /><br />If you are ever wondering what to get her for Christmas, just make sure it is green.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-5915469064656677262011-12-07T07:08:00.000-08:002011-12-07T07:12:11.155-08:00Pepsi Pink<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B7zNda2dM8U/Tt-B90nKUZI/AAAAAAAAE18/ySpr2zwHIHo/s1600/Pepsi%2BPink.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B7zNda2dM8U/Tt-B90nKUZI/AAAAAAAAE18/ySpr2zwHIHo/s400/Pepsi%2BPink.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683404153859756434" /></a><br /><br />Pepsi Pink is a strawberry and milk flavored brand of Pepsi, apparently only available in Japan. I know what you are thinking... Pepsi + Strawberry + Milk--that drink must be awesome.<br /><br />It is not. It very much is not.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-83791576799619547332011-10-02T08:02:00.000-07:002011-10-02T08:06:04.371-07:00Top AccordionAmerica has America's Top Model or American Idol. The UK has X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent. France has...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xJWJfoWdxpc/Toh9n2tIN3I/AAAAAAAAEcI/R8guoW4LiK4/s1600/top%2Baccordian.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xJWJfoWdxpc/Toh9n2tIN3I/AAAAAAAAEcI/R8guoW4LiK4/s400/top%2Baccordian.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5658911055444195186" /></a><br /><br />Top Accordion!!!michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-67352383381810328832011-09-04T07:23:00.000-07:002011-09-05T04:49:43.050-07:00Colmar, France<center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jvMQlZEm7L_dlVJjgeJlBCB5tvjgXaSn1wbrxpxehyE?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uFa1KDE4Ocs/TmOAZGuQ4hI/AAAAAAAAEbk/dyQY0FuZ-8I/s400/IMG_0247.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></center>
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<br />Colmar is a medium sized city in the Alsace region of France. Just a few kilometers from the German border, this part of France has ping-ponged back and forth between German and French control for centuries. After the end of WW2 it returned to French control, and it seems likely to stay. The German heritage is instantly clear though. From the architecture to place names to winstubs to the local cuisine (sourkraut and flammekuchen and pretzels and other Germanish things).
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<br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3n-DO3w_5qmtQE0GDc8MjSB5tvjgXaSn1wbrxpxehyE?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6sZujgUHRcw/TmOAVVnAw6I/AAAAAAAAEbU/rf9fO5u8EYY/s400/IMG_0227.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><br><i>Pretzels</i></center>
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<br />Alsace is pretty famous for the number of picturesque little villages. The big city of Colmar is relatively huge at 65,000 people when most of the villages like Ribeauvillé or Kayersberg clock in around 3-5 thousand. When you are traveling around the region there is literally a different village every 1-2 kilometers, so George and I had originally gone up with the intention of renting some bicycles and just slowly cycling around the region. However, as we took our vacation in the middle of August, which is when everyone else in France goes to the beach, we go to Colmar only to find that all the bike rental shops were closed.
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<br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/WzqE6wrWuN-9tMdOiuNVriB5tvjgXaSn1wbrxpxehyE?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DE_G0UCANbI/TmOAD2qE-9I/AAAAAAAAEZw/6MeRa6D7adY/s400/IMG_0147.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><br><i>One of those little villages</i></center>
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<br />Okay, so the bike option is out lets see if we can rent a car. Crap, forgot my passport so the car rental thing is out. Can we take a bus? Buses are on holiday schedule and so are not running on Sunday or Monday (which was the Assumption holiday in France). So as we were out of options we instead ended up hiring a private driver! Yup, from now on we are doing our traveling millionaire style with a private car to provide front door access to all the sites.
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<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oXUHBCxyvM0/TmOOniz67dI/AAAAAAAAEb8/WEmKuAayCAk/s1600/pink_limo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 279px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oXUHBCxyvM0/TmOOniz67dI/AAAAAAAAEb8/WEmKuAayCAk/s400/pink_limo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648515167663353298" /></a><i>Not the car we rented</i></center>
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<br />For 90 Euros (around 130 bucks) we got a private guide for 6 hours who took us right up to many of the cool spots of the area. He took us right up to the front door, and then picked us up wherever we ended up. His was very knowledgeable of the area, and quite funny and interesting too. He took us to see <i>Le Château Haut-Koenigsbourg</i>, the beautiful villages of Rorschwihr, Ribeauvillé, Hunawihr, Riquewihr, and even the Statue Of Liberty!
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<br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/d0RVyzz1Oi8Jm6mL00frtyB5tvjgXaSn1wbrxpxehyE?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5BCIUVVYqFE/TmN_2iwFXtI/AAAAAAAAEYo/nsZIUcLDxPA/s400/IMG_0069.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><br><i>Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the guy that designed the Statue of Liberty, is from Colmar</i></center>
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<br />The castle was pretty cool. There are, of course, lots of cool castles in France, but this one was pretty unique in that it seems more like a really, really rich and well-fortified hunting lodge than most of the other castles or France. The Palais de Versailles or the Louvre (used to be a castle) or even <a href="http://35hourworkweek.blogspot.com/2009/06/carcassonne.html">Carcasonne</a> all look like castles out of Cindarella or other Disney movies, but this one looked more like something out of The Game of Thrones or some other hardy, northmen type keep. Very woodsy, with lots of animal heads and horns and antlers decorating the walls or used to make furniture. Many other castles in France are physically more impressive, but this one had character :)
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<br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LIxTX1Sq073GjL0I8-zy8SB5tvjgXaSn1wbrxpxehyE?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YMi-PZquvR4/TmOACamByeI/AAAAAAAAEZo/seQuhFUhFno/s400/IMG_0134.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><BR>
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<br /><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/m2AIe7E6Zotoa7yLrqD8zyB5tvjgXaSn1wbrxpxehyE?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OD8SMDDt1wM/TmN_-gHqXSI/AAAAAAAAEZQ/-D6U7tYHyv0/s400/IMG_0103.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></center>
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<br />I wish we had had time to visit more of the area, rent some bicycles or a car, but at least we packed what we could into our 3 days. For more photos of the area, click <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/Colmar?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCK776aKr1NTGPA&feat=directlink">here</a>.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-42415977278678282312011-07-30T09:03:00.001-07:002011-07-30T09:38:34.335-07:00Bubble Tea in Lyon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GJNnvIjl9W0/TjQrjK0mmcI/AAAAAAAAEW4/kLZyimZgmm8/s1600/IMG_0008.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GJNnvIjl9W0/TjQrjK0mmcI/AAAAAAAAEW4/kLZyimZgmm8/s400/IMG_0008.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635176916947737026" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea">Bubble Tea </a> is the result of a weird Taiwanese experiment in combining British style milk tea and southeast Asian style tapioca desserts. Apparently not very popular at first, it exploded in popularity in the mid 1990s, and now can be found in many large cities in the world, except--or so I had mistakenly thought--in Lyon. In a rare google failure, searching for "Bubble Tea Lyon", "Boba Tea Lyon", or other common names didn't turn up any results, but a friend of a friend of a friend invited George to this little Taiwanese place the other day, and now the secret it out :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DFb3_g9hSRE/TjQu7FMczFI/AAAAAAAAEXA/x7RyWjFnT1k/s1600/IMG_0005.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DFb3_g9hSRE/TjQu7FMczFI/AAAAAAAAEXA/x7RyWjFnT1k/s400/IMG_0005.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635180626288888914" /></a><center><i>Taste & See</i></center><br /><br />Apparently this place opened a little more than a year ago, but sadly remained unknown to me until last week. It's a bit out of the way, and not easy to see until you are right up on it, but it's definitely worth a visit. It's pretty close to a popular private school, and Lyon Universities 2 and 3, and apparently gets pretty busy during the school year (especially when the weather is cold and people crave hot drinks). It also has a handful of food options, but not much vegetarian except for Taiwanese style french fries. George, who spent 5 years living in Taiwan, says the food is quite authentic and while I cannot vouch for its authenticity, it was tasty. Like all Asian restaurants in Lyon, they have nems, which I think are originally from Vietnam but are synonymous with "Asian food" in Lyon :-).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ca8nqWsDPQs/TjQwfrqW_2I/AAAAAAAAEXI/Cyc9KLcyHgA/s1600/IMG_0004.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ca8nqWsDPQs/TjQwfrqW_2I/AAAAAAAAEXI/Cyc9KLcyHgA/s400/IMG_0004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635182354601803618" /></a><center><i>Not the complete menu</i></center><br /><br />So definitely a great restaurant/<i>salon de thé</i> to add to your list. FYI, like many shops in Lyon they are closed for the month of August for summer holidays.<br /><br />Taste & See<br />50, Rue Pasteur<br />69007 Lyon<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50+Rue+Pasteur,+Lyon,+France&aq=3&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.546691,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=50+Rue+Pasteur,+69007+Lyon,+Rh%C3%B4ne,+Rh%C3%B4ne-Alpes,+France&ll=45.752631,4.839545&spn=0.008085,0.01929&t=h&z=14&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=50+Rue+Pasteur,+Lyon,+France&aq=3&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.546691,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=50+Rue+Pasteur,+69007+Lyon,+Rh%C3%B4ne,+Rh%C3%B4ne-Alpes,+France&ll=45.752631,4.839545&spn=0.008085,0.01929&t=h&z=14" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-45665411883060851552011-06-27T10:01:00.000-07:002011-06-29T05:06:00.095-07:00Torino, Italia<center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/e2tW6h6qxfuWG39YSaj3RA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FTXVM5ReFpc/Tf5e_Gb6FOI/AAAAAAAAERw/2h3nKtmHtdo/s640/IMG_1610.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></center><br /><br />Every couple of weeks I get an email from the French transportation company, SNCF, listing their current promotions, future deals, travel packages, etc., and about a month ago I got one advertising some really cheap train tickets to Turin, Italy. Checking my calendar, I also had a long weekend coming up, the weekend of Pentecost, so George and I decided to take advantage of the 3-day weekend and the promotion on train tickets and head to Italy to stuff ourselves on pasta and pizza and cheese and porcini mushrooms.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.delspizzeria.com/images/4000b.jpg"></center><br /><br />Turin is much closer to Lyon than Paris--more than 150 km closer actually--but due to the fact that it is on the other side of the Alps and the lack of transportation options that entails, it takes about twice as long to get there by train as it does Paris (4 hours vs. 2 hours), but trains in Europe are pretty comfortable, and our tickets were cheap, so we just packed some snacks and a good book and walked over to the train station to catch our train.<br /><br />When we got to the train station we checked the big departure board to see what platform our train leaves from, but where you would normally see a platform number, our train had <span style="font-style:italic;">Sortie porte des Alpes</span> (Exit Portal to the Alps). Having absolutely no idea what that meant, we headed over to the information desk and were told to go out the back exit. Out the back exit we went, and there we saw why our train tickets were so cheap. Our train was a bus!<br /><br />The bus trip over was pretty cool though. The trip from Lyon to Turin goes thru some beautiful mountains and countryside, particularly on the Italian side of the Alps.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/La_morra.jpg" height="720" width="530" /></center><br /><br />Turin itself is not a particularly popular city for tourists. For obvious reasons, Florence, Venice, Rome, and southern coastal cities attract more tourists, but Turin still has a lot of cool stuff to see.<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gHM870h-5uw_aEKn3stg1Q?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MrlHy0DFQ34/Tf5fWE7xA3I/AAAAAAAAETU/6J9c0O5PyfU/s640/IMG_1773.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></center><BR><br /><br />The famous shroud of Turin that Jesus was buried with.<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hcwHnQhpqIAryzsVZSZNfw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bDYXkK2YHqw/Tf5e88OqjXI/AAAAAAAAERk/gguLhsWdd9k/s640/IMG_1598.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></center><br /><br />Numerous cool statues<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/mc6vjz02-jwqwYTj_MkM-g?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y51ft5Gr5YM/Tf5fxpqH0II/AAAAAAAAEVQ/msbVhL6bmJQ/s640/IMG_1775.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></center><br /><br />Amazing churches<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/w9uMCqGzVZv9QD6ULQNSaA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-uLzj3nff474/Tf5fjT5FQ_I/AAAAAAAAEUg/CBhOcVaYEwU/s640/IMG_1751.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a><BR><i>Giuseppe Verdi</i></center><br /><br />Famous composers<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/T_S5ejSc6qbSetbCBK6ynw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sx2F8bOIApE/Tf5fhKCZJGI/AAAAAAAAEUQ/vWLk5h2Dm14/s640/IMG_1741.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></center><br /><br />Nice parks<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/RS01swpabO_dqCaRG_QCAw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mxwR6i4w9Lw/Tf5fa-SIEqI/AAAAAAAAETw/kLDtFVZ_TQE/s640/IMG_1723.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></center><br /><br />And even cool medieval castles.<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xcFS_ZNI1zOFncY9cVz5sQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wAIGoO5PLyY/Tf5evQND0AI/AAAAAAAAEQ0/tqYmxRrL1D4/s640/IMG_1555.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></center><br /><br />And Turin was just a really cool city to walk around. Most of the walkways in the center of town were covered and shaded like the one above, and as you got a bit further out the walkways and sidewalks were still wide and tree-covered and well separated from the roads. <br /><br />But the most important thing about Italy, of course, is Italian food. I <span style="font-weight:bold;">loooooooovvvvveeee</span> Italian food, especially the amount of vegetarian choices.