los JOP

Aix-en-Provence

2011-03-22T17:27:00.000+01:00

We arrived late yesterday afternoon at Aix (thanks to Arthur for the ride up from Marseille) and stayed overnight with Franco & Martine. Wonderful dinner and met their friend Bertrand.

Late this morning we spent a couple of hours at the open air market at Place de Précheurs.

Marseille 2011 - Day 9

2011-03-21T11:18:00.000+01:00

Stopped by this fascinating shop: Saladin Spices.

Marseille 2011 - Day 8

2011-03-20T19:35:00.001+01:00

This afternoon I hiked all the way up to the highest natural point in Marseille, a 162 m (532 ft) limestone outcrop on the south side of the Old Port, where the basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde is perched. I treated myself to the absolutely stunning view of the city and the Mediterranean from the heights.

Marseille 2011 - Day 6

2011-03-18T20:00:00.002+01:00

Franco, our friend in Aix-en-Provence, came down to meet us for a drink at the apartment, then we headed out for dinner at a nearby Lebanese restaurant, Adonis du Liban. The place isn't much to look at, but the owners/servers are terribly welcoming and attentive. It also didn't hurt that the wine was quite good; we all had mezzes which were very tasty. Afterwards we had espressos at the Bar de la Plaine - un vrai bar marseillais!

Located only 2 blocks from where we are staying ... it always seems to be packed.

Marseille 2011 - Day 5

2011-03-17T19:26:00.001+01:00

I took a longish walk today going south along a main road called Prado. My idea was to visit Marseille's oldest Irish pub (today being Saint Patrick's Day) and have a nice Guinness. On my way there I passed by the Cité Radieuse, Le Corbusier's famous housing development, and stopped to admired it for a while. I may return as I heard from a friend that visits are possible.

I ended up at O'Bradey's Irish Pub around 2p.m. and had a wonderfully well-served pint of frothy Guinness (for lunch). It is a nicely done pub, but certainly will be overshadowed by the real thing when we are in Ireland late this month.

Marseille 2011 - Day 4

2011-03-16T15:31:00.004+01:00

This afternoon I strolled over to Le Four des Navettes, Marseille's oldest bakery (founded in 1781). The "navettes" are typically Provencal pastries prepared for Candlemas instead of pancakes. Their shape is reminiscent of a boat ... and I picked up a shipload!

Tonight we head off, 5 of us, to dinner at a highly recommended place, whose name means, amusingly enough, in literal translation, "to put one's feet in the plate". The expression actually means: to mess up, to speak with excessive candor, to discuss something inappropriate. We'll see which one of those we come up with!

Marseille 2011 - Day 3

2011-03-15T19:18:00.005+01:00

We went up to the nearby open-air market for some fresh fish and vegetablesfor today's lunch. But the weather is very blustery and rainy... so pretty much I'm staying in, working on some projects and reading (the disquieting book by Michael Connelly: The Poet).

Marseille 2011 - Day 2

2011-03-14T18:52:00.001+01:00

I took a walk down Marseille's famous high street: La Canebière. The name, sadly in my opinion, makes no reference to a tinned brew. If I tell you that the street was formerly called Cennebis (from the Provencal word canebe) you can probably figure it out yourself. Yes, the meaning is, indeed, hemp ... and the street was formerly one of the largest outlets in the world for hemp used in the manufacture and trade of slings and cordage.

The walk took me past this wonderful art installation: a giraffe sculpted out of books! "Zarafa la girafe" had been torched last year but seems to be quite well risen from her ashes.

Afterwards I strolled up to Saint Charles train station and back across to the area around the Noailles métro station, a fascinating area that looks much like a bazaar in Algeria.

Marseille 2011 - Day 1

2011-03-13T19:43:00.000+01:00

We taxied over to Gare de Lyon with Béatrice, met Philippe on the TGV, and tooled down to Marseille in a breezy 3h15m. Odile & Philippe are working to transform part of Béa's apartment (knock down a wlak here or there, reorg her amazing cups & saucers collection). I will help now and then (although I have plenty of my own work to keep me busy) and am also the resident 'puter guru (shows how relative expertise can catapult one to heights). I also plan to dip into Béa's English-langauge collection of thrillers ... and also take some afternoon walks.

After the Koreans, the Japanese...

2011-02-18T19:27:00.000+01:00

Again with Benjamin, but lunch this time, at the ever-reliable, ever-delicious and ever-inexpensive (that's three for three in my book) at Higuma.

I had the Yokisoba (the photo to the left) - prepared before my eyes at the counter (the best place to eat; you can watch the chef ply his magic) while Benj had a hearty soup and a beer. Odile went for the Miso Lamen, served as a "set" with 7 gyoza (meat-filled raviolis; worth the trip to rue Sainte-Anne in their own right).

Afterwards (it was a late lunch: 3pm-ish) we stopped in at Epices Roellinger - a wonderland of spices, herbs and oils, all dreamed up by the famed chef from Cancale.

Kookil Kwan

2011-02-17T20:00:00.027+01:00

At Benjamin's suggestion we joined him at this excellent Korean restaurant. Again at his suggestion we ordered some openers - including a dish unknown to me, pajeon (a pancake-like dish, seen at left)- quite delicious - washed down with a half-bottle of makgeolli (and 2 glasses of red wine ... after all we are still in France).

For dinner we each had a different dish. I ordered the Pork Bulgogi (delivered table-side on its own little stove). All dishes accompanied by banchan (side dishes), including the ubiquitous kimchi (fermented cabbage) and greatly enjoyed by all three of us.

Winter will break soon...

2011-02-13T20:00:00.044+01:00

Paris as I love it today.

We went to see Fabrice Luchini do his stuff at Théâtre de l’Atelier. His "stuff" this afternoon was to read from the writings (primarily, but not only) of the philosopher Philippe Muray. Fascinating texts, superb and idiosyncratic delivery and much that was illuminating ... and (mercifully) funny. There was even a riff, early on in the piece, on "innovation"!

