Blog #27 – Mars 2009

Behold the Countdown Clock…and the PBL
Some time in the middle of March, the panic set in.  I can’t be sure, but I’m beginning to think it had something to do with advance purchase of two one-way tickets from Paris to Seattle for this July.  Then again, it didn’t really register until I added a little desktop gadget to my computer that automatically counted down our number of remaining days living the Rue Cassette dream.  You see, when you are sitting in a frigid, minimal daylight Paris – it is tempting to think of balmy July as a distant, intangible point in time.  But when you have full confidence in your computer’s countdown calculation abilities, bolding proclaiming “101 days until Au Revoir Paris!” – it’s much easier to identify with my personal reaction…”Merde!!!”

And so my lovely wife and I started doing what any panicky couple with 100 days left of crusty baguettes would do…and that, is quickly and efficiently making a Paris Bucket List (going forward, to be referred as simply PBL).  This being a comprehensive list of items that must be fully executed prior to “kicking the French bucket”, or our immanent date of departure.  And due to this highly methodical approach to our “fin de la route”, I promise you, the loyal readers of Rue Cassette, that the final versions of le blog to follow will not just simply be the typical collection of random events and embarrassing spectacles…but rather well-planned individual aspirations executed with high degrees of precision. 

For example, that Monday morning in March when I was on the way to work, and stepped in a huge pile of merde prior to boarding the Metro?  Pas de probleme.  This was all part of the master bucket list, as who could leave Paris without such a local, authentic, experience?!  I think you’re getting the point – of precise execution.  But enough of this banter, it’s time to get some more…rewarding items checked off the list.

Women are from France, Men are from Vegas
I’m sure this is going to come as a major shock to most of you, but Shannon and I had some significant variation in our individual contributions to the PBL.  One could argue hers, in retrospect, may have been more logical.  Such as a burning desire to have some of her best girlfriends that had not yet visited, come and experience the wonders of Paris.  One specific key target in this category was none other than Sam Magnuson, the Seattle-native that introduced me to Shannon (and rarely lets either of us forget it).  Sam didn’t seem to mind being a target in this context, and happily joined Shannon for an extended ladies-only weekend as an RC inhabitant:     

Leave it to Shannon and Sam to create a bucket list within a bucket list.  Their slightly ambitious goal was to tackle ever major Paris monument, museum, and notable French delicacy…in 3 nights.  This was going to require precision mapping…

 

And from the photos that were captured, they came pretty darn close.  Eify, Sainte-Chapelle, and Musée d’Orsay are pretty good starts to the monument front…

 

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And Ladurée macarons, Gerard Mullot baguettes, jambon et fromage crêpes, and Café du Metro espressos are pretty good efforts on the cuisine front (Sam must have had help choosing these)….

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And even with all of that, there seemed to be plenty of time left over for what I would describe as “the intangibles” – just general no-holds-barred bonding time (well, I suppose the shopping components are more tangible…but stay with me here).  It was about the emotional components, of two girls, in Paris, just doing what they needed to do…and that means much more than a check box on the PBL…

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Meanwhile….
I’m not going to pretend that Shannon’s reaction was “positive” per se, when I jotted down a relatively straight forward item on my half of the PBL – If I am remembering correctly, I think it was phrased something like “Go to Las Vegas.  Watch Duke Basketball with Duke Friends – GO DUKE!”. 

If I could be honest – that one, in fact, was down-right protested.  The “discussion” about it was a little hazy, something about “you have the rest of your life to watch Duke basketball, you MORON!!!”…and an even more convincing closing argument..”and what does this have to do with PARIS??!!!”

“I’m glad you asked” – I reminded her, explaining to her that two past distinguished RC visitors, one Ryan VanGrack and one Jon Krisbergh, were both engaged to be married in the near future (making full use of the French term fiancé), and these two Duke alums required a certain amount of pre-wedding celebration, a concept known here as l’enterrement de la vie du garcon (burial of the life of a young man – I know, charming..).  And next thing you know, while Shannon and Sam were strolling the Champs de Mars, I was…showing modest amounts of chest hair with my favorite Dukies (pictured below from left to right – Ryan, moi, Jon)..

Lots of the regulars showed up for the…burial of the young life of Ryan.  And that gave me even more connections to Paris.  We all know Le Tence (left), who proposed in our very own arrondissement during a Paris visit.  And then there was Jeremy Crystal and the two Doherty brothers (Ian, John) – who…love Paris in general?  OK – maybe a stretch on that last one…

    

Nothing says “mission accomplished” on this special PBL request like the following group panoramic.  Thank you gentlemen….and GO DUKE! (In late March hindsight, that is a painful expression to repeat…)

Heliotis Bros – Why Settle for Just One?!
Another prominent item that was added to my personal side of the PBL, but slightly-less controversial, was the simple statement:
”D visit – number 3 (and 4?)”.  Why?  Because after Demetri sported a Brazilian-cut sunga swimsuit in the February version of le blog, I pretty much knew he could accomplish anything he put his mind to.  What was going to stop him from a couple more Paris visits in the next 3 months?

Not much, apparently.  Because lo and behold, in late March not one…not two…but three strangely similar-looking Heliotis brothers (Demetri included) showed up on the RC doorstep, on a short stopover to Seattle after a family pilgrimage in Greece.  Don’t believe me?  Here we find brothers Demetri, Angelo, and Nick in front of….well, if you don’t know what this is – then you either haven’t physically been to Rue Cassette, or as a reader you skip all of the text and go straight to le blog pictures (which I admit, is quite tempting)…

While the majority of the bros had to, literally, jet the next morning – Nick, a former short-time Paris resident during his school days – decided to stick around and thoroughly revisit his old stomping grounds.  And let me tell you – what emotion you put into this city, you get out back out of it.  Here we find Nick misty-eyed after the memories came flooding back from a simple whiff of Paris-style espresso….