<br /><br />For more pictures of Turin, click <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/Torino">here</a>, and if you are in the area, Turin is definitely worth a visit.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-43211031346285559842011-06-19T08:33:00.000-07:002011-06-29T05:12:20.946-07:00Paris, again<center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/d8j2i2-wgSSGOoRNISSqcA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vnF2Ch32LHk/Tf4Wk-7vk9I/AAAAAAAAEK8/e2VJMsS3M2A/s640/IMG_1160.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><BR><i>This is where we stayed</i></center><br /><br />I'd been to Paris before, a couple years ago at just about the same time of year, and to be honest I was a little underwhelmed. I was only there for 2 days, the weather sucked, it was super crowded, our hotel was in a less then desirable part of town (just a couple blocks from the lovely Moulin Rouge), I was sick with Whooping Cough, and with our awesome bad luck we managed to eat at some of the crappiest restaurants I have ever been to.<br /><br />This time, however, was a complete 180. We stayed in an awesome part of town just across from the <i>Jardin du Luxembourg</i> (Luxembourg Garden), in an amazing apartment (pictured above) that some equally amazing friends lent us the keys to. We did a little research first to find some good restaurants (outside the tourist areas :-), and we actually went inside the Louvre Museum (which is free on the first Sunday of the month). In a weird twist of meteorological law, the weather in Paris was amazing and much better than the crappy weather we were having in Lyon. And to top it all off, we had a nice dinner in a little French brasserie with the soon to be famous <a html="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUgCi07lEZA">Bobby</a>.<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Wl0oTRuo8f-ZN52lA-8o7Q?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s3QJNEmSau8/Tf4Wm1_EXRI/AAAAAAAAELI/4kKnUTm-bEs/s640/IMG_1267.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><BR><i>Cool fountain in the Jardin du Luxembourg</i></center><br /><br />Paris obviously has a ridiculous amount of cool things to look at. During our first trip to the city, we tried to run thru the city as fast as possible snapping photos of the Eiffel Tower, <i>Arc de Triomphe</i> (Arc of Triumph), Notre Dame Cathedral, the outside of cool museums like the Louvre or Musée d'Orsay, only stopping to grab some food and sleep. But this time, since we had already seen all that stuff, we slowed down and just visited a couple places in Paris and even got to go inside! We still only had 3 days, but we paced ourselves.<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jU6rQRDIc4DpsDwPrPRtKw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qTxHtFwzNcU/Tf4WroaTx2I/AAAAAAAAELk/Js9WfM8Ndks/s640/IMG_1222.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><BR><i>the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur</i></center><br /><br />We started our weekend with a trip up to Montmartre. I knew absolutely nothing about Montmartre other than Rick Steves suggested it on one of his travel shows, and we didn't go there last time we were in town, so we decided to take the trip up there. Turns out they have the awesome church pictured above, some nice art shops, a cool park, and pretty nice view of the city. As the name <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mont</span>martre suggests the area is on a hill, and as we were lost trying to find an extremely poorly marked spot on our map (thanks Rick Steves!) we even made a few extra exhausting trips up and down that hill.<br /><br />To cool ourselves off after the above impromptu hike, we took a detour thru Belleville to hit up one of Paris' Chinatowns for a refreshing--and impossible to find anywhere else in France--Bubble Tea.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vYQf4nWLX6k/Tf43ZkZMmJI/AAAAAAAAEQE/09WwG14sEJY/s1600/bubble-tea.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 399px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vYQf4nWLX6k/Tf43ZkZMmJI/AAAAAAAAEQE/09WwG14sEJY/s400/bubble-tea.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619990297410574482" /></a><BR><i>Not available in Lyon</i></center> <br /><br />Lyon, France is often called the Culinary Capital of France, or even slightly more pretentious in French <i>Capitale Mondiale de la Gastronomie</i> (The World Capital of Gastronomy). This is mostly due to Lyon being the home of the world famous chef Paul Bocuse, but in their defense, the French food here is <span style="font-weight:bold;">REALLY</span> good. The international offerings here, however, are a bit lacking. There is good north African food, great pizza (I guess that's Italian :-P), an extraordinary amount of sushi restaurants (If your only exposure to Japanese food was in Lyon, you'd have to assume that the Japanese eat nothing but sushi), but for the most part the Asian food here is pretty bland, and there isn't much American food outside of a handful of overpriced Bagel shops and a couple decent burger places.<br /><br />Paris, however, is a HUGE city--many times larger than Lyon with many times the number of people. It is also, without a doubt, the most international city in France with people from all over the world calling Paris home. Because of this, it has a much wider variety of non-French offerings, and also much more authentic offerings. We had really good <i>dim sum</i>, Korean food, Japanese food (not sushi), vegetarian middle east-ish food (falafel, humus, moussakaa, etc.), and some good old American diner food (pancakes and omelets and hashbrowns).<br /><br />But the highlight of the weekend was the Louvre.<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-QSvtzLCaFU1TVlsvwUbZg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v_HbW50A6kA/Tf4W1lCEX4I/AAAAAAAAEMs/2hLKbcSvlfc/s640/IMG_1320.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><BR><i>This is as close as we got to the Mona Lisa</i></center><br /><br />The Louvre is a really cool museum. An old palace, the place would be cool even if it didn't house some of the most famous and important art and historical works of western civilization. The place is BIG. If you move thru it a pretty decent pace, you <i>could</i> see everything in a day, but to really appreciate it, you probably need at least 2. We only had about 5 hours, so we decide to take it all in at high velocity (well, most of it anyway).<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a9RUc90Un5U/Tf4_RmlmS1I/AAAAAAAAEQU/8J1roEViDpk/s1600/george%2Band%2BI%2Bat%2Bthe%2BLouvre%2Bcropped.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 257px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a9RUc90Un5U/Tf4_RmlmS1I/AAAAAAAAEQU/8J1roEViDpk/s400/george%2Band%2BI%2Bat%2Bthe%2BLouvre%2Bcropped.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619998956653529938" /></a><i>Taking a break from running thru the Louvre</i></center><br /><br />There are some really cool museums in Europe--The Vatican Museum in Rome, the Prado Museum in Madrid, The Natural History Museum in London, and many more--and The Louvre is definitely up at the top of that list. I've unfortunately never been to any of the really cool museums in the US, like the Smithsonian or MoMA, so some day I'll have to check those out to see who has the awesomest museums :-) <br /><br />But it'll be hard to compete with the Louvre. I mean, just check out these statues of creepily aroused monkeys below :-)<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hcy6kRtHq-cPIQghxDgfpw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Cp9GtN76hdQ/Tf4XPUxVyXI/AAAAAAAAEPU/5TAbr2OSSbI/s640/IMG_1489.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><BR><i>Ancient Egyptians were weird</i></center><br /><br />For more pics of Paris (mostly of the Louvre) click <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/Paris2011?feat=directlink">here</a>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-42298527638241378312010-11-24T04:27:00.000-08:002010-11-24T08:55:06.420-08:00Going to the PréfectureMy permission to live and work in France is conditional on my continued employment, and renewable in (kinda) 1 year increments from the date of my entry into France. I came to France just over 2 years ago in early Novemember, so every October I have to head down to the local <i>préfecure</i> to exchange money, photographs, and truely ridiculous amounts of photocopies for a 1 year extension on my stay here.<br /><br />Now immigration procedures in most countries are pretty strict, tedious, expensive, and seem to be crafted solely to discourage legal immigration as much as possible. Having dealt with immigration in the US, and having friends who have dealt with it in various other countries, I think I am pretty safe when I say France takes the cake in terms of unecessarily complicated and useless bureaucracy. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Prefecture_du_Rhone_a_Lyon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 500px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Prefecture_du_Rhone_a_Lyon.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><i>At least the building looks cool</i></center><br /><br />For most federal legal proceedings one has to go to the local préfecture and speak with a <i>fonctionnaire</i>. Préfectures are kind of like states, or maybe counties, and France is split up into 100 of them. My préfecture is fortunately just a 15 minute walk from my house, pretty much right in the middle of Lyon, but other than that little bit of fortuitous, there is nothing remotely pleasent about my (bi-, sometimes tri-) annual trips there.<br /><br />As mentioned above, my permission to work here lasts for a period of one year, and then I must renew it for another one year period, ad infinitum. But that is only kinda true. Since my Id expires in November, I must go to the préfecture in October with my stacks of paperwork and in return, they give me permission to stay for just 3 more months, and at the end of that 3 month period I can return for my id card which at this point is now only valid for about 9 months (since it is dated from the expiration of my previous card, not when I actually receive it). So Id renewal therefore takes a minimum of 2 trips--one for the request, one for the pickup.<br /><br />I say minimum, because this requires extraordinary preparedness on the requester's part, as well as a bit of luck that the préfecture is not too busy. Last year when I came back in 3 months, they apologized and said my card wasn't yet ready and they gave me another 3 month extention and told me to return for my real card. So by time I actually got my 1 year Id card, it was already 6 months old.<br /><br />This year was a-whole-nother level of suck.<br /><br />The worst thing about dealing with the French government is that everytime you pay them a visit, they have absolutely no idea who you are. Despite the fact that the French government has approved my stay in France 3 times (once for the initial visa, and two Id cards), every time I go for renewal I must bring all the same documents--birth certificate, marriage certificate, passport, work contract, proof of address, etc. Of course bringing an up-to-date work contract and current proof of address makes sense, but birth certificate and marriage cerificate. I'm pretty sure my birth details haven't change since last year, and fortunately neither has my marriage status.<br /><br />But that is the French way. Apparently they just toss all that paperwork I give them every year into the trashcan, and when I bring it all back the next year, they are so happy that a brand new person has immigrated to France.<br /><br />So per usual, George and I get up early to get a nice place in line and head to the préfecture with our dead trees and passport photos. This is exactly the same paperwork I gave them last year, and the year before, with the exception of the work contract and my last electric bill which need to be up-to-date. After 4 hours of waiting we hand our paperwork to the nice lady and she tells us that the rules changed this year and we are missing a few documents and that we have to come back with all the proper papers.<br /><br />The new rules require photocopies of EVERY PAGE in your passport, as well as a signed affidavit to not be a polygamist. Seriously, as if signing a piece of paper promising not to break the law was the magic bullet for ending crime. Okay I said, I have my passport, can I just use your photocopier to make those extra copies and we can continue? "Out of order" she says. It is at this point that I notice every single machine in the office has an out of order sign on it. From the freshly stocked vending machines to the coffee machine to the photobooth to the array of photocopiers in the corner. What, did an electro-magnetic bomb hit this place? <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TO0L4JXPsbI/AAAAAAAAEIY/-mlKDDuT28E/s1600/DSC00319.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TO0L4JXPsbI/AAAAAAAAEIY/-mlKDDuT28E/s400/DSC00319.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543099775576945074" /></a><center><i>You'll have to excuse my cynicism if I do not believe that</i></center><br /><br />Well, rules are rules, so we collect our things had to the nearest photocopier and come back in two days to enjoy another half-day at the government offices. After another 4 hours of waiting, we happily give our documents to the functionnaire expecting success to hear "I cannot accept this translation of your birth certificate, it is not certified by one of our certified translators".<br /><br />What? We had this translated in the US, and it is the same document we used last year. Well, the rules have changed she tells us, here is a list of certified translators.<br /><br />Well, 3rd times the charm right? After 500 Euros (about 700 bucks) worth of translations (work paid for them, not me) we came back and this time we are treated to seeing the police drag a guy out of line by his hair for cutting in line (right in front of us :-), so with this little enjoyment boost and our confidence that we finally have all the documents together we hand them over and finally get our 3 month temporary card in exchange. Yay!!! And it only took a combined 13 hours of waiting in line, and about 15 minutes with the functionnaire. I'm crossing my fingers that they will actually have our official card when we return in 3 months, but I'm not holding my breath.<br /><br />Dealing with the government officials themselves is not an overly unpleasant experience, but the environment itself couldn't be more uninviting. The préfecture opens at 9am, but by this time already has a line of at least 200 people waiting outside. The interior space of the office is tiny, and all your paperwork is checked BEFORE they let you in, so most of your waiting is outside the office. Being outside by itself is not really a bad thing, but coupled with the fact that 35% of French people smoke (and about 95% of people waiting in line at the prefecture) and the French (and apparently most of those who wish to be French) genetic inability to form an orderly line, this ~4 hour wait ranks right up there with some of the most unpleasant experiences of my life. People bumping into me, cutting the line, and blowing smoke in my face while I am trying to stay warm in the early winter mornings is definitely not something I look forward to, and once inside things do not get much better. Sure you cannot smoke inside, but trying to cram 100s of people into a space made for about 50 has its own problems (seriously, there are only about 20 seats in this place, and standing room for about 20 more). <br /><br />And to top it all off, a recent article in the French newspaper <i>Le Figaro</i> ranks the <i>Préfecture du Rhône</i> (my prefecture) the 5th worse in France for issues of immigration and identification. That is 5th worse out of 100! Some procedures take 13 times longer than the more efficient offices.