Right after the theater we hied ourselves over (we don't get to do as much "hieing" as I'd like) to l’Eglise Sainte Elisabeth to hear a concert (including a good dose of jazz tunes) by "Le Choeur International de Femmes de Paris". My favorite? The sadish-sounding but hopefilled ballad "The Rose".

A new friend of ours, Florence, sings in the group, and afterwards we went with her and some of her friends to have a drink nearby. I was angling to have everyone go to "Merce and the Muse" for coffee/tea (heard about it here ... and I promise myself I will return soon as it is conveniently located near the Marché des Enfants Rouges), but since she closes at 5:30pm on Sunday we ended up next-door at Café Crème, which proved to be just lovely.

Then back home for R&R (Rest and Read) ... I am deep into Dan Simmons "The Fall of Hyperion" .

Les « Hautes de GammeS »

2011-02-13T15:30:00.013+01:00

Bonne Nouvelle ... micmag

2011-02-05T16:33:00.002+01:00

Slamming doors, mole poblano ...

2011-02-04T20:30:00.023+01:00

We went (with her parents and other friends) to see Félice in the play by Georges Feydeau, "Tailleur pour Dames". Quite amusing bedroom farce!

Afterwards we dined next-door on the rue de Lappe at Cielito Lindo, owned/run by Maurice and Ana (he used to live in Myriam's building).

2011-02-02T13:35:00.001+01:00

Today "La Chandeleur" is celebrated in France. On the non-religious side it seems to be an excuse to eat a lot of crêpes (the French cunningly having replaced the original Pan-inspired candles by, of course, something edible).

As I am currently waiting to board my train to Paris from Lyon this evening (and posting thanks to the free WiFi at the public library here) I will delay my gratification until tonight when I hope Odile will agree to a stack of pancakes (my version) for dinner!

Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin...

2011-01-19T18:00:00.000+01:00

Just enough time for a caffè macchiato at Cindy's Diner at the Tegel airport (there's also one in Basel it seems) before flying back to Paris. I'll have to try their burgers next time!

Berlin 2011 - Day 5

2011-01-18T14:47:00.002+01:00

Had a nice Berliner Kindl Dunkle Bock beer for lunch (better said, with lunch). B+

Afterwards we returned to the Wirtshaus Wupke (we went there last time in September)

And here's how we ended up the night (writing out postcards for you ... some of you).

Berlin 2011 - Day 3

2011-01-16T14:11:00.000+01:00

Had a nice Märkischer Landmanm with lunch. Off to see Anita in the afternoon. Then dinner with the IIME Workshop people at the Hackesche Höfe.

Berlin Day 2

2011-01-16T00:41:00.004+01:00

This post "in process" ....

bip

http://manzini.de/

http://www.radeberger.de/index_en.html

Radeberger started in 1872 when the brewery was founded as „Zum Bergkeller,“ in Radeberg, a suburb of Dresden. Radeberger ranks number 9 amongGermany's best selling breweries.

This beer was also brewed for a period for the King of Saxony. ^[1] It was the first brewery in Germany to brew beer exclusively in the Pilsner style and which still exists today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiserschmarrn

Second JOP trip of 2011 - Berlin Day 1

2011-01-15T11:44:00.004+01:00

We pick up "los JOP en vadrouille" for 2011 in Berlin where José has come to work (IIME) and also to take advantge of the weekend to visit our old friends ... and make new discoveries.

Ulf kindly picked us up at Schoenefeld airport and we drove back to his place on Konstanzer Straße in the Wilmersdorf area. After settling in and resting a bit (we took our taxi this morning came at 5:15am) we figured out how to get to the Fraunhofer Forum, near the "Museum Island", for a quick inspection of the locale where I'll be participating in a pilot workshop.

The quick inspection turned out to be over 3 hours due to some technical problems. The team there is fantastically helpful and tenacious so all turned out well.

Afterwards (having zapped lunch) we stopped at a new place (for us) called Bagels & Bialy's to eat . I washed down my excellent Bagel Rosenthal (Frischkäse, Parmaschinken, Tomate & Salat) with a nice Staropramen beer.

Then we picked up some groceries nearby and took the U-bahn back to Ulf's for an apéro that segued into a light dinner. I greatly enjoyed a new beer: Březňák Světlý Ležák 12° (a Bohemian Pilsener beer by Pivovar Velké Březno).

For the nightcap we walked over to one of Ulf's regular watering holes, the Helion (we were there 4 months ago). We ran into the same "pilier" of the bar, a rather euphoric urologist.

Los Jop en vadrouille

2010-10-02T11:13:00.001+02:00

Dinner at Terzo Mondo

2010-09-04T23:00:00.003+02:00

We had dinner with Ulf at this place (where he'll be doing his Kabarett [Anarchie der Mitte] later this month)and met the owner, Kostos. Quite the character.

Some boilerplate: Run by a well-known Greek actor, Kostos Papanastasiou, Terzo Mundo on trendy Savignyplatz has been attracting revolutionaries and fans of Greek cuisine since the sixties. The actor-cum-landlord fled Greece during the dictatorship and is still politically active today. The back room is a meeting place for countless protest movements and if you are lucky, you will witness the guitar-wielding maestro perform his protest songs in person.

Pearltrees - now embedded

2010-05-03T21:00:00.002+02:00

Here is a brand-new function for Pearltrees (the innovative tool that "lets you organize, discover and share the stuff you like on the web") which I have been using regularly for the last few months.

I find it incredibly useful and empowering. If you click any "pearl" of my pearltree it will activate the browser mode in an overlay. Enjoy going through it and, if you like, consider using it yourself. Go to: http://www.pearltrees.com

Nouvelle exposition à L'usine

2010-04-14T17:40:00.000+02:00

We ran into Clément (he goes by his last name) and Totoche at one of our favorite Portuguese restaurants (name on request) at lunch today - totally by chance. A bottle (or two) or red wine later we decamped to La Commedia for café and now plan to meet at his vernissage tonight.

