France: Days 3, 4, 5 & 6

Day 3: I went to work and Jess was settling in, i.e.: sleeping. That night we had dinner at a Chinese food restaurant with my boss, his wife and a few other company officials. It was actually the best meal we had the whole trip.

Day 4: I went to work and Jess went on a walking tour of "the Latin district:" in Paris where she learned that France's abolishment of beheading occurred in 1982 mostly because of an unjust sentence. Two guillotines still exist. Later that night we found a local pizza parlor for sustenance.



Day 5: Jess went to work with me. They gave her a VIP pass. I felt like it was "bring your girlfriend to work day" day. We pretty much sat around taking pictures of Sean Fister (World Long Driving Champion) for souvenir photos. From day one I knew I had to take a "up above" picture of the booth (see JLG picture from May 1st post). This involved going up in their highest lift. The Luxlift is a 5 by 12 foot platform that extends vertically approximately 10 stories tall. I have to admit that I was scared. Jess wanted to go up with me. Here she is standing by a really big tire, filming me on the Luxlift and winning a T-shirt at another booth.



Day 6: My work was done early in the morning and we made our way into downtown Paris. Our new room was small but nice. We were across the street from a Metro Station and had access to most of the city. We immediately headed for the Eiffel Tower and spent most of the day there. We went to the top and had ice cream at the bottom. We were then overcome by exhaustion before the sun went down. Our sleeping pattern was caught somewhere between California and Paris time. Please enjoy the following photos. I appear twice. Like Waldo, find me. Hint: It's not very hard.

La France, partie deux

Okay, I know that it's been over a week since my last post but I had to edit down my photos and get them off to the people that paid my bills this month. Between work and fun I shot somewhere around 2000 photos. I was also booked with photo shoots most of the week through Sunday following our return. Still, Jessica is afraid to kiss me for fear of bumping her head into my lens. I am happy to report that yesterday was the first day in three weeks that I did not take a single picture of anything. Jess has been busy with work and planning a candle party. We have the Revlon Run/Walk this Saturday and will be going to Riverside for Mothers Day. Please make notes in your calendars for there will be a quiz later. We also did some portraits of my family over the weekend and I will post them after the vacation photos. I know my family in Missouri would like to see them and I would also like to introduce them to those of you in Chicago.

On with vacation fun: (Saturday April 22nd)
As we last left Jessica and I we had just arrived into Roissy France. I was given a day to rest before work so we decided to head into Paris and wear ourselves out by walking up the spiral staircase of lé Arc dé Triumph which, at it's peak led to a beautiful souvenier shop that was requested to be built by Napoleon himself. "Laisser il y a souveniers pour tout"! Translation: "let there be souveniers for all"!
That's us in the shoplifting mirror on the right. The staircase we hiked up on is on the left.



We also stumbled upon this ancient building (it's name unknown to me right now and am too lazy to find out for you) that housed a Museum in the front and a park and playground in back. We decided to partake in the park and playground because of it's giant springed animal things.



I know it's weird to post but when nature calls on the streets of Paris one can always find a public "toilette". These handy street devices are all over. When someone is finished the automatic door closes and proceeds to sanitize it's self before the next anxious guest. In this case it happened to be Jess. I followed shortly after.



There were a number of churches that we had visited on this trip but thinking back I have to say Notré Dame was the most breathtaking. It definitely lives up to it's reputation.



Before heading back to our hotel in Roissy we decided to find the hotel that we would be checking into on Wednesday. It's a good thing we did that without the luggage. We wandered around forever thinking it was "just around the corner". We eventually found it and came up with a better route on how to get back there. On our travels we discovered a very talented group of musicians that happened to be wearing random bunny apparel.



It was a great day of climbing, shopping, peeing and sight seeing. The next three days would be work for me and Jess to fend for herself.

Bon Jour Masseurs, Madams (Translation: Hey Guys)

We've arrived home safely from France. My work went well and our short but jam packed visit into Paris was great. Now that we have secured some major elements for our Wedding I would like to make the next few posts about our trip. HINT: This would be your cue to check back on this site sometime in early 2007 for important information. Until then it's going to be all rambling and photos by me. Oh wait, that's all it's been so far. So let's begin.

Day 1: For the most part things went pretty smooth. Our driver showed up on time and took us to LAX. We allotted time for traffic but didn't hit any. We spent $60.00 to be driven in a Lincoln Town Car to ride in traffic in style and it was the shortest ride to the airport we've ever had. That's right; I'm complaining that there was no traffic. We had leathers seats, leg room, air conditioning and magazines for a thirty minute drive. Our flight was ten and a half hours. The last half hour Jessica got sick. I felt bad but then the paparazzi part of my brain decided to take pictures. I had no control.



We arrived at Charles De Gaul airport (where Jessica was sad not to receive a Paris stamp in her passport, reason unknown) and took a shuttle to our Hotel in Roissy. Roissy is a small town in France near the Exposition Center where I was working. Side note: The reason why we went to France was so that I could take pictures for a marketing company "Joyce & Assoc.". This job was for JLG, a client of theirs at the second largest trade show of its kind. I do promotional photos for documentation, press, brochures and website.



Dazed and confused from the 11 hour plane ride we wandered about town and found a pub frequented by locals. One beer each was all it took and we were out.



Upcoming posts of our trip include visits to the Arc dé Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, Notré Dame, the Louvre, Sacré-Cœur (one of the oldest churches in France atop the highest hill), the Paris Opera House, a Cemetery and miscellaneous cafés and restaurants plus a photo shoot of my beautiful bride to be Jessica. Here's a preview.



Au Revoir