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TO0PNamHXyI/AAAAAAAAEIg/aji9UqOCiTg/s1600/prefecture%2Brankings.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 328px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TO0PNamHXyI/AAAAAAAAEIg/aji9UqOCiTg/s400/prefecture%2Brankings.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543103439514853154" /></a><center><i>red is bad. I live in a red one :-(</i></center><br /><br />Thank God for my iPod and GameBoy.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-67175293188618363082010-11-16T12:52:00.000-08:002010-11-22T07:08:55.681-08:00Road Trip Part DeuxVeterans' Day is a national holiday here in France which means I don't have to go to work that day, and since it fell on a Thursday this year I decided to <a href="http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/fairelepont.htm"><span style="font-style:italic;">faire le pont</span></a> and make it a 4 day weekend. Plus it's been cold and rainy in Lyon, so a trip to the sunny south of France would definitely be welcome. Conviently timed with our 4-day weekend, George's Sister Ming is currently working in Marseille, so we decided to take advantage of the free place to stay and make that our base camp. <br /><br />Marseille is a perfect example of poor planning and even poorer hygiene turning an otherwise amazingly beautiful location into an amazingly ugly city, but it is smack dab in the center of some of the most beautiful parts of France. Plus as we have been to Marseille<a href="http://35hourworkweek.blogspot.com/2009/04/marseille.html"> before</a>, it made a good spot to park our car and our butts at night, but spend our days as much outside of the city as possible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG7jkyJ6nI/AAAAAAAAEIM/XGpSKNBtiPg/s640/DSC_5813.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG7jkyJ6nI/AAAAAAAAEIM/XGpSKNBtiPg/s640/DSC_5813.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Old arena at Arles</span></center><br /><br />We started our journey about a half hour north of Marseille in the city of Arles. Like most cities in Southern France, Arles was in its hay-day about one hundred years before the birth of Christ, which is when the Arena pictured above was constructed and it is still used today to host concerts and, unfortunately, bullfights. Interestingly the Spanish community of Cataluña just across the border from France has recently voted to ban bullfights, maybe the French will follow soon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG7pO9iCTI/AAAAAAAAEIM/ZMi8TySriNc/s640/DSC_5831.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG7pO9iCTI/AAAAAAAAEIM/ZMi8TySriNc/s640/DSC_5831.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Romans like theatre with their gladiator fights too</span></center><br /><br />There are numerous other roman ruins scattered across the city, in various states of (dis)repair. Seeing all the problems I had to deal with in my comparitively young 85-year old house in Seattle, I am always amazed to see 2,000 year old structures of any kind still standing, and the ruins around Arles are no different. During the next few days we would discover that these types of artifacts are fairly common in the South of France.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG7ubJqyKI/AAAAAAAAEIM/15K9jG0bX7o/s640/DSC_5848.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG7ubJqyKI/AAAAAAAAEIM/15K9jG0bX7o/s640/DSC_5848.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Nîmes has an old Roman arena too</span></center><br /><br />Next stop, Nîmes. Other than being the birthplace of the (in)famous Jouan Amate, Nîmes claim to fame lies in its remarkably preserved Roman arena and the totally superfluous ^ character above the "i" in its name. The arena is currently also, tragically, used for Bullfights, and while the one in Arles, above, is older and bigger, this one has an awesome statue of a bullfighter in front of it, which is pretty cool to take pictures with.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG7xy75YhI/AAAAAAAAEIM/5Js_gXHD56M/s640/DSC_5861.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG7xy75YhI/AAAAAAAAEIM/5Js_gXHD56M/s640/DSC_5861.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Nîmes is also home to the best preserved temple of the Roman Empire. Built just over 2,025 years ago, it is still in great condition probably due to all the construction guys working on the front and right side of it (which is why my picture is of the left side, but you can still see some of the construction barriers). We've got one of these temple jobbies near Lyon too, in the suburb of <a href="http://35hourworkweek.blogspot.com/2009/04/vienne.html">Vienne</a>, but this one is certainly in better shape. And it was sunny and warm when we visited this one, and cold and rainy when we saw the other, so this temple is apparently appeasing the gods better.<br /><br />The <span style="font-style:italic;">Jardins del la Fontaine</span> are apparently also one of those things you shouldn't miss when going to Nîmes, but we missed it, so you'll have to go to <a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardins_de_la_Fontaine">wikipedia</a> to get your fix.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG72Ics_-I/AAAAAAAAEIM/W06WvE_ewZc/s640/DSC_5870.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG72Ics_-I/AAAAAAAAEIM/W06WvE_ewZc/s640/DSC_5870.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Le Pont du Gard</span></center><br /><br />We missed the famous Gardens because we wanted to get out of town early enough to see the <span style="font-style:italic;">Pont du Gard</span> (Bridge over the river Gard). This bridge was also build nearly 2,000 years ago as part of the old Roman aquaduct system, but aside from being big and old it was honestly a bit unimpressive. We also didn't really succeed in getting there before dark, so you should check out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard">wikidpedia</a> for some better pictures. Interesting factoid, the <span style="font-style:italic;">Pont du Gard</span> owes its survival over the centuries to the fact that it was a very popular toll road for crossing the river, which shouldn't be suprising for anyone who has driven around the South of France where the only thing more common than old Roman ruins is toll booths.<br /><br />After visiting France's first tool road, we went to the incredibly cool city of Avignon, but since it was super dark by this time, I don't have any pictures to prove it, so here is one from wikipedia.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Fa%C3%A7ade_du_Palais_des_Papes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 430px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Fa%C3%A7ade_du_Palais_des_Papes.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Palais des Papes</span></center><br /><br />Day 2 started with a visit to <span style="font-style:italic;">Aix-en-Provence</span> (The waters of provence), which as its name sort of hints at, is famous for fountains, but I somehow managed to not get any good pictures of them, so next up a castle!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8FPn8PTI/AAAAAAAAEIM/lVkHDYNq2L4/s640/DSC_5928.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8FPn8PTI/AAAAAAAAEIM/lVkHDYNq2L4/s640/DSC_5928.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />This castle is in <span style="font-style:italic;">Allemagne-en-Provence</span> (Germany in Provence). Apparently there used be a few cities in France named Germany, but for some unknown reason the others all changed their names right around World War 1. The castle is apparently a bed and breakfast now and closed for the winter season (is it ever really winter in Provence), so aside from this view from the parking lot I don't have much to show.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Moustiers_Sainte_Marie_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Moustiers_Sainte_Marie_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Moustiers-Sainte-Marie</span></center><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Allemagne-en-Provence</span> was the beginning of our journey following the Verdun river which cuts a Grand Canyon (their words, not mine, although to be fair those are both French words) thru the south of France, and eventually led us to the picturesque village of <span style="font-style:italic;">Moustiers-Sainte-Marie</span> above. Perched on the sides of some limestone cliffs, the city has a waterfall running thru the middle of it, a giant golden start hanging across the chasm behind it, and about half-way up that chasm an old chapel that surprisingly (to some of us) didn't have a bathroom. You can see the chapel and the star below (the start is the little shiny thing in the top, slightly right hand side of the picture)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8T_T4aRI/AAAAAAAAEIM/2-2vGm0fyaA/s640/DSC_5978.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8T_T4aRI/AAAAAAAAEIM/2-2vGm0fyaA/s640/DSC_5978.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />After leaving<span style="font-style:italic;"> Moustiers-Sainte-Marie</span> we just followed the Grand Canyon back to the nearest highway and then back to Marseille for some rest before our last day in the south.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8c-yGsFI/AAAAAAAAEIM/lfbpu6RM5Jg/s640/DSC_5999.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8c-yGsFI/AAAAAAAAEIM/lfbpu6RM5Jg/s640/DSC_5999.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">That Grand Canyon I keep talking about</span></center><br /><br />Our last day in the south was to be along the famous <span style="font-style:italic;">Côte d'Azur</span> (the blue coast or more commonly, the French Riviera).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOp-wprOQLI/AAAAAAAAEIQ/hQKg_KPQlK0/s1600/Saint_Tropez_Eglise.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 360px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOp-wprOQLI/AAAAAAAAEIQ/hQKg_KPQlK0/s400/Saint_Tropez_Eglise.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542381665718780082" /></a><br /><br />We made it as far as the famous Saint Tropez pictured above, but by far the coolest city we visited on this trip was <span style="font-style:italic;">Bormes-les-Mimosas</span> pictured below.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8n3AwTHI/AAAAAAAAEIM/cIRBnztzWow/s640/DSC_6038.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8n3AwTHI/AAAAAAAAEIM/cIRBnztzWow/s640/DSC_6038.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The village</span></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8qz6fhlI/AAAAAAAAEIM/MyZH9f16C4Y/s640/DSC_6049.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8qz6fhlI/AAAAAAAAEIM/MyZH9f16C4Y/s640/DSC_6049.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The view</span></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8yJ5kRvI/AAAAAAAAEIM/-Dq0y57axjA/s640/DSC_6070.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8yJ5kRvI/AAAAAAAAEIM/-Dq0y57axjA/s640/DSC_6070.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The winding streets of the old town center</span></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8_h4BHaI/AAAAAAAAEIM/eM0_qZYAiDs/s640/DSC_6097.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG8_h4BHaI/AAAAAAAAEIM/eM0_qZYAiDs/s640/DSC_6097.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The old tunnels and bridges</span></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG86LnJw7I/AAAAAAAAEIM/MVza5a956DA/s640/DSC_6082.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG86LnJw7I/AAAAAAAAEIM/MVza5a956DA/s640/DSC_6082.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The old stone buildings and tile roofs</span></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG87KLICzI/AAAAAAAAEIM/TbDJPE9HuV0/s512/DSC_6083.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 340px; height: 512px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG87KLICzI/AAAAAAAAEIM/TbDJPE9HuV0/s512/DSC_6083.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The us</span></center><br /><br />I hope the pictures above do some justice to absolute beauty of this village. Every road we walked down, every view over the next hill, every well-preserved building or cobble-stone pathway, every plant which still had nice flowers in November--the village was simply gorgeous.<br /><br />On our way back home from the South George and I stopped in the city of Orange to grab some lunch, and SURPRISE, Orange has an old Roman amphitheatre too. As you can also see from the picture below, as we left the warm, sunny south, we slowly returned to the cloudy, rainy Lyon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG9V7LXH0I/AAAAAAAAEIM/3mwau0dI2Q4/s640/DSC_6170.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 426px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TOG9V7LXH0I/AAAAAAAAEIM/3mwau0dI2Q4/s640/DSC_6170.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The roman Theatre of Orange</span></center><br /><br />There is still a ton of stuff we didn't see, of course, as we only made it about half way from Marseille to Italy, so all that stuff east of their (Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, etc.) will need to be explored later. To check our more pictures of this little part of Provence, click <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/Provence?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSf-dXys9G_nQE&feat=directlink">here</a>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-89518179138442989182010-11-03T09:49:00.001-07:002010-11-07T13:02:20.080-08:00Happy HalloweenI was never much of a Halloween person when I lived in the US. Sure when I was little and could get some free candy out of dressing up and trick-or-treating I loved Halloween, but once you get past a certain age dressing up and running door to door is just creepy and/or sad and not very likely to result in free candy, so Halloween just became another one of those nights where I just sit on the couch watching (scary) movies and pretend not to be home when someone knocked on the door.<br /><br />But as the old saying goes, you never know what you got until it's gone. Halloween is not a big thing in France, although it is certainly gaining in popularity, so around the end of October every year, my holiday spirit starts to perk up a bit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TNcNgoM9IuI/AAAAAAAAD9A/_vDp9pT1Yyg/s1600/jack-o-latterns.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TNcNgoM9IuI/AAAAAAAAD9A/_vDp9pT1Yyg/s400/jack-o-latterns.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536909121074045666" /></a><br />Halloween starts with Jack-o'-Lanterns. We were unable to find normal, American sized pumpkins so we settled for a couple small European ones. I also did not have any real carving tools (just a single kitchen knife), and more importantly no artistic talent of any kind, so the resulting Jack-o'-Lanterns are unlikely to impress most, but I am fairly sure they were the only ones on my street, so I was proud of them.