Almost done with Paris

I am almost finished writing about the Paris trip. Then I can return to complaining about my life and the travails therein.
Monday morning I once again work up and worked on papers. I critiqued and began emailing students while sitting at a cafe enjoying wonderfully strong cup of coffee.
Monday was to be shopping day. It was rainy and gloomy, perfect for window and interior varieties. We set out from the hotel and headed up the Rue de Bac. Our first stop was Sonia Rykiel Homme. She doesn't sell her men's line in the US so we had to make a stop. I wasn't a big fan of her clothes (big, wide horizontal lines on everything - seriously?). C found a jacket that he quite liked. It was kinda rain-coaty and kinda not. It was 500 Euros. And it would have to be tailored. He decided to think about it. We walked about the heart of St. Germain de Pres, all the little fancy shops. Quite a few of them are in Boston now so it didn't make sense to buy anything but it was fun. We ended up heading to the Pantheon as I had nixed it on the last trip.



Foucault's Pendulum - interesting but was a little underwhelming. It was very small. There were signs not to take photos but lots of people were so I said fuck it and took a couple. Didn't really come out. We went down into the catacombs and checked shit out. I had to leave after a little while, there was an odd smell down there, like old people and dirty feet. blech! And it really creeped me out.
We touched base with Bev, our new friend from Saturday, and made plans to meet for drinks at Harry's. The weather cleared up and we headed down from the Pantheon and had lunch at McDonald's!! Yay! I was very happy to have a simple hamburger and fries. I was so freaking sick of French food at this point. We started back towards St Germain and the other side of the river.

Stopped at Notre Dame so C could replace his lost photos from last year. Crossed the bridge over to Ilse St. Louis and up towards the Bastille. Checked out a few galleries on St. Louis. I took a photo of a cute dog sitting outside a shop waiting for his owner.



We ended up doing a large loop from the Bastille over to Les Halles and the Opera.
Checked out a courtyard off of the Place de Vosges which was pretty cool. We stopped at Agnes B Homme to check out their clothes. She only has three shops in the US that sell her men's line: NYC, LA and SF. C convinced me to buy a jacket. I have since fallen in love with it but it did cost a small fortune. It stressed me out.

Next stop was the Opera district. We were running late for our drink with Bev. We made a quick stop at Hugo Boss. C asked to try on a jacket that was in the window. They had two left. He fell in love with it. He bought it. It is admittedly a fabulous jacket that they are not selling in the US. We both really needed a drink now. Off to Harry's!
The night began with a bang. We each had three Manhattans as only Harry's bar can make them - extremely drinkable!

Sunday Cont.

I am sitting in a hotel in Santa Rosa, CA on yet another wedding jaunt. My body tells me it is almost noon while the clock says 9. I am wide awake and have been for about an hour. I decided to tackle the rest of the Paris trip.
I need to get this down before I start forgetting it. Plus I need to start complaining about things that are happening right now! I can't do that until I finish my Paris story.
We left Cafe Americain and headed back to the hotel. We were due to meet W & J for dinner. We swung by the Jau de Paume so that C could buy his Pierre & Gilles print that he had obsessed about over lunch. We stopped by l"Orangerie to check out the Monets. This is a museum that has been in the process of being refurbished for about five years. It finally opened last summer. It is a museum that was designed exclusively for Monet's Waterlillie paintings that he donated to the French government early in the 20th century shortly after he finished painting. I had seen a couple of them at the MFA a few years ago. They let them tour while the museum was being built. They are quite stunning to see all together.

There is another gallery built underneath the Monet rooms housing the private collection of a French couple who were dealers for Picasso, Gauguin, Pissaro and others. It was okay. A lot of things by people who made some pretty famous works but these were clearly the things that didn't sell. Mediocre paintings from great painters.
We hung out at the hotel for a while. The guys came over and we had drinks then heading out. The place we had wanted to go for dinner was closed on Sundays so we let them pick the place. It was a nice little bistro and we got to sit out on the street. J was not too pleased at this as you tend to get harrassed by street venders when you do this. Some guy walked up and down playing an accordian - we gave him a Euro - then a couple people selling roses came by, saw the four of us men sitting there and didn't even bother coming over. Slightly offended. Food was great of course, J and I shared a beef carpacio which I had never had. Tasty. Couple bottles of wine as well.


We walked around for a bit looking for a place to have a cocktail, window shopping. The St Germain neighborhood is perfect for this. It is full of fancy shops full of gorgeous things.
We ended up having drinks and this "trendy" art themed bar.


