MORNING IN PARIS

A tranquil morning over the Seine River as it carves its way through Paris. This wall on the left is the edge of the Ile de la Cite'. Astride it is the spectacular Cathedral of Notre Dame.

ICONIC STRUCTURES - EIFFEL TOWER

Like most of the structures on this list, the Eiffel Tower began life as a controversial project. Labeled as "ugly", "too big" and "too dangerous", and heavily criticized for both aesthetics and engineering, the tower was built as a reportedly temporary structure for the World's Fair in Paris, completed in 1889. It was designed to stand until 1909, when the City of Paris was expected to tear it down.

Obviously, plans changed.

One of the tallest structures in the world for a hundred years (THE tallest for its first 41 years of its existence), the tower has stood the test of time and has become symbolic of Paris, and even of France itself.

WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY...

(Might as well continue the titular theme...)

From the archives: Lazy window shopping day in the Montmartre district, Paris.

MORNING ON THE SEINE

The world is a bit crazy these days, and so we need to find those quiet moments when everything seems to pause, and a bit of peace and quiet descends to sooth the mind and the heart.

Seine River, Paris. 2001

PARIS, FRANCE - AFTERNOON IN MONTMARTRE

Afternoon on Montmartre. One of the more picturesque and walkable part sod a picturesque and walkable city (Paris), Montmartre is among the most fun and bohemian neighborhoods to simply lose yourself. Dozens of cafes, fun shops, and terrific people-watching in an area that is ever-so-slightly Paris' most important artists' enclave, giving rise to the Belle Epoque era.

Capping the hill is the magnificent Basilique du Sacre-Couer, 

with perhaps the best "on-high" view of modern Paris in the city.

Wander the streets, grab a bite of lunch, then take the funicular up to the Basilica to gaze out over the city as you watch the people go by. It's a guaranteed great day in Paris.

PARIS, FRANCE - THE MOULIN ROUGE

Four or five times a year I go through the archives and rediscover a bunch of images or settings I'd forgotten. Mostly because my..ahem...focus was on a different element of the shoot. But there are plenty of the "in-between" shots which are worthy of attention, and someday...someday...I will get around to them.

This image -- obviously the Moulin Rouge in Paris -- was one I captured solely on one of my walkabouts. Taken at roughly the same time as Baz Luhrmann's film of the same name was released, this simply caught my eye as I was traipsing around Montmartre.

Annnnd...We're Back

Okay, kids. Back in business. Sometimes there are personal issues that require your undivided attention and family comes first.

But...we're back.

And to celebrate let's take a quick jaunt over to Paris for a walk across the Seine River. 

They've outlawed them now, but for a time loving couples could declare their affection by locking a padlock along the wire fencing on bridges that cross the river. Apparently all of the locks were putting a terrible strain on the metalworks and causing damage.

However, this is France. 

Romance will ever out.

TRAVELING BY RAIL

"As a child I found railroad stations exciting, mysterious, and even beautiful, as indeed they often were."
                       
                                                                               - Paul Johnson





There is an allure to trains and train travel which is almost mystical. We've all been raised with the images and sounds of rail systems around the world, from the lonely high-pitched whistle of steam locomotives chugging through the European countryside to the deep-throated honk of Disney's monorails.

L.A.'s Union Station

New York's Grand Central

Yesterday's DAILY ESCAPE featured this photograph of the central train station in Rome, Stazione Termini. Subsequently that image got me to thinking about the variety of train stations around the world, particularly those I have visited and photographed over the years. Like many other of my Travel images, train stations weren't really a focus -- pun unavoidable -- they were interesting sidebars.

Being an American, I was raised with the romance of rail. It's an image highly ingrained into each of us, but one which is only dimly reflected in modern day reality. Unlike Europeans, Americans largely dispensed with rail service with the growth of the auto industry. We embraced our cars, and left the trains behind.

Euro-Speedsters!