<br /><br />Costumes are the next most important thing for Halloween. As I am sure I have mentioned before, George and I have very few possessions, so spontaneous costume making is a really difficult task for us. There are a couple costume rental places in Lyon, but their offerings are either cookie-cutter and lame, or extremely expensive, so we spent a few days browsing and thinking before coming up with something we hoped wouldn't put us in the lame-last-minute-costume crowd. I have a few fake musical instruments laying around the house (Rock Band!), so George decided to be a hippie rockstar, and I always have a fridge full of cheese so I decided to be this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TNcQL22EQBI/AAAAAAAAD9I/BzQFYO075V8/s1600/vache_qui_rit.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TNcQL22EQBI/AAAAAAAAD9I/BzQFYO075V8/s400/vache_qui_rit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536912062762205202" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">La Vache qui Rit (The Laughing Cow)</span></center><br />Jack-o'-Lanterns: Check<br />Costumes: Check!<br />Party: Oh yeah<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TNcR1rEaByI/AAAAAAAAD9Q/_4aY82HQW0Q/s1600/DSCF4703.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TNcR1rEaByI/AAAAAAAAD9Q/_4aY82HQW0Q/s400/DSCF4703.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536913880667260706" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">George pulling on my teats</span></center><br />A few friends of ours here throw a pretty rockin' Halloween bash every year, so we put on our dancing shoes and our new, cool costumes and went out to shake our things.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TNcSnVf3OTI/AAAAAAAAD9Y/pkkSqQcYOKA/s1600/DSCF4723.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TNcSnVf3OTI/AAAAAAAAD9Y/pkkSqQcYOKA/s400/DSCF4723.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536914733870299442" /></a><br /><br />Happy Halloween Everyone!!!michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-91249227253899933752010-09-22T12:35:00.000-07:002010-09-25T01:29:58.926-07:00Tosh (May 8, 2002 - September 18, 2010)<center><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/X8zNtmufmLq6cI40MjuztQ?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TJpy2pKZoPI/AAAAAAAAD7g/SnA5VZM3Pbw/s800/big%20dog%20big%20stick.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right"></td></tr></table><span style="font-style:italic;">Big dogs need big sticks</span></center><br /><br />On Saturday September 18th, the greatest dog in the history of dogs laid down to rest and closed his eyes for the last time. The last few weeks had been tough, and he was ready to put this world behind him. Somewhere in doggy heaven a big, clumsy, goofball of a dog is chasing skunks or snoring, ridiculously loudly, on God's front porch.<br /><br /><center><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/b3qp2Bx1xt_5mQ4-KBHSkg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TJpyt42GIXI/AAAAAAAAD3E/cltgiELy0lI/s800/5%20week%20old%20Tosh%20and%20his%20brothers.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right"></td></tr></table><span style="font-style:italic;">Baby Tosh with his two brothers</span></center><br /><br />We first saw Tosh when he was 5 weeks old. He was a discount dog as his future owner was deployed to Afghanistan and could no longer take him. His mother was a 125 lbs, solid black Newfoundland, and his father was the same black and white Landseer variety as Tosh. A winner of countless show competitions, Tosh's father was quite the stud dog, even fathering numerous puppies years after his death--including Tosh. <br /><br />The breeder had brought the puppies outside for us to see, and locked the big dogs inside to give us a little quite time with the puppies. Tosh's uncle didn't like the idea of being separated from all the excitement outside, and as a sign of things to come he proceeded to lower his head and barrel right thru the screen door and made a bee-line for George. George was a bit freaked out by the big dog bearing down on her, but after a couple licks to the face and some playful bowing, she was quite enamored with the big guy.<br /><br />The breeder also explained to us that she intentionally breeds smaller, more active Newfoundlands and all of her dogs were about 10-15% below the average newfie size. We thought this was great, as it was temperament and not size that attracted us to the breed, and really we thought the current big dogs she had were certainly big enough. We signed on the dotted line and she told us to come back in 3 weeks when Tosh would be ready to come home with us.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/twhCcJQvpW_qCCxX8n_dAg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TJpyuNLSnWI/AAAAAAAAD3M/vHbirWSCGu4/s800/baby%20Tosh.JPG" /></a></center><br /><br />3 weeks later and Tosh had already doubled in size. At 27 lbs he was already a respectable sized dog, and by 6 months he was probably the biggest dog I had ever had. Despite the smaller size of his closest relatives, and the breeder's assertion that she breeds for smaller size, Tosh would end up being quite a bit bigger than than the average Newfoundland--35 inches at the shoulders and an average of 165 lbs.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VJ0L8FriiPZcpr962bh4Fg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TJpy3KZ_mrI/AAAAAAAAD2s/0mJ4ByQWTyo/s800/tosh%20near%20the%20bench.JPG" /></a></center><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Yes that is a full sized picnic table behind him</span></center><br /><br />Tosh never quite understood how big he was. He preferred (to usually disastrous results) to play with the little dogs, his favorite spot on the couch was the smallest spot in between two people already sitting there, and he never let things like small openings prevent him from trying to get thru. Once while tied up outside a restaurant, he drug a solid stone picnic table about 8 feet while trying to get closer so some people that were making "Oooohhh he's so cute" sounds but were too scared of his size to get close to him. I couldn't push the table back to its original position.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jOrO6Ke0OwDwayMWF7pzZA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TJpy0BQ4JII/AAAAAAAAD6k/hM_5Of9MpXg/s800/Puck%20attacking%20Tosh.JPG" /></a></center><center><span style="font-style:italic;">One of Tosh's favorite playmates was literally 1/10th his size</span></center><br /><br />As part of the puppy training classes we took him to, we were supposed to be able to lead our dogs off-leash thru a simple obstacle course. The course was pretty similar to the ones you see the pro agility dogs run--a small hoop to jump thru, some staggered cones to run the slalom, and an ramp leading to a short elevated platform. Tosh was never a fan of jumping, and generally preferred to keep atleast 2 feet on solid ground, so he simply ran into the hoop knocking it over, and being by far the tallest dog in the class, he slalomed thru the cones by simply walking over them and straddled the ramp and platform to the end of the course. The instructor passed him out of amusement.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/95j-wyz9fzDXQUcVWxbACg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TJpyyEmok5I/AAAAAAAAD5Q/6V2dreNxp20/s800/Tosh%20jumping.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right"></center><center><span style="font-style:italic;">One of the rare times Tosh got all 4 feet off the ground</span></center><br /><br />Despite his struggles early on with obedience training, Tosh eventually became the best behaved dog anyone could want. He never chewed on anything, dug any holes, chased cars or any animals (other than skunks, unfortunately), and he only barked on command. Yes he frequently broke stuff, slobbered on stuff, and once while sick and trying to settle his stomach he ate nearly every plant on our newly landscaped patio, but those were not behavioral problems, just big clumsy dog problems.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/RBWFzEOozkUqT0vClrKp3Q?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TJpywRJ6aAI/AAAAAAAAD4U/lGvpQeLNwuA/s800/Tosh%20and%20me%20on%20the%20couch%202.JPG" /></a></center><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Tosh makes a good blanket</span></center><br /><br />Tosh spent the last 2 years of his life in doggy paradise. Grilled steaks for dinner, frequent treats from the neighbors, and new dogs in the neighborhood to play with. But as with all of us, age, and size, was starting to catch up with him. About a year ago he tore his ACL and spent a couple months hobbling around in great fear of any steps more than a couple inches high. He eventually recovered reasonably well from this, but age was taking its toll on other parts of his body. After weeks of listlessness and lack of appetite he dropped 20 lbs and was clearly having a tough time. Frequent whimpering and blood in his stool and saliva only made the picture more clear. Cancer and age had, unfortunately, claimed another victim and the world lost its greatest dog.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Et-pyIFS8ze2BjRWX7Ld3g?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TJpyxOeNA4I/AAAAAAAAD40/bTfEgaWy2kE/s800/Tosh%20Watercolor.JPG" /></a></center><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Tosh doing what he does best</span></center><br /><br />Rest in peace big guy. There will never be another like you. <br /><br />More pictures of Tosh <a href = "http://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/Tosh#">here</a>.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-61996213426130650722010-09-01T10:27:00.000-07:002010-09-22T12:33:48.446-07:00Eastern Europe Part 2[<span style="font-weight:bold;">Disclaimer</span>: As mentioned earlier my camera was <span style="font-style:italic;">misplaced</span> in Prague, so all the photos in this post are of the crappy-cellphone variety.]<br /><center><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/T95K2BmN3785uRGEyWZqfw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TH6E80z8YFI/AAAAAAAADwQ/vl1C_h9u4JI/s400/DSC00263.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right"></td></tr></table><span style="font-style:italic;">One of the many amazingly cool statues in Vienna</span></center><br /><br />4 hours by train from Prague, Vienna is the current capital of Austria and the last capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Famous as the city of Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, and Haydn, it is drowning in music halls, operas, and musical history in general. It is also, in my opinion, the most beautiful city in Europe.<br /><br />Vienna was originally a Celtic city, but pretty quickly came under the rule of the Roman empire, and was even briefly threatened by the Mongolian empire of Genghis Khan as his son Ögedai marched the armies across Eastern Europe. After about 1500 years of being part of someone else's empire, they returned to championship form with 3 consecutive dynasties, the Badenberg, Hapsburg, and finally the Holy Roman Empire which later became the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and lasted until 1918, making it one of the most recent empires in Europe. Briefly occupied by the Nazis during WW2, and the Allies for about 10 years after, it very quickly regained its glory as one of the most prosperous cities in Europe.<br /><br /><center><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DMND2nhXQmUTokVNMt17HA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TH6E348f_eI/AAAAAAAADt0/pc_r_EleIGM/s400/DSC00244.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right"></td></tr></table><span style="font-style:italic;">Ludwig van Beethoven</span></center><br />Due to its long-lasting empires, and relatively benign occupations around WW2, Vienna's amazing architecture and riches accumulated during its time of power remain in really good shape. Rome's riches are mind-bogglingly cool, but being thousands of years old, part of the allure is imagining how magnificent Rome used to be. There is no need for that imagination in Vienna, the city <span style="font-weight:bold;">still is</span> that remarkable.<br /><br /><center><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/U9Z94RRzMK3sugWd-sM1eg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TH6E-enVB4I/AAAAAAAADxI/o-WzZne9tTM/s400/DSC00278.JPG" /></a></td></tr></table><span style="font-style:italic;">Parliament</span></center><br />I'm not much for hopping on and off of tour-buses, so we didn't take any "official" tours of they city. We did, however, grab a map from the Mozart tour company, so we spent a day hopping from places that Mozart slept or played music and ended the day with a pretty magnificent performance of some of his most famous works by the Viennese Orchestra. After the unintentionally comic performance of American show-tunes we saw in Prague, this was an incredibly enjoyable performance (and a much better use of 25 Euros).<br /><br /><center><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QpbGQlyVh5R2Qx72DBLZhA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TH6E_eVP3WI/AAAAAAAADxo/n9oB8mxAPss/s400/DSC00285.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right"></td></tr></table><span style="font-style:italic;">George Clooney is <span style="font-weight:bold;">huge </span>in Europe</span></center><br />Not having much need anymore for all the palaces, summer palaces, and other remarkable creations built just to show off imperial power, many of these amazing constructions are now put to more practical use as libraries, schools, or museums. We visited the Museum of Natural History in the aptly named Museum Quarter, and I think I spent as much time marveling at the architecture and statues of the old palace grounds as I did studying the museum exhibits themselves. <br /><br /><center><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2UBcvoUzYhfLrRUn6-6LAA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TH6FBaoeGXI/AAAAAAAADyY/uu0E-ZQbCyY/s400/DSC00297.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right"></td></tr></table><span style="font-style:italic;">This is a <span style="font-weight:bold;">science </span>museum</span></center><br />The main library in Vienna is another of these amazing buildings. Located just behind the parliament in an extremely large and extremely impressive building that probably stressed the ability of lazy royalty to traverse its many steps, it was one of the first buildings in Vienna to have an elevator. While I am sure it was an amazing invention at the time, the lack of doors and the inability to actually stop (to let people load and unload easily) makes it a bit of an adventure for the more modern lazy among us.<br /><br /><center><table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-gi4EWcvvuSomnD99mx28g?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TH6FDM6omZI/AAAAAAAADs4/IION_5WMXPs/s800/MOV00266.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right"></td></tr></table><span style="font-style:italic;">cool elevator</span></center><br />Vienna is definitely one of the places everyone should get to at least once in their lives. For more amazingly bad cellphone photos (and videos) of Vienna, and a few from Prague and Berlin, click <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/Vienna#">here</a>. And please do a <a href="http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1C1DVCJ_enFR377FR381&q=vienna&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1056&bih=573">Google image search </a>for Vienna too, to get much better pictures than my horrible photos here.