Paris 2011-4

1 Juillet (Vendredi) - I don't get it.  I have absolutely no trouble falling asleep, but I only sleep for two or three hours and then, I toss and turn until about seven in the morning, at which time I fall asleep for another three or four hours. 

Today, we went out, caught the 20 bus to Gare de Lyon, where we got the 57 bus to Place d'Italie and Italie2.  Robb bought a nice sweater/shirt at Jules.  We headed for the pharmacie, stopping at Armand Thierry for a quick look but bought nothing.  The pharmacie was only about half as big as it used to be.  The actual pharmacie part was like a little room in the back of the store.  There was one pharmacist working and a long line waiting.  I guess if we want something from a pharmacie, we'll have to go to a local place.  I was kind of hoping the pharmacist could suggest a good, over-the-counter sleeping aid.  

We stopped into Printemps, but again, bought nothing.  Then we went to Tati (sort of a down-trodden K-Mart) hoping to buy hangers, but found none.  Robb bought a cannister set to use at the apartment, it's so nice, we may take it with us.

Then, we left Italie2, caught a very crowded 57 bus back to Gare de Lyon, where we got the not-so-crowded 20 bus home.

We dropped the stuff off at the apartment and walked up to Franprix to see what we could find for dinner tonight.  We bought a frozen dinner; lasagna bolognaise.  It wasn't bad.  Our best buy was a box of Magnum White ice cream bars. 

    

2 Juillet (Samedi) - I slept somewhat better and even got up by 10h00.  Now, if only my breathing would improve.  

In what is becoming a daily routine, we went to the Franprix today and bought more wine, some turkey (for sandwiches) and napkins.  We found a re-usable sac (bag) so we don't have to keep using plastic bags.

We dropped our purchases at the apartment and walked down to rue de Turenne.  I wanted to find the closest 96 bus stop.  We turned right on rue de Turenne.  Lots more men's shops and everyone was selling beautiful clothes at special prices because of the soldes, which ends about the time we leave for Madrid.  We walked up to rue Froissart, which was only one of the six streets intersecting that corner.  Still didn't see the bus stop, but there was a branch of BNP Paribas, so Robb stopped and got some money.Then we started back.  We were about a block from rue Saint-Claude when I saw a 96 bus go past.  It stopped at rue Saint-Claude.  We walked down, had a look and, sure enough, there was a bus stop right there.  That's very good news, but I don't know how I missed seeing it when I looked before.

While we were admiring our good luck, we noticed that a wedding party was emerging from the church on the corner, Église Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement  The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome.  I thought about taking a picture but it somehow didn't feel like the right thing to do.  We were surprised when the bride (still in her beautiful gown) and groom (still in his expensive-looking tuxedo) didn't get into the traditional car to make their getaway, but after most of the rest of the wedding party had left, walked away.  Most unusual!

We were sitting on a bench across the street and decided to go to Comptoir Turenne for a café.  At first we sat at a table on the terrasse, but the sun was too bright and hot, so we moved to a table inside.  While we sat there, we saw another wedding party arrive and go inside.  Comptoir Turenne (formerly Le Diplomate) is the very first place in France that practically asked us to leave.  Not in so many words, but the waiter brought our chèque and waited for payment well before we actually thought about leaving.  Of course, it could be our fault for moving after we ordered our café.  Maybe he wasn't sure we were going to stick around and pay.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. 

We did eventually leave.  On the way back to the apartment, I stopped to take a picture of the church bell tower.  The tower is at the back end of the church and that puts it very close to our apartment.  I have heard them in the morning (in fact, just a few minutes ago), but they're not too loud at all.  Back at the apartment, I tweeted our friend Steve to set up a meeting for Lundi soir (Monday evening). 

3 Juillet (Dimanche) - La premier Dimanche (the first Sunday) of every month is FREE MUSEUM DAY in Paris, so we got ourselves ready, walked down and got the 96 bus across the street from the Comptoir Turenne.  We rode to the Hôtel de Ville bus stop, where we got the 69 bus to the Louvre-Rivoli stop.  We should have waited until the Palais Royal stop, but it wasn't a total waste. As we passed Rives, Robb saw saw a wallet he wanted to buy.  While he was doing that, I took a picture of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois just across the street. Then we walked down to the Carrousel du Louvre entrance to the musée, passing an interesting exhibit in front of Le Conseil d'Etat.  I really didn't think it would be that crowded, but everyone in the city must have known about free museum day.  We checked out a couple stores in the Carrousel and headed for the Place du Carrousel bus stop.