La Cité de la Réussite

2010-04-11T20:00:00.001+02:00

Last week I received an invitation (via the Greater IBM network) to attend a breakfast session at the Sorbonne, where Alain Bénichou, chairman of IBM France, discussed IBM's vision of "Building a Smarter Planet". Even though early on a Sunday morning (and the same day as the Paris marathon - not that I'm running these days due to a herniated disc) I did indeed get up and over to the Sorbonne (a truly marvelous venue).

This event was part of La Cité de la Réussite, the largest forum for debate and intergenerational dialogues in France. The 2-day event, brings together high-level speakers from diverse professional backgrounds to focus on issues facing the city. Established in 1989, La Cité de la Réussite has been held annually at the Sorbonne ever since. La Cité is a center of public debate for all citizens and an international think tank where leading figures from academia, industry, the arts, sciences, politics, social sciences and religion gather to exchange ideas and confront different points of view.

Odile and I spent most of today there - in three different sessions (I'll add the details later in this same post). Suffice it to say that it was all quite invigorating.

Dante's smiles ...

2010-04-10T21:00:00.000+02:00

''Les Sourires de Dante" is a little bistro, cozy and quiet (but not too!), on the Place Michel Audiard in the 14th arrondissement - not far from us. They serve "bio" wines and quite good "Italian-ish" dishes. It has taken over the location that was "Le Godet d'Or" - run by our quirky friend, Jimmy La Watt (who chanced to stop by tonight). The new, and quite amiable, owner is Francis - well-versed in wine (and knows our chef friend Kevin - we all need to go to his place "Autour d'un Verre").

This was our first visit here (it'd been open a bit over a year and a half) and, although not warm enough to eat outside tonight, we look forward to returning.

Allez votez !

2010-03-14T13:26:00.005+01:00

We're voting (in France) this afternoon. Et toi ?

More info on French elections here.

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UPDATE:

Spring awakenings - L'éveil du printemps

2010-03-13T21:00:00.000+01:00

Wedekind is the first playwright to have made the discovery of sexuality a central theme. He speaks of the time when a child changes into an adult. Questions are concrete. Flowers have bloomed, fruits are not yet present. Spring does not spare the characters of this “children’s tragedy”: in the heart of the erotic opening, some of them meet death. In 1891, the questioning of Puritanism and of Prussian education caused a scandal. The play shows youth as it is and not how we would like it to be ...

D'après J.-C

2010-02-24T18:50:00.000+01:00

Herman Diephuis' dance piece, "D'après J.-C.", inspired by the religious paintings of the Renaissance representing the Virgin Mary and her son, revisits with grace and humor the illusory language of bodies.

You get an idea in the photo here - where you see our friend Claire (and her partner, Julien ) in last night's performance - the duo has over 300 (!) poses. I especially enjoyed the hilarious multiplication of the loaves and fishes.

Thanks to GG from Switzerland (and Claire) for the tickets. Also a special mention to the first Dear Reader (you!) who can give me a link to the original painting from which this pose is taken (just add your answer in the comments. Merci.

Port d'Envaux

2009-12-19T12:44:00.003+01:00

We drove (through the snow) to the commune of Portd'Envaux from Angoulême yesterday and are staying with our good friends Marco, and his son, Titi. Marco is involved with bike tours in France (mostly for cyclists from Norway and Sweden) - see more here. If ever you, Dear Reader, want a bike or hiking tour in France (even if you are not Norse) plan to contact Erik (Marco's boss and owner of Merlot in Oslo) - the hiking trips, which are a new addition to their catalog, look very appealing - there is a hike around Mont Blanc and another on the "The Way of Saint James" (Santiago de Compostela).

Tomorrow we plan to drive back to Paris - which we hear is under quite a bit of snow - as you can see from the photo.

ANGOULÊME

2009-12-16T10:00:00.000+01:00

We've traveled to Angoulême (me for the first time) to visit our dear friend "Dr. Phil". The area is a leading industrial pole between Nantes and Bordeaux, they have a good focus on TPEs via their economic development organization.

Abd el-Keller

2009-12-12T14:00:00.003+01:00

At Le Baron Rouge at 2pm for oysters and wine with Frank & Brenda, Larry & Carole ... for a rollicking good time until early evening. We then decamped and had a fine dinner at Le Café Moderne (19 rue Keller - famed for their "couscous franco-algérien") - you can appreciate their nice bar in the photo above. To appreciate their food (I had tajine d’agneau aux pruneaux - as did Frank) you'll just have to go there!

Fried Day

2009-12-11T18:28:00.006+01:00

Off to a photo expo by one of the Commedia regular, Danièle Mottet. It is entitled "Lieux Communs et Autres Clichés ... du côté de la Porte de Vanves" at Association Florimont (5 et 9, place Marcel-Paul 75014 Paris - M° Pernety) from 7pm onwards.

Later tonight, from 8pm onwards, we are over to La Commedia for some great music with our friends: Alain, Cécile and Eric. See you there? More info on facebook. Also a link here to a short video of their closing song.

Oh, and "Fried" Day is my lame reference to a loooong week of celebrating friendships (current and truncated).

Hamlet

2009-11-26T19:06:00.001+01:00

This afternoon we went up to the town of Pantin to see our dear friend Geneviève in a new play put on by La Compagnie de la Yole entitled "Hamlet, Affirmation" - Shakespeare with some added modern-day texts interleaved.The play was put on in a fascinating space that used to be a "laverie" that is now called Le Théâtre des Loges.The play runs through this Sunday so, if you are in town, drop on by.

Nice Day 7 -> Italy

2009-11-12T18:00:00.002+01:00

We drove over from Nice to the Italian town of Bordighera where we had a delicious lunch on the beach-front Lido restaurant with the sun shinning in on us.

After a stop at a local fruit tree nursery (to pick up 5 saplings for Pierrefeu) we returned to Nice and a late-night DVD (The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).

Nice - Day 6 - Pierrefeu

2009-11-11T13:24:00.003+01:00

OK, this was just a spectacular day as we all drove up from Nice via the town of Gilette, seen in the old-time photo (where the Armistice Day celebration was underway as we had our cafés) to arrive at Pierrefeu, where our friends have a wonderful home perched on the mountainside. However, they prefer the village remain a secret, so I shan't tell you, Dear Reader, anymore. Other than to say the views are magnificent and the lunch we had was one of the most convivial and delicious I've had in a long time.