Another couple bottles of wine and then we all stumbled back to our respective hotels. W & J were leaving Monday for the States. Tearful good byes and promises to visit Paris together again. (Not True - but sounds nice eh?) We ended the evening with W showing us his favourite courtyard in Paris. It was a tiny, simple, little park with four chestnut trees surrounding a lamp. Perfect. And, of course, it was surrounded by fancy shops selling gorgeous things!

Saturday night and Sunday

The night continued. We found a bar that would let us have one drink, or rather one bottle actually. There was a group of people behind us who were also celebrating a birthday. We decided to call it a night when K accidentally spilled a glass of red wine on John's lap. We managed to hail a cab in short order this time and headed back to our hotels.
Sunday morning/Noon was rough. I crawled out of bed around 11:30 or so. While C pulled himself together I headed to the cafe across the street to finish grading papers. I was in dire need of bad greasy food i.e. McDonald's. The only one I could remember seeing was across the river right by the Louvre. We headed out. We got there around 2 and the line was out the door and down the street. So we nixed that. I remembered that there was another one on the Champs Elysee. We moved on.


One the way there we passed the Jau De Palme museum. They were having a Pierre Y Gilles show and Sunday was the last day. So we walked through. Great show. Pierre and Gilles are a gay couple who do portraits. They take the photograph, paint it then photograph it again and print it. The have done some amazing work. And some mediocre work as well. The problem with a retrospective show is that you get a bit of both.
From here we moved on in search of food. Wandered into the Opera neighborhood. We end up eating at an American themed restaurant. I had a burger and C had a club sandwich. It was very odd, they were playing US college football on the TVs. Luckily they were also playing the Australia vs. Fiji rugby match. C had never actually seen rugby in action. He was suitably horrified.

More from Saturday night's party

The Party

The timeline of the party was drinks at 7:45 and dinner at 8:30. At a little after 7 we finish up our glasses of wine and begin our trek to the restaurant. We had a general idea of where it was. Over by Les Halles somewhere. What we didn't realise was exactly how far it was. It was really far. Both of us are reticent to take a cab in Paris - their metering system is vague, they are hard to flag down - so we had opted to walk. We walked and walked and walked. Both of us are wearing dark wool suits and it is far hotter in Paris than the weather channel had informed us. By the time we make it there we are both sweating up a storm. Bear in mind that the restaurant is also deep in the Marais. We had to walk through a neighborhood best described as being "like Times Square in the eighties." Porn shops, ladies of the evening, the whole shebang. But we walk in and are immediately handed a glass of champagne. It went uphill from there.



The building housing the restaurant was built sometime in the 12th century. It was redecorated and turned into a restaurant around 1910. It is an art deco wonder. Three floors. The first floor is the main restaurant, the second is for private parties numbering over ten and the third floor has three private rooms: one for ten, one for about eight and one for two. We were on the second floor.
The party was wonderful. W & J had put out place cards so that people wouldn't sit near someone they knew. I sat across from a wonderful woman whose husband used to be the head of development for the MFA. To my right was a woman who sold properties in the Hamptons for Sothebys and to my left was a charming British woman who used to teach French at a private boys school in the UK. Needless to say she came in handy.


Food was astounding: there were seven courses. We had blue footed chicken (a breed specific to France), there was a foie gras course, a cheese course (made me very happy) and so much else I don't remember. Oh and lots and lots of wine. After dinner they made people switch seats so that they had to chat with someone new. I ended up chatting with a woman who is the curator for a private collector of Latin American art based in Phoenix. She was fabulous. We made plans to hang out later in the week. Most people were heading back to the UK on Sunday while we were staying until Wed. It was the perfect opportunity to hang out with someone new.


People began leaving after cake (which was around 1). We hung around with W & J and their friend K who is American but lives in London. She is a painter who teaches at a university art school in the city. We headed out in search of cabs. Couldn't find one to save our lives. We ended up at another bar.

more later.

Another day in Paris

Saturday. A bit hung over once again. I http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifgot up around 11, cleaned up, left C lying in bed and headed to the nearby cafe to grade papers. I had about 27 one page papers that I had to read, edit and grade. I thought it would be easier than it was. C joined me around 1:30 or so. We had a bit more coffee then headed out. We went off towards Bon Marche. Specifically the food market which was un-fuckin-believeable. Looking at the cheese counter was like looking into the sun. I couldn't do it. I had to walk away. There also had a fucking Veuve Clicquot champagne bar - in a super market! I was ready to move in at this point. I would have slept on the floor between the croissants and the fuckin champagne. We grabbed a few pastries, some juice and water and headed off. We ended up walking around les Invalides (Napoleon's tomb). Sat on a bench and ate our snacks.