We caught the 69 bus to the Champ de Mars, the final stop in that direction.  We had hoped to stay on the bus, but the driver insisted that we leave, walk across the street to the real bus stop, and wait till he finished his cigarette.  While waiting, I took a strange picture of la Tour Eiffel (you have to look really closely, but I swear it's there).  We did that and rode all the way to the other end of the ligne 69, where we, again, left the bus, walked across the street, waited for the driver to smoke and got back on.  It gave me the opportunity to photograph the fontaine in front of the 20e Mairie (City Hall).

Around 23h00 (11:00PM) we went to a place on Boulevard Beaumarchais named Grazie.  When I looked it up on Google Street View, it showed a place named Le Balto.  It's supposed to be a pizza place, and some reviews had good things to say about the pizza.  But the drinks were way over-priced.  

  

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011 

  

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-3

27 Juin (Lundi) - I took a pill last night and slept a little better, but still not great. 

Robb wanted to go to the banque today. We got ourselves dressed and walked down Boulevard Beaumarchais  towards Place de la République  in the hope of finding a taxi. As we walked, we tried to flag one down but, except late at night when they're begging for riders, it's almost impossible to do that, and today was no different. In case you don't remember, I really HATE French taxi drivers, and that opinion was stoutly renewed today. We found the taxi stand and there were three taxis there, but no drivers and they never did appear in the entire twenty to thirty minutes we stood there trying to get a passing driver to stop. None did.

We walked down to Place de la République (if you can see the little blue 'TAXI' sign, that's where I was standing when I got one guy to stop) to see if we could get one there. We found the taxi stand and I could see several taxis parked about half-block away. But, again, no drivers. Finally, after standing there waving at passing taxis for ten or fifteen minutes, one actually stopped and picked us up.

I suppose I should mention that it was extremely warm in Paris today. The World Weather site online showed the temp to be in the high 90's. I've never been here when it was that hot. In fact, I didn't really believe it ever got that hot in Paris after being here in July one year when I had to buy a leather jacket because it was so cold!

We got to the banque only to find, once again, it was a wasted trip. The Carte Bleu that was supposed to be waiting for Robb, was not there. You know that list of things I HATE about Paris? Add banques. Supposedly, he has an appointment to pick it up on Wednesday, but I will be greatly surprised if it's actually there.

Just to be certain it wasn't a totally wasted trip, we walked down to the métro station a Place de l'Opéra to get our Navigo passes. Robb needed a new one, and I just had to rechargement mine. We each got a carnet de billets (ten tickets) to use until Vendredi (Friday) when our passes will be good. I have to say, it was much easier this time than last time. The clerk had everything ready and we simply told him what we wanted and handed him the euros. Afterward, we stopped at the 'Paul' café. I got un pain au choclat and une bouteille de l'eau (a chocolat filled brioche and a bottle of water). Robb got an apricot tarte and a can of Minute Maid Jus de l'Orange.

Then we walked over to rue de Quatre Septembre where we got the 20 bus back to the apartment.

Back at the apartment, we were happy to find that the interesting temperature thing was still true - it was at least fifteen to twenty degrees cooler in the apartment. We each had a dish of Menthe Glace (mint ice cream), then rested until dinner time.

A few minutes after 21h00, we went out ostensibly to go to an Italian restaurant I had seen down the street. But we walked a block down Boulevard Beaumarchais, when I spotted a little place on the other side of the boulevard, down a little side street (rue Amelot). I loved the name of the place:  La Vache Acrobate (the Acrobatic Cow). I suggested we try it. What a great find it turned out to be. In spite of the heat (surprise Paris is HOT!) we had to sit inside, but at least, we were next to the open window. We both had the Noix Saint Jacques (scallops). They were served with the best risotto I have EVER eaten. We ordered une bouteille du Val de Loire (an excellent white wine). We skipped dessert and finished with un café.  

After dinner, we walked a bit down the street and discovered a few more restaurants. They were all closed and I hope it was only because it's Lundi (Monday) and it's their usual day to be closed.

28 Juin (Mardi) - Did I mention that we got here the day after the start of les soldes d'été (summer sales) Période des soldes d'été : du mercredi 22 juin 2011 au mardi 26 juillet 2011 inclus (they last from 22 June to 26 July). Les soldes d'été, for those who aren't familiar, are the summer sales. In France, store 'sales' are regulated by the state. Supposedly, the stores can only have 'sales' at certain times of the year. Of course, that does not include 'specials' or 'going out of business sales'.

The other day when we were walking down rue de Turenne and were checking out all the men's stores, we also noticed that the prices were really low. Normally, clothing in Paris is quite expensive. Robb had seen several shirts he wanted, so off we went on a shopping spree. We passed several stores before he finally saw something he had to buy. He bought three shirts. Then he took them back to the apartment while I waited just outside Hôtel de Grand Veneur, where there was a photo exhibit of some sort. I took a picture of the main entrance with the "flags", and a picture of a couple of pieces of sculpture in the courtyard. I think one is King Louis 'the Sun King, but I'm not certain.'