Nice - Day 5 - Monaco

2009-11-10T12:45:00.001+01:00

Late morning we wandered around the market in Vieux Nice, had a light lunch at the charming Bar de la Dégustation and then met Max, an artist friend who divides his time between Paris and Nice, who took us for a driving tour - we finally ended up at Monaco/Monte Carlo (and its casino) before returning along the coast.

Nice - Day 4 - La Gaude

2009-11-09T12:22:00.003+01:00

I woke up feeling not too bad after yesterday's grueling marathon ... I can actually walk, even though I am a bit sore and stiff. We took the train from Nice in the late morning to Saint Laurent du Var where Lulu picked us up, at the Magique Pub (Le Goff's sister is the owner), to drive up to La Gaude. We had a nice lunch at the terrace of L'Auberge du Marronnier with him and Bernard (our bearded, deep-voiced singer friend).

From the bistro one can look up towards the church tower shown in the photo above (Lulu lives right next door - so he gets the hourly chimes).

Nice - Day 3 - Marathon Day!

2009-11-08T13:40:00.000+01:00

Here I am arriving at Cannes after running all along the coast from Nice (42 kilometers+) ... I look semi-alive here, but it was a tough marathon as I had bad cramps in my calves for more than half the run. Thank God for my friends (especially Lulu who ran with me a goodly distance).

Nice - Day 2

2009-11-07T13:41:00.005+01:00

Another fine day in Nice with a trip to the open-air market down at Libération with Jean-Pierre. The air was as crisp as the apples you see in the photo at left. Jean-Pierre has his favorite vendors (especially for cheese and wine) - who are garrulous and also incredibly knowledgable about their products and providers.

On the menu: a light lunch, rest in the afternoon then a pasta, pasta, pasta dinner (not too late) to load up for tomorrow's running of the Nice-Cannes marathon.

By the way, I am bib number 11537. The gun goes off at 8am (yikes!) and I should be doing around 4h30m (or a tad more). You can follow me (in your mind) on the map of the route shown here. Will appreciate any and all postive energy you can send my way!

Nice 2009 - Day 1

2009-11-06T10:57:00.002+01:00

Noonish and sitting at the sun-drenched dining room table at our friends' spacious home overlooking the bay of Nice (see the photo in yesterday's posting).

Later this afternoon we're going down into the old city (see photo above) to the Marathon Village to pick up my race bib (I'll give the number later). The weather is just spectacular and will hopefully hold for Sunday's run.

Nice 2009

2009-11-05T10:50:00.005+01:00

We're taking the TGV down to Nice today (I've only been there once before - way back in 1976) for my running in Sunday's "Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes" (their website is here). During our week there we also plan to go to Aix-en-Provence and, perhaps, Pierrefeu. Gotta run pack now!

Jardin d'Arts

2009-09-17T20:30:00.000+02:00

Our friend and neighbor, Eva, was one of a select group of artists on display in the gardens of the /th arrondissement town-hall.

Afterwards dinner at Mian Fan - our new "regular" restaurant for imaginative and delicious Asian Fusion.

Documentaries +

2009-06-05T15:34:00.004+02:00

This afternoon I'm off to la Bourse de Commerce (photo on left) to attend the Read Digital event focused on e-books.

Then this early evening we'll meet at the Scam (La société civile des auteurs multimedia) to see "Gulliver a tout faux" - a series of documentaries.

Finally back to La Commedia to hear Dare-Dare (Alain Aithnard and Eric Joco) playing rock/pop tunes.

Danny le rouge ... le vert?

2009-05-31T01:55:00.001+02:00

Paris 14ème :Grande Soirée Europe Ecologie Place Jacques Demy ( quartier de la mairie)

2009-05-29T01:39:00.001+02:00

It's not quite everyday life here, but I needed to "park" this video somewhere.

"Immeubles en fête - la fête des voisins"

2009-05-26T18:00:00.002+02:00

Twitter update

2009-05-19T10:00:00.000+02:00

What do you mean that you are not following me on Twitter?!

Pauvre France

2009-05-16T20:00:00.002+02:00

We're off to Dannemarie-les-Lys to see Odile's cousin in this "hoary chestnut" of a play.

"Un standard de la comédie de boulevard..." Dire que ce rôle est fait pour Bernard MENEZ n'est pas exagéré quand on connaît son jeu d'acteur.

Mais vous connaissez l'histoire : On sonne... C'est Victor le père de Michel qui débarque à l'improviste de Limoges pour lui annoncer que sa femme l'a quitté pour son propre frère! Mais une autre surprise l'attend : il ignore que son fils vit avec un homme. Victor va essayer par tous les moyens de lui faire entendre raison...

« Ciel et terre »

2009-05-16T10:00:00.000+02:00

"The marriage of art and technology"

A surprising exposition by Eva Tourtoglou Bony, a sculptor with an international reputation, is opened to all in the Arts Center of la Laverie.

La Ferté-Bernard

2009-05-15T15:00:00.002+02:00

A town of both art and tradition, the “Venice of the West” is the doorway to the Great West, located in the middle of the small valleys of la Perche.

V-E Day

2009-05-08T12:22:00.006+02:00

A holiday today in France (May is the month we don't work ... much). It's also the full moon this evening... so a similar scene may be repeated tonight. Stay tuned for an update later.

Work flow

2009-05-03T01:07:00.005+02:00

What's yours? (Click on the image to get a much larger view.)

Yves art show

2009-04-28T19:30:00.000+02:00

Tonight we're off to our dear friend Yves' vernissage at Atelier 213 (at 213, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine,
75011 Paris - M° Faidherbe-Chaligny). His show lasts until
May 10 ... so feel free to stop by.

I especially liked some new collage pieces he has done. That's a recent work (an auto-portrait) at left. You can visit his website here.

Luis strikes again ...