We walked up to and past the Eiffel tower and ended up at Paris' newest museums, the Quai Branly. It was one of the worst museums I have ever encountered. Bad, bad, bad. I thought that the Anthro museum in Chicago was bad but this was really, really bad. Poorly designed, ill-lit, and just a pain in the ass to navigate. The only cool thing about it was the outside. The building was fantastic from the outside. The inside? Not so much. It was basically a history of French colonialism. If France never occupied a country there wasn't much in the museum. Nothing from India, China, or Australia. All Africa. And lots of it. Kinda sad really.
Afterwards we walked back towards the hotel, looking for someplace to eat along the way. To no avail. We ended up back at some bistro on St. Germain eating pasta. Good but have I mentioned yet that the World Rugby Cup was taking place while we were in Paris? There was a contingent of Irish sitting at the bar and cheering on the UK while we tried to eat. Day three of this shit and I was getting pretty fuckin sick of the Irish and their big fuckin mouths.
Back at the hotel, changed, had a glass or two of wine and headed out to W's birthday party. That event is an entry all by itself. It involved lots of wine, cool people and a shitload of food.

Names...

Paris Diary

Day two in Paris started off well. We slept until noon. We rolled out of bed and proceeded to spend the day leiserly walking around the city. Strolled along the Tullieries, which we had done in winter but it was a much different experience in late summer/early fall. We did a bit of shopping and stopped for lunch at an Italian cafe we had visited last year. It was as good as I remembered and the little old lady who waited on us didn't seem to mind my broken French. We spent the afternoon wandering around the Pompidou Center. There were several interesting things. They were doing a show of the collection. I got a little burned out. How many friggin Kandinskis can one take in an afternoon? Headed back to the hotel to get ready for drinks and dinner with our friends W & J. The main reason we were here in Paris was to celebrate W's 40th birthday. The had returned to Paris from a cruise through the south of France that afternoon. We all planned to meet up at their hotel for drinks and then move on to dinner. Ah, the glory of Blackberry's.

Needless to say we ate and drank the night away. The others piled into various taxis and the four of us (C & I, and W & J) went back to their hotel for another bottle of wine in the courtyard. We eventually stumbled back to our hotel - thankfully only blocks away.

Crap, I have to go to work now. I'll post more later.

Home

Back from Paris last night. Exhausted. Nothing like a taxi strike to make one's trip to Charles De Gaulle interesting. Schlepping our luggage through the Paris metro is not something I enjoyed doing. It set the tone for the day.
I took over 500 pics so we'll be setting up the flicker thing this weekend.
Off to work this morning. C took the rest of the week off. Fucker. At least I don't have to do laundry.
I'll begin posting a summary of each day shortly. I know you are all bursting with anticipation.

Paris

We have arrived in Paris. Actually, as I write this we are beginning day three. Getting here was a total pain in the ass. We took British Air and the flight to Heathrow sucked big time. First of all we were stuck in the center seats - never a good thing. Then a big muscled German guy sat in the seat in front of me and insisted on moving his seat back so far that he was practically in my lap. Throw in the screaming kids to our right and well, you get one of the suckiest flights I have been on. And the food was heinous. Never again will we fly BA. After our flight home that is.
But we arrived safe and sound. Get to our hotel and we can't get into our room until 2. It was 10:30. At this point I had been up the entire time. I cannot sleep on airplanes. So, we have to wander around town until our room is ready. I seriously started hallucinating I was so tired. We had coffee and lunch, walked around Bon Marche and killed some time in an Irish pub. We finally got into our room and crashed for a couple hours. Around 7 we roused ourselves and took a walk over the river looking for a place to get a drink. We ended up at the Hotel Normandy bar. We both ordered a cocktail and tried to relax. Not ten minutes later the local chanteuse began singing cabaret songs. I had my back to her and honestly couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman singing. She began with "Misty" and got the lyrics completely wrong. In her version it was not a kitten up a tree but a chicken. Something got lost in translation. She then began scatting and wringing her hands not in a jazz-like manner but more tourettes-esque. It was a wonder to behold. By the time she began channeling Carol Channing we decided it was time to go. I thought that C should get his picture taken with her but alas he didn't got for it. We wandered around a bit taking photos and ended up in the Latin Quarter right at dinner time. We picked some ubur trendy restaurant (unbeknownst to us) and I proceeded to have the rarest hamburger I have ever had in my life. Apparently this place is known for it's steak tartar. Everyone around us was eating it. We decided to call it a night. Had a glass of wine in the hotel bar and proceeded to crash. We both ended up sleeping for 12 hours. It was so nice.