We walked a little further, than caught the 96 bus to BHV. While we were in the store, it rained a little bit. We both bought some nice T-shirts because we hadn't brought enough (I only had one with me). After, we walked down by Hôtel de Ville, thinking we might have time to check out the free Impressionist exhibit, but it was too late. Apparently, most of the art is on loan from the Musée d'Orsay. The exhibit is on until the end of July, so we will have the chance to check it out. Since we couldn't do the HdV exhibit, we walked over to Place de Saint-Gervais and down rue François Miron to the bus stop and caught the 96 bus back to rue Saint-Claude. It was good to get back to our nice, cool apartment for a while.

A little after 21h00, we went looking for a place to eat. This time we tried rue de Turenne and found a little place on rue de Parc Royal named Café des Musées (probably because the Picasso Musée is just down the street). We were seated next to two American girls who were living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Next to them were two (I think, because they were speaking English to the girls) French guys. At any rate, everyone was very friendly and we had a very good time. The waiters were also very friendly, cheerful and helpful. We both had Canard Roti (roasted duck) with a medley of vegetables. It was excellent. Dessert was a créme tarte with cranberries. We drank a bottle of beaujolais. During the time we were there, it rained lightly, but the temperature cooled down significantly.

29 Juin (Mercredi) - The Paris heat wave is over and I'm back to wearing my leather jacket.  Today, also, is Robb's appointment at the banque. I'm curious to see how that goes. Around 13h00, we walked up and got the 20 Bus. We arrived at the BNP Paribas about a half-hour early, so we just hung around outside, then went in. We only had to wait a few minutes util Robb's conseiller. She was very pleasant (as usual) and she actually had Robb's card ready and waiting. After getting the formalities out of the way, we chatted for several minutes; mostly about politics and the "war on terror". She's very knowledgeable about world happenings, and we found that we pretty much agreed on everything.

We left, stopping for a café at Bistro Romain.  Just across the street was a Pizza Hut, so I had to take a picture. 

Then we walked over to rue de Quatre Septembre, where we just missed the 29 bus, but only waited a few minutes for the 20. There is a beautiful church between the Bourse (which used to be the Paris stock exchange) and Square du Temple.  I tried to take a picture of it, but my phone was turned off and by the time it re-booted, we were already too far past.  But since I had it ready, I took a shot of the Temple métro station and the statue named 'Republique' in the middle of Place de la République.

Dinner at Le Repaire de Cartouche. There is an entrance on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire which is really Blvd Beaumarchais, but changes names about a block from the restaurant like so may streets in Paris. We actually entered from rue Amelot, after stopping at two other "restaurants" that have menus but don't serve food. That now makes three of those we've found in this area. I don't mind if a place wants to be only a bar, but at least they shouldn't advertise themselves as a café/brasserie.  Le Repaire de Cartouche is a split-level place, and I suspect the locals eat downstairs, while the tourists are shuffled off to the hinterland. We both had the Pavé de St. Pierre (a white fish) served over delicious wax beans (like haricots vert, except yellow). Dessert, which was ordered by Robb, was supposed to be white chocolate cake with strawberries, but there was little, if any, white chocolate in it. It was good but... The waiters, in contrast to reviews I read after getting back to the apartment, were pleasant and friendly. When reading about the restaurant, they presented the hours thusly; "Closed Sun., Mon., and Aug." I found that to be quite funny. If you know anything about Paris, you know that most Parisians leave the city in August.

30 Juin (Jeudi) - Another terrible night.  I was reading the entries from our last trip to Europe because I was looking for the name of a store (which I found) and I saw that it was a week or more before I could get into going places and doing things.  I'm hoping that's the case this time, but I don't remember it being this bad. 

Dinner tonight at a really nice place on rue Amelot, which although it's just across the street, is in the 11e (11th arrondissement) La CuiZine.  It's apparently run by a husband and wife team.  We both had gambas (huge shellfish served whole) which came with a side of risoto.  Very messy, but very good, and our waitress Delphine brought us finger bowls.  We drank a nice Macon Village white wine.  Dessert for me was a raspberry Tiramisu.  Neither of us can remember what Robb had, but it was good and looked beautiful.  This is a great restaurant and we hope to return before we leave for Madrid in a couple of weeks. Oh, and La CuiZine is one of the restaurants we saw the other day that was closed because (I think) it was their regular day to be closed. 

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011 

  

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-2

24 Juin (Vendredi) - Between the jet lag, the room temperature (Robb thought it was too hot and I was freezing) and my leg cramps, it was close to 07h00 before we fell into a fitful sleep.  When I awoke, it was about 15h00 (3 PM).  Robb was already up and had made coffee.  Again, this apartment doesn't have an electric coffee pot but a French Press.  We had forgotten to get bread when we went to the Franprix yesterday, so Robb had to go out on his own.  He made it there and back with no mishaps.  Maybe the gingo biloba is actually doing something.