But it wasn’t all about living in the past for Nick.  He had no problem joining Shannon and I and discovering fine new traditions, such as a street-side aperitif at nearby Café Six while we waited for a table at quite possibly (note: BOLD statement coming) the FINEST PIZZA (ITALY INCLUDED) IN THE WORLD…at Pizzeria Positano on Rue des Cannettes.

And OH that Heliotis charm.  Upon leaving the restaurant, the server unexpectedly handed him (note: not me, not Shannon) a note from a mysterious, undeclared parisienne (that is feminine), described only by the server as “a young lady”…and while you might not believe the stories of night-time scooter rides and champagne on the Seine that followed (not pictured)….Rue Cassette will always hold the original note that makes his personal PBL accomplishments a little more credible…

 

Just in Time – Johnsons and Johnsons in Venezia
Now, there actually were a few items that Shannon and I shared in common on our PBL.  In fact, in general when it comes down to weekend getaways, we find its pretty hard to disagree.  Especially if we are talking about Italy.  So when we were cordially extended an invitation to join my brother Bjorn and his wife Krysia in Venice…we found ourselves saying “Bella…Tutta Bella….Tutta Bella Italia!!!”  And as soon as Shannon clicked her heels, we found ourselves canal-side in the city of…canals. 

Did I mention that my brother was there?  How cool is that?  He was on an Italian adventure with his spunky wife Krysia, but left his spunkier girls Wynne and Paige taking in the rays in the OC back at the ranch (in good hands with my Mom!).  This allowed the four of us to navigate the crafty back alleys of Venice smoothly.

We realized upon arrival two things – 1) we tend to have a good time when Johnsons and more Johnsons are together….

and 2) the four of us have a strong propensity to pick Canal-based, postcard-like towns for our touring pleasure.  In fact, if you take a look at some notable highlight shots from August 2007 in Bruges, Belgium – you may just think your are seeing double!  Eerie Bruges flashback picture on your right!

    

This picture pretty much sums up the Venice trip.  Johnsons harmoniously enjoying the finely narrated Venice audio perspectives of Northwest icon and European history buff Rick Steves.  Krysia so deeply loves this man that she kissed the audio player after each track.  In Saint Mark’s square this took on a whole new meaning when she shouted freely…”I love this man….I….LOVE…THIS…MAN!!!!”…

Still “Rickin’” around in front of Venice’s famous Doge’s palace…

Yep, it really does look this good…

And it really is this fun (and you wonder why I called her spunky???)…. 

I love pictures that do not require narration.  With these gals together, it happens all too often. 

Venice was a gem…and so Photographer Shannon started rapid fire with her trusty camera and the results were incredibly striking.  Whether it was the classic bridges, gondolas and palaces of the Grand Canal… 

 

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To the endless back streets, mini bridges and passageways.  We took simple advice, “just lose yourself!!”….

It has been said that “If you haven’t had a Bellini at Harry’s Bar in Venice, then you haven’t been to Venice.”  And who were we to go all the way to Venice, and not get this one signed off the PBL??!  Not us.  And not the OC Johnsons either…

For future visitors, we coined a new saying inside Harry’s Bar.  It went something like this – “If you haven’t been to Harry’s Bar in Venice, you probably still have the shirt on your back”…

Just as cozy as those little passages were the dinner nooks where we indulged in antipasti and sangiovese!  I’m pretty sure if this picture had been taken after dinner, I would no longer have fit inside the frame..

Now for the whole “just in time” part.  Turns out Venice these days floods over 100 times a year – and every year it is getting worse and worse (for explanation, watching this movie may get you headed in the right direction).  Since the famous Saint Mark’s Square is at the lowest elevation on the city, this iconic “piazza” is the first to go under – prompting thin elevated walkways to be setup to allow tens of thousands of tourists to skirt around the madness.  How do I know all of this?  We got a pretty good dose of the flooding!   

A pretty surreal sight – St. Mark’s Cathedral and the Doge’s Palace, 2 feet under, illuminated by lamppost.  There is something inspiring about the guy that spontaneously starts dancing for his date in the middle of the glistening waters, soaking himself to the bone but doing so in the name of professed love…you can almost picture it in the middle of this photo…

Then you can picture other expressions of love slightly less romantic…but still spontaneous…

Surely the flooding was gone in the morning?  Uhh….maybe if you wore really tall rubber boots, and closed your eyes…. 

…or while in Saint Mark’s Cathedral, you looked up at the gorgeous gleaming mosaics….

…instead of looking down, where water kept rushing in over beautifully tiled floors…

Which prompted us to say upon departure: “Venice, you’re basically screwed”.  But you are a charmer, and some day we’ll return to visit your underwater ruins.  Until then, from 4 Johnsons to you, Ciao!….You’ve been bella.  Tutta bella!

 

Go-Go Bucket!
And since I’ve been blabbing on and on – I am noticing that my trusty countdown clock is already telling me in fact I only have 100 days left (last-minute visitors – that is your warning bell!!)!  Time to keep getting after that PBL, and then when you are least expecting it….recounting them faithfully for you on the next version of le blog!