Way Over Yonder...

I am sitting in the air-conditioned, first-class lounge, sipping Champagne, waiting to board my one-way flight back to the USA after 18 years, 11 months and 2 days of living in Paris. The past month, and in particular, this past week, has been an emotional roller-coaster ride.

I realized for the first time since my childhood, I will not have a key to my own front door. This is an incredibly liberating experience... my life is packed into three pieces of luggage (no mention of the 99 pieces being shipped!) and I have a few temporary places to stay while I look for a place of my own.

I've met some amazing and wonderful people whom I shall miss, deeply. I learned a new skill and turned that knowledge into a business that has sustained me over the past 5 years. I've reveled in the city of Paris, especially at night while driving past the monuments lit up in their glory. The seasons, the light as it changes with each season, the food, the wine, the cheeses... Paris is... Paris. I will miss Paris. I will not miss living here. I can always come back.

I begin my new life with barely a chance to unpack, and head to a conference in San Jose. I will hook up with a friend I have known since I was 16. I am looking forward to seeing you, Ro. I have concert tickets lined up beginning with Buddy Guy on my birthday, and plans to head to Long Island to see family and friends there. I will take a trip to see the craggy coast of my memories...

My son and I had our last night together for a while and we made the best of it. Lots of hugs and tears. He is a man now, a fine one, and he is doing well in university... I am so very proud of him. I know this is a difficult transition, but we agreed, it is time. Our visits from now on will be longer, and more fun in that we will have that extra time to spend together.

There are three women in particular who have meant the world to me while living here. Alice, Alison, and Barbara... from each of you I have learned so many different things about life. Thank you for the long talks, the encouragement and especially your friendship and support. I love you all.

I was fortunate to be involved with several Anglophone associations in Paris. If you are planning on living here, you must join, AND get involved with one or several of them. Doors will open.

5 minutes to boarding...

Paris has been a big part of my life. Now, the page is turned. I am looking ahead, with hope, happiness and a hunger to start again. I never thought I would say this! Au revoir, Paris... je t'aime!

Way over yonder, that's where I'm bound...

There are places I remember...

I was there in 2002, the era of Bush, Chirac and Colin Powell. It was the first Memorial Day following September 11. We had invitations from the US Embassy to attend and a group of us drove up for the day. Our driver (a friend with the biggest van) picked us up bright and early and we hit the autoroute... we had a great time enjoying the camaraderie and rare moment of being together for something that wasn't office related.

As we approached Colleville, the streets were lined with French and American flags and military "checkpoints". We had to show our invitations and passports several times along the way. We arrived early as told, which gave us plenty of time to park and get good seats.

Going into the cemetery took my breath away. Knowing the events which took place there, and the enormity of the loss of life, I couldn't help but be moved by the vast number, row after row after row... of grave markers. The sea in the background and the decorated veterans who survived...

I am a military brat. I have written about this before. "Taps" starts the tears. Fly-bys do me in. Once the ceremonies were over, I pulled myself together and we finally had the opportunity to walk around and visit the grounds. I found myself standing and chatting with U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Larry Poe, overlooking the beach. Lots of stars and bars for a Navy brat like me.

If you have not yet been to Normandy, put it on the list of must-see places to visit in France. It is such an awe-inspiring place to be. The museums and sites will stay with you forever. To have been there for a special ceremony was a privilege, but I need to go back and spend a day there. It's a peaceful place to be.

Some have gone and some remain.

Take the long way home...

Please note the fine Helvetica. Designed to put you in a good mood.

Tuesday, December 2: CDG, ORD, MLI (look it up), DEN.
Sunday, December 7: DEN, DFW, IAD, CDG.
That was the good news.

I flew United. The flight to Chicago was fine. I was in Economy Plus, that extra six inches makes a big difference! Landed, cleared customs, got my bags, rechecked them and went to the gate with no problems and minimum waiting time. Rolled out and went to Moline... got off at Gate 15. Sat at Gate 15 for an hour or so, got on the next plane at Gate 15... my luggage didn't. Got to Denver, no bag. Made a claim, grabbed the shuttle bus and was dropped off at the wrong hotel (for some reason, Marriott has two Residence Inns in Denver??). Took a taxi to the right hotel. Having had previous experience of losing my luggage with United, I fortunately had packed some jammies and a toothbrush. Happy day. Went to bed...