I just looked at the clock and it's 19h45!!  I've spent the entire day writing about the last two days.

Ce soir, we walked down to Chez Clément which is only a block from Place de la Bastille.  We had a great waiter; a young guy who spoke very good English.  When we asked how he learned, he replied that he picked it up from talking to English speaking people.  Most of the time he spoke to us in French, but we noticed that he spoke exclusively English with the Japanese couple at the next table.  My dinner was the Pavé de daurade avec pommes (white fish with potatoes).  Robb had the Pavé de lieu avec legumes de jardin (Fish with vegetables).  They were both excellent.  Pour au boire (to drink) we had une bouteille de Petit Chablis (a bottle of chablis).  I can't remember the last time I had chablis, but it only took one sip to realize it shouldn't be that long until I have it again.  For desert, we both had créme brulée.

After dinner, we walked down to Place de la Bastille and hung out for a few minutes.  It was too cold to stay longer and we started the eight block walk back to the apartment.

It's supposed to be quite warm demain (tomorrow).

25 Juin (Samedi) - Paris Gay Pride Day.

Although I managed to get out of bed around noon, after another horrible, non-sleep night,  it took several hours to do my morning stuff, drink a cup of coffee and eat a couple pieces of toast.  The gay pride parade started at 14h00 in front of la Tour Montparnass at Place du 18 Juin 1940,  which is in the 6e (6th arrondissement).  The participants will walk and drive across the city, crossing the Seine by way of the Pont de Sully, then make their way by way of Boulevard Henri IV, to the Place de la Bastille, where (hopefully) we will be waiting to see it.

The problem was that I was so tired from the last couple of busy, sleepless days, we didn't even start walking to the Place until after 15h00.  It wasn't really a problem though because I knew it would take the parade at least two to three hours to arrive at the Place.  And I was correct, the first float didn't appear until a couple minutes after five.  I tried to make a video to capture some of the feeling but it didn't turn out.

There was a huge crowd when we got there (around 16h00) and it grew by the minute.  Where once I could see across the street, by the time the first float arrived, I could barely see a few feet in front of me.  Luckily, we had a good spot and while we couldn't see everything, we could easily see the floats.

As in years past, there was a large bandstand set up by one of the local rock stations (HotMixOne - I think) and they were blasting sound.  When they cranked up the bass, the whole area bounced.  It always surprises me that some windows aren't broken.

After a couple hours, I was very tired from standing, and found a place where I could sit down.  There was a young guy nearby who, according to his female friend, had already drunk a couple pitchers of beer and was drinking from a bottle of wine.  He was very drunk, but he was a happy drunk.  I called him "the dancer" because he was dancing to all the music, both from the bandstand and the floats, not to mention the stuff he was singing.  He really was quite a good dancer.

I found a few videos on the internet.  The first one includes the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (I simply LOVE that name) doing a circle dance and singing.  The second one is rather short.  The third one is about three minutes.  The main theme of this year's parade was gay equality as can be seen in this France 24 article with video en Anglais (in English).
  

There was an ice cream truck, Snoopy Glace, near us so Robb bought us a couple of cones.  The ice cream was good, the cones not so much. The final float rolled by around 19h30 (7:30 PM) and we started the very long trek back to the apartment.  I was so tired, I didn't even want to go out for dinner, but around 21h45 we walked down to the place on the corner which indicated on its awning, that it is a cafe and a brasserie (both eating places).  However, the waiter said they were serving nothing but drinks, though we had seen people eating there when we passed a day or two ago.  So it was back to the apartment where we had toast, pâté and wine.

You can see all the Pride pictures at Paris Pride 2011.

26 Juin (Dimanche) - Another sleepless night.  I may have to resort to some kind of sleeping pill.  I think part of the problem is the teensy-weensy little pillows they have in France.  At least, today is Dimanche (Sunday) and most things are closed, so I'll have a chance to recoup some energy and catch up on yesterday's events.  Robb walked up to the Franprix to get some more stuff around noon (Midi).

To find out what happened when I tried to make a video yesterday, I made a short video of the apartment. Of course, that turned out great.  But you can get a sense of the large size the place.  There is a strange situation with this apartment.  It is at least twenty degrees cooler in here than outside.  I also took pictures out the front door and the back door.

