Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Freedom Biking in Paris

Today was an adventurous day in Paris. And, believe me, I was ready for at least some adventure. The reason? The weather. It was gorgeous. Since the sky for the past week has consistently threatened rain, today was a very welcome change. It wasn't only sunny...it was warm too. Finally, the summer clothes I packed for my trip have come to some use.

I started the day with a relaxing cafe latte with my family at the neighborhood cafe/restaurant. After lunch, I met up for a rendez-vous with Houari, a French Algerian friend whose sense for fashion and all things luxurious surpasses few others. Our first goal for the afternoon was to rent the Velib. The term is a melange of the words "velo" and "liberté". The ciy's mayor instilled a great new bicycle program where people can rent bikes througout the city. The bike stations are numerous and in many locations, and the bikes themselves are new and rustproof. They also come with their own lock. It's a great idea and the city is full of velib riders. Or, quite literally, freedom riders.

After a couple of unsucessful attempts at attaining a bike at stations in our area, we took the metro to Champs Elysées and catch a showing of "Caramel", the Lebanese film we had planned to see. The past few days have been ideal movie days since the ticket prices were slashed dramatically to promote good will among residents and tourists who had had enough of depressing weather.



The film is in Lebanese Arabic with French subtitles and was directed by Nadine Labaki (who also played the role of Layale in the film). It is the story of five Lebanese women all connected through a local beauty salon. The age of the characters run from early twenties to eighties and looks at universal issues, in addition to dilemnas specific to women in Lebanon and Middle Eastern women in general. It is a beautifully shot film and got it just right esthetically. I hope it opens in the U.S., although I believe such gems will probably be harder to find in America. In Paris, it shows right smack in the middle of the Champs Elysées. Go figure.

After the movie, we made a brief stop to my favorite Target doppelganger, "Monoprix". Here's a picture of Houari in front of the store:



Allthough it is very similar to Target in its superstore concept, The merchandise at Monoprix is considered more selective.

Afterwards, we were finally able to get a couple of velib bikes at a popular station off of Champs Elysées.


Here is Houari negotiating with the computerized machine at the station. Our first two times didn't work out so well, but third time's a charm!:


We then rode from the 8th arrondissment until close to the Opera where Houari wanted to make a stop at Zara Home. A recent addition to the Zara clothing brand, Zara Home looks lke a cross between a Pottery Barn and a Cost Plus Market (from outside anyway. I was guarding the bikes out front). The ride to the store kind of reminded me of Shanghai - the opperative word here is "kind of". Because although both scenes are filled with bicyclists, motorbikes, buses and cars, nothing compares to those crazy Shanghai intersections and their swarms of bicylists, and even a rickshaw now and then.


Around 6:30pm, we headed back to our starting point via Rue Rivoli. I love the impressive view off this street where the Tuilleries, Les Invalides, The Obelisk statue and the Eiffel Tower create aun unbelievable portrait of the city. We then rode back towards Champs Elysées and then Avenue Pierre 1er Serbie. The cobble stones were a bit hard on the velib, but the whole experience was exhilarating. Paris by bicycle is a must for any sightseer. Of course, I wouldn't recommend it without someone who knows the city's ins and outs.




The first day en velib was a success. Now that I have a week long pass, there are 6 more days to go. Long live freedom biking !

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Dinner With Friends

My first full week in Paris culminated with lots of wine, good conversation, and dinner near Avenues Foche and Grand Armée where I attended an intimate dinner soiree at the home of my friends Ron and Michel.

I doubt Ron could have imagined a few years ago the wildly international turn his life would take juggling (or should I say, jet setting?) between Paris and Marrakech. I first met Ron in the fall of 1999 as an intern at the Museum of Tolerance and he later became my manager as well as friend (how could he not be? He is from Western PA, afterall). So I’m thrilled to be in France while Ron and Michel are here in the city, although I have promised to visit them when they are in Morrocco at their renovated house, or Riad, as it is called in Arabic.

I've always known Ron to be a great cook and last night's meal was no exception. The food was seasoned perfectly with lots of spicy stories from Morocco. One of my favorites was Ron's misunderstanding with a Moroccan woman's mother who assumed that his acceptance of her daughter's dinner invitation meant an intent to propose marriage! I guess they do things differently down in Muslim Africa.

Thanks to Ron and Michel for a charming evening and for walking me back to my place late at night. On Avenue Foche, we walked past the homes of dignitaries on what I learned to be the street of choice for high-class "ladies". What a uniquely Parisian mixture.

More soon!

