It’s just one underground pedestrian passage that’s out of commission, not the whole subway system.

These and other clips are the creation of Evelien Lohbeck. Real cool!

Via Exler.

As if that matters! We love Paris too much to let such trifling circumstance as uncooperative weather detract from our enjoyment.

And enjoy it we did, with walks along routes both seen and unseen before, a couple of museum stops, and plenty of good food and drink. Our hotel room, on a quiet street near Marché-St-Honoré, - a location as central to Paris sightseeing as I can think of - saw us for barely more than the eight hours of sleep. The rest of the 30 hours between our arrival and departure was spent on rediscovering one of the greatest cities in the world again and again.

We explored museums that we have not managed to include in our previous visits to Paris. At the Musée de l’Orangerie, the mesmerizing wall-size murals of Monet’s Les Nymphéas were almost impossible to turn away from.

We went to the still relatively new business district of La Défense, home to a number of contemporary architectural delights, including the fantastic La Grande Arche, which turned out to be an actual office building, rather than a purely celebratory edifice. We rarely bother with steel-and-glass skyscraper jungle of the modern financial centers, but the spacious and monumental area of La Défense duly impressed us.

We perused the Christmas Market at the foot of the Great Arch. It may have been lacking something in spirit and exuberance as compared to its German counterparts, but it was very nicely organized, with many eye-catching craftsmen stalls and plenty of wares of all kinds.

We listened to an organ performance at the church of St-Sulpice. Listening to a classical music masterpiece while taking in the splendor of a masterpiece of the building art takes me closer to a spiritual state than anything else.

We ate at two restaurants recommended by Fodor’s forums and at one café picked randomly as we walked by it. All three provided memorable experiences with great food and great atmosphere. Funnily, the arbitrary choice of establishment was probably the top of the three food-wise, but we never find French cuisine disappointing anyway.

All in all, we had fantastic time. Then again, when was the last time that we hadn’t? There’s something to be said about being mobile and free of special accommodations hang-ups. Being in love with the destination helps, of course.

Getting back was the only component that went slightly awry. We were stuck in the middle of the Channel Tunnel for close to two hours on account of the disabled train in front of us. Fly, ride or drive - transportation problems will find a way to make a perfect little trip somewhat less perfect. A small price to pay, on balance.

Not very prolific, I know, but I wasn’t really aiming to be such. In fact, in the first 466 days of this endeavor, I only posted once every several days and produced only 189 entries - a puny rate of .41 posts a day. I became considerably more active in the year 2008: In 333 days of it, so far, I posted 311 times. That’s .93 posts per day - not too shabby for someone who only does this as a hobby. In September and October of this year, I actually sustained a break-neck pace of 1.23 posts a day. Whew!

Many of the interruptions in my posting schedule have been brought up by our various trips. Another such one is coming now, although it will be not very long this time. Long before dawn tomorrow morning, Natasha and I are getting away for the weekend. If Monday allows for a breather at work, I will do my best to treat you with my customary exultations of une réunion avec Paris.

Jusque-là, salut!

At least, there was a sumptuous feast waiting for me at home.

Turkey is a rare type of meat that I have only lukewarm feelings about, so we don’t always cook one at home for Thanksgiving. When we visit relatives or friends for the holiday dinner, I will certainly partake in the consumption of the main course, but when we in the past spent Thanksgiving at home - and not entertained - we would not even bother. Natasha would prepare whatever took her fancy on that particular day, and I am never a stickler for traditions when it comes to food.

This year, my Mother is spending the week with us. And she took it upon herself to go the whole nine yards in preparing the meal. Natasha participated - she finds it hard to ignore the process of food preparation in her own kitchen - but most of the credit goes to Mom. The turkey was excellent, the stuffing - as it should be - was hard to stay away from, and it took me considerable effort to climb the stairs to get in front of the computer afterwards.

Oh the wonderful post-dinner feeling, when your eyes hurt from all the pressure that your stomach puts on them!