Dinner tonight a 'le bar à huîtres' on Boulevard Beaumarchais.  The waiter brought out a huge lobster.  It must have weighed close to ten pounds.  I would have said "no way", but Robb wanted to go with it.  I don't even like lobster, but what the hey.  My dessert was three kinds of sorbet, and that was excellent.  Robb had rhum cake (and again, the waiter left the entire bottle of rum, thankfully Robb didn't drink as much as last time).  The thing that blew me away was the menu.  It was on what I think was an iPad (I've never actually seen one, but Apple is very popular over here, so it could be).  After the main course, but before dessert, I went out and took a video (with my phone) of the fish market just at the corner, because of the waterfall windows.  If you don't mind being REALLY ripped-off, you might like to eat at this place.

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011

22 Juin (Mercredi) - Bonjour de Paris!

We took the car over to Steve's last night so he could start it for us.  We don't want to go through the whole replacing the battery thing again.  We gave our apartment and mailbox keys to Dave, our neighbor across the hall.  He promised to pick up our mail.  The apartment key is just in case and we really hope he doesn't need it.

We had finished packing also last night, so we only had to put in our shaving stuff and we were ready for the taxi, which I had called last night, too.  He arrived right around 13h00, loaded our stuff in and off we went to BIA (Broward International Airport).  I have never before heard it called that, and I don't think it's "official", but that's what the taxi drivers are calling it.

The guy at the outside check-in area couldn't find our tickets in his machine, even though it brought up our names.  He told us that happens all the time and we should just go inside to the regular counter.  We had no problem checking in at the inside counter and headed to the gate, which luckily for me was only about a hundred yards from the counter.  I say luckily because the wheelchair that was supposed to be waiting for me, was not.  We boarded right on time and settled into our seats.

Then it all went to hell.

The first announcement came just before our scheduled take-off time; 15h15.  Apparently, there was a bad weather situation over the Atlanta airport, and planes could not land, nor take off.  It was supposed to clear within a half hour.   We weren't worried because we had a three-hour window until our flight to Paris at 20h30.  We finally took off around 17h30 and got into Atlanta around 19h45.  Again, the wheelchair that was supposed to be waiting, was not there and we had to call for one to be brought down.  It was a good thing I insisted on waiting for it, because the gate at which our plane was waiting was the very last one in the airport and there's no way we would have gotten there (once we found where it was) in time.  As it was, we just made it.  Or so we thought.  Again, because of the bad weather that had finally cleared just before we arrived, had caused eveything to be backed up, and our plane didn't take off until around 21h30.
  

We thought we were flying Delta to Atlanta, where we would board an Air France plane to Paris.  We were wrong.  We flew Delta all the way.  I'm not complaining, it's just that although Delta was nice and the stewardesses were friendly and efficient, it lacked the ambience of Air France.  For instance, with dinner you could have wine, but you had to ask for it.  And, unlike Air France, there was no champagne at all.  When I saw our seats, I was a happy camper.  We were just next to the bulkhead, which of course, means we had extra room.  The only problem was that Robb was on one side of the aisle, and I was on the other.  There was a French woman with a 20-month-old child sitting between us.  The kid was very active and a bit annoying, but within an hour or so he fell asleep in his mother's arms.  That brought up problem number two; we had not yet been served our dinner and she couldn't hold the kid and eat at the same time.  Her solution was to lay the kid on the floor in front of her (and me).  Robb gave her his blanket and I gave her my pillow for his head.  He slept contentedly for almost the entire flight.

23 Juin (Jeudi) - When we arrived at Aéroport Charles de Gaulle at around 11h30, there was a wheelchair, but sadly it wasn't for me.  It took almost an hour for them to bring me my chair.  Again, it's a good thing I insisted, because it is a long, long way through customs, baggage claim and to the taxi station and I was extremely tired.  While I didn't mind the French kid sleeping on the floor in front of me, it meant I couldn't really sleep because I was worried I might accidentally kick him if I fell totally asleep.  I managed to doze off for a few minutes at a time, but it definitely wasn't restful.  My wheel man was very nice and even made sure I got a taxi ahead of the other passengers standing in a long line.  I'm sure they were pissed when they saw me just hop into a taxi and take off.

We got to the apartment around 15h00, and were met by Olivier, the representative of Ah Paris, through whom we had rented our apartment at 7, rue Saint-Claude in the 3e (le Marais).  He showed us how everything worked and got us signed onto the internet.  He went on his way and we acclimated ourselves.  The apartment is a lot bigger than it appears in the pictures on the website. We were both so tired, we did something we ordinarily would not do; we napped for several hours.  It was cold in the apartment even though it was about 19°C outside.  Well, 19°C is around the mid-sixties in Fahrenheit.  That's cold for me.

As tired as we were, we had no choice but to walk to the Franprix on Blvd Beaumarchais.  We needed coffee, milk, bread and wine.  But as we always do, we bought a few other things also.