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-30339268141817527582010-08-09T12:35:00.000-07:002010-08-09T14:08:39.779-07:00Eastern Europe Part 1The three weeks I spent in Berlin were the last few weeks of about the past 2.5 months of putting in extra hours, so after wrapping things up there, George and I headed to Prague and later Vienna for a few days of relaxing before heading home. <br /><br />Prague sucked!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TGBaFW9Jz_I/AAAAAAAADoc/JfeoLpMT71M/s1600/DSC00233.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 360px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TGBaFW9Jz_I/AAAAAAAADoc/JfeoLpMT71M/s400/DSC00233.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503497792754667506" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Creepy statues in Prague</span></center><br /><br />Okay, Prague didn't really suck, but getting your camera stolen can really ruin a first impression. Add that to the Czech people's genetic inability to smile, and your overall impression of the city might be affected a bit. Maybe it's just me (I can be a jerk at times), but Prague seemed like a pretty negative place sandwiched between the super-friendly cities of Berlin and Vienna.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TGBblA6OFPI/AAAAAAAADos/c5DAeJiA4l4/s1600/DSC00234.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 480px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TGBblA6OFPI/AAAAAAAADos/c5DAeJiA4l4/s400/DSC00234.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503499436104226034" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">More creepy statues in Prague</span></center><br /><br />As mentioned above my camera got stolen, therefor the only pictures I have of Prague are the couple I took with my cellphone because I wanted to use them as wallpaper. So you'll have to take my word for it when I tell you Prague is a beautiful city (or just search google images, as there are thousands of photos to back me up). Despite the best efforts of the United States Airforce, Prague was remarkably damaged very little during WW2, so many of the historic buildings remain in excellent shape. The historic downtown, the bridges over the Vltava river, and of course the famous Prague Castle that dominates the skyline, are all just as amazing as the postcards make them look.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Hradschin_Prag.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 550px; height: 344px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Hradschin_Prag.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Check out the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague">wikipedia</a> article on Prague for more pics</span></center><br /><br />Prague was a bit touristy though. Some things seemed quite expensive for what you got, and if you didn't specify up front that you wanted the cheap version, or the cheaper seats, you were automatically sold the most expensive version, without any explanation of the options. We got suckered into spending 26 bucks for seats that were only about 5 feet closer to the stage than the 16 dollar seats for a show that should have cost about 5 bucks at most. It looked promising from the outside--a large billboard that displayed a large band playing songs from various American musicals, but once inside it was a sole pianist and a singer who was occasionally accompanied by a saxophonist. <br /><br />All three performers were definitely talented, but the production values were pretty low, the venue not very impressive, and the singer had the strongest Slavic accent I heard while in Prague. As she sung songs like Somuh Vere Dere sa Place fer Rus (you might almost recognize that from A West Side Story), I could only smile in amazement. Her voice was excellent, and she even did a bit of tap at the end that was pretty impressive, but she was extremely difficult to understand at times. I certainly do not want to poke fun at anyone's accent, I know I have a horrible accent when trying to speak any language, but I wouldn't even attempt to sing songs in <strike>a foreign</strike> any language in public, much less ask you to pay me for it.<br /><br />Other than amazing architecture and unintentionally humorous musicals, Prague is also home to a ridiculous amount of Thai massage parlors. I'm not sure what brings all of these Thai masseuses to Prague, but if you have the endurance for that kind of stuff, the price is good and the service was friendly. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TGBnPjStpHI/AAAAAAAADo8/kZaAhSWYeA0/s1600/thaimessagecropped.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 325px; height: 227px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TGBnPjStpHI/AAAAAAAADo8/kZaAhSWYeA0/s400/thaimessagecropped.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503512261516174450" /></a><br /><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Does this look like massage to you?</span></center><br /><br />I love when my wife rubs my neck or shoulders, especially after driving for a long time, or working in the yard or something, so I assumed that paying a professional for their massage services would be incredibly relaxing and invigorating. However, after paying the professionals at the Venitian Hotel's Spa in Vegas for something called a deep tissue massage, and then having someone literally stomp on me during this Thai massage, I have to say that I just don't get it. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, which is hard to imagine since I am just laying there, but professional massages just hurt!<br /><br />Overall Prague was cool. But skip the pay performances and just hang out at the cool bridges listening to the street performers. They put on a better show, and you only pay as much as you like.<br /><br />I leave you with this bit of street art from Prague.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TGBtg-iptvI/AAAAAAAADpE/_r2m9dNUsA4/s1600/DSC00238.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 360px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TGBtg-iptvI/AAAAAAAADpE/_r2m9dNUsA4/s400/DSC00238.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503519157958326002" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The Infinite Ignorance of War</span></center>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-76138525609982302022010-08-02T13:00:00.000-07:002010-08-03T13:59:32.259-07:00Three weeks in BerlinGrowing up in the USA I have a very specific, and most likely wrong, image of what a German city is supposed to be. I lived in (or near) the pseudo-German American tourist traps of New Braunfels, TX and Leavenworth, WA, and Octoberfest is probably the second most important holiday of any American city with a decent sized population of university students. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TFh2m6n3yeI/AAAAAAAADn8/tXFvU_sbN2o/s1600/L5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 304px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TFh2m6n3yeI/AAAAAAAADn8/tXFvU_sbN2o/s400/L5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501277355776657890" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Leavenworth, Washington</span></center><br /><br />So when I think of Germany I think of large sausages, sauerkraut, giant beers, and people in liederhosen. Berlin didn't exactly match my preconceived notions. In fact, it didn't even almost match them. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currywurst">Currywurst</a> is more common than Bratwursts, sauerkraut was difficult to find, and I didn't see one person in liederhosen. Berlin definitely had its share of giant beers, but they also had beers like this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TFf8PDygGcI/AAAAAAAADns/fy_5hTF57bE/s1600/becksGreenLemon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TFf8PDygGcI/AAAAAAAADns/fy_5hTF57bE/s400/becksGreenLemon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501142805501712834" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">I thought Germany had laws against stuff like this</span></center><br /><br />Given the length of my stay, work put me up in a residential apartment, rather than a hotel. The apartment location seems to have been picked especially for me, as it was surrounded by asian noodle places, indian food, pizzerias, and even a mexican food place! All my favorite types of foods, and all places where the word 'vegetarian' doesn't mean fish. I didn't eat any meat (including fish) the entire time I was in Berlin, and I don't think I ever ate the same thing twice.<br /><br />While the geographic location was excellent, the elevation kinda sucked. 6th floor apartment in an old building with no air conditioning and no elevator meant the first thing I did every day when returning home was take a shower, and while I originally thought the extra flights of stairs would be good for working off all the fatty foods I was eating, I quickly decided I would rather be fat. There is a reason God created elevators! And air conditioning!<br /><br />But the apartment was cool (esthetically, if not temperature wise). Quite big and comfortable with a gigantic bathroom and the largest refrigerator I have seen since moving to Europe (about the same size as the normal (American) sized one I had in the US). It also had a pretty cool terrace, a TV from the 1980s, and a VCR. Seriously, a VCR?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TFgxiLjkwqI/AAAAAAAADn0/fEm0YAZnkSg/s1600/vcr-2008-04-14.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TFgxiLjkwqI/AAAAAAAADn0/fEm0YAZnkSg/s400/vcr-2008-04-14.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501201408120373922" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The future of home entertainment</span></center><br /><br />Since I didn't bring any VHS tapes with me to pass the evenings, I spent most nights out eating and exploring the city (oh, and working a bit too). At nearly 900 square kilometers, Berlin is a gigantic city. Roughly the same size as Dallas, Texas it is 18 times larger than the city I currently live in, and with a metro area of nearly 5 million people, it also dwarfs the 1.2 million that live in the Lyon metro area. Having gone to Berlin for work, I only had the weekends and evenings to do my exploring, and given the immense size of the city, I am sure I just scratched the surface, but I would definitely give the city the thumbs up. Tons of good food, SUPER bike-friendly, great public transportation, lots of libraries and book shops, cool history (although somewhat scary and depressing recently), numerous parks and public spaces, friendly easy-going people, and quite cheap--the city scores highly in all the important categories. The near total lack of air conditioning was a bit of a bummer at times as neither my working place nor living place nor 90% of restaurants had AC. Despite being nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 C) almost every day I was there, I was repeatedly told that it really doesn't get that hot in Berlin, so they don't really need AC.<br /><br />To test out the bike-friendliness of Berlin, we decided to take a bike tour of the city. <a href="http://fattirebiketours.com/">Fat Tire Bike Tours</a> provided the tour guide and the bikes (my bike was named Chump, and George's was named Charles Barkley--practically synonyms), and miraculously the city provided the first sub 90 degree day all week, so we had a nice 5 hour city tour in great weather. I got great pictures of all the cool Berlin landmarks, parks and a good shot of me sneaking across the border at Checkpoint Charlie.<br /><br />In fact, I took a lot of really cool pictures in Berlin. I am sure some of them are even Ansel Adams quality.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TFh9Z1fSpVI/AAAAAAAADoE/OT_q_SG2lq8/s1600/Berlin_Mitte+me.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 282px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/TFh9Z1fSpVI/AAAAAAAADoE/OT_q_SG2lq8/s400/Berlin_Mitte+me.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501284827641587026" /></a><br /><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Artist recreation</span></center><br /><br />Unfortunately due to my ever-worsening Alzheimer's disease and an unscrupulous store clerk in Prague, I no longer have a camera (or more importantly, a memory card) to extract those photos from. So if any famous magazine editors are reading this and some anonymous Czech guy tries to sell you some awesome photos from Berlin, give me a call. <br /><br />But the disappearing camera just gives me a reason to go back.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-661469684850134242010-05-31T04:28:00.001-07:002010-05-31T08:45:11.620-07:00Counting in FrenchCounting seems like a pretty universal concept. I'm sure as language was first invented, words to express various quantities of items were some of the first grunts we settled on.<br /><br />Counting seems relatively standard these days too. Sure every language has its own word for one, but the concept of one remains the same. In fact most languages even have a remarkably similar progression of numbers--0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and we can combine these 10 digits to continue the progression for ever. 11 is very logically 10 and 1, 12 is 10 and 2, 952 is 9 hundreds 5 tens and 2. Quite logical, and it conveniently never ends. <br /><br />These 10 digits of Indian origin (the country in Asia, not the natives in the US) have even become the standard for nearly all languages on the planet (at least by number of speakers). From English to Chinese to Russian to their origins in India, these digits mostly replace the native numeric representations for most pratical uses. When was the last time you wrote something in Roman Numerals?<br /><br />Most humans have 10 fingers which are amazingly useful tools for counting in a base-10 counting system, but not all languages originally counted by 10. For example, the original Celts of Europe--who were famous for wearing no shoes and therefore having access to 10 additional counting digits--counted in sets of 20. Instead of having numbers like thirty, forty, fifty, etc. they would just have twenty and ten, two twenties, two twenties and ten, etc. Even in English we still have those weird words like eleven and twelve before we switch back to something that more resembles a base-10 counting system (thirteen, fourteen, etc.) and by 20 we are back to a very systematic base-10 system.<br /><br />Before being conquered by the Romans, France was a mostly celtic country and some of that cultural heritage is preserved in their utterly bizarre counting system. The French, the champions of the metric system, do not even have a metric (base-10) counting system--at least not entirely. Things start out fairly similar to English and we count quite normally from one to sixty-nine, but for some odd reason the French have no word for seventy. Well, actually they do, they just chose not to use it, and instead the say sixty-ten. Similarly we have sixty-and-eleven, sixty-twelve, all the way up to sixty-nineteen for 79.<br /><br />The French word for eighty is similarly unused, and instead we have four-twenties. Four-twenties-and-one, four-twenties-two, etc. leading up to four-twenties-nine, and after that, where we would logically expect a word for ninety, we get four-twenties-ten. I would have to say that there is no more horrible number in French than 99, which in this pseudo-base-20 counting system is four-twenties-nineteen!