Miguel arrives! Montpellier & Arles

On July 19, Miguel arrived in Montpellier! We spent two nights in town before heading off on our Provence tour.


Miguel in front of fountain, Antigone, Montpellier.


Denis and me in Jardin des Plantes


Miguel in Jardin des Plantes


Denis and me in Le Heaven bar.

After a couple of fun days in Montpellier, during which we managed to sleep through the highest profile event happening in the city all year (namely the arrival and departure ceremonies as the Tour de France passed through the city), we left for our Provence tour. We spent Saturday afternoon at L’Espiguette beach, then continued on to Mas du Petit Grava, a small guesthouse just outside Arles.

Miguel and I loved Mas du Petit Grava! It's a converted centuries-old farmhouse in the countryside near Arles, owned and operated by an incredibly friendly and welcoming couple, Jim & Ike. We really felt like we were staying with old friends who just happened to have a gorgeous home in the heart of Provence.

Miguel in front of Les Arènes, the 1st Century amphitheater in Arles, where they still host bullfights each summer.

Me in old Arles

Miguel in Arles

Nighttime street scene in Arles, the inspiration for many of Van Gogh's later paintings.

One of the best meals Miguel and I had on our trip was sidewalk dining at a pizzeria in Maussane les Alpilles, just a short drive from Arles.

Having evening wine, cheese & fruit -- and good conversation -- with our hosts and some of their friends.

Miguel with a new friend at the Mas.

Ike, Jim, me and Miguel just before we left Mas du Petit Grava for our drive to Avignon. I really hope to return for another stay in the near future. :o)

Next stop: Avignon!

Salon-de-Provence & Montpellier

Over the weekend of June 29 - July 1, I paid a visit to Sandrine and Michael in Pelissanne, France, just outside Salon-de-Provence. It was so awesome to see these guys, who were of course the ones responsible for me winding up in Montpellier in the first place! (I'm not sure whether I mentioned this on the blog or not, but back in February in Pipa, Brazil, on the same day I found I had been accepted to HEC, I asked Sandrine and Michael where they thought I should spend the summer in France to take language courses, get acclimated, etc., and they recommended Montpellier. So even though I had never visited before, I took their advice and here I am! (And quite glad about it to boot!))


Sandrine and Michael in Salon. In addition to putting me up for the weekend in their home, cooking for me and generally being totally awesome people, Sandrine and Michael also took me into Salon-de-Provence on Saturday for the "Reconstitution Historique" festival, during which the whole town embraces its medieval roots.


The Reconstitution Historique had all sorts of exciting things on offer, including:


...big, scary bulls running loose in the streets (well, more ambling than running, but those horns are scary, no?), and...

...traditional medieval music complete with lutes and bagpipes and tights, oh my! ...and...

...silversmiths working in the traditional method (kinda makes you wonder what this guy is up to when there's no "Reconstitution Historique" going on, you know?) ... and...

...goose charmers... (see video below) ...

Have you ever seen such well-behaved geese?

We dined al fresco at twilight, and then strolled around a bit more...


...enjoying the acrobatics and saffron drapery.

Michael unleashing his inner paladin.

After having a fabulous time catching up with Sandrine and Michael, it was back to Montpellier for my final 3 weeks. Here are some snapshots of the city

St. Pierre's Cathedral

St. Anne's Church

Part of the monastery at Maguelone, about 15km south of Montpellier, right by the beach. This was part of a 6-hour bike ride I took all around the seaside nearby. Good stuff. :-)

Sunset over the Arc de Triomphe in Montpellier.

Inside of PopArt (again) -- one of my favorite haunts for daytime people-watching and web-surfing, and nighttime high jinks.

Laurent and me

Me and Nico

On Bastille Day, Denis and I took a trip to Sete.

Denis and me in Sete, with the Mediterranean behind us.

As night fell, we found the perfect sidewalk cafe for watching the fireworks:

Bastille Day fireworks in Sete, France.

But sadly, it seems that all good things must come to an end, and so it is with my sojourn in Montpellier. Next up, Miguel arrives and we tackle Provence!

Barcelona, Spain!

My first French course at the Alliance Francaise in Montpellier ended on Friday, June 22, and my second course would not begin until Monday, July 2. Since I had the week free, I decided to hop a train down to Barcelona to hang out for a few days and pay a visit to ESADE, an MBA school with which I'm toying with the idea of doing an exchange while I'm at HEC.



