Why Can’t Every Month be like April?
I feel obligated to begin this visually-packed April version of le blog with a disclaimer…a kind of pre-emptive warning to both the loyal readers and newly acquired ones. It goes something like this - If you are already a little envious of a European-based lifestyle, you may want to take a pass on this month’s content. It’s okay. It’s just that…this blog wasn’t meant for you. Go ahead, bring the mouse up to the top-right hand of your browser…and just shut this sucker down. You will leave with a clear conscious and the knowledge that living abroad is pretty cool, but honestly…pretty over-rated.
For those of you, on the other hand, that hold a fine appreciation for camels, belly dancers, grass huts, innovative public transportation, and the television show "Sex in the City"…well, I’m proud to say that you should continue on and brave the journey below…afterall, with the amount of unfiltered eye-candy you are about to experience, well…to put it in Budweiser commercial language – "This Blog’s for You!"
Allow me to explain. April was, after all….a "perfect storm" of conditions. It contained several experiences, that, had they occurred on their own – would have provided more than enough blog-worthy content. It just so happened that all them -from I love Paris in the Springtime to Spring Break 2008 to Bicycle-Loving VIPs…all landed within a 30-day period. And that means you are about to see why, in just one blog…why we love life here so much.
To be clear – it’s a good thing perfect storms are rare. The blatant reality is that if every month living abroad was like April 2008, there would be three undeniable consequences – 1) The web site would explode from too many pictures and words (it’s already close) 2) we would never leave Paris and 3) you would all despise us. Thank goodness it’s an exception. Thank goodness we realize that it was unreal and we thank our lucky stars we are given this opportunity. In conclusion, thank goodness for April 2008. Okay I guess I should start the blog before making conclusions….
Surprise, Surprise…Frank Sinatra was Right.
Who remembers my "decidedly dark" statements about March 2008? How small-minded was I? Next time I start talking doubts about Paris’ ability to deliver quality seasonal conditions, someone please just sing me some of the words to Frank Sinatra’s masterpiece "I Love Paris (in the Spring time…)." Then tell me to shut my mouth and never whine again. And since I can’t take those pre-mature gripes back, I want to offer a public apology to the City of Paris, Frank, as well as the citizens of France…for it may have been the very minute I hit the "publish" button on the March blog, when the skies opened up to pure blue, the thermometer started climbing…and our two industry-strength fans started working OT. And as if that wasn’t enough…our favorite spot in the city (previously known as our "backyard" until people started believing I was doing that well at Microsoft) literally started showing it’s "true colors" – pink, purple, yellow, white, orange…and everything in between:
And just to make sure I was paying attention…the Luxembourg threw in a little unexpected tribute to our very own Washington Huskies (sorry Cougs – you are good people, but gray tulips just aren’t as camera friendly)….
It wasn’t just on our side of the river, either. Sunday afternoons at Place de Vosges in the Marais turned into "text book" spring conditions, inviting the entire city to claim a patch of land – then lay back, day dream, frolic, and talk of memories past…
Naturally, such conditions called for celebration – and for that we had a little help from visitors. Not just any visitors, teaching friends from Shannon’s days in Issaquah School District, Liza Rickey and Renee Coon - also our first pair of visitors going buddy traveling instead of couple traveling (an innovative and rewarding approach). The result, I’m convinced…landed somewhere between relaxed cafe culture (pictured below) and a filming of Teachers Gone Wild in Paris (not pictured – but hints may be found on the Running Rickey blog). Only these ladies know the real story…
That Issaquah schools group is a connected bunch. Normally when I am on vacation abroad, there is an implicit secondary objective of getting distance from my co-workers. In this case, they were voluntarily connecting with one another – as witnessed by the below reunion with April (middle) and husband Paul at nearby restaurant les editeurs. Must be something special about that type of work…
But back to Frank. The man had a great point…not about the weather, but about the real reason he loves Paris…"because my love is here." I don’t know who he was gushing about at the time, but you have to give the guy credit for speaking the truth about what really leads to happiness in Paris. As much as I want to believe it’s the fresh cut grass of the Champ de Mars, or the Crème Brulée…The Paris experience would simply not be worth experiencing without my beautiful, impossibly fashionable…but more than anything over-worked femme sharing each moment (that means wife, for you beginners) So, when she has some well-deserved time off from those little 1st grade munchkins…it’s nothing short of critical to reward her for her hard work and dedication to her profession. In April 2008, that time was upon us.