However with the 21st century came a tightening of resources, making a returned glance at rail a necessary part of regional and urban planning. Too many cars, not enough oil, overcrowded airports and the relative cost of railroad services have brought about a renaissance of sorts to the industry. Light rail is all the rage in American cities. And even inter-city service is showing renewed possibilities for the weary traveler.

California, usually at the forefront of trends in the States, is building the first true high speed rail service across the state. (It continues to be controversial, primarily to those people who see only outgoing dollars instead of an investment in the state's future.)

The author transiting The Chunnel

For myself, I am convinced in both the viability as well as the desirability of rail service as a major mode of transportation. And not without some experience in the area: as a small boy I (apparently) rode the Japanese bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto and back. Later, in adulthood, were rides on Europe's premier high speed rail systems -- Eurostar, TGV, Thalys and Le Frecce -- as well as trips up  and down the Eastern seaboard aboard Amtrak.

None of this includes the uncounted trips on a variety of subways and light rail systems in cities around the world.

BART, San Francisco

Some day my plan is to take rail trips from Chicago to Portland, from Perth to Sydney, and something -- as yet unfound -- in South America. Each of these promise to be an adventure, and that's what traveling is all about. It's often not about racing to a destination, but the stages and viewscapes in-between.

It's often what you see on your way TO something else that makes an adventure worth having.

And that...is where rail excels.

Train station, Monaco grandeur

Tren Italia

Rain, in Genova

THE DAILY ESCAPE: DINNER ON A BATEAUX MOUCHE

My wife and I have been fortunate to have had elegant dinners in many cities around the world.

Certainly one of the most romantic and memorable was sharing a meal aboard a Bateaux Mouches dinner cruise as it plied its way up the Seine River through Paris, passing so many of the wonderful Parisian landmarks. An expensive but amazing evening. 

THE DAILY ESCAPE: The Force Awakens

I ran across the below image in my archives -- it's from Gare du Nord in Paris, but what catches my eye are the three Star Wars film ads on the wall behind the trains.

I believe they are for The Phantom Menace based solely on the time frame of the shot (circa 2000)..

The Importance of Urgency, Part 2

"Traveling is more than just seeing landmarks and monuments -- you should want to experience the culture and understand how other people live" 
    - Justin Scheman, Contestant, THE AMAZING RACE

Paris, aka The City of Lights, is perhaps the most romanticized and dreamt-about travel destination on the planet.

It was no different for my wife and me. We had often dreamed of a trip to Europe, starting, of course, with Paris. It was something we both shared as a destination, with both of us having childhood aspirations of visiting that most special of places. In my case, it was fostered by films such as AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, or FUNNY FACE. In her case it had been a long-time dream of her mother's to get to see the Eiffel Tower and the River Seine.

Sadly, by the time my wife and I managed to cross the pond, my mother-in-law had passed away. This made for a bittersweet moment when we paused during our first night on the town to call her father from a pay phone (remember those?).

The Musee D'Orsay

My wife regaled him the the story of our first dinner at Le Rotonde restaurant in the Montparnasse district. It had been a wonderful and colorful meal in a picture-perfect Parisienne bistro with fabulous food and adept service (who cheerfully reassured us Americans were warmly welcomed) -- and one very elegant mature woman with a model's gracefully aging looks and a lit cigarette at the end of a holder reading Le Figaro at the table next to ours. No scene from a movie could have better captured the essence of our dreams.

He was, of course, supremely happy for us, and it was a call my wife would come to appreciate far more than we had even imagined.



It was, as we were to learn, her final conversation with him.

Le Metro

Three days later, after we had left the city to explore the countryside amid towns like Chenonceaux, we tried calling again. His male nurse fumbled something about her father being "in the bathroom". It was an odd call, but we put it aside and went back to enjoying our day at the Chateau named for the town (or is it vice-versa?).