2009-04-21T19:00:00.001+02:00

After the Nuit Blanche of October 4, 2008 when more than 700 people attended the installation of Vanity n°12, Visible Invisible (see a video here), the Théâtre de Verre is sponsoring a new audiovisual installation/expo conceived and directed by the visual artist Luis Pasina. Entitled Vanity n°13, Munificence, it will be shown in the City Hall of the 10th district of Paris from April 21st to May 15th.

We're invited to tonight's vernissage so I'll update this post after we return.

Rise again?

2009-04-12T16:32:00.004+02:00

To those celebrating today ... Happy Easter!

We are at Odile's godmother's (Geneviève) place today at a party for Anna's (Geneviève's grand-daughter) baptism (took place yesterday). Many of her friends from Italy here and now all into a sort of hootenanny with a nice European mix of languages.

Ever onwards...

2009-04-10T19:48:00.005+02:00

After a longish day of "clearing the decks" (joining Puerto Rico 2000 after reading the World Competitiveness Report, setting up PersonalBrain for a personal "wiki-like knowledge and project management" tool or, better said, to support being a "big thinker" and, finally, closure on some consultng and teaching interventions) ... I am ready for a good friday break.

Thanks to our buddy Alain, there is the perfect break tonight - close, cosy and cheap at La Commedia. The event is up on facebook - just click here, if you, dear Reader, want to come.

THIS blog is pre-posterous!

2009-04-09T18:01:00.006+02:00

Thanks for visiting this, my "main" (before posterous) blog.

Now you can also take a look at my "sideline" blog - a place for random (or not so random) thoughts, ideas, articles and links of interest, etc:

It is at: http://josepietri.posterous.com/

I like it, in part, because of its dead-simple way to add posts ... you just email your post (text, images, videos) and posterous handles the rest. Way cool.

Señor elBulli

2009-04-06T22:00:00.001+02:00

World-renowned chef Ferran Adrià was in Paris for a talk at the Centre Pompidou tonight (I got to meet him afterwards and share a quick handshake and question: "Has he been to Puerto Rico?" - the answer was a resounding "¡Sí, joder!"). There was a book-signing afterwards for the French edition of his book "A Day at elBulli".

He gave an interesting talk (in fractured French, but "cute") about his influences, approach and future. I'll add some posts with more info (videos, links) here soon as an update ... so come visit again.

Journée nationale du Fromage 2009

2009-03-28T09:47:00.003+01:00

Today is the Annual (French) Cheese Day ... so go eat some cheese! Preferably, French and lait cru (unpasteurized or "raw" milk). Bon appétit !

Packing day

2009-03-24T12:45:00.008+01:00

Not much time to visit Rome as we leave this evening. Packed up and then lunched with Tiéno (merci encore).

Mid-afternoon we were able to get out and around a bit - but never quite found that "special, popular, laid-back but lively, non-touristy" neighborhood! Maybe next time. We sort of stumbled upon Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore and an interesting shop next to it called Casa del Rosario - their motto might be "if we can put the Pope's face on it, we WILL!" - medallions, rosaries, statues, etc. Far out!

Any ideas form you all, Dear Readers, will be added to my list of things to see and do next time in the Eternal City.

Today is Monday ...

2009-03-23T21:30:00.000+01:00

Up, not too late today, but a bit stiff . We arranged to meet Gianni at the Piramide metro station then took a bus to Mercato di Testaccio, a fantastic covered market, which is a foodie's paradise.

We picked up some items (cheeses, local veggies, etc.) and then headed out to find a near-by bar I'd read about (nameless, I had only a numberless street name). The place had been described as an authentic Roman "old man bar" and, indeed, as we approached there were quite a few geezers out in front. Turns out the place is called "Sora Rosa" and we all truly enjoyed the couple of hours we ended up spending there. We started with red wine (sold at an amazing 1.50€ per half liter) which comes from the owner's own vineyards (see their website here). Then I noticed some old fellows drinking what looked like Coke and white wine. We tried out one half-liter (OK, we had TWO) of what turned out to be a refreshing mix of white wine with Chinotto Neri. Topped all this off with some excellent cheese there (and was tempted by the barkeep's sandwiches made on Rosetta bread).

Tottered on back to the apartment to have lunch (including the excellently well prepared - and presented -"barba di frate"- grazie Odile) with a couple of cold Moretti beers and some afumacato cheese with a wonderfully rustic loaf of bread. Then a short nap and out again towards the Trastevere.

Odile had spied out the Libreria del Cinema (where I bought a fun book entitled "Film Posters - Science Fiction") - the bookstore has an adjoining caffé where we waited for Francesca and Tiéno (each getting off from their respective jobs) while imbibing fine wine and listening to oldies, such as Fred Buscaglione (a childhood favorite of Gianni's).

Afterwards we headed out to a vegetarian restaurant nearby called Jaya Sai Ma (whose name in Sanskrit means "Victory of the Great Mother") run by followers of Guru Sai Baba.

Maratona di Roma 2009

2009-03-22T09:00:00.004+01:00

Feel free to cheer (really or virtually) for me - I am wearing bib number: 9296 ... and THANKS to many of you who have already dropped me messages via e-mail, facebook, SMS, etc. - I really appreciate it!

NOTES: As a participant in the City of Rome Marathon, one gets to drink in the city’s historic atmosphere right from the beginning. The start line is placed in front of the 2,000 year old Coliseum, and from there the course is a veritable festival of magnificent sights. Among other things, runners go past Saint Peter’s, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps and through a lot of picturesque, narrow streets in the old part of the city. No PB aspirations (I'll break 4 hours next time) – one needs time to appreciate all the breathtaking landmarks and to conquer the cobblestones, that cover about half the route. The course, they say, is surprisingly flat for a city built on seven hills, but the sometimes uneven cobblestone streets, which in the narrowest places can feel quite crowded, may add a few extra minutes to finish times.