Spring Break Part 1: Let’s Get Arabian.
Through some relatively significant work travels – I’ve developed an interesting approach about picking vacation destinations through an almost too-easy selection criteria. The rule goes a little something like this: The better the airline = the better the vacation destination. This may not be statistically proven yet – but just think about it for a second, starting with the bottom of the barrel. You buy a ticket with US Airways, for instance – and you end up in….Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (ouch). But if you step up to the next level of airlines (aka, anything but US-based airlines) – let’s say Air France or British…and you end up in Paris or London respectively. Not half bad, eh? Now let’s say you decide to take this even one step further…to a world-class airline like Emirates…
And BINGO…next thing you know, you are staring face-to-face with the sail shaped Burj Al Arab – the symbol of the world’s hippest and fastest-grow metropolis. Ladies and gentlemen, this isn’t your average flight-connection hub. This is the one, the only…Dubai.
And although that sounds like a ridiculously simplified reason to visit…As we would find out soon, there was plenty more ammunition to back it up. Dubai is the kind of place where you pick one of two words…"Wow" or "Whoa"….and repeat until you cannot repeat it anymore. If staring up at "the Burg" in sunset lighting didn’t do it for you…then perhaps we could add a rainbow-colored light show to it…
The amazing part is that Dubai is known for it’s record-breaking architectural feats, but one sunset evening spent at the Bahri Bar in Madinat Jumeirah overlooking the palms on the beach would tell you that nature is doing it’s part as well…
Not that it doesn’t require some amount of cultural adjustment while entering the United Arab Emirates. Like for example, when we sat down to our first restaurant experience – and when the waitress asked me what I would like to drink, I said (naturally) "I would like a beer please." That’s when simultaneously, the waitress put on a nervous laugh, and Shannon sighed and slapped her forehead in humiliation. Think of it as a telepathic form of "Honey…they don’t serve those types of beverages here"…..or even when those types of beverages were served, consider the time when I was asked to leave the classy establishment below due to inappropriate casual wear, aka shorts and flip-flops after 6pm. "Does it help if they are J.Crew?" didn’t exactly yield the right outcome…
So we did what any learning couple would do – we cultured ourselves. Like visiting one of the world’s largest places of worship – the Jumeirah Mosque….
And exploring a more traditional part of the city near Dubai Creek, called the Bastakiya Quarter – featuring wind-towered residences that were once home to wealthy Persian traders…
It’s not all multi-million dollar yachts – most locals stick to the Abra (water taxi) to get across Dubai creek. Apparently the yacht wasn’t an option for us either, and so we did, too…
Does anyone remember that scene in the animated Disney movie Aladdin, when the princess is going through the Arabian market street and nearly get’s her hand chopped off for stealing a piece of fruit? Well, with the exception of the whole hand-chopping part, that’s not so different from the various souqs (markets) that we visited in the old city. Take for example the Deira spice souq featuring everything from natural Aloe ("great for sun burn") to Myrr ("natural power for 6 times in one night")…
We couldn’t help balancing out those cultural experiences with….some more contemporary enjoyments. Take for example hiring Arabian Adventures for an action-packed night in the desert – filled with a roller-coaster style dune-cruising in a big Chevy…
And when cruising in a Chevy in the desert, you should not be surprised when being crossed by a pack of camels (trust me, this part wasn’t planned)….