In honor of returning to People Lounge for the first time since I was there with Miguel last September, I had my first cosmopolitan since arriving in Europe. Sadly, it wasn't very good, and made me long for those fabulous $6 Ketel One Cosmos at Therapy on monday nights.



While I was in Barcelona, I popped down to the beach at Sitges for a daytrip. Here I am wearing a characteristically subtle outfit, with the Mediterranean behind me.

Me in Sitges with the church and LaPunta stairs behind me.

Then it was back to Barcelona for my visit to ESADE. ESADE was the only other European MBA program that really appealed to me as I was applying to HEC (where I have now committed to attend starting this fall). But given the fact that I speak a a little bit of French but no Spanish, I thought France would probably be the more logical choice. I was really torn about the decision, however, and after sending in my tuition deposit to HEC, I started percolating on the possibility of pursuing either an exchange or dual degree between the two schools. So I decided to embark on a little reconnaissance mission and check the school out. I visited the campus and met with representatives from the admissions office, and was very impressed and got a very good vibe of the place. The school's reputation and curriculum both sound great to me, and the facilities and location and views from the school are all pretty fab. And of course Barcelona is extremely appealing in its own right. So there you have it. I'm definitely strongly considering the possibility of a dual degree or exchange between HEC & ESADE, but fortunately it doesn't look like I would need to do anything concrete until the very end of the year in terms of applying, so I have some time to mull it over. (One rather intimidating aspect of such an undertaking is that it would probably require becoming proficient in not only French, but Spanish as well...)


One thing Barcelona has in spades is innovative architecture, and ESADE is no exception. Here's the entrance hall to the MBA building. (It was even more George Lucasy in person...)

After my ESADE visit, I did a little sightseeing around Barcelona, riding in my very first topless bus:

Here's the topless bus I took to tour around Montjuic.

View to the Mediterranean from Montjuic.

Here's a shot of me taken at Castell de Montjuïc, with the city of Barcelona in the background. The views from up there, overlooking the city and the sea, were incredible. Of course it was also pushing 100 degrees and I was -- as usual -- dressed inappropriated in black jeans.

One of the odd things about Barcelona was that there were a number of splendiferous fountains -- such as this one -- in the large central plazas. What's odd about them is that they appear to be filled with urine. (Maybe it's to discourage someone, such as myself, who might be jonesing for a quick cooldown in the intense heat. )

The only eventful part of my trip back to Montpellier was that our train broke down in La Franqui, a tiny village 1.5 hours west of Montpellier. It was mid-day, well into the 90's, not a cloud in the sky, and for all of these reasons, unbearably hot. We were all forced to get out of the train, cross the bridge to the other platform, stand in the sun for an hour and change, then cross back to the other side, stand in the sun for a while, then cross back, wait a bit, then cross back again. Everyone tried to huddle under whatever little shade there was, but there just wasn't enough, and in the end we waited about 3 hours before a train finally arrived to bring us the rest of the way to Montpellier. Kind of a pain in the tuchus, but given other folks' reactions, it clearly was not that much of an anomoly.

Stranded in La Franqui.

Next up, a visit to Salon-de-Provence and final weeks in Montpellier!

More on Montpellier, France

When we last left our hero, he was snarfing some puffy pink barbe de papa during gay pride. Despite this, we rejoin him anyway, as he continues to savor every fantabulous moment of this fantabulous summer in the fantabulous city of Montpellier.


Denis and me at Nicholas' apt. This is an absolutely horrendous photo of me, but Denis, of course, is adorable and I'm smitten, so I'm including it anyway. :-)

In honor of the end of my French class at the Alliance Francaise, a bunch of us got together for a farewell dinner on June 20.

Nicola and me at dinner

Me and Antonio, who turned into a great friend over the 4-week course. He and I both resided at the Protestant Theological School (yes, I know...) and got to hang out quite a bit. He was also horrified by my preternatural daily consumption of cereal, and insisted on making me authentic Italian lunches from scratch more times than I can count. After our French course, he was going to head back to Italy for a week before going to London for an English course, all in preparation for his bright future career in international relations. I hope we get to hang out again sometime soon, which seems likely, as I'm learning Europe is a very small place. :-)

Some more Alliance Francaise folks, representing USA (duh, that's me), Hong Kong, Brazil and Italy. I was really impressed with the diversity at the school, and was surprised that I always seemed to be the only American (but I suppose that's a good thing, as it just forces me to really only speak French).