A bit after 21h00, we decided (okay, I decided) we could walk to dinner at Fontaine Sully.  We walked down rue Saint-Claude to rue de Turenne. We turned left and walked down rue de Turenne.  I had done this walk digitally on Google Street View and I knew there are a lot of men's stores, but when you walk it for real, the number of stores is somewhat overwhelming.  And of course, we had to stop at so many to have a look.  We finally made it to rue de San Antoine, just a block past Place des Vosges and Fontaine Sully was about a half block to our left.  The first thing we ordered was a picher du vin rouge (a small pitcher of red wine) because the house wine at Fontaine Sully is quite good.  For dinner, we both had filet mignon de porc (pork fillets) accompanied by a large portion of linguini.  After eating, we had un coupe de champagne (a glass of champagne) and finsihed with un café (a coffee).  It was amusing to remember how we used to think we had to order a café noir (black coffee), when all that's really necessary is saying simply "café, s'il vous plait".  Just after we ordered the champagne, Katy recognised us and came over to say "bonsoir" and do the French kissing thing.

After leaving the restaurant, I wanted to walk up to the Place de la Bastille and walk back to the apartment by way of Blvd Beaumarchais.  The Colonne de Juillet was all lit up and I took a picture of it with my phone. Considering how tired and cold I was, it's not a terrible picture.

It seemed to take much longer to get back to the apartment than it had taken to get to the restaurant, but we finally made it.  It was well after 02h00 when we climbed the short staircase (8 steps) up to the bedroom which contains only a double bed and a small night table.

À la prochaine, mes amis. 

Getting Close

Friday was my birthday. Robb took me, Wendy and Steve to the HiLife Cafe to celebrate. Actually, I guess it was more to commemorate than celebrate because no one celebrates being this old. We had a bottle of champagne and a good meal. Robb, Steve and I had a roasted pork dish which was very good. Wendy had a goat cheese salad. The goat cheese was lightly battered and fried. It was so good. I was the last to finish. I don't really mind getting older, and if it wasn't for the COPD, I would probably be in excellent condition. At least, that's how I feel. It's difficult to think of myself as old, except when I look at the skin on my arms. Yuck!

Get ready to walk! All dates 2011 gay pride events.  We will be there for the parade in Paris on the 25th.

World's largest swimming pool

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There’s a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says. 

Scientists predict rare 'hibernation' of sunspots. 

Die Smiling on This Hoverbike. 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Brainerd, Minnesota, every man is required by law to grow a beard!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Fractal Energy

Since the drug companies here won't let me buy more than a month's worth of my medicine at a time, and since we will be going to Europe in another week and a half, I bought my drugs from a pharmacy in Vanuatu. Yes, I know all about the FDA's warnings about drugs from other places. I know, also, how the FDA will pass any drug from which they receive enough money. I have bought drugs from this company many times before. Never had a problem and don't expect any this time.

I spoke to a really nice guy at AT&T the other day. When I asked if he had ever been out of the country, he replied he had not but wanted to go to Ireland, when and if he gets the chance. When I told him about getting high speed internet, multi-channel TV, free phone service to nearly the entire world and all that for only €30 per month, he replied, "Wow, we're really ripped off in this country aren't we?"

Of course, since most of the people in this country never leave it, they have no idea how badly we are over-charged for just about everything. And when you tell them, they are in such denial (not the river) that they refuse to believe it. As the saying goes...none are so blind as those who will not see. Since that applies to at least eighty percent of Americans, don't expect any changes in your lifetime.

Tests show wireless network could jam GPS systems. 

It’s Official: Google Can Sell Power Like a Utility. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted Google Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the search giant, the right to behave like a utility. The order grants Google Energy the power to sell energy, capacity and services at market rates.

The Original Condom.

Mars Space Station 'Discovered'; Earthlings Tune In To See It. 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arizona, it is illegal for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

BRAZILliant

It has been an interesting week chez nous. We hired a maid to come in every other week. Her name is Carmen. She's from Brazil. Wednesday was her first day and she was here for about five hours. She is so thorough that she didn't even finish before she had to go, but promised to make up for it next time. There were only a couple things she didn't get to, but one of them was something we didn't think she would do at all because none of the other people we've had in would even think about cleaning our breakfront with all the glassware.

In other good news, I finally sold the four-wheel suitcase I bought in Germany. I had listed it a couple months ago in Craigslist. One guy called about it, but he didn't want to pay the $50 I was asking. I waited about a month and put it back in on Monday for $75. I had two inquiries and the second one came over on Friday and bought it for his daughter for her trip to.....Brazil.

NOTE TO MOBILE PHONE MAKERS: PLEASE, DO NOT PUT THE VOLUME CONTROL ON THE SIDE OF THE PHONE! THANK YOU.

Does anyone ever wonder why, in spite of the billions of dollars collected through various charities, no cure for anything has been discovered? You don't suppose it's because the drug companies, the insurance companies and the medical practitioners would lose millions if cures were discovered? Nah, couldn't be that.