Vacation...all I ever wanted.

The day is finally here. Tonight we get on a plane and head to Paris. I am dreading the trip for several reasons, none of which have anything to do with reality.
1. started new job - feel kinda guilty that I am leaving so soon. But they knew that when they hired me. They just finished training me on some big reports that I had to spend the past three days training someone else on so it gets done for me.
2. Missing a recitation section. They also knew this when they hired me to teach it. Still feel guilty having another instructor cover for me. I'm compensating by grading papers on the plane.
3. Leaving the children home alone - our neighbors are gonna watch them. A is going to come over and do schoolwork so they will have someone present (probably more then usual as we are out so often). I realise they are just cats but still...
4. Instead of taking Air France and having a non-stop trip we are going British Air and laying over at Heathrow. It has been several years since I went through there but I do recall it being a complete pain in the ass. All at five in the morning. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
This is all made up for by actually being in Paris for a week. I must admit I am a new convert to the joys of Paris and France. I am much more of a Germanic-phile having studied German language & films along with traveling to Berlin many times. I love it, love it, love it. Paris is growing on me. I love Berlin but it was such a freaking pain to find good food - I gather this has changed quite rapidly. Several friends who have been recently have raved about new restaurants etc.
Anyway, we bought a new camera and our hotel has wi-fi so I'll be posting from Paris. If...blogger actually works this time. I tried doing it last year but couldn't get blogger to load. We'll see.
peace out y'all.

Today is just going to suck...I know it.

The first week of work has come and gone. Nothing very exciting to report. I am still waiting on several pieces of software to come through so I can do the things I was hired to do. Of course by the time this occurs I will be leaving for a week in Paris. A shame I know.
I had my first recitation class last Thursday. Only a few student showed up which is to be expected. The actual first class isn't until today, this afternoon in fact. My Tuesdays will run 6:30 AM to 10 PM. I am already exhausted and I only just got out of the shower.
The reason for this is mainly because I went to a going away party for my friend K last night. She is moving to Hawaii. I am psyched for her but sad to see her go. Also I was a little peeved at C for not remembering to open her evite so the party came as a complete surprise to me. I got off work, went to the gym and then met him at Davio's only to discover that the "short" evening I thought we were having was going to turn out to be much longer. We didn't get home till after midnight and here I am getting up at 6:30 still a little drunk. Blech. I don't like this feeling. I didn't like it when I did it at 23. I don't like it now that I am much, much older. To top it all off we ended up at McD's for late dinner. I'm pretty sure that is contributing to my ass-y feeling.
Lame-ness all around.

Australians

You can always count on the Australians to give Americans a bunch of shit.
I was glad to hear that they are also willing to stand up to Bush in a way that Americans could never even consider.
Sydney locals are pushing for the largest ever mooning. And our president, ass face Bush gets to be the recipient.

Work...again

I just wanted to catch up on my blogging. It is 2 AM Monday morning and I got home about 40 minutes ago. I spent my evening serving food, drinks, and a dinosaur cake to about 200 people out west of the city. I have reached the end of my catering run and I am fuh-kin exhausted. I never thought that I would long for the comfort of my office chair (big ass factory that it is). Unbelieveable. If I don't cater for a long, long time I will be happy. I had completely forgotten how brutal it can be. And I am so fucking out of shape it isn't funny. I think the only reason I survived is because I finally started going to the gym again three weeks ago! The one thing that got me through the night was Paris. Granted it wasn't as bad as last week's wedding when I worked in 102 degree heat. Once I got home that night it took me over three hours to get my temp back to normal.
The people tonight were great. Extremely nice and laid back. I worked their rehearsal dinner last night. It is always odd when entering a complete strangers home and taking over all of the public spaces they have created. You enter the house and begin looking around for art (well that is what I do). This simple reason is that, I went to art school, but I also think that people in the Boston area tend to have a great deal of art in their homes. It is important to them either personally or professionally. Having art hanging in a home denotes a certain intellectual curiosity or knowledge that carries a great deal of cultural and social weight.
When I was catering in Rhode Island the art in clients' homes was rare. It was there but often notable for that fact. Degrees of weath perhaps? Social scenes? The people this weekend actually were artists, at least the mothers of the Bride and the host of the rehearsal dinner were. I didn't really get a sense of the grooms family. The brides family were so much more social and present (personality wise).
I'd like to write more but I am so fuckin tired I'm not going to.