<br /><br />As mentioned above, French actually does have words for seventy (<span style="font-style:italic;">septante</span>), eighty (<span style="font-style:italic;">octante</span>), and ninety (<span style="font-style:italic;">nonante</span>), the French just chose not to use them. However, some francophones outside of France do use this more modern (and logical) vocabulary, as George and I were a bit surprised to hear when we were recently in Brussels. George purchased some fruit at a small grocery and the grocer gave her the price as <span style="font-style:italic;">nonante-huit</span> (98), and George, being familiar with the weird French version, had no idea what he said. It took me a minute to realize what he said as well, and when I translated from logical Belgian French to weird base-20 French French, <span style="font-style:italic;">quatre-vingts dix-huit</span> (four-twenties-eighteen), she immediately understood and the cashier and another customer in line laughed a bit at us.<br /><br />We actually have some small remnants of this in English too. We are all familiar with Lincoln's "four score and seven years ago" entrance to the Gettysburg address, but outside of quoting old Abe, I don't think I have ever heard anyone ask for four score of anything, and I have certainly never been quoted a price at McDonald's as four score and eighteen cents.<br /><br />Welcome to the 21st century France! You can leave your pre-historic counting system at the door.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-16612964329880777102010-05-25T13:40:00.000-07:002010-05-28T06:10:36.071-07:00Weekend in Brussels<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wy-EPdFUI/AAAAAAAADGQ/4IvhGNQExHc/s640/DSCN3513.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wy-EPdFUI/AAAAAAAADGQ/4IvhGNQExHc/s640/DSCN3513.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The Grand Place</span></center><br />I've been working long hours and extra days a lot lately, so when the 3-day weekend for Pentecost came around the wife and I headed to Brussels for a few days of not-working and much needed recuperating.<br /><br />Brussels is about 400 miles north of Lyon, and just over an hour flight time. It is the capital of the Kingdom of Belgium, and the de facto capital of the European Union. Technically situated in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium it is a mostly French speaking city, but it seemed everyone we ran into spoke 3 or 4 different languages! It's a fairly big city with about 2 million people in the metro area, and given the abundance of international and European organizations located there, it is a very multi-cultural city too. Famous for beer, waffles, chocolate, the Smurfs, comic books, and the birth place of french fries--it seems to have just about all of life's necessities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5cR9Tb0I/AAAAAAAADWA/fikvcwin61E/s640/DSCN3452.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5cR9Tb0I/AAAAAAAADWA/fikvcwin61E/s640/DSCN3452.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Creepy Tall People</span></center><br />We arrived in Brussels just in time for one of the coolest parades I have ever seen--the <a href="http://www.zinneke.org/spip?page=sommaire-site"> Zinneke Parade</a>. I have no idea what the origins of this parade are, but every 2 years the people of Brussels come together and put on one of the coolest, weirdest, sometimes creepy, and most creative parades I have ever seen. There were no motor vehicles or giant balloons in this parade, just small hand pushed or bicycle pushed carts, and lots of cool costumes. Some bands and signing groups participated too, and there were even a few fire breathers and other carny folk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5b0Eh-5I/AAAAAAAADV0/OZ4Yj-HJXDQ/s640/DSCN3450.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5b0Eh-5I/AAAAAAAADV0/OZ4Yj-HJXDQ/s640/DSCN3450.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Not sure what these are</span></center><br />The tall people 2 pictures above kept leaning over and whispering <span style="font-style:italic;">qu'est-ce qui se passe</span> (what is happening?) while being chased by the whatever these things are clinging to the wall here, while the women below where chanting some children of the corn type music. It was really impressive and well rehearsed for a one time event in a biennial parade.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5ct3ZbKI/AAAAAAAADWE/QM_ZIGWtbbw/s640/DSCN3456.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5ct3ZbKI/AAAAAAAADWE/QM_ZIGWtbbw/s640/DSCN3456.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Imagine creepy choir music</span></center><br />The parade wasn't all creepy. The theme this year was <span style="font-style:italic;">à la table</span> (at the table), so the displays were supposed to be somewhat food or dining related. This wasn't always apparent, like in the pics above, but there were some funny on-theme characters too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5dYDQXhI/AAAAAAAADWQ/jKlqezeAA4Y/s640/DSCN3460.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5dYDQXhI/AAAAAAAADWQ/jKlqezeAA4Y/s640/DSCN3460.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Officer Green</span></center><br />Some acrobats<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5jJDDq8I/AAAAAAAADX4/lz8NBghN1MY/s640/DSCN3488.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5jJDDq8I/AAAAAAAADX4/lz8NBghN1MY/s640/DSCN3488.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Looks like fun</span></center><br />and whatever this is<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5li0guAI/AAAAAAAADYo/hbIy4TbEv1E/s640/DSCN3503.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_y5li0guAI/AAAAAAAADYo/hbIy4TbEv1E/s640/DSCN3503.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">looks like something out of the Dark Crystal</span></center><br />Brussels is pretty cool when not putting on Tim Burton-esque parades too. The city is littered with statues, awesome parks, cool plazas, and to George's great delight a gourmet chocolate shop on every corner.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wzAbprdrI/AAAAAAAADHs/A8yL6hnx5e8/s512/DSCN3536.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 512px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wzAbprdrI/AAAAAAAADHs/A8yL6hnx5e8/s512/DSCN3536.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Crusher of sea monsters</span></center><br />Brussels, well Belgium in general, is also pretty famous for comic books and cartoons. The most famous of course being The Smurfs (Les Schtroumpfs in French), and less famous in the US, Tintin. I think the image below comes from Tintin, and there were many comic style artworks around the city like this one.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wzJTyHCLI/AAAAAAAADMg/Q44O_gK-QMk/s640/DSCN3637.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wzJTyHCLI/AAAAAAAADMg/Q44O_gK-QMk/s640/DSCN3637.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />And Beer! France is well known for high quality wine, but is not known--for good reason--for high quality beer. I don't drink much, but when I do go out, or when I buy beer at the store, I almost always buy Belgian beer. Even the king of beers, Budweiser, is now owned by a Belgian company, and one of my favorite brewers in the USA is called the New Belgian Brewing Company (even though they are located in Colorado). So when I think of good beer, Belgium usually comes to mind.<br /><br />George is not much of a beer drinker though. In fact, before this trip to Brussels I do not think she has even drank one entire beer in her life. Well she found a couple beers she could enjoy, and by the last day she was having her first beer before 10am just like a real pro.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wzM-CBUVI/AAAAAAAADPE/aaoZS0_eqT8/s512/DSCN3687.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 512px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wzM-CBUVI/AAAAAAAADPE/aaoZS0_eqT8/s512/DSCN3687.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">You know you have a problem when your first beer comes before noon</span></center><br />Brussels also has a lot of great (and varied) restaurants. I had vegetarian chili for lunch one day! I don't think you can get any kind of chili in Lyon, and you can hardly get anything vegetarian either. Good Thai food, which is also pretty much non-existent in Lyon, was also pretty common, and I even ate at a <a href="http://www.chichis.be/accueil_en.html">Chi-Chi's</a> restaurant. While I doubt the Michelin guys will be handing out any stars to the afore mentioned restaurants, it was a pleasant surprise and it's nice to have the options.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wzFevFJvI/AAAAAAAADKo/Wz9V3ONT-Qg/s512/DSCN3600.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 512px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S_wzFevFJvI/AAAAAAAADKo/Wz9V3ONT-Qg/s512/DSCN3600.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />So we had a great time in Brussels. I think it was an awesome city, and I could definitely see myself going back a few times. <br /><br />You will find more pics of <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/Brussels">Brussels here</a> and more pics of <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/ZinnekeParade"> the Zinneke parade here </a>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-19980532459655640912010-05-10T12:39:00.000-07:002010-05-10T13:24:20.248-07:00Tax TimeBeing a US citizen living abroad, I have the privilege of paying both US and French income taxes. Numerous forms, W-2s, 1099s, Déclaration Revenus, etc. and lots of numbers, rounding, adding, double checking, guessing at instructions (in English and French), some swearing, and of course ... paying. Maybe privilege is the wrong word. What's the opposite of that?<br /><br />Last year (this year's taxes) was the first year that I was fully a tax resident of France, so although I still had to file my US taxes this April, I didn't actually owe anything (other than the $30 fee to TurboTax and 10 bucks worth of postage). Similarly, for the tax year before that, I was still a tax resident of the US, so I paid taxes there, and didn't pay anything here in France. This is the first time I have had to file and pay my French income taxes.<br /><br />French taxes work a bit different than in the US. French income tax is basically broken into 2 parts--social taxes and actual income taxes. Social taxes are what pay for our government healthcare, retirement, unemployment, and basically all the social services that this socialist country provides. Social taxes are taken out of every paycheck and these add up to about 20% of my salary. <br /><br />The other tax is not withheld from your salary, and you can either pay it in one lump sum at the end of the year, or pay in installments over the next year. This income tax pays for defense, police, roads, teachers, etc. and is paid much like you pay your income taxes in the US. In May the government sends you some forms, and you fill them out and send them to your local tax office.<br /><br />The form is a little different than the 1040 form from the US. For one, it comes pre-filled out. They enter your name, address, filing status, and even how much money you made last year, and you just correct any errors and add up all your deductions. Being childless, homeless (i rent), and not having anything at all to call a deduction, I simply have to sign my name and that is that. They will then verify everything and send me a bill. According to the forms (the math is pretty easy since I have no deductions) I owe an additional 7% of my salary in income tax. <br /><br />So in total, the French government takes about 27% of my salary in income taxes. <br /><br />Oh, there is actually a 3rd part of the income taxes too--the TV tax. In France you pay about $150 per year just for owning a TV. But in exchange for that, you get nearly commercial free TV, so that is a tax that I have absolutely no problem with.<br /><br />So in revised total, 27% + $150. That's income taxes in France.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-20475524495471686402010-04-25T13:49:00.000-07:002010-04-25T15:14:16.276-07:00ReminiscingMuch of my free time recently has been spent following the NFL draft. Being a Cowboys fan we didn't have much to look forward to this year, with a pretty late first round pick and couple picks in the later rounds, but we still managed to pick up a good wide receiver with plenty of attitude and off-field problems (including a current suspension from NCAA football) who should feel right at home in Dallas. This bit of "haven't I seen this before" got my reminiscing about life before moving to France, so I wanted to post a few of my favorite pics from the home country.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqNxb7YAI/AAAAAAAAC9s/dF66IDSpryM/s640/wa%20stack%202.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqNxb7YAI/AAAAAAAAC9s/dF66IDSpryM/s640/wa%20stack%202.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Somewhere near Forks, Washington looking out over the Pacific Ocean. The Washington coast is not very developed, and much of it is National Park, so you get a lot of trees, rocks, and driftwood, and not many people or buildings. Some spots, like this one, have some really cool rock formations and small islands just off the coast and right behind us is one of the only temperate rain forests in North America--The Hoh Rainforest--which averages about 14 feet of rain every year (400 centimeters).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqP68A6gI/AAAAAAAAC9s/5Bwm3DnLOoI/s720/MossyBranch.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 479px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqP68A6gI/AAAAAAAAC9s/5Bwm3DnLOoI/s720/MossyBranch.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Seattle is not right on the ocean, but rather on a large bay called Puget Sound, which is separated from the rest of the Pacific by the Olympic mountain range that juts out of the water to the West of Seattle and forms a peninsula about the size of Ireland. The forests out on this peninsula are pretty amazing. The abundant rainfall keeps the plant life very green and very thick, and the low population in comparison to the land area keeps them very tranquil. I usually consider myself a city person, but hiking thru these forests, I often wonder why.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqOrR5OhI/AAAAAAAAC9s/thJyCXTKl4M/s640/Tulips.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqOrR5OhI/AAAAAAAAC9s/thJyCXTKl4M/s640/Tulips.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The climate around Seattle is also ideal for growing tulips, and the skagit valley area north of Seattle exhibits this every April. Every spring we seemed to have more and more tulips in our yard in Seattle, and I don't remember ever planting one.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqPl-OQ6I/AAAAAAAAC9s/ougf6LY185M/s512/Falls%202.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 512px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqPl-OQ6I/AAAAAAAAC9s/ougf6LY185M/s512/Falls%202.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The abundant rainfall of the pacific northwest isn't limited to Washington state, Oregon gets a fair amount of the wet stuff too. The border between Oregon and Washington is mostly formed by the path of the Columbia river as it makes its way to the ocean, and along this gorge you can find some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. Multnomah Falls above is one of the more popular ones.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqPLdCgDI/AAAAAAAAC9s/eYcApwLF9yA/s720/Seals%203.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 479px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqPLdCgDI/AAAAAAAAC9s/eYcApwLF9yA/s720/Seals%203.