Check out images of their home in Morocco and other great projects on Ron's website:
http://solitashouse.spaces.live.com/

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

286 Up and 286 Down - Arc de Triomphe




Today, despite slightly inclement weather, I paid a trip to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc is the impressive French landmark built by Napolean which stands in the center of 8 thoroughfares including the Champs Elysee. They call it the Etoile - or star - since the Arc and the circumventing streets resemble a many-pointed star. There is a tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI continually honored by a burning flame.

The city today is largely bare - August 15 is a national holiday. Additionally, the month of August is a popular month for taking month-long vacations - something which the French are very fond of.

The Champs Elysee, however, was busy with tourist activity. My family and I took an underground pathway to get to the Arc. The underground hallway is necessary since the diameter around the Etole is filled with ever-connecting car lanes and acts as the city's nightmare for drivers - No lanes but plenty of cars coming and going in eight different directions.

In order to get from the base of the Arc to the top, we took 286 steps along a tightly spiraled staircase. The picture above was taken on our trek up to the top.

I have been up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe once before, but we took the elevator. I don't remember the elevator ride at all. But these stairs - well, they were memorable. A workout - but worth it.

The view from the top is lovely and gives a panoramic 360 degree view of the city. Here's one of the tree lined Victor Hugo:


Although it has threatened rain all day, our view from the top was pleasant with a nice breeze and of course a great view.

Here's me and my cousin Cyrus. Note how the little guy is balancing the Eiffel Tower on his head:










Here's us going down. You can see our heads looking up at the camera:


More from Paris soon!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Paris, C'est La Pluie...

I arrived in Paris today and have already been delighted with a brief torrential rain storm that took me somewhat by surprise while I was taking a walk through the Trocadero. I was deep in jet lag mode this afternoon and the commentator on TV only encouraged my heavy eyelids to droop further down. In preparation for my overseas trip, I had learned that fresh air and outdoor activity is a great remedy for jet lag, and indeed it is. So I wasn't upset by the unexpected rain fall at all. I quickly found some protection near the Musee de la Marine, underneath a round concrete kiosk-looking sitting area. Although the area smelt strongly of urine, I was fortunate to not get soaked like many of the frantic passerbys looking to escape the rain. For me, I had the time to sit down and enjoy it.

Once the rain died down, I was reminded why rainfalls are so beautiful. I walked back up to the Trocadero and saw the most breathtaking portrait. Fresh and clean, the landscape was painted with a wide arching rainbow stretching graciously from somewhere beyond the Musee de L'Homme to the Eiffel Tower. Needless to say, my eyes aren't drooping anymore. Welcome to Paris.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Meeting with the Mayor



I had the unexpected fortune of meeting with the recently elected mayor of Beverly Hills, Mr. Jimmy Delshad, at a special gathering of Iranian-Americans promoting the world-wide installation of a statue representing Cyrus the Great.

I enjoyed a tete a tete with the mayor, in which he discussed his recent trip to China and his intention of starting a sister city program with a city in the Canton Provence of the country. In addition, he hopes to create additional diversity-fueled projects that I think would well represent the international citizenry of Beverly Hills. This includes a potential sister city program between Beverly Hills and his hometown of Shiraz, Iran.

Mayor Delshad is the first Iranian-American to hold public office in Beverly Hills. I hope he will continue to be a model example of Iranian-Americans and Jewish Iranian-Americans in the country.

Longtime Respectable News Anchor Dies

Hal Fishman, a longtime fixture on Los Angeles news, has passed away. He was an honnest and respectable voice on KTLA's nightly news at 10 PM. I particularly appreciated his candid and thoughtful opinions during his commentary sections. Although he was in his seventies, as someone who enjoyed his presence on the news, his passing was way too early.

Here is a link to the story in the Los Angeles Times.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-me-fishman8aug08,1,2724152.story?track=rss

Shake Shake

Well, it's been a while....but there was a whole little shakin' going on in the wee hours this morning with a 4.5 earthquake hitting the L.A. rockbed. So if you are in the greater Los Angeles area and were awake around 1 AM, that wasn't just an unexpected visit from the dump truck causing a raucus down your street.

It's actually nice to get a little reminder every once in a while that L.A is L.A., where you should never rely on the stability of the ground beneath your feet and always aim for the big and beautiful sky instead.

Friday, August 3, 2007

ICE ICE...baby

According to Prevention Magazine and the American College of Emergency Physicians, all mobile phone users should "ICE" their cell. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency - Medical responders in the emergency room check patients' cell phones for their ICE contacts when seriously hurt.

The Prevention article from Febuary notes that a recent study found that although 27% of cell phone owners heard about ICE, only 9% had actually done it.

So add a couple of ICE contacts to make it easier for someone to contact your loved ones in case of an emergency.