The next evening we tried again and learned the awful truth -- that one day after that perfect call from his daughter -- he had passed away from a long-simmering heart condition. We had traveled after assurances he had plenty of time left, but sadly fate had different plans.

We frantically called some relatives, finally reaching my cousin Linda, a travel agent for AmEx, and she saved the day by booking us quick passage back to the States. Not an easy task when you're in a small town in back country France, and you don't speak the language beyond a handful of phrases from the guidebooks.
But the loss of her father was a deep blow. But in its own way it reinforced the need for adventure in our lives.

A year further on we made plans and returned to France to complete our journey, plus touches of a couple of other countries. It would be another decade before we returned to Europe, but the memories of that first trip -- the good and the bad -- will be with us for a lifetime.

And it reinforced the message of urgency. The shared adventure. Things happen, and often we are bogged down in the daily stuff. Travel breaks that up. 



Then, three years ago, the message became more important than ever. 

(to be continued. THE IMPORTANCE OF URGENCY: OVERDRIVE)

Visiting the Eiffel Tower for the first time

Pic of the Day: The Eiffel Tower

It was our first trip to Paris. The night before we'd had a stunning dinner at a wonderful little restaurant which completely evoked the cliched but coveted image of a Parisian Bistro.

The next morning we caught our first train on Le Metro, riding to Trocadero station and the Palais de Chaillot. We ascended to the top of a grand staircase and walked up to this view -- our first ever -- of the Eiffel Tower. A profound moment, and one that lives in our memories.

J'taime.

Pic of the Day: Paris Metro

"Le Metro", short for Metropolitain, is one of the largest and most extensive underground subways in the world. Initiating service more than a century ago, there is always a Metro station just a short ways away.

This is from the entrance to the Champs Elysee Clemenceau station.

http://www.parismetro.com

Pic of the Day: A Pause at the Place du Casino

The pause that refreshes at the Cafe de Paris patio adjacent to the Casino de Monte Carlo in Monaco. Where the tourists sit and wait for the money to rub off the ultra-rich.

A Hole in the Ground

"But down in the underground
You'll find someone true
Down in the underground
A land serene
A crystal moon"                                    - David Bowie



In the famous Leonard Bernstein song "New York, New York" -- from the musical ON THE TOWN -- there is a lyric referring to the New York subway. 

"The people ride in a hole in the ground." 

LA's Metro

It doesn't sound too appealing, and truth to tell, the New York subway is hardly anybody's idea of a nice way to get around. It's efficient, it's cheap, and it's ubiquitous. And anyone who has ever ridden it will tell you it's not a whole lot of fun. (Hole lot of fun???)

Underground railway systems have been with us for more than a century and a half, with London's Metropolitan Underground Railway -- The "Tube" -- initiating service in 1863. Given its head start, it's no wonder The Tube is an extensive network, allowing for transportation all around the London metro area. Other than New York's legendary Subway, The Tube is perhaps the most extensive underground network in the world. (I base this solely upon personal experience, so feel free to gently correct my education.)

I have written extensively about airline and automotive travel, and a few sidelines into cruising and above-ground trains, but it occurred to me that -- other than a sideways relation between the Eurostar train's sub-English Channel run and other underground routes -- I have never really mentioned the subway.

Atlanta's MARTA

While some cities boast huge networks of below-the-ground systems, others give it a passing glance, with the subterranean portions being short runs when otherwise above-ground transit requires it. Los Angeles is such a place. So is Atlanta. Chicago's "El" just takes the whole damned thing and puts the tracks above your head, not under your feet.

The BART

But a subway experience, despite all of the negatives associated with it, can at times be just another aspect of a city's personality. New York is in many ways defined by its subway. London's Tube can be an adventure unto itself. Paris' Metro is a wonderland down below, with its own carefully cultivated art and music scene.