UPDATE: And, indeed, the cobblestones did add an interesting dimension (and 5 minutes to my last marathon time) ... I crossed the finish line at 4h44m49s after having staved off calf cramps (for the last 10km). A video of my shuffling arrival is here - about half-way through the segment, watch for me to "shake out" my hands. A close-up version is here. And, to see me in finer form, take a look here (towards the end of the video) filmed at 21.1km, the half-way point, where you'll see me with enough energy to run backwards (!) showing off the flag of Puerto Rico.

Dinner time saw us back at the "White Chicken" (see Friday March 20 blog post).

Walkabout

2009-03-21T20:47:00.003+01:00

We met Gianni and Francesa at the Policlinico subway station then took the tram to the Coppedè neighborhood. According to one guide book: "If Gaudí and the Grimm Brothers had gone into town-planning together, suburbia would probably look like this." Totally wacky!

Afterwards we walked about (perhaps a bit too much for me pre-marathon): Piazza di Spagna, Piazza del Popolo (for a SUNNY sidewalk café lunch at Canova), then finally back to cafe Cinque in Trastevere for tea and coffee (OK, we ended up with beer). Finally dinner (again) at the excellent La Villetta for a final carbo-load!

Marathon Village

2009-03-20T08:44:00.011+01:00

This morning we're heading down to the EUR neighborhood. EUR was designed for the 1942 World's fair which never took place. Fascist inspired buildings include the Palazzo della Civita del Lavoro and the Palazzo dei congressi. We'll meet François, Odile's cousin, at the Palazzo dei congressi and then visit the Marathon Village to pick up our race packets.

UPDATE: François' wife Brigitte, and their friends from Aix, Didier & Margueritte; joined us for the race packet pickup - including cool ASICS backpack and black 15th Rome Marathon t-shirt plus tons of promtional stuff (including a frisbee). Metro-ed back up to near the Coliseum for a constitutional walk prior to lunch at the Caffe Aventino (just down from the Circo Massimo).

UPDATE2: We returned "home" to drop off the 4 kilos (!) of promotional materials I picked up at the Marathin Village and then headed out again - just us two - to the Trastevere (which we'd zapped last night). Few tourists out due to fairly cold and windy weather - we stopped at a few places for warm-up bracers, such as: La Casetta di Trastevere, Bar Le Cinque. Even got pious and stopped in at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere (see photo below).

Early evening saw us rushing over to Termini train station to meet our friends: Gianni coming in from Milan and Francesca coming in from Florence. We all walked over to a nearby place for dinner: La Gallina Bianca (where I continued my carbo-loading with an excellent spaghetti alla carbonara). Tomorrow some walking about (but not too much - as to remain fresh for Sunday's big run).

My first Eternal City

2009-03-19T15:37:00.008+01:00

We've arrived safely at Tieno's (thanks for putting us up) in Rome - near Piramide (see photo on left). My first time ever here in this beautiful city and already I am feeling soooo Italian - 5 kilos lighter, slim and sauve, with a touch of furious gesticulation thrown in, for good measure.

Odile and I eager to go out walking in the neighborhood so, dear Reader, catch you later; any suggestions for things to do, places to see, bars to go drinking at ... just add your comments here or facebook/twitter/e-mail me!

UPDATE: (Planned) This evening we're heading "across the Tiber" (Trastevere) for dinner with Tiéno.

UPDATE2 : Actually we ended up not far from the apartment at La Villetta for a wonderful Roman dinner, a top ten place!

Amour, Raspail, Vavin ...

2009-03-11T17:20:00.006+01:00

Flo tipped us off to Jacques Bullot's book-signing at L'Arbe à Lettres (14 rue Boulard) at 7pm tonight.

His new whodunnit, this time, takes place in the depths of the Parisian subway, and, in particular, in certain stations of the Montparnasse district. Grim… and erotic Métro!

See you there, dear Readers?

Neuilly Night

2009-03-07T18:15:00.002+01:00

Off to dinner tonight at Sophie's home in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Book recommendation

2009-03-03T12:00:00.001+01:00

I can't recommend enough Lev's book (see video below) - I was lucky enough to meet him in Paris some years ago - and hope you'll buy yourself a copy (it comes out TODAY). I'm heading out myself to score me one.

Change and Innovation

2009-03-02T23:00:00.004+01:00

For the next few days I am in Drogheda (Droichead Átha in Irish, meaning "Bridge of the Ford"),an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km (35 mi) north of Dublin.

I'll be doing the keynote speech for Enterprise Week 2009 run by the Louth County Enterprise Board.

Past glories

2009-02-27T20:30:00.003+01:00

It's been a while, but we've gone back to a fine resto, les Caves Solignac, thanks to our friends Jean-Marie and Sylvie. Excellent value, très français and delicious "cuisine du marché"in a sort of 30's atmosphere.

"Cabaret Latin" au Dansoir

2009-02-25T23:00:00.004+01:00

NO time to translate ... we went to see this piece tonight and I cen tell you it was VERY enjoyable (including seeing our friend Juanca dance besides sing and play guitar). I recommend it ... so GO, you have a few days left.

See more info here at the entry "Cabaret Latin au Dansoir"

12th Annual "Carnaval de Paris"

2009-02-22T10:00:00.002+01:00

This afternoon, Pimprenelle, the cow - queen of "la Promenade du Bœuf Gras", kicks off the traditional procession of the Carnaval de Paris. Rendez-vous at 3pm rue Le Vau, behind the square Séverine in the 20th arrondissement.

UPDATE: Got my 30km training run sandwiched in between lunch and a later afternoon foray to City Hall (the endpoint) of the Carnaval procession ... got to see Pimprenelle, herself, and scads of batucada groups drumming up a frenzy. Bravo to Macaq, the organization that puts on this fine, fun event.

Drinks at Le Pick Clops afterwards and then dinner at a new place, Le Chant des Voyelles, with Odile and Denis.

Dreaming of warmer climes

2009-02-18T17:54:00.003+01:00

Odile heard from our dear friend Gianni, in Milan, and tried to convince him to take a break and come visit us (a hint to you, dear Reader - you know who you are). Of course when you have a place in Brazil, as he does, perhaps "sunny Paris" (which it certainly it has not been) is not the first place you'd go in late February!

