It's All About the Low Country ...

Just got back from 4 days in the Low Country ... known also as the Netherlands, Holland and Pays-Bas. I was sponsored by the Netherlands Tourism Board to go photograph the tulips, which are in full bloom this week, as well as the surrounding areas. I spent only one day in Amsterdam and three in Haarlem (their's is a bit nicer than ours).


I wish I had the ability to capture in a photo what these massive fields of brilliant exploding colors really looked like. This time of year, many parts of that country look like a 3D painting.


Highlights of the trip included:

* exploring the picturesque town of Edam


* a private boat trip through canals surrounding the fields adjacent to the Keukenhof flower park


* a guided visit through the massive Bloemenveiling international flower market and auction


* outstanding Mexican food in Haarlem (most important)

(OK, I wish it was this good but it really was surprisingly good)

To see a mix of city and countryside images from the Low Country, CLICK HERE.

Overreaction, Hanging Meats and I Don't Know What

This time of year, when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, where almost daily Paris gets intermittent rain followed by brilliant sunshine, people seem to overreact ... with what they wear and what how they act.


At the first sign of sunshine, people flock to the cafe terraces and public squares and then scamper back to shelter when the rain comes. It can almost seem manic sometimes. I suspect people are so tired of winter that they overreact to the first signs of Spring - trying to sit "en terasse" and wear t-shirts like when it's really Spring. We see this same overreaction when winter starts as well - one cold day in say October and many people bring out their big coats and scarfs when its really not at all necessary.

Had dinner at a nice restaurant near Saint Germain de Pres and had a new experience - hanging meat.


I ordered a brochette of beef and when it arrived at my table, they hung it vertically from a big hook. I'm not really sure what the purpose of this was. Anyone out there know? At first I thought it was to make it easier to take the meat off the skewer but the distance between the end of the skewer and my plate made it highly likely that the dislodged meat chunk would jettison off my plate before I could stop it. Maybe it was just to show off the meat.

And I don't really know what this is but I like it:



Some photos of the week:

Hope not many people ordered this
It's inevitable
Encouragement?
Mayor of Paris - Betrand Delanoe
More hanging meat

Olympic Torch, Marseilles and finally Paris

The big news of this last week in Paris was the chaos related to the Olympic torch coming through the city. I was in city hall, with large groups of pro- and anti-China demonstrators outside,

waiting to take official photos of the planned ceremony that was scheduled but at the last minute, Chinese officials didn't allow the torch to stop there. Rumor has it that it was because the mayor of Paris put a pretty mild protest banner on city hall that read "Paris defends human rights everywhere in the world."

It was a pretty chaotic day, with the highlight being a demonstration by Reporters Without Borders that included unfurling a banner on Notre Dame with the Olympic rings portrayed as handcuffs.


Spent a few days down in Marseilles finishing up my project with the Port of Long Beach. It was my first time in this city which I found quite nice but with a bit more of an edge than most French cities.


Showed a couple of friends around Paris. It was quite nice re-connecting with some parts of Paris that I hadn't been to in a few months.

A few photos of the week:

A French supporter of Tibet
Geese (I think) doing a Notre Dame fly by
Free Wifi zone sign in the Place des Vosges

European Trade Mission ...

This week I accompanied the Mayor of Long Beach and a few executives from the Port of Long Beach on their European Trade Mission.


It was a great learning experience given that I have never really thought about how ports work and how much has to happen for us to get all of our stuff. I learned about "cold ironing" and more than I ever wanted to know about low sulfur fuel and hydrogen-powered buses. We had a pretty hectic schedule including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Hamburg (and Marseilles next week) but I managed to do a bit of exploring in each city. I had forgotten how nice of a city Amsterdam in particular is and how nice the people there are. Maybe there's something to letting people do drugs and have sex freely ...


To see some images from Amsterdam, click HERE


To see some images of Hamburg, click HERE

And finally, a few images of the week ...

The Port of Rotterdam
High Tech Command Center in Rotterdam