New York subway entrance

Some people feel that traveling the underground trains is a bad way to "see" a city, and I can't disagree, based solely on the fact much of your views are, of necessity, dark. Or dark with intermittent flashes of fluorescence. In some cases they can be nervewracking for the uneasy tourist. I get that -- it feels as though you're being swept along, surrounding by largely uncaring commuters who have no other purpose than to get from point A to point Z. It can be an overwhelming experience.

But they ARE, in most cases, part of the feel of a city. Part of its culture and character. The New York subway is as much a part of the experience as is a New York taxi. 

I'm not saying you should only use the subway, but try it. See if it isn't a better way to travel. 

And even if it isn't, it's still part of the adventure.

Pigalle station on Paris' Metro

BACK TO BASICS

"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."

                                             Nelson Mandela

I'm sitting at my desk, in the dark, wearing an "Air Mango" collared shirt, purchased at a Jimmy Buffett store in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. 

Yesterday, all day, I was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the palm of a hand and the words "Bandolier National Monument". New Mexico. 

Two days ago it was a green t-shirt, unfortunately "tie-dyed" over the years by the California sun, from the very chic Caribbean island of St. Barth. The design is of a stylized air plane on a runway with the words "L'avion" on the front of the shirt, a reference to the island's famous air strip -- an e-ticket ride for anyone who has even flown into or out of there. Or both.

In our kitchen and the back laundry room are display cases with more than a hundred forty shot glasses from around the world. I started my adventures, decades ago, by collecting coffee mugs, but this quickly grew unwieldy. Shots glasses are far easier to display and collect. Both cases are full, with the overflow sitting atop the display, begging for the next earthquake to send them flying into the air and onto the floor tiles six feet below.

Travel is a fundamental in my life.

A few weeks ago, as we returned from a tremendous trip Down Under, I put this blog on pause. Coming home, with the perspective on having a great adventure fresh on my mind, I pounded out a handful of essays and started to post. But something was missing. You noticed it too. Usually when I post a new blog entry I get quite a few first-day visitors. But something was wrong. Only five people checked in that first day. And only six the next day.

Something was wrong. So I posted that I was taking a brief sabbatical to figure things out. It wasn't much fun any more, and this was bleeding through in a way that it wasn't much fun for the reader either. So I posted notices here and elsewhere that I was taking a breather to figure it all out.

Being the good friends that they are, a couple of people offered polite suggestions and thoughts, while most people sent me a note saying they would miss "living vicariously". And I appreciated them all. But it didn't really help put the finger on the problem. Why was it no longer fun, and why was no one coming to the blog. 

That was my second error. My day to day stats were actually up. But not for the newer stuff. I was getting (and continue to get) regular hits to previous posts dealing with New Mexico Chocolate; the sunrise on Mount Haleakala; what it's like to fly above the clouds on a bright morning; and other things. Of particular note is the stratospheric popularity of the film locations for Under the Tuscan Sun.

Then the phone rang. It was a good friend of mine, a well-known writer who is one of the most solid and supportive people I know. We talked for a couple of minutes, exploring different possibilities, ideas, and direction. I argued a bit -- we rarely argue -- and kept pointing out that I couldn't do things because it didn't fit in with the business model I had in mind. The branding of The Thumbnail Traveler, and the eventual direction I wanted to go. 

He listened, patiently. Then, as he is so very able to do and do well, he nailed it.

"It sounds to me like you've lost the passion."

"Wha-?"

"You're not creating from a sense of passion. You're just doing business."

I argued some more. 

Our conversation drifted to other topics, but I could hear a sense of disappointment in his voice. I wasn't getting it.

Fifteen minutes later the penny dropped. He was right, the bastard.

Two of my very favorite passions in life -- beyond my wife and our respective families and friends -- are travel and photography. The combination are what drove me to create The Thumbnail Traveler in the first place. It's what adds so much texture and complexity to my life, and gives me perspective on who we are and what we have. I look back at my original blog entry and realize I wasn't talking about the wonder and talking about the photos -- I was treating them as incidental and just basically talking instead of enthusing.