Did the CMS Expo, see previous post.

Got up at 0430 MDT Sunday morning, made it to the airport by 6am, flew to Dallas, quick connection to Washington, DC for the 1720 EDT departure. Had enough time to grab an Obama t-shirt for my son, boarded the flight to Paris... pushed back and waited. They couldn't get the left engine started, "it'll be a few minutes"... Three hours later (still on the tarmac) they pulled us back to the gate, released us to the terminal and said check back in an hour. After an hour they rolled out the meal carts. (That is NEVER a good sign!) After another two hours they announced that the flight was canceled. Mad rush to the customer service area...

Two hours later and I had a voucher for the Hyatt, $15 for a meal and a reroute to Paris via Frankfurt. Luckily for me, I have a guardian angel who was kind enough to have me upgraded to Business. Thank you!!

Here's the fun part. As the saying goes, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade... While waiting in the gate area, I managed to find a spot next to a guy who was recharging his iPod, the other socket was still open, so I asked him if he could plug me in... we started chatting and I asked him what he does. He said he works in Communications for iContact.com! I almost fell over! I went to the CMS Expo hoping to speak to someone from iContact. They had a lot of people saying good things about them, but no rep! (Hint for the Chicago Expo!) Taylor, thank you for your advice, I hope you made it to YOUR conference!

While standing on the customer service line, I was chatting with Jacques, a nice French tour guide who helped make the time go by. We traded stories and buddied up to get to the hotel. First we had to claim our bags. His bags never made it on the plane from NY! Jacques, if you are reading this, get in touch!

Next day, I was checking out of the hotel and ran into Stephen who was carrying a huge bag with a bunch of Christmas goodies and his "Oscar" award. We shared the van ride to the airport and did the United check-in process. Upon boarding, and due to the above mentioned guardian angel, I was lucky enough to get upgraded and had to leave Stephen in order to nestle into my comfy chair. My seatmate arrived. Tony. A fireman. A man among men. He was reading "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". In public! He was on his way to visit his sons in Frankfurt (also firemen). He was 6 feet 4 inches of kind, considerate gorgeousness, he made my flight.

We finally landed in Frankfurt, and I met up with Stephen again. We ran through customs and headed over to gate C (if you know Frankfurt airport, you know how long it is between terminals). I had a 1:40 connection, he had the next flight out at 5:30. Stephen, when I get back from NY we will have that café!

So, what's the bottom line from all this? Shit happens. Keep your sense of humor and things will work out. Smile, and the world smiles with you...

...and don't forget to pack clean underwear!

Dress code...

This guy was waiting on the corner of 16th Street and Tremont here in Denver for his animator friends. I asked his permission and was able to snap this quick shot. Just so you know, it is the Parade of Lights tonight in Denver and folks are dressed up in all sorts of garb and costumes. Unfortunately, I have a pickup at 0535 to head to the airport. Tonight, I shall be snuggled up in bed in preparation for the long trip home.

The CMS Expo was good... it was held at the Brown Palace Hotel, a beautiful old hotel in downtown Denver. Our hosts, John and Linda Coonen made us feel right at home from the get-go. A quick thank you to LeRoy for your smile and graciousness!

Aside from our gang getting together, I had the opportunity to meet some interesting people, a few stand outs: Tom Elliott from Joomlashack.com, Azrul Rahim from JomSocial.com, Kenneth Crowder from Crowder Web Design, Chris Rault from Joomla Junkies and very briefly, Karen Phelps from Landmark Innovations. A quick hey! to Paula Dawson and Susan Wolak, it was nice to meet you both!

A few of the things I discovered: YUI (Yahoo User Interface), jQuery, cool CSS tips and a bunch of sweet tidbits and “ah-ha” moments.

Follow up on the restaurant request.... we went to Blue Bonnet the first night. We were not impressed. The reviews are right, the place is hit or miss. I guess you kind of expect to have your fajitas served on a a sizzling platter. It didn't happen. The next night we dined at The Old Spaghetti Factory. The food was good, the ambiance relaxing, we had a chance to unwind over cocktails and then continued in that mode over our meals.