Dad did not have enough vacation days left this year to come as well, so Mom came by herself. She has not done much of sightseeing (after all, this is her third visit to London in less than two years), but instead accompanied Natasha on shopping trips, went with her to musical performances (have I mentioned anywhere yet that Greenwich has free classical music concerts at a couple of churches every Tuesday and Thursday?), and spent quality time with her granddaughters. Happiness all around - and to top it all, for the weekend, Natasha and I are off to La Ville Lumière. Can’t hardly wait!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I promise to get back at all of you on Boxing Day, when I’m going to loaf all day long while you toil away in your offices and your factory shops.

Anyway, the corollary to my newfound busy-ness is the fact that I cannot find much time for a lengthy post. Therefore, today, all I can do is treat you to a view that I come across every morning on my commute to work. This is how the Canary Wharf DLR station looks from the front seat of a train. Somehow, my mental picture of it is grander than the way it came out on the photo, but it’s still a pretty cool structure.

The image is clickable for a larger view, as always.

I sincerely appreciate your kindness, Jason. It is a bit embarrassing to me that you emphasize “a fascinating outsider’s perspective on American and British life”, which is something that appears less and less on my blog, but I’ll take any praise that I can get from a friend.

The prize comes with certain obligations:

1. Post the award on my blog.
2. Link to the person who gave me the award.
3. Nominate at least 4 others.
4. Leave a comment on their blogs so they can pass it on.

The first two requirements are completed at the top of the post. The last, I suppose, I can entrust to the wonderful statistics of “incoming links” on each of the recipients’ blogs. The thing that is left are the nominations.

• Brian at I Should Be Sleeping is a man of many interests and a great wit, with a curious and critical eye and a disposition for distilling complex issues into easy to understand concepts. His serious fare is moving and insightful and his lighter stuff is tongue-in-cheek hilarious. I know him in person, too, and he is a great guy to share company with.
• The proprietor of Polybloggimous, Nathan, works in the movie industry and frequently offers hilarious outtakes from his experiences on the job as well as insightful behind-the-scenes commentary. He is also known to treat his readers to great photo-essays centered on various Brooklyn, NY, landmarks. At most other times, this fine establishment is home to unadulterated silliness of the best quality.
• Village of Joy is a photo-blog that puts together entertaining and inspiring lists of “Amazing, Interesting, Wonderful, Weird, Odd and Funny things about our World”. The subjects range from stunning architecture to incredible sidewalk paintings to obscure art forms to motivational posters, and so on. It is a wonderful world we live in!
• Retired Navy Warrant Officer Jim Wright can always be counted to be assertive in his opinion on current events at Stonekettle Station. A well-travelled man of many talents, Jim writes with a combination of candor and conviction that is always admirable. And although this manly man wouldn’t want to point it out, but he’s got a softer side too.

And to other twenty or so other people whose blogs I regularly read (and you know who you are!): Please don’t take your absence from this list as a sign that I don’t love to read you. The selection reflects very little, if anything, in terms of my comparative preferences for some blogs over others. If I was asked to nominate twenty-four blogs, I’d mention every single one of you!

Cheers to all!

See for yourself: 25 Motivational Posters.

Nerd that I am, I especially liked the one about simplicity. Although, I probably spent the most time gazing at the rainbows.

The first tape had Modern Talking on one side (I certainly wanted that) and Bad Boys Blue on the other (under a misplaced notion that it was but a different album by Modern Talking).

The second tape, however, had music that I by no means expected. The Beatles’ Abbey Road took one side and an album by Bee Gees the other. While I became an ardent Beatles fan, I did not like Bee Gees much. I soon recorded over that side, have no recollection of which particular songs of theirs were on that tape, and never really warmed up much to them to care.

There were also a couple of “bonus” tracks tacked at the ends of those albums. Hotel California was one, becoming an instant favorite of mine almost as instantly as the Beatles became my favorite band. The other introduced me to The King.

Funny how I keep using the word “introduced” in these memoirs. The year must have been ‘84 or ‘85 - neither John Lennon nor Elvis were alive any longer.