Or realizing that you are in the middle of nowhere…but somehow this is not a concern due to the pristine beauty of the sunset over the dunes…
And as the sun went down, the party started! We were brought to a Bedouin-style campsite for an Arabic barbeque dinner…
And the entertainment – how it beats a night at the opera! You didn’t think it was going to be Shannon doing the belly-dancing, did you? Let’s just say that that this lady was so talented, that my Nikon camera could not even capture a clear shot of the rapid-fire jiggly belly maneuvers. I strongly considered using my video footage of this performance for the le blog video feature of the month… but even in full traditional clothing, I’m not sure it would qualify as PG material. Something unintentionally seductive about this art form…
Are we having fun yet?! It’s a good thing I had Shannon as my camel-riding partner…for several reasons. First, the belly-dancer was in high demand after her big performance and, despite great offerings…I couldn’t secure her as my co-pilot. Second, you have to believe it’s a good omen when your camel’s mouth piece is clearly Roosevelt colors (GO RIDERS!). Finally, it allowed us to share an experience that was pretty representative of our time in Dubai….exotic and a barrel of laughs! This is, no doubt…a city worth returning to.
Spring Break Part 2: Finding the Ultimate Screen Saver.
Clearly the evidence collection was going well with my Good Airline = Good Vacation theory testing..so good that it was definitely worth giving Emirates airlines one more shot at delivering something special outside the comfort zone of its home port. We even raised the stakes slightly…posing the question "Emirates, surely you can get us somewhere relaxing, secluded, and uber-cool in about 4 hours or less from Dubai, right?" And if that was the challenge, you are about to see the definition of "rising to the occasion" – because four hours by plane, and 90 minutes by boat later…we had reached a state of seclusion and paradise that could only be….the Maldives.
Kuramathi Island, Maldives
Normally I take the time to describe each picture in some amount of detail, as in general I feel that there is important insight and context required. However, as initially discovered in October 2007 Sicily photos – for vacation shots there something to be said about the "shut up and show the pictures" approach – especially when the pictures tend to stand on their own. As I feel that most of them, taken by my lovely wife – are not just pictures, but works of art – I will minimally try to give them a "name" of the particular work and artist credit (aka "The Last Lobster Supper", credit S. Johnson). So as for bliss…here we go….
"Now would be the time to get excited" credit S. Johnson
"Pathways of Kuramathi" aka "You are taking us to our room, right?" credit S. Johnson
"Do you mind if I take the water-route?" credit S. Johnson
"262 Rocks" credit S. Johnson
"Pretty sure there is more than one Blue out there" credit S. Johnson
"Pretty sure there is more than one Pink out there" credit S. Johnson
"A Neighborhood that Rivals Maple Leaf" credit S. Johnson
"Superfluous Bucket for Red Wine" credit Laguna Grill Waiter
"Elusive Sand Bridge to China, Discovered" credit S. Johnson
"Over-Crowded Beach" credit L. Johnson
"Who Needs a Hammock" S. Johnson
"Self Portrait" S. Johnson. Just kidding. It’s really called "Beauty of Athena" credit L. Johnson
"Who invites a Third? Honestly." credit L. Johnson
"Bumps on a Log" (not to be confused with "Pigs in a Blanket") credit camera timer
"Substitute for an underwater Wife Pic" credit L. Johnson
"Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter, take it from me" credit L. Johnson
"No Photoshop Required" credit S. Johnson
"I married this man, Part 1" credit S. Johnson
"I married this man, Part 2" credit S. Johnson
"Porch-Loving and the effectiveness of SPF-30" credit camera self-timer
"The Table for Two that we’ll never Surpass. Ever." credit S. Johnson
"They need an occasion? Tell them it’s our Anniversary?" credit Serenade Dinner waiter
"The Two Other People on the Island." credit S. Johnson
"At Last – The Perfect Screen Saver" credit L.. Johnson
But Wait! There’s More…A Tribute to Bicycle-Loving VIPs
Coming home to Paris, I’m not going to lie…expectations were not high for the remainder of the month. Returning from vacation is never a highly anticipated experience…but coming home from the Maldives, let’s just say…feels more like a funeral. A mourning for the screen saver visions that will be missed, oh so much.
Thankfully we are planners in this family ("we" meaning my wife)…and prior to leaving for our trip, there was a failsafe vacation rebound strategy put into place. This approach is surprisingly simple, yet 100% effective – to keep the entertainment and good times rolling, it just requires the importation of a VIP couple to France within one week of return. VIP in this case, defined as meeting one of two key criteria – 1) being a member emeritus of the Johnson / Bettesworth wedding party of 2003, or 2) anyone with the last name of Zuckerman. Luckily the newly-engaged Ryan VanGrack and Tracy Zuckerman both qualified for this important mission….and agreed to perform the thankless rebound service….