It was great to meet the rest of our virtual team, I'm looking forward to seeing you in NYC next Monday!

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
~Chinese Proverb

Wooly bully...

Well, much like the song Wooly Bully, my sojourn in NY was fast-paced...but very enjoyable. I managed to get a lot done, but I could have used an extra week to do/see stuff that was not on the "to do list".

First. My friend Hayden moved back to New York after many years of living in Paris. She is now the co-owner of a boutique called Hayden & Alice at 385 Amsterdam Ave between 78th and 79th. I didn't get a chance to see her and when I had a day available, she was on a plane to Paris! Stop by her shop and say hi! Tell her QB sent you!

I just want to mention this... I came back from an afternoon at Macy's... yes... I know... one post was all about consumerism, etc. But, I don't normally shop like that, I had a list and at least I was boosting the US economy! Anyway, I came back to the hotel, collapsed on the couch and turned on the tube. For whatever reason, I landed on C-SPAN and stayed there. It was a recorded show from the NOW convention in Maryland. I happened to tune in just as they were honoring the recipient of the Woman of Courage Award. It went to Barbara Hillary. I was truly inspired by what she had to say, how she said it, and what she has accomplished in her life. Her one bit of advice was "have a goal". Very interesting woman.

On Tuesday of my second week I was picked up by a friend and we headed over to Lambertville, NJ to meet with an artist, Timothy Martin and his wife. Timothy is quite a talented and unique character, you will be hearing more about him here in the future. We had a wonderful afternoon with them and then headed over to a B&B called Woolverton Inn. On the way there, we passed by a glass studio and we both said, "Hmmmm!".

So, we checked in, dropped off the bags and headed back up the road to investigate. I'm glad we did. We met Geoff and Karen Caldwell, the owners of Sunflower Glass Studio. At first we weren't sure if anyone was there, but Topper (the English Springer Spaniel) greeted us at the door and Karen rushed about turning the lights and fan on for us. We got the tour of their studio, with works in progress. As if glass wasn't enough, Geoff is soon to hang his shingle as an astrologist AND you can catch him on YouTube singing the blues!

We asked about restaurants in the area and they recommended DeAnna's. Thank you for that tip! Great ambiance, fab food and tucked away so you really need to know where it is to enjoy it. If you are in the Stockton/Lambertville New Jersey area, stop by and say hi for us!

After NJ, it was time to head up to Boston for the Crosby, Stills and Nash concert. My friend Tobi and I rented a Prius... we paid for the extra tank of gas thinking it would be easier to just drop the car off than to try to find a station in NYC. We never once hit a gas station there and back and drove it in on fumes! What a car! Comfortable ride (once we figured out how to turn it on!) and we averaged 44.7 miles per gallon (according to the computer screen on the dashboard. Also liked the live view when you put it into reverse. Order yours now!

We met up with my aunt and uncle who were making their way back to North Carolina from Nova Scotia. We had dinner (get the lobster!) at Anthony's Pier 4... Anthony's has been around for years, the walls are lined with autographed photos going back decades.

The next night was the concert, great show, CSN did so many of the favorites, including a 'new' one called Lay Me Down written by James Raymond, David Crosby's son. Wonderful evening, the Bank of America Pavilion was 'outdoors' and the weather was perfect!

All too soon it was time to head back to NYC and get packed to go home to Paris. I really would have liked to stay one more week, if anyone would be interested in an apartment swap next year, let me know!

Let's not be L-7, come and learn to dance...

Say cheese...

Swiss cheese, that is.

Switzerland. I'm leaving, on a fast train... at least I know when I'll be back again...

What do I need, aside from a well-padded Swiss account? How about some fresh air, preciseness and a nice Swiss watch? Other than that, a fondue will do me.

Will be busy unpacking the boxes that we packed a little while ago. Three of us to do a massive disgorge into this new apartment. We'll be done in six hours. Which should leave us lots of time to see the sites! Anyone have a favorite place in Geneva to recommend? Let me know! This is 'new' territory!

Short one tonight, gotta pack and be outta here in the morning... looking forward to speed shooting from the TGV!

Cheese! :-)