If YOU are looking for place to stay in Brazil then consider Gianni's place (this is shamless huckstering since I've never been there - but I trust him with my life) - take a look at: http://www.casadaareia.com/

24 heures de la vie d'une femme

2009-02-17T18:13:00.003+01:00

We're off to the Théâtre Le Petit Montparnasse tonight to see this play by Stefan Zweig.

Crim'expo

2009-02-12T12:00:00.002+01:00

Whodunnit? ---Leave it to science!
The museum director has been found murdered – and you have to identify the killer. To complete your investigation you'll need to visit each department of the forensic science lab, from forensic medicine and fingerprints to odontology, DNA, microfibre analysis, entomology and ballistics. After this fascinating experience, you'll watch CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with twice as much interest!

Tonight at la Villette we're attending the vernissage of this expo (for which we did some of the translation from French to English/Spanish) - it runs until 2010, so if you're a fan of CSI, NCIS, Bones, Crossing Jordon, RSI (France) or any one of those German sci-pol series then get on over to the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie.

Where is this statue?

2009-02-10T19:55:00.006+01:00

Some of you have asked (OK, it was only me) where the statue, that appear on our 2009 New Year's Well Wishes Card (NYWWC - I *guess* that what one calls it), is located in Paris. On the left-hand side of this text you have another photo of the work.

It took me a while and some CSI photo work, but I've located the placement, if not the name, of the statue.

So, here's the challenge to YOU ... tell me the name given to this work (extra points for who sculpted it)! Just add it as a comment. First correct answer wins ... what? My gratitude. Hmm, not enough? Well, let's say I'll stand the winner to a drink in a bistro near this park.

And, to warm up just try to tell me where it is located ... if you "give the cat your tongue" then click here.

Switzerland - France training run

2009-02-02T15:30:00.005+01:00

Below is the map of the route I ran today. I guess I could call it a bi-national, inter-faith run, as I ran from the synagogue (rue de la ...) in Porrentruy, Switzerland to the church in Vieux-Ferrette, France. About 2h40m ... and a daunting hill climb about two kilometers before the border. But a truly nice run, with the sun coming out in the latter half, and snow everywhere. Odile caught up with me (by car, easier) about 5 km from the end - and had lovingly thought to bring me a croissant. Quick energy!

The photo just above is the city center of Porrentruy this morning - click on the image to see it larger.

The towns on this run were: Porrentruy, Alle, Miécourt, Liebsdorf, Durlinsdorf, Moernach, Koestlach and, finally, Vieux-Ferrette.

View Larger Map

Café-théâtre par la Compagnie Labile

2009-02-01T16:00:00.002+01:00

We've come to Porrentury, in the Swiss Jura, to see Odile's cousin, Françoise. She's acting in a theater piece entitled "Elles & Eux". You can hear an interview and excerpts here (en français, bien sûr).

UPDATE: We all had a wonderful time - the actors were all top-notch, the direction (Danièle) was impeccable for timing and rhythm, the tech crew did very well. And the texts! Laugh-out-loud funny (touching, incisive, even biting at times).
Afterwards about a dozen of us met for dinner at the Buffet de la Gare, where Danièle's cousin, Didier, is the head chef.

Bonne Année ! (under the wire)

2009-01-31T13:22:00.006+01:00

According to tradition in France, one can send one's wishes for a happy new year right up until the last day of January. What a break for us procrastinators!

So here, from both Odile and myself, we send (finally) all our BEST WISHES to you, faithful Readers and dear Friends.

May 2009 be full of love, peace and fun for you and yours.

新年好

2009-01-25T22:19:00.006+01:00

Happy (Chinese)New Year!

I missed this year's parade in Chinatown, but will hope to make it up tomorrow. Best wishes to all.

Truffles are a kind of manna...

2009-01-23T18:51:00.003+01:00

It's my party! Well, in any case we're celebrating (with a little c) my birthday today by having a really nice meal "en tête à tête", just me and my Odilta ... and when I say really nice I mean really nice because we're having truffles (like those beauties on the left).

Thanks to our friends Jean-Philippe and Virginie who gave us this marvelous gift of truffles. Stay tuned for what we did with them (and send me your recipes).

UPDATE: Finally the truffles are still unused as we ended up going out for lunch at La Commedia and then dinner at Le Godet d'Or (also called the Godet d'Art - but which we refer to as "Jimmy La Watt" - the name of the highly original owner).

UPDATE2: I want to thank Levni Yilmaz for posting an entry on facebook , and for allowing me to embed his work here on my blog. It is called "Youth & Aging" from his continuing Tales Of Mere Existence. That it showed up on my birthday is just more of a kick! Enjoy...

Lift that bale...

2009-01-18T18:30:00.002+01:00

We spent a good part of this afternoon (in two sessions on either side of my 20K training run) "repatriating" boxes of (heavy) books from Virginie's basement to our apartment. About 40 boxes (thanks for the help Benj!) ... now Odile needs to unpack and arrange them (almost 99% her books).

And how was YOUR Sunday? Day of rest? Humbug!

Heading home

2009-01-15T17:30:00.005+01:00

After teaching all morning (a quite fast-paced EIS workshop with 17 B2B students of the Lyon IAE - all very participative) I am now posting from the Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu (just across the street from the train station) - a modern, accessible facility where I have been able to work comfortably this afternoon - and also take in a fine expo, of photos by Raymond Depardon, entitled "Villes" (Cities - 12 worldwide, from Tokyo to Paris, from Dubaï to Addis Abbaba) . I'm taking the TGV at 7pm for "ma ville" - quiet dinner at home with Odile around 9:30pm. I'll be back for session 2 with these same students next Wednesday.

Lyon 1 - 2009

2009-01-14T01:00:00.004+01:00

I'm off to Lyon from noon today until 9pm Thursday - teaching a class on Change Management at the IAE of the Université Lyon III (my fourth year). More news as things unfold. A prize to the first reader to add a comment correctly identifying the photo at left!

