France

(Click on a picture at the bottom to pull the full sized gallery up!)

As I briefly mentioned in my Norway travelogue, being a flight attendant has given me the opportunity to meet (hundreds of?) thousands of people. Whenever it’s time to board I wonder if a new friend is about to enter my life. This is not the experience of most flight attendants, but I think they are missing out by not paying enough attention to this opportunity. Besides the obvious example of Fabian, who I met on a flight in August of 2002, there are other people with whom I have become close friends. Under the rubric of “Perhaps the Most Generous Person I’ve Ever Met” is Jean Baptiste Leray (JB). I met him on a flight from Paris to Chicago in October, 2005. Below you will find pictures of my “Summer of France” which was due entirely to him. He owns an apartment in Paris, with a great location by the Louvre!, and in this particular summer he was traveling to Switzerland during the week for work. He casually offered, “Hey, Craig, since I’m gone during the week, why don’t you invite a friend of your’s over to Paris for a week and you can stay here for free?” Heck, ya! So I met up with my friend Greg in Paris in June and, if you haven’t traveled with your friends before, let me tell you it can be a disaster. The small things that annoy you a little at home can turn monumental while making vacation decisions. But not with Greg! Greg is a cool, socially observant, intellectual and we got along famously. I wish I had a friend like him in my own hometown.

Then in August, JB’s parents, who live in a small town in southern France called Montpelier, wanted to go up to Paris for a week. They let JB have their house, said he could invite any friends he wished, and so he invited a small posse. I think generosity is an inheritable quality. So, in August I went back to France and took the high speed train down to the South. Those trains are amazing! In my jetlagged delirium I felt like I was traveling through a cross between a three dimensional impressionistic Van Gogh painting and a psychedelic trip at warp speed. What a fun week! I had the best bed in the house which was poolside in my sleeping bag on luxurious patio furniture under the Starry Starry Night. Each day in the morning after bagettes and coffee we had an excursion to some fun place. One day we went swimming in a river in a gorge under a fantastic bridge. You could jump off the walls of the gorge into the water. I will include place names for travel references [this was Le Pont de Diable]. Other days were: a cave…I end up caving on so many trips I think I’m what you could call an accidental spelunker [La Grotte des Demosoiselles]…and anyone who has studied art knows that French caves were the center of the Neanderthal art world; a day hike sized mountain climb [Le Pic Saint-Loup]; the medieval walled city of Carsassonne, a picture of which I have stolen from wikipedia below

The Medieval Walled Town of Carcassonne Lit Up at Night

because it is just so much more gorgeous than any of my pictures; and finally, a trip to the Mediterrean on a scorching hot day where we set up our blankets on scorching hot sand only to be allured by the Sirens of Fever into the FREEEEZING cold water (and I’m a boy from Michigan).

Wow, that was one long sentence.

After our excursions we spent our late afternoons relaxing around the pool with wine and cheese; it was France, after all. JB is so generous that he even shares his friends. Two of them, Dirk and Laura (Mr. and Mrs. Universe below) have become good friends of mine and I will visit them next week.  So, thanks JB!! Moral of the story: If you are a flight attendant, don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with your passengers. If you are not, introduce yourself to the person next to you at the check out line in the grocery store.

One last evening pool party in JB’s pool. Thanks for a great summer JB! Oh, and the new friends too!

Ah, here I am with the true King JB of France, and not because of his height.

Does this make me King of France?

One last effort!

Excursion Five: le Pic Saint-Loup. Our goal for that morning was to get to the top.

Excursion Four, the Mediterranean: Here I am strolling onto the beach from a refreshing swim–not! Being a geeky earth scientist/water lover, I was shocked to find it was ICE water.

Excursion Three: le Grotte des Desmoiselles This is JB with Bonono at the caves. They are currently (2012) working in South Korea together with JB’s (now) wife. These are two close friends. Caves are hard to take pictures in, not surprisingly.

One of our few group pictures. This one is for them 😉

Standing guard at the parapet in case the plebes attack. A few minutes later I bought an stylin table cloth.