The next day was perhaps the biggest party night of the year for Montpellier: the Fete de la Musique. In honor of Summer Solstice, the whole city becomes a massive dance party with every type of music imaginable, most of it live, being performed in the streets, in the plazas, in the courtyards, etc. If you're not a huge fan of what you're hearing, just walk a few feet further on and you'll hear something completely different. Evidently, this goes on in lots of cities around France, but I'd never seen anything like it. I hit the streets with Denis and his awesome rocker-chick friend, Christelle, to take it all in. We were soon joined by Nicholas and another friend of ours, Laurent, and basically had a blast until the wee hours. Here are some pics from the evening:

Denis and Christelle

Nicholas and Laurent

VIDEO

Here is a little video I took of a particularly trippy corner of the fete, at the Tour de la Babote in Montpellier.

Christelle, Denis and me at Fete de la Musique, ushering in the summer in style! (Apparently, we all felt the need to smush our heads together for fear of not making it into the photo.)

Next up, trips to Barcelona and Salon-de-Provence!

Gay Pride in Montpellier!

The week of June 5 - 10 was Gay Pride here in Montpellier, highlighted by a big march on Saturday, June 9 (see photo above). It was actually an amazing event -- I was in shock at how huge the crowds were for a city this size!

The other fabulous thing that happened that week was that I met a totally adorable French guy named Denis (pronounced "Deh-nee"), and was immediately totally smitten. (So much so, I've nearly completely forgotten all about Harvey.)


Me and Denis the night we met. And no, he is not sitting on my lap! (He's sitting on the arm of the chair, and I'm kneeling alongside.) Anywhoosie, the low-down on Monsieur Denis is that he grew up in Uzes, in the south of France, and just finished up his studies to become an accountant. And did I mention that he is totally adorable and I am totally smitten? Well, that just about covers it. :-)


Me and my friend Nicholas, the same night. (Doesn't my thigh look ginormous???) I met Nicholas the first week I was in Montpellier and he has been totally awesome in introducing me to lots of folks (including Denis) and having me over for drinks many an evening before hitting the town. The other great thing about Nicholas is that even though he is French, he speaks perfect English, so it's nice for me to be able to be lazy and slip into my native tongue every now and then.

Anyways, back to the Gay Pride March:


The march kicked off from the Arc de Triomphe...


And the throngs just grew and grew...


...and grew...


...until there was quite a crowd assembled in the Place de la Comedie, where the mid-march rally was held. This quick video clip gives some sense of the size of the crowd:



But if you're interested in seeing a short photo montage with far better production quality, check out the clip my friend Antonio (you saw Antonio in my last blog post) put together. (I'm sure if I had an iBook, I'd be able to do something like this, too!):



As could be expected with a gay pride march, the day was marked by:


...completely outlandish outfits, like this guy in the orange plaid -- I mean, you have to be crazy to leave the house wearing that -- and...


...really shocking and militant signs like this one. We're clearly dealing with some particularly uppity queers here. :-)


The Pride float for Le Heaven, the Montpellier bar where I probably spend a little too much time.


Folks choose to show their gay pride in many different ways; I, for one, like to eat lots of puffy pink cotton candy (or Barbe de Papa -- literally, "Poppa's Beard" -- as they call it in France). Here's me with Nicholas and Denis and some small portion of the total quantity of cotton candy I consumed that day, because, yes, I'm 5 years old.

Next up, more on Montpellier!

Day trip to Sete, France

On Saturday, June 2, a bunch of us from the Alliance Francaise took a day trip about 35km west of Montpellier to the small city of Sete. I sort of lead the group on the walking tour of the city, as described in the Michelin guide, but I don't think everyone was entirely happy with me, as the walking tour proved to be miles and miles long and involve hiking up the rather steep Mont St-Clair. Oops. At least we all got our exercise for the day...


View of Sete and the Mediterranean Sea beyond, from the summit of Mont St-Clair


Our motley crew on the summit of Mont St-Clair, representing -- from L to R -- the Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Hong Kong, England and Switzerland. A mini-UN!


View down the steep steps from Mont St-Clair towards the village of Sete.

Dancers in the city center. I assume this was some sort of traditional dance of the region -- which is why I took the photo -- but I didn't stay long enough to find out...

The marina at Sete

Back in Montpellier, that same evening, having a drink at Place Jean Jaures: myself, Antonio (from Italy) and Nicola (from Germany).

Miriam (from Sweden) and me at PopArt in Montpellier the same night.

Next up, Gay Pride in Montpellier!!!