Here is another example of how badly we're ripped in this country: "The annual premium for a policy providing replacement value for the house and its contents in case of fire, water, or storm damage was just 250 euros ($365). In California, we had been paying about $1500 (€1027) a year for similar coverage (which did not include earthquake insurance). I subsequently bought a car in Saint-Aignan and had it insured with AXA as well. Again, the annual premium for a full-service policy — liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage — was much lower than it had been in California for a similar policy." Americans will never learn! We are ripped-off in just about every way you can imagine, we are behind in just about every category used to measure the greatness of a country, and yet we go blithely on our way talking about living in the greatest country in the world. Some people, instead of waking up when reading this, will undoubtedly reply that if we dislike the US so much, we should leave. Well, just as soon as the dollar is worth more than fifty cents. Does anyone remember just a few years ago when the Canadian dollar was worth about fifty cents? Well, now it's the US dollar that's worth less.  We have the slowest internet service in the world, but pay the most.  We have the worst mobile phone service in the world, but again, we pay the most. 

As if all that wasn't bad enough, Monday it was learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. Many citizens have no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform... in all of its forms.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arkansas, a man can legally beat his wife once a month!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Clubbing Auctions

Saturday night, Robb and I went clubbing. We started at Georgie's Alibi with a margarita. It was somewhat weak, but much better than the last one we had there. We finished our drinks, and walked over to Bill's Filling Station, passing the open Gay Mart on the way. It didn't even occur to me until right now, that it was after midnight and the store was open. In Bill's, we came across a signed poster of RuPaul from 2007. It just happens that we went there for that show with our friends from Toulouse. We waited and waited, but after a couple hours, (s)he still hadn't appeared and we (the audience) were told it might be a couple more hours, so we did not get to see RuPaul. Neither did we get our money back. We had another margarita. It was stronger than the one we had had at Georgie's. We left Bill's and started walking down to The Manor.  But Robb had picked up some gay mags and wanted to leave them in the car, so we detoured. Once we got to the car, we decided we might as well drive down to The Manor, because it was a bit further than either of us wanted to walk. We got lucky and came across a guy pulling out just across the street. After we had parked, four young girls (think early 20's) came over to ooh and ahh over the car and us. Lordy, I can't believe we're so old that young guys and girls think we're just so cute. The Manor was jumping with the biggest crowd we'd seen so far. I ordered our margaritas, we found a table where we could check out the action and hung out. The drinks at The Manor were nondescript and served in a small plastic cup.  They were also the most expensive.

I was sitting on the balcon the other day and just happened to notice that one of the palm tree spears I showed before, was in the process of opening into a frond.

There's a whole new business happening online now. They're called “Penny Auctions”. Some clever person took the idea of eBay and figured out a way to make more money while giving less. In order to "bid" on an item, you have to purchase "bids". If you run out of bids before you win the item, you have to purchase more. Their big draw is the low bids that "win" the items; like getting an iPad for $30.

This asshole will just not give up: OAKLAND, Calif. — Here we go again. A California religious radio impresario who predicted — wrongly — that the end of the world would begin on May 21 revised his prophecy on Monday, saying now that the end is due in October. 

Top 10 New Species Discovered in 2010. 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arizona, it is illegal to hunt camels!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis

Blah Blah Trees

Sunday was a horrific day. Two of Robb's cousins (twice removed) came in to visit their mother (Helen, who lives on Miami Beach). Elandra flew in from Dallas and Claudia drove down from New Jersey with a stop in Atlanta to visit her daughter. Elandra, was getting into the Fort Lauderdale airport around 13h00. She and Robb agreed to meet at the airport and drive to the Sage restaurant, where we would wait for Claudia. Of course, our car only holds two people, so Robb had to drop me at the restaurant first. It took a bit longer than any of us anticipated, but they finally showed up. Then we had to order lunch. I checked the menu and decided the best thing for me would be a crêpe, so I ordered the Crêpe Nanette (with apples and brie). I was hoping for a regular crêpe, but this thing was big enough to feed a family of four. Then the real horror began. Elandra started talking. Mother blah blah blah...sister blah blah blah. It seemed like hours until Claudia called and said she was very close. I guess they're all so used to putting each other down that they don't realize how very boring it can be for someone outside the family to listen to them. Especially if you can't just get up and walk away.

We have four new trees in our 'garden' area (the area between the buildings). I'm not sure what kind of trees they may be. One appears to be some kind of palm tree, another is kind of gray-ish, and the other two look like regular trees. Two of the trees were planted where we had lost trees. The palm-like tree replaced the one that died because of the cold, and the other one replaced a tree whose roots were damaging the pool.

If I should suddenly disappear from Open Diary, you can find me at Le Rêve Français.