Outside the walled city lie the gorgeous red roofs under which all the plebes live.

Excursion Two: the walled city of Carcassonne, a bit closer to the Spanish border. Another highly recommended destination.

Here is a picture of the “beach” (pebbles) at the Pont du Diable. Adventurous people were jumping off the rocks ledges.

My friends Dirk and Laura, also known as Mr. and Mrs. Universe. I promise I did not steal this picture from an advertisement.

Yours truly at the swimming hole. Water shoes were made for lakes and rivers with pebbly bottoms. Get a pair!

Excursion One: Pont du Diable. Most awesome swimming hole!

Onto August and Montpelier in southern France. This is JB’s backyard (does this look acceptable for wine and cheese around the pool?). I slept in the lounge chair at night under the stars. Sooo nice! Thanks clear skies.

Greg (left), the said cool intellect, with JB (right), the said giant generous heart. This post is dedicated to you JB!

This is me introducing Greg (who I met in a bar in Seattle) to Freddy (who I met online). Greg is now a closer friend with Freddy than me, because Freddy spends so much time in San Francisco. Spread your friends!

You may want to skip lightly over the next few people pictures. But I must honor my friends 😉 This is my favorite picture of Greg and I.

Here is Greg in the Montmartre neighborhood near the Sacre Coeur. It really is this charming. You must go here.

I have so many pictures of me standing with a friend in front of Notre Dame with various friends over the years that I momentarily considered it as a blog topic. But I’ll spare you. I can’t think of a place on the planet that holds so many disparate memories for me though. It was the first historical site I ever saw in Europe.

Artistic shot of the ceiling at the Musee de Orsay.

Here I am standing atop the Musee de Orsay in the outdoor cafe. The view is north across the Seinne toward the Basilica du Sacre Coeur in the Montemarte neighborhood. This may be a sacriledge to say, but unless you are an art histroy scholar or have a month in Paris, I would skip the Louvre to go to Musee de Orsay. It has all the paintings you’ll recognize by Van Gogh, Monet, Seurat, etc…and in addition it was constructed from an old bustling train station. Perfect floor plan, giant clock, and the ceiling you’ll see in the next picture.

Well, most people take pictures of the Arc de Triumphe from the Champs-Elysees. Here is a picture of the reverse. The climb up the Arc de Triumphe is well worth the effort for the spectacular views.

This is the Place de la Concorde, the giant Plaza at the end of Paris’ most famous street, the Champs-Elysees. The Arc de Triumphe lies at the other end. This Plaza is notable for two things in my mind: it was the site of the guillotine that beheaded Louis XVI amongst many other during the “Reign of Terror,” and the giant hieroglyphics decorated ancient Egyptian obelisk that once stood at the entrance to the Luxor Temple.

Dorks! OK, so I convinced Greg to try the Segway (the contraption we are on) tour of Paris. It was fun!! This was our stop at the Louvre. You should try this crazy machine at some point in your life. It reads your mind like it knows where you want to go! Check out the Fat Tire Bike Tours just blocks from the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower alights for five minutes (:55 to :00) every evening. It sparkles actually. Serving no obvious purpose, this Parisian Icon is simply beautiful and attracts tourists from everywhere. At the time it was constructed in 1889 for the Paris World’s Fair many considered it garish. Guy de Maupassant is said to have eaten lunch in the Tower’s restaurant every day to avoid having to look at it.

Since Paris thrives around the river, it has put special effort into the beauty of its bridges. This is my favorite: Pont Alexander III. Behind you see the roof of the great exhibition hall, the Grand Palais, finished in the Beaux-Arts style in 1900. The glass roof let in light before electric lighting was adept enough to display the art.

The walk along the river side in Paris is gorgeous and relaxing. At night the banks are especially active with late night picnicers having red wine and cheese and talking politics, skateboard tricksters and even tightrope walkers.

Welcome to France! A Seinne river cruise from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame is a great quick glimpse of Paris. The city pulses around this central artery.

Me in JB’s apartment next to his pull out futon. I slept like a baby next to the window lulled by the background city noise. Greg wanted earplugs.