VIP guests deserve VIP treatment. Starting with frothy Belgian beers in matching glassware…clearly a sophisticated happy hour at Rue Cassette….
And not just any restaurant will do the trick. So we chose the RC blog ‘sufficiently-swankified’ award-winner of the month- Maison Blanche, a top-floor establishment with panoramic views overlooking the Seine…
The problem being that no one in the restaurant that night could concentrate on the stunning views…Thanks to the spectacle that was being created by our very own table #27, intentionally placed in the back to reduce the merriment and ruckus …and these drop-dead gorgeous ladies in black were certainly not helping the distraction-filled situation…
Warning to future visitors – this Maison Blanche view of Eify is slightly better than the one you can expect at Rue Cassette….
And, of course VIPs deserve a little something more than having their after-dinner digestifs at the restaurant. Lucky for us, Carrie Bradshaw’s favorite little Paris cocktail spot from ‘Sex and the City’ – known as Le Bar du Plaza Athénée, was only a couple doors down. We couldn’t resist trying out the "balance between classicism and fashion night"…that is, assuming we could get by the army of secret agents at the door. Ryan likes his chances…
From the minute we were presented the digital cocktail menu, I knew we were in a different league of watering holes. The interior was accurately described by the site: "warm and surprising, elegant and sexy, nuanced and electric…"
Behind us you can barely make out the "long illuminated bar made entirely of sculpted and sandblasted glass, resembling an iceberg". Doing our best to fit in, here are Ryan and I resembling anything but Cameron Crazies….
And while VIP-treatment was a reoccurring theme of Ryan and Tracy’s visit, surprisingly, nothing was more powerful for making memories than the more day-to-day local experiences. One in particular that stands out was Ryan’s magnetic attraction to varied forms of public transportation – going beyond the standard metro and bus into the more exotic "Velib" – a bicycle rental service that enables pure freedom of travel throughout the city. Starting with a late-night, detour-filled cruise through the city of lights, Ryan nearly refused touring anything else thereafter UNLESS it involved Velib. Luckily this passion was caught in action – If these two guys in the following le blog video feature don’t strike you as "Bike Loving Fools", I don’t know who does (listen for the angry motorist at the end of the clip – no one said it was all fun and games)…
And so we biked – even when one could argue the walking route would have been faster. Like this Sunday morning market on Boulevard Raspail, which serves up organic goods crafted by local producers like "Les Gustalins"….
This guy is a familiar face to Rue Cassette, as he delivers the most scrumptious potato and cheese Latkes in the business – monitoring each on on the griddle until crispy perfection…
Here we find Ryan asking – "Does VIP status get me one of your Latkes too?"…
And then it hit us, the night before Ryan and Tracy departed. The seemingly-flawless vacation rebound approach had provided us a band-aid solution in the most difficult of times. It had been a plan well executed. But little did we know that sharing this time with them in Paris wonderland had started to create an entirely new dependency…A series of euphoric highs, that once over, would leave behind a whole new set of lows to follow. While the smiles are priceless during our "last bistro supper" picture, I think we all had a corresponding anticipatory gloom inside…
Passing the Rue Cassette Torch
And how Shannon and I quickly put our heads together to formulate a bicycle-loving VIP rebound strategy…well, that would be well outside of the bounds of the April blog…Sounds like a great story to get us started in May 2008.
Until then, thanks to all of you loyal readers who braved the longest, most visually exhausting version of le blog. Your comments (and occasional statements of scolding) will tell us if truly "this blog was for you!"
First.
A few thoughts:
a.) Liked the update, Uncle Lars, but it needed more Disney-licensed content, notwithstanding the Aladdin and Little Mermaid references, which were awesome.
b.) Got really fired up for the pictures of the fishies. Let\’s keep those coming in future updates, regardless of relevance.
b.) This version of Le Blog was either visually exhausting or I just rocked my diaper–probably the latter.