I never liked the Sperminator from the first time I heard of him, many years ago. It just seems appropriate that he's a homophobic Republican who cheats on his wife.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arizona, it is illegal to hunt camels!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Flashing Music

Flashes Light Up Sky Over Fort Worth. This video is fantastic!

I don't know about you guys, but I found this to be hilarious: Delaware Adopts Civil Unions. The bill, which passed the state house and senate by wide margins last month, was signed into law at the Queen Theater in Wilmington....

I hope you all will have a happy last week of your life. Oh, haven't you heard? According to Harold Camping (the same guy who predicted the end of the world in 1994, be sure to scroll down to the reviews) the world is coming to an end on May 21, 2011, at approximately 18h00. So, if you were planning to watch the six o'clock news this Saturday, too bad, you will be the news. According to the dimwits at ebiblefellowship.com/, it's true.  Of course, that doesn't mean you should stop sending your donations.   So, happy End of the World, folks!

While shopping in our local discount warehouse, I came across Magnum Ice Cream Bars. You may remember how I raved about them last year in Europe, so I was extremely happy to find a place that sells them in the US. Then I got the idea to check our local supermarket, and sure enough, there they were. But no one sells, nor have they even heard about (apparently) my favorite, the Magnum White.  So, of course, as I am wont to do in these times of email, I fired off a bunch of emails to various markets around the area. A few contacted me wanting to know where I had seen, or eaten, these delicious treats, which is how I discovered this particular bar was unknown to them.

Robb and I watched the Eurovision finals live online. Only one of my top three choices made it to the top ten; Georgia.  Robb liked Greece.  The winner was Azerbaijan, which we had to Google to find where it is.  The one thing that always stands out when I watch Eurovision, is that almost all the songs are performed in English. I say almost all, because France refuses to speak English, even though it's mandatory in their schools. Italy didn't do that well, but I know at least one other person who will like them.

If you hate flying, you're going to love this video.

AquaNotes Waterproof Notepad Captures the Great Ideas You Get in the Shower!

Dumb Law of the Week: In Alabama, it is illegal to wrestle bears.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Two SIM Cards

I bought two SIM cards from different companies. The first is from Roam Simple, a Canadian company, although the card they sent me is for O₂, a UK company. I got that one, even though their rates are a bit high and you have to pay for everything; incoming, outgoing, texts in, texts out, even voicemail. But I have an $18 credit from the last time I used them, so I will use that until my credit is gone and then I'll switch to the other. The other is from Roam4Zero, a slight misnomer, and another UK company. But their rates are rather fair. These rates for the Czech Republic are pretty much standard throughout Europe; Incoming $0.00 / min, Outgoing to local landline $0.50 / min, Outgoing to local Cell $0.50 / min, Outgoing SMS $0.70, Incoming SMS Free. There are two distinctly different Roam4 websites. Roam4Less and Roam4Zero. Roam4Less is very similar to Roam Simple, with which you pay for everything, and the Roam4Zero which has rates like the ones I've shown. There is another company named Roam4Free, which is in no way connected with the other two.  Oh, the Roam4Zero card is usually about $29, but I got them on eBay for $10 with no shipping charge.

Saturday, Robb and I did another thing we haven't done in a long time. No, again it wasn't that. We met Wendy (Robb's neice) and Steve (her husband) for lunch at a place named D'Angelo's. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I don't eat breakfast or lunch. It's usually much too late for breakfast, by the time I get up somewhere between 11:30 AM and 13h00. At the restaurant, which was very nice, we had a bunch of stuff from the Tapas menu, including roasted sweet Italian sausage over escarole and beans, turkey & chicken meatballs in roasted pepper thyme sauce, polpo – octopus carpaccio, olives and tomato pesto. I ate a couple pieces of calamari and a couple of pesto covered french fries. But I ate quite a bit of the polpo because it was very like the polpo we had in Barcelona. Steve and Wendy didn't care for it. We had a nice, long chat (about an hour and a half) and then we left.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about seeing bushy palm trees for the first time. Some people got the idea that they're bushy because they needed trimming. But that's not the case, because as far as I know, I've never seen anyone trim a palm tree. Nor have I ever seen one that needed trimming. Here is a picture of a 'regular' palm tree and here is a 'bushy' palm tree. Can you now see the difference? These 'regular' palms have been here since long before we moved in, and in fact, were barely up to the balcony of the apartment below us. The palm trees don't need trimming because they 'trim' themselves. It's not easy to see, but in this picture, you can see what appears to be a spear sticking up from the middle of the tree.  You can also see one in the picture of the bushy trees.  This will eventually become a new frond. Shortly after that happens, one of the older fronds on the bottom will fall off.

Intel Debuts First 3-D Transistor for New ‘Ivy Bridge’ Chip. 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Alaska, it is illegal to tie your pet dog to the roof of a car.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.