Hurst's Diamond Skull finally sells.

It appears that Damien Hurst's diamond encrusted platinum skull has finally sold.
An investment group has paid $100 million dollars for it.
What was that I posted earlier about the possible collapse of the high end art market? I guess we can disregard that. Apparently those hedge fund people still have plenty of cash to throw around. This is on top of the over $300 million that Hurst's show in June brought in. He has apparently strong armed his gallery into a 30/70 split.

Things, gorgeous things!

Perhaps I should have clarified my new position mentioned in the previous post.
The investment bank that I used to temp for came chasing after me with a job offer. I gave them a figure which they matched and added a bonus on top of. I start on the 4th. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, I agreed to cater for a few weekends doue to our impending jaunt to Paris on the 19th. This company has agreed to give me the vacation time as part of my hiring package. it is a win-win situation. I really like the people I will be working with. They are not the group of 12 year olds I currently have to deal with at my present place of employment.
I have also been asked to TA an undergrad film class at MIT. This company has also graciously allowed me to do so even though it is technically against corporate policy.
I'll have more on this later.

shit happens

It has been a few days since I have posted. I feel like I should put something up here.
News: I got a job offer - finally - and I took it, good money and vaca and a whole lot of free time. I am honestly quite confused by it.
I've really got nothing to say. I just wanted to post this clip from Mr Show.



cheers!

Sobriety? Nah!

Not a whole lot happening this weekend. I am trying to enjoy the free time before I lose my weekends. Starting next Sat I beging a three week catering marathon. I need some extra money (like there is such a thing) as we are leaving for Paris in a few weeks. I will lose weekends but gain some loot. I suppose it is better then sitting on my ass drinking all weekend.
Speaking of drinking I have given up beer for the duration. I thought it would be difficult but now I don't really mind. I had a couple of Guinness' on Friday and, yes they were tasty, but I know they will be waiting for me when I return to beer.
I need to lose twenty pounds or so and as a wise friend once told me "no one ever lost weight drinking beer." Now I've not gone totally crazy sober! I'm still enjoying my old friend alcohol. Instead I have a diet cocktail. Vodka, soda, and a splash of Cran. It is about 80 calories vs. 200-300 in a beer. I don't really like it that much either which means I drink less of them. It is all part of my scheme. That and I have started going to the gym 4 or 5 times a week again. I should be back to my old weight by maybe...next summer?

Stupid aging! Damn you sedentary lifestyle!

Eruption

I think I was in a game design class with this kid.

Michel Gondry

I had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with Michel Gondry. I subsequently participated in a Q & A with him at a university event. He is one of the nicest, most amazingly talented people I have ever met. He is so frickin cool and a kick ass artist. I love him.
He has a new film coming out called Be Kind, Rewind. It looks so fun and smart. It is due December 21st.
I am psyched.

Movie Madness

So C and I have been in a bit of a movie blitz.
We went to see Harry Potter and the Simpson's Movie. Then watched a couple of horror things On Demand - Silent Hill, Dawn of the Dead (remake), I still have to see Transformers before it leaves the big screen.
Harry Potter - just okay. the novel was pared down quite a bit, many characters removed yet it still felt like it was burdened by a cumbersome narrative. There were times when I thought I was watching a TV mini-series or perhaps Degrassi on the N. Action scenes were done fairly well. Ending felt rushed. Overall I'm glad I saw it but it was one of the more lackluster of the series. Alas. That said, Daniel Radcliffe was very yummy to watch (thankfully now past the age of consent).

Simpson's - Started off with a bang. Great series of jokes that was quickly derailed by a narrative built for a feature film. I wished that they had carried over the TV programs tradition of multiple narratives all unraveling at the same time. But no. All the great secondary characters were represented but relegated to either cameos or quick flashes as background filler. Still liked it though. Two words: Spider-pig!

Silent Hill - Fun, cheesy, gory horror film based on the video game. They managed to carry over the mood and tone of the game. Several scenes were taken directly from the game. Unfortunately the storyline devolved to a rather annoying hell/damnation scenario. I was disappointed.

Dawn of the Dead remake - made by Zack Snyder (300) who will now be helming the Watchman. This film is awesome. I love the fact that the zombies run not shamble.
Kick ass. Best scene: chainsaw accident in the van. This movie rules.

names...