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The beaches of this part of the country are also pretty cool. The water is usually too cold for us humans to enjoy without proper mental and physical protection, but for some reason marine mammals love it. Seals and orca whales are probably the most common water mammals, but sea lions and otters are fairly common too. I'm pretty sure I got this picture on one of the San Juan islands.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqUc3Ar1I/AAAAAAAAC9s/0Qgo7ihPO4E/s720/Fallen%20Tree%202.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 479px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqUc3Ar1I/AAAAAAAAC9s/0Qgo7ihPO4E/s720/Fallen%20Tree%202.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />California has a few cool things to look at too, and probably the most amazing site in the world is the incredible giganticness of the California Redwood trees. I have a giant dog, and that fallen tree makes him look like a chihuahua. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9S67BgrQ2I/AAAAAAAAC98/NzBSJgzpbOU/s640/Big%20Tree%20and%20I.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9S67BgrQ2I/AAAAAAAAC98/NzBSJgzpbOU/s640/Big%20Tree%20and%20I.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Washington has some big trees too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqTLGpbpI/AAAAAAAAC9s/5rUgX70wzZI/s720/Surf%20boards.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 479px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqTLGpbpI/AAAAAAAAC9s/5rUgX70wzZI/s720/Surf%20boards.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Surfing is another thing I miss from living on the coast. I never did as much surfing as I would have liked to, but I got out a few times, and I often dream of warm water and big waves. The west coast of France has a pretty big surfing scene, so I will have to make a trip out toward Biarritz sometime this summer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqUJiyu-I/AAAAAAAAC9s/IuOOFHPEdKw/s720/George%20and%20I%20and%20Super%20Big%20Tosh.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 479px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S9SqUJiyu-I/AAAAAAAAC9s/IuOOFHPEdKw/s720/George%20and%20I%20and%20Super%20Big%20Tosh.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />And of course, the thing I miss the most from living in Seattle is my dog Tosh :-(<br /><br />For more random picks from mostly around the pacific northwest, click <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/stradley/Favorites#">here</a>.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-29666250279871818592010-04-11T11:44:00.000-07:002010-04-11T15:11:14.787-07:00Hey! Nice breasts!Growing up I never gave much importance to learning other languages. I spent most of my youth in Texas and therefor had some passive exposure to Spanish and managed to pick up a bit here and there, but I never really put much effort into learning any languages. In fact, when required to study a foreign language in High School, I picked Latin precisely because nobody would ever really expect me to speak it.<br /><br />Living with George for 14 years has resulted in nearly daily exposure to Cantonese, but to be honest it is usually limited to vocabulary related to food, me being a jerk, or my inability to keep the toilet clean. Visiting her family in Hong Kong I usually have to get thru slightly more complicated sentences related to how much I like Hong Kong, when I will move there, and when I will be having children. <br /><br />I've been in France now for about a year and a half. When I moved here I could barely say hello in French, but now I think I can pretty much say anything I need to say. I still speak like a 3 year old, have a horrible accent, and rely on short games of charades to make up for my limited vocabulary, but I get by.<br /><br />French grammar is not too bad, and Chinese (Cantonese) has probably the simplest grammar of any language on the planet, but both of these language are really hard to pronounce for my 'merican tongue. Sounds that I am just not used to making, or hearing, result in some words that are clearly different words for a native speaker sounding almost exactly the same to me. Usually the context of the complete sentence will make it clear what word was meant, but not always. One of the harder sounds in French for us English speakers is the French 'u', which is a sound somewhere between the vowel sound in "loop" and the vowel sound in "ewe", and when I first started studying French, I was watching an educational program teaching french adjectives of location which included the important examples below:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Le lait est <span style="font-weight:bold;">au-dessus</span> du pain dans le réfrigérateur.</span><br />(the milk is <span style="font-weight:bold;">above </span>the bread in the fridge)<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Le pain est <span style="font-weight:bold;">au-dessous</span> du lait dans le réfrigérateur.</span><br />(the bread is <span style="font-weight:bold;">below </span>the milk in the fridge).<br /><br />The only difference between these sentences is the ending vowel sounds in the french words for above (au-dessus) and below (au-dessous), and I must have rewinded and rewatched this video 25 times before realizing that I was simply never going to know if the milk was above or below the bread in the fridge, and that hopefully my life never depends on me solving any French riddles regarding the relative locations of objects.<br /><br />I haven't yet come across any situations in French where I have made a complete idiot of myself by mispronouncing something, although I have certainly had cases where I was more benignly misunderstood. I've honestly been a bit disappointed by this, as I am always reminded of American movies where the hero's basic knowledge of a foreign language leads to all kinds of hilarious misunderstandings. Like John Candy's character in Splash when he and Tom Hanks are pretending to be Swedish scientists so they can sneak in and rescue Darryl Hannah. As only Hollywood luck would have it, one of the guards is half Swedish and he questions our heroes in Swedish asking what they are doing there, to which John Candy mistakenly replies "Hey babe, I got a 12 inch penis".<br /><br />I have absolutely no knowledge of the Swedish language, but I have to imagine one would need to speak the language quite well to respond in such a way, and that it would be difficult to mistakenly refer to your genitals when trying to say something more appropriate like "We are here to see the mermaid".<br /><br />But maybe not. In my infrequent and not very efficient efforts to improve my spoken Cantonese, I will point to random objects around the house and ask George to tell me how to say it. Last night I randomly pointed to George's breasts, and she responded <span style="font-style:italic;">hung bo</span> (胸部), which to me sounded exactly the same as a word I already knew--horrible (<span style="font-style:italic;">hung bo</span> 恐怖)--with the only difference in pronunciation being the tone at which one pronounces the word. To make this even worse, the word for "very" in Cantonese is the same as the word for "good", and so to my ears that cannot hear all the different tones in a language like Cantonese, the phrase "very horrible" (好恐怖) has pretty much the same pronunciation as the sentence "nice breasts" (好胸部).<br /><br />I can totally see myself walking down the street in Hong Kong, and some women comes running around a corner covered in blood or something screaming about a terrible accident, and in my efforts to say something supportive like "oh, how horrible" I might just inappropriately compliment her on her woman parts.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-18398441893093573882010-04-05T12:26:00.000-07:002010-04-05T13:19:09.663-07:00Happy EasterFrance is a predominantly catholic country, and Lyon a predominantly catholic city, so we celebrated this Easter the traditional way:<br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">bmx bikes</span></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7o-O8mFPwI/AAAAAAAAC1o/zYoRwcorxyw/s1600/DSCN3330.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7o-O8mFPwI/AAAAAAAAC1o/zYoRwcorxyw/s400/DSCN3330.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456742325017722626" /></a><br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">graffiti</span></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7o-mU4YECI/AAAAAAAAC1w/ls_idZSUcwA/s1600/DSCN3331.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7o-mU4YECI/AAAAAAAAC1w/ls_idZSUcwA/s400/DSCN3331.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456742726673895458" /></a><br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">freestyle bikes</span></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7o_LpdvABI/AAAAAAAAC14/pddK5L7tFPQ/s1600/DSCN3339.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7o_LpdvABI/AAAAAAAAC14/pddK5L7tFPQ/s400/DSCN3339.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456743367854456850" /></a><br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">breakdancing</span></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7pAnd0NHsI/AAAAAAAAC2A/c3CjUmuvFy4/s1600/breakdancing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7pAnd0NHsI/AAAAAAAAC2A/c3CjUmuvFy4/s400/breakdancing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456744945275444930" /></a><br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">and</span></center><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">De La Soul</span></center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7pAyyjpHQI/AAAAAAAAC2I/sOyWGBsgQlA/s1600/De+la.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7pAyyjpHQI/AAAAAAAAC2I/sOyWGBsgQlA/s400/De+la.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456745139821681922" /></a><br /><br />The 7th annual <a href="http://www.loriginal-festival.com/"><span style="font-style:italic;">L'Original Festival</span></a> of Lyon was this weekend, a 4 day celebration of skateboarding, biking, graffiting, breakdancing, and hip-hoping, culminating today with a free show in the plaza in front of the mayor's office featuring a Lyon-based breakdance crew, <a href="http://www.pockemon-crew.net/">The Pockemon Crew</a>, and one of the best hip hop bands ever, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/delasoul">De La Soul</a>.<br /><br />Happy Easter everyone! I leave you with a video of De La's most popular song (which totally makes me feel old :-( )<br /><br><br /><center><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2DzX18o-zsA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2DzX18o-zsA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-74157792897971547622010-03-30T13:31:00.001-07:002010-03-30T15:03:15.629-07:00Road TripWhen my dad came to visit a year ago, we took the train up to Normandy and rented a car for easy access to all the WW2 spots. Most of the sites we were interested in were pretty close together, so I don't think we put more than 320 kilometers on the car in that trip.<br /><br />The Spanish border is about 500 kilometers from Lyon, and Barcelona is about 100 km past that. You can drive there in about 6 hours, or take a train in about 6 hours too (there is not yet a high-speed line all the way). Flying technically only takes about 1.5 hours, but with trips to and from the airport, getting thru security, boarding times, etc. it adds up to about 4 to 4.5 hours too. It is just far enough to make driving the best option, especially if you have more than one person to share the costs and if you plan on driving around a bit when you get there.<br /><br />My friend, used-to-be neighbor, and current caretaker of my dog Tosh was recently in the Barcelona area for work, so George and I decided to grab a rental car for the weekend and put in our first hours on the French highway system.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://z.about.com/d/cars/1/0/D/l/1/ag_11fiesta_frtlt1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 425px;" src="http://z.about.com/d/cars/1/0/D/l/1/ag_11fiesta_frtlt1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Not the exact car I had--mine was black</span></center><br /><br />We signed up for the cheapest smallest car they had, but they ended up giving us a brand new Ford Fiesta 4-door. By French standards, this is a medium sized sedan, and by US standards it is slightly bigger than a Smart car. The car was comfortable though, easy to get everyone in and out of, and had cruise control and HD radio to make the road trip more comfortable. As gas is about 6 dollars per gallon in France, I was also quite happy that it got around 50 miles per gallon. <br /><br />Highways in France are extremely well kept (by the extremely high tolls), so the ride over was easy. We got a little turned around when we stopped for dinner in Perpignan but we ended up making it to my friend's hotel room in Blanes in about 6.5 hours.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JnLl06SlI/AAAAAAAAC0w/YyOKA0ontbs/s1600/DSCN3135.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 450px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JnLl06SlI/AAAAAAAAC0w/YyOKA0ontbs/s400/DSCN3135.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454535547529349714" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">View from the hotel room in Blanes</span></center><br /><br />Blanes is a small vacation city about a half hour from Barcelona. Situated right on the beach, it is very popular with the northerners who come down to escape the frigid weather of their home countries. When we arrived it was pretty nice--sunny and about 65 degrees, and maybe even a little warmer when we went over to Barcelona.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JrLgniUwI/AAAAAAAAC04/-HueXd4CSoc/s1600/Picture+316.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 450px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JrLgniUwI/AAAAAAAAC04/-HueXd4CSoc/s400/Picture+316.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454539944177586946" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The entrance to Park Güell</span></center><br /><br />I've been to Barcelona before, and it is a great city. Tons of cool things to look at, good climate, nice beaches, and great food. We spent a day in the city eating, doing a little sight seeing, and shopping for things that we cannot find in Lyon (like refried beans) before heading back to the hotel to sleep off the food coma.<br /><br />We spent Sunday exploring the gardens and beach around the hotel in Blanes. The weather was getting noticeably worse.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JuIPOSJlI/AAAAAAAAC1A/M7JuQpJFGQ8/s1600/DSCN3212.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 450px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JuIPOSJlI/AAAAAAAAC1A/M7JuQpJFGQ8/s400/DSCN3212.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454543186503542354" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7Jus6fWhGI/AAAAAAAAC1I/sRR04xx_fGc/s1600/DSCN3202.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 450px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7Jus6fWhGI/AAAAAAAAC1I/sRR04xx_fGc/s400/DSCN3202.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454543816593146978" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JvCld6kYI/AAAAAAAAC1Q/eHz-pS6Ljik/s1600/DSCN3211.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 450px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JvCld6kYI/AAAAAAAAC1Q/eHz-pS6Ljik/s400/DSCN3211.