Air Show, Volleyball & George

The highlight of this week was the big Paris Air Show held just outside Paris in Le Bourget. It’s a grand spectacle (worthy of a visit from John Travolta), basically a massive showing off of what aircrafts are capable of. It did make me feel good knowing that airplanes, even commercial ones like the new giant Airbus A380, can do FAR more than they ever do when we’re on them. And of course the military jets – the F-16s, Superhornets, Mirages, MiGs, etc (I just learned most of these names this week!) are a testament to human technological skill. Too bad they just help us kill.


On the other end of the scale, I had the privilege of photographing women’s professional beach volleyball just next to the Eiffel Tower. Each year, the city sets up a dozen or so temporary sand courts along the Champs de Mars for one of the stops on the women’s professional beach volleyball circuit. I don’t think I need to comment on this very much but let’s just say it wasn’t boring.


Musically, this week I shot George Michael in concert at the Stade de France just outside Paris. I was shocked he could still fill a stadium as big as the Stade de France after so many years but he pretty much did. Hard to say how many people were there but it had to be around 40,000 or so. He still used some of his Wham dance moves but at least didn’t wear those orange Dolphin shorts.


Had dinner this week with a small group of Americans in Paris. That’s a pretty rare occurrence for me – I don’t know many Americans here. Had fun chatting about life in the US, skewering Bush & Company and espousing theories about why the French behave the way they do.

And finally, a small but satisfying victory against my French cell phone operator. After spending 28 euros and probably a couple of hours calling their customer service line (yes, in France YOU pay THEM when you call, the opposite of an 800 number in the US) to report that they made a mistake on my bill, and after going with a friend into one of their stores with the same fury I used to have when dealing with the cable company in LA, they offered me a free month of service – 50 euros worth! And oh yeah, they damn well reimbursed the 28 euros they charged me for calling them. Vive la France!

A couple of photos of the week (including a link to a composite of more images from this week) ...

A rainbow over the French countryside

Two teenage "streakers" attempt to disrupt the women's volleyball match

For more photos of the week - CLICK HERE

Monte Carlo, Ventimiglia & Father's Day

Spent most of this week in Monte Carlo, Monaco photographing an international TV festival. It was very civilized and organized … quite different than what I’m used to in Paris! There were many American TV stars but the highlight for me was shooting Robert Duval, especially this photo.


Another highlight was meeting the Prince of Monaco. Albert looks pretty much like most people’s accountant but is very friendly and rather informal for royalty. I was so tempted to ask him why Monaco has no king but just a series of princes. Does anyone know the answer to this? Is that why it’s a principality or is that term just a coincidence? I have no idea. You can see some of my favorite images from the Festival here:

Monte Carlo TV Festival - Favorites

After the festival was over, I had an extra day before I had to head back to Paris. Since we were only 15 minutes by train from the border of Italy, I decided to spent half a day in Ventimiglia, an Italian border town that is only really known for it’s Friday morning market … and lucky for me that’s when I was there. The market was filled with mostly low-end counterfeit stuff and wasn’t really so impressive. But even though the town was just a few minutes from France, it had a distinctly Italian feel to it. I had a delicious pizza and of course a gelato and then made my way back to Paris via Nice. You can see a few Ventimiglia photos here:

Ventimiglia

Happy Father's Day to everyone it applies to!

Just one photo from the week this week ...


Strange Promotion? Free pizza cutter when you buy fabric softener

Nadal, Henin and Who

Well 15 straight days of shooting the French Open tennis at Roland Garros is over. It was really great and I’m sure I’ll miss the action soon but right now I could use the rest. Both of this year’s winners – Rafael Nadal & Justine Henin - have won the tournament three times in a row now. I doubt that’s ever happened before.


You can see some of my favorite Roland Garros images from the past two weeks here:

Roland Garros - Favorites

My musical highlight of the week was photographing The Who in concert at Bercy. The do look a bit old but they can still make great music (although Pete Townshend doesn't get quite as high with his jumps as he used to).


















A friend of mine visited me from Australia this weekend. She had quite an eventful time in Paris. First, we were able to sneak her into the Women’s Final at Roland Garros so she got to watch the whole match. The next day she was walking around the Marais when a drunk woman approached her and proceeded to hit/slap her upside the head. She was fine but pretty stunned. And finally, the next day on her way out to the airport, her taxi got into a traffic accident (luckily only a small one). Her stay in Paris was short but memorable.

And now a couple of photos from the week ...


Temporary Experimental Garden in front of the Hotel de Ville


Doctor Fister - Internal Medicine

Tennis, Tennis and More Tennis ...

It's been a week of tennis, tennis and more tennis. I've been shooting the French Open at Roland Garros the better part of each day this week.

Even if you're not a tennis fan, there is much to appreciate at the tournament ... from the people in the stands to the food that is served. You can see some of my favorite images from week 1 of the tournament here:

Roland Garros - Week 1

Not much else to write about - not even Photos of the Week!