I was treating it like a job.

(Don't get me wrong. Jobs can be fun and fulfilling. But taking your passion and allowing it to become mundane is a sad thing.)

I look back and realize that my photographs -- almost entirely lacking in the last four posts -- devolved into simple illustrations. To me, as a photographer, they are (or should be) the -- *ahem* -- focus of this blog. So why wasn't I treating them that way? I loved the places I was going, the adventures I was having, but the explanation of them became simply about providing content. Not telling my friends (that would be you, the reader) about the experiences I'd had. The fun. The adventure. When things went wrong, and when they went so very, very right.

And what I learned along the way, about myself as well as about the place I was visiting. The people I met. The flavors, the smells, the worlds I encountered. I was missing -- in the last six months or more, I think -- what it feels like to have the Indian Ocean lapping at your ankles. Of the insanity of the Vegas Strip. The taste of coal oven pizza in The Village. Gazing down upon Paris from the heights of the Eiffel Tower.

That is what this is all about, this moving from one spot to another.

So.

I like to think I'm back. I called my friend and called him the appropriate names, while at the same time thanking him for the insight. My wife, hearing what he'd said, reinforced the message. It's about the passion.

So please, rejoin me on this adventure. Keep me honest. Let's have some fun. Tomorrow I will post the first of what I hope is a long series of true adventures, based on the visuals I have created to bring you along with me.

After all, I've heard somewhere that All I need is a change of clothes, my Nikon, an open mind and a strong cup of coffee.

Taking a break while snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, a life-long dream come true.

ROAD TRIP: No Cure for Paris

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

     - Ernest Hemingway

For this morning's entry I elected to randomly pick a destination from my 30,000 photograph archive. 

Yeeks, some statistics are better left alone.

Today we journey to Paris, which probably should be everyone's first international destination. Full of adventures, history and art -- and the language barrier makes it just challenging enough to demonstrate that you're really, truly, overseas.

We have visited the "City of Lights" a mere three times now, yet with each journey the city reveals a bit more about itself -- and about ourselves as well. The romance is real, the vibe entirely unique. There are other wonderful destinations in the world, but none of them have the je ne sais quoi of the capital city of France.

We have had many adventures in Paris, and lived to tell the tale. 

My argument with the rude cabbie who spit -- only to be followed moments later, as if dispatched from the Paris Tourist Board, by another driver in a Yankees ball cap, who made us feel entirely welcome while we laughed and were cajoled all the way to the hotel. 

The first night ever in France in which we found ourselves a little postcardish corner cafe with red velvet walls, generous french waiters, incredible food and one very elegant french woman who sat reading Le Monde and gently pulling on a cigarette in a long holder; leaving us temporarily transported back to the romantic (and possibly imaginary) Paris of the early 20th century. 

Of the magnificent food...it's true it's impossible to get  a bad meal here. 

Spending a (relatively) short time in the Louvre so as not to detract from the -- for us -- far more interesting D'Orsay. 

Staying at the very modern and chic Westin Vendome this last journey, and not enjoying it nearly as much in the more humble and "local" hotels we've used before -- listening to the sounds of the city at 2am in the morning while a french couple have what only could be interpreted as a lover's quarrel somewhere in the apartments down the street. In French of course, but the emotions are raw, strong, passionate and identifiable.

Paris is, as Hemingway noted, a moveable feast that gets into your blood and soul, and never lets go.

Je t'aime.

Taxi queue near Place Vendome

The Bastille District

The Seine -- focal point of Parisian life

Monet exhibit at the Musee L'Orangerie

A "locking of love" on a Seine bridge

Students from La Sarbonne spend Saturday nights next to the Seine, chatting and waving at the tourist boats

Lovers walk along the river, lost in romance

Wandering the alleys and streets you can still feel the Paris of Romance and Love