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454544188907098498" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JvYreRppI/AAAAAAAAC1Y/FS85PCs2LJw/s1600/DSCN3216.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 450px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JvYreRppI/AAAAAAAAC1Y/FS85PCs2LJw/s400/DSCN3216.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454544568476346002" /></a><br /><br />As we headed back to Lyon the sky was clouding, the wind was blowing, and the temperature was dropping. It was still in the low 50s--not really cold--so I didn't think much about it. As we got about 100 km into France I started noticing some white stuff blowing around the car, and I could not figure out what it was. Pollen? Some kind of bugs? I mean, I am in the south of France, it was 65 degrees yesterday, and I am nowhere near any mountains--this can't be snow. Well, after a few more kilometers it became apparent that it was indeed snow, but it was still just a few flurries on a completely clean highway, so nothing to worry about, right? A few kilometers more, and there is quite a bit of snow on the side of the road, and cars are driving noticeable slower. By the time we hit Nîmes, the roads where covered in snow, cars were barely moving, and to top things off, our GPS died.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JxM9nyMtI/AAAAAAAAC1g/FoI4d5SGX90/s1600/France-snow-hit.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 357px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S7JxM9nyMtI/AAAAAAAAC1g/FoI4d5SGX90/s400/France-snow-hit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454546566212891346" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">The great blizzard of 2010</span></center><br /><br />As I said earlier, it should have taken about 5.5 hours to get to my friend's hotel, but as we got a bit lost it took 6.5 hours. Logically, it should have taken 5.5 hours to get home from the hotel, but as we got stuck in the worst blizzard I have ever driven in, it took 11 hours. The last 7 hours to go only about 250 km (160 miles), with no GPS, nothing to drink, and an extremely full bladder.<br /><br />Still, it was a fun trip. Seeing friends, eating tapas, and enjoying the (temporarily nice) Spanish climate was worth it.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-69220665873244981852010-03-19T06:03:00.000-07:002010-03-19T10:47:42.674-07:00Food thief in the officeOver the past few weeks we have had frequent emails in the office regarding the disappearance of various people's foodstuffs in the upstairs kitchen. We have pretty small work areas here, and of course we only have the shared refrigerator upstairs, so most people keep their snacks, left-overs, and drinks in the shared kitchen space. Apparently someone considers everything in the shared kitchen space to be fair game for shared consumption. Here are a few excerpts from these emails:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3 weeks ago:</span><br />[french office] <span style="font-style:italic;">pain au choc</span> stealer<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Celui qui me vole regulierement des pain au choc sera prié de m’en racheter et la prochaine fois, au moins de prévenir quand il tape dedans</span><br /><br />basic translation: Whoever keeps stealing my pastries needs to buy me some new ones.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2 weeks ago:</span><br />Those cokes in the fridge are not for everyone, please stop drinking my cokes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1 week ago:</span><br />title: Milk in the fridge<br />body: The milk isn't free either, a**holes<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">and the most recent:</span><br />steal my food = kick in your a** so hard you will not be able to sit for 3 days.<br /><br />A couple of things stand out to me about these emails. First, the are becoming progressively more hostile (presumably as people keep stealing food), and second they have switched from scolding their coworkers in French to scolding their coworkers in English.<br /><br />We have a company policy of sending important emails in English. We are currently working with a German company and an American publisher, and we have a satellite office in Austin, Texas, so it just makes everything easier when emails are in English. For emails that only involve people in the french office, however, French is more often used. I doubt the guys in Austin are drinking the milk in the french fridge, so as these emails became more hostile and more English, I couldn't help but notice that I am the only guy in the office who isn't fluent in French. Do they all think I am stealing their snacks?<br /><br />It's not me man, I swear. I don't even like chocolate, french milk is still weird to me (so I only drink it with cereal) and I prefer pepsi to coke.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-74616123215802575532010-02-27T03:16:00.000-08:002010-02-27T04:07:03.753-08:00War, what is it good for?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/SjwaDhjzyYI/AAAAAAAAA3c/zdWP0e-fGRo/s720/DSC_2406.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 479px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/SjwaDhjzyYI/AAAAAAAAA3c/zdWP0e-fGRo/s720/DSC_2406.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />It's been nearly a year since I visited the American Cemetery in Normandy pictured above, but I was recently watching a WW2 movie and it made me remember this trip. There are nearly 10,000 Americans buried in this cemetery, all but 1 of them casualties of WW2 (with the one remaining a soldier who died in the first world war). The cemetery is huge, as one would expect to hold 10,000 graves, which makes it even more astounding that these 10,000 represent a tiny portion of the 400,000 Americans, more than 20 million Russians, and countless other casualties of the war that was supposed to be the war to end all wars.<br /><br />Visiting the various war memorials around Europe you get to read stories of various events in the wars, or stories of the lives of various people. Soldiers who died storming the beach, or trying to save their friends, and soldiers who didn't even make it to battle, as bad weather, operator error, or just plain bad luck ended their lives early. These stories highlight the heroism and tragedy of war, but also the absurdity.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/SjwaCN9sKZI/AAAAAAAAA3I/hPYKng_ZwWM/s720/DSC_2400.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 720px; height: 479px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/SjwaCN9sKZI/AAAAAAAAA3I/hPYKng_ZwWM/s720/DSC_2400.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Living in Europe now, it is actually very hard for me to imagine the events that led up to these conflicts. I have been to Italy and Germany, and other than speaking a slightly different language, there doesn't seem to be any battle-worthy differences between them and France or other parts of Europe (other than perhaps amongst the soccer fans). Just an example of this, the game I am working on now is produced by an American company with development split between us (a French company) and a German company in the former East-Berlin. Germany and France are perhaps the best of allies these days and the two countries at the front of the push for a united European Union. What were all these old battles about? <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/SjwaFP1KUiI/AAAAAAAAA34/sjkPwjlZ7LE/s640/IMG_0290.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/SjwaFP1KUiI/AAAAAAAAA34/sjkPwjlZ7LE/s640/IMG_0290.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Much better use of a canon</span></center><br /><br />Human beings in general seem pretty bad at conflict resolution, but when you add missiles and tanks and ships, you really magnify the problem. Now only if I had a way to force everyone to believe the same way I do...michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-7792991643000096452010-02-14T05:20:00.001-08:002010-02-14T05:57:50.665-08:00Cold, cold, coldIt has been really cold in Lyon this winter. As I write this blog, it has been 5 days since the temperature got above freezing, and we have had 3 snow storms that actually left enough snow on the ground to cause trouble on the roads and leave the grocery stores lacking of fresh products. It's been so wintery here that the skateboard park near my house has looked more like a snowboard park lately.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3f6SA5m8DI/AAAAAAAACy0/B4sWUe6eOrc/s1600-h/DSCN2909.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3f6SA5m8DI/AAAAAAAACy0/B4sWUe6eOrc/s400/DSCN2909.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438090262459379762" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">I need a small park board so I can try this half next time it snows</span></center><br /><br />Everyone tells me that this is the worst winter they have ever seen in Lyon. This is only my second winter here, and it didn't snow once last winter or hardly ever drop below freezing, so it is certainly colder than last year. Even after the snow came back and melted the snow, it remained really cold. And cold here is cold! Probably because I do not have a car, and spend more time outside walking, biking, waiting for a bus, etc., but I am wearing my warmest jacket and many layers of clothes and still feel like my toes are about to fall off. Even the farm animals are trying to cover up more to stay warm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3f9OF0ernI/AAAAAAAACy8/PMxfRRvs8Gs/s1600-h/DSCN2928.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3f9OF0ernI/AAAAAAAACy8/PMxfRRvs8Gs/s400/DSCN2928.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438093493595450994" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">nice hat</span></center><br /><br />However, while the cold weather and frequent snow has made life a little more difficult here in the city, it has made the weekend trips to the alps AMAZING! After riding in the Alps last winter I was honestly a little bit disappointed. The resorts are cool, huge, numerous, and the food is great, but the mountains just didn't have enough snow on them. Most of the good resorts were way up in the mountains, way above the tree lines to maximize the possibility of snow and cold, and I really like to ride deep snow, through the trees, off-piste as much as possible. So last year was a little bit meh for me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3f-RQgDDAI/AAAAAAAACzE/bsXD2I7Fjog/s1600-h/DSCN2993.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3f-RQgDDAI/AAAAAAAACzE/bsXD2I7Fjog/s400/DSCN2993.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438094647513779202" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Those fresh tracks there are ours</span></center><br /><br />This year, however, has been awesome. Tons of fresh snow, and we have been able to go to some of the close, and lower elevation, resorts and hit the off-piste tree-runs all the time. And surprisingly--to me anyway--many french people do not like to ride/ski (or drive) in this type of weather. They prefer the clear, sunny skies and groomed pistes, so the resorts have been half empty. I have to admit, it is nice to ride in warm sunny weather with clear, awe-inspiring vistas of the Alps around you, but I'll take cloudy skies and falling snow over that any day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3f_IF-IZdI/AAAAAAAACzM/TmFV1niEnMM/s1600-h/DSCN2988.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3f_IF-IZdI/AAAAAAAACzM/TmFV1niEnMM/s400/DSCN2988.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438095589579974098" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">My friend Michel gives the snow conditions the thumbs up</span></center><br /><br />Riding in the deep stuff is a lot more work than just sliding down the groomed pistes too. I love leaving the resort totally exhausted (and a little bit in pain) every day, after really pushing it to hit every little jump, drop, fresh powder bank, etc. You really have to lean, push, and sometimes jump into your turns when the snow can easily cover your board, and of course when you fall (which I do <strike>a lot</strike> occasionally), it takes a bit more energy to dig yourself out and get back up. I usually end these types of days like this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3gAUW6_WjI/AAAAAAAACzU/ojcNU57eeCQ/s1600-h/DSCN2995.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ofPcyEEqrD0/S3gAUW6_WjI/AAAAAAAACzU/ojcNU57eeCQ/s400/DSCN2995.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438096899800259122" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Exhaustion has gotten the best of me</span></center><br /><br />I know many parts of the US are experiencing unusually cold and snowy weather as well. My parents have had quite a bit of snow in Dallas, and Washington, DC now seems a better city to host the winter Olympics than unseasonably warm Vancouver, Canada. Many of my friends back in Seattle are ambiguously happy with the warmer weather in the city and sad that there isn't a lot of snow in the mountains this year. For me, I just cannot wait to get back up to the mountains.michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6996163824595961989.post-2052050825479409662010-02-09T01:49:00.000-08:002010-02-09T02:43:39.938-08:00Best Superbowl commercial ever!No it wasn't the Bud Light beer house commercial, or one of the e-trade talking baby commercials. We have neither Bud Light nor E-trade in France, and therefore no need to show advertisements from either of them. In fact, not one of the commercials that you (you in the U.S.) saw during the Superbowl was even shown here. <br /><br />This commercial--the best one ever--was actually a commercial that I have seen before in the U.S., and while the commercials are entertaining it was not the content of the commercial that so impressed me, but the product the commercial was advertising. I first thought that maybe the French re-broadcasters had made an editing error and forgot to edit out this commercial for something I have been solely missing, but it was no error and my life will soon be more complete (again).<br /><br />No it wasn't a commercial for Dr. Pepper or Taco Bell or Maui Sweet Onion chips, but something more essential to a happy life.<br /><br />Duh duh duh. Duh duh duh.<br /><br />Sportscenter! The best show on American TV, and probably the show most watched at the Stradley home when we lived in the states. I have cable tv solely for one channel--ESPN America (the oddly named version of ESPN we get in France), and while this channel is the only option for enjoying American sports in France, it is not the same EPSN you get in the U.S. The most important difference being NO SPORTSCENTER!<br /><br />Well my suffering ends in just a few short weeks. Starting March 1st, EPSN America will begin showing the best show in sports and I will be just a little bit closer to heaven.<br /><br />I leave you with a shot of the good old days when Dan Patrick was still with ESPN and before Keith Olbermann became a pompous, bizzaro-world-Bill-O'Reilly, jackass.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RP73nFVK15U/SHN8NktXhHI/AAAAAAAAB8w/Tq_2wNchkE4/s400/Olbermann-Patrick-NBC.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 390px; height: 325px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RP73nFVK15U/SHN8NktXhHI/AAAAAAAAB8w/Tq_2wNchkE4/s400/Olbermann-Patrick-NBC.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><center><span style="font-style:italic;">Nice mustache Keith!</span></center>michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739788630301742069noreply@blogger.com2