Back in the saddle again

2009-01-13T00:58:00.003+01:00

Dear Readers - Happy New Year 2009 (we're been away at Montigny, busy celebrating and handling the cold [that's a photo at left of the Lion at Denfert-Rocherau shivering in our Siberian weather of late] - so blogging less).

I'm back to training for a marathon (Rome on March 22) - more news about that later. I have some translation projects coming up and will also be teaching at Lyon this month and next - plus sandwiching in a week-long trip to Switzerland late this month. More about all that too in good time.

Hopefully I'll see more of those of you who are far-flung (at least flung far from me) - don't know how, don't know when ... but got the feeling 2009 will pick up in the visits to Paris category (hey, a good way to escape the crisis).

Like I said: mo' later.

HBB & PP

2008-12-19T19:12:00.003+01:00

Happy bithday to Benj (we got him the book you see at left - shhhh, don't tell him as we don't go over to his place until later tonight - LOL). The book includes a fascinating account of the language (and culture) of the tribe of the Pirahã in Brazil. An overview article is here.

Also, one of our favorite local indie musicians, Pauline Paris, is asking folks to rate which one, of three songs, should be released as a single. You can hear the 3 tunes (which are : Corrida, Suzie d. and X.) by clicking here. Then just post your choice here and I'll summarize them and get them over to Ms. Paris. Thanks for interacting!

Uzès Attacks!

2008-12-16T19:08:00.003+01:00

Francis & Iva, our dear friends (photographer, artist) from Uzès, are arriving in Paris tonight before flying out tomorrow for the holidays in the Czech Republic (Iva's family). They be bunking with us at Mouton - with their 3 children! That makes 7 under our little roof ...and we're busy cooking for all. We'll be leading with a slew of tortilla española (see recipe here). More news later.

Ma tête, partout

2008-12-14T23:43:00.002+01:00

http://www.photofunia.com

Happy birthday, Arlette

2008-12-13T19:09:00.003+01:00

We're off to celebrate Arlette's 4x20th birthday on the Péniche Aabysse.

Dare-Dare

2008-12-12T19:05:00.006+01:00

Come on over, dear Reader, to hear our buddy, Alain (and his buddy, Eric), play tonight at la Commedia. Hurry over "on the double" ... music starts at 8:30pm.

UPDATE: It is now 4:04am ... and the beat goes on (well, at our apartment as la Commedia turned us out around 1am).

Book-signing

2008-12-10T17:32:00.007+01:00

Actually it is more of a "DVD signing" as today marks the official release of this boxed-set of films by director Jacques Rozier. Odile's cousin, Bernard Menez, who has appeared in some of these films (including the cult "Maine-océan") will also be on hand to sign.

We'll be there (chez Potemkine, 30 rue Beaurepaire, 75010) from 7pm onwards. See you there, dear Reader?
More details at: www.bernardmenez.net

Lights ON!

2008-12-05T20:30:00.002+01:00

The christmas season is getting into full swing - we went up to Denis' place (near the place du Tertre shown in the photo on the left) and enjoyed seeing all the decorations on the walk up to his apartment - especially near the Métro station Abbesses. We had a great dinner and got home around 7am!

More holiday "lights" here.

« A… comme Alice »

2008-12-04T17:10:00.003+01:00

The dance creation by Karine Saporta of "A ... like Alice” (based on Lewis Carrol's eponymous work, Alice in Wonderland) was presented tonight at Le Dansoir (an incredible space - well worth a visit). There are two versions - one for children and another for adults - we went to the adult version, natch.

The adult version is enriched by metaphysical comments on being and nothingness... between which Alice oscillates. Insights on the giddiness induced by the phantasm of her own disappearance.

There are also some daring passages, evoking the turbid depths of incestuous desire, also the relational ambiguity between adults and children. Yes, all that, without diminishing the fairy-like dimension of the show. We left at the intermission (enough said).

Déjeuner chez Wittgenstein

2008-12-03T13:07:00.005+01:00

Tonight dinner at the newly opened Columbian restaurant Bochica (formerly La Piragua) then "Lunch at Wittgenstein's" at the Akéton Théâtre.

Happy Birthday, Bill .. and congrats to Luis-Miguel

2008-11-27T16:00:00.003+01:00

Today I want to wish a very happy birthday to one of my dearest, oldest friends - Bill McD. The song below is for you ... see you in England this summer!

Also, this afternoon at Orsay we attended the very successful PhD defense of Luis-Miguel (son of our good friends, Aggie & Michel) - congratulations, Docteur !

Land Art in the Gard

2008-11-24T16:49:00.006+01:00

Arthur, Jean-Yves' son, has recently been getting into "land art" and also doing some stone scupltures that show a certain promise.

In the photo at left is a piece he has entitled "Now I'm Waiting".

Let us know what you think - it will surely encourage him to have feedback. Also, when he has finished creating his website, I will post a link here.

Marseille²

2008-11-23T16:36:00.003+01:00

One of the benefits of traveling is coming across new people, places and events. This includes friends sharing insights into their favorites - such as music. Here is a sample - thanks to Béatrice for introducing me to the Romanian singer Maria Tănase.

She also introduced us to the works of Alfons Alt (photographer/painter). You can visit his site here.

M & M

2008-11-22T13:49:00.005+01:00

The highpoints of today are the Market at Uzès and our trip down to Marseille.

First thing this morning, however, we headed over to the château Bérard to help a neighbor move some (heavy) furniture.

Afterwards, noonish, we headed over to the marché (where a wicked and frigid wind was blowing) ... if you've never been to the Saturday market in Uzès you can see the video below.

We'll head down to Marseille, about 2 hour's drive, later this afternoon and I'll write an update from down there.

UPDATE: Happy birthday, Béatrice. The party for her XXth (well, you didn't expect I'd actually say!) was a great success! We all had a ball (and me a tad too much champagne perhaps). Béa had made enough to feed over a hundred people (we were only 80+) - a fantastic Cake au foie gras et figues, Vol-au-vent blanquette de veau avec sauce suprême, and more. Everything absolutely delicious!