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All posts for the month April, 2014

Paris

Posted by Jim St. George on April 18, 2014

Posted in: France, UNESCO World Heritage Site. 1 comment

Dinner at one of a million great little restaurants within walking distance of our hotel. Best picture ever of Mark & Lidd!

We’ve made it to Paris. It’s always the most beautiful city on earth, but in the spring … what can you say? Trees and flowers are in bloom, the mornings are cold but the afternoons (so far) have been brilliantly sunny and warm. There are probably a thousand great little restaurants we could be eating in. It’s just about perfect.

Place des Voges

Mark’s dad met us here so we’re spending four days with him before we head down to Lyon and then Provence for some bicycling. Great food, beautiful parks, bright sunshine, long runs along the Seine – what more could you ask for? Admittedly, there is some culture shock after six months in Southeast Asia; no fresh tropical fruits, wearing long pants, not a beach or swimming pool to be found, hotel rooms smaller than some of our bathrooms in Asia (seriously).

We’re staying at the Agora St. Germain, a little three-star hotel we discovered on a trip to Paris in 1993. The location is perfect, just a couple minutes from the Seine and Notre Dame, in the middle of all the charm the Left Bank has to offer. In the twenty-plus years since we first stayed here we’ve been back a bunch of times and we couldn’t count how many nights various Sullivan family members have stayed here. And yes, it’s small, but so is everything in Paris. And it’s our little home for a few days.

How fun!

Park Monceau, probably my favorite place in all of Paris

We took the Metro up to St. Denis to see the cathedral where nearly all the French kings and queens were buried. We noticed this strange cartoon character in one of the many stained glass windows!

The Seine and Pont Neuf. My morning runs started near the back of Notre Dame, along the river up to the Eifel Tower. Pretty spectacular…

Buildings at sunset

Farewell to Asia (And Happy New Year!)

Posted by Jim St. George on April 15, 2014

Posted in: Indonesia. Leave a Comment

Our special Thai New Year’s dessert

It’s hard to believe, but after six months in Southeast Asia – covering Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia – we’re heading back to Europe. We’ve gotten used to the heat, the sun, the beaches, the swimming pools, the driving on the right side of the road, the developing country vibes. And the New Year celebrations.

Imagine our surprise to land in Bangkok for one last overnight stop between Bali and Paris only to discover that it was Thai New Year’s, the fifth New Year celebration we’ve experienced in Asia (Laos, Western, Chinese, Balinese, and now Thai). The fun stuff here is that apparently they spray people with water on the street and sneak up from behind and smear white stuff on your face. We got in pretty late though and just had a drink at the bar in the hotel, so for us it meant a cute little dessert and bigger-than-ever drinks. Not bad!

My Vespers on the left, Mark’s Vodka Martini on the right, with complimentary Lemoncello. The drinks were worthy of Gargoyle’s, and that’s saying something.

So that’s it. Here are some farewell pictures from our last couple days at Temple Lodge in Bali. Next stop: Paris!

A quiet, hidden beach near Temple Lodge. That’s one part of Southeast Asia we’ll miss.

Morning at Temple Lodge. If you look carefully, you can see cute monkeys around the edge of the property.

Did I say cute? Actually, they were terrifying. Very aggressive, baring their teeth at us for attack. Seriously; they drove us out of our morning reading site. At one point they went into the kitchen and dining room and ransacked the place. That’s a morning in Bali; Paris will probably feel different.

Pemuteran

Posted by Mark Sullivan on April 11, 2014

Posted in: Indonesia. 1 comment

Mark, Wil, Jim, Bart, and Ann on a hike through rice paddies

We’ve been somewhat off the grid for a while now, spending the last eight days in Pemuteran in Bali’s distant northwest corner. We enjoyed a wonderful week there with our old neighbors of 15 years — Bart and Ann and Wil. We barely had any Internet, but we sure did get in a lot of card playing, world problem solving, and general catching up.

Our ideal home for eight great days in Pemuteran

Our villa was ideal for the five of us, with wonderful open spaces, a lovely warm pool, and beautiful views of lush green mountains and the Bali Sea in the distance. Kudos to Bart for finding such a perfect place.

Our view from lunch at the end of a hike

Perhaps best of all, we felt like we were surrounded by some pretty genuine Balinese life. The nearby ‘town’ offered a small scattering of nice restaurants, tranquil beaches, and cheap massage. Getting there required a fifteen-minute walk past loads of ordinary houses, temples, and farms. And along the way we enjoyed the endless greetings from the warm and friendly locals.

Our eight days together gave us ample opportunity to preach our own newfound gospel of learning to relax and take it easy — a skill especially alien to Bart, though he may have picked up just a little. We also worked in a little time to hike through some stunning mountain scenery, visit an island and a waterfall, and do some great snorkeling.

We’ve now returned to Temple Lodge in southern Bali to spend our last three days on this amazing island. As we said goodbye to our old neighbors this morning, we’d already starting plotting where we might meet up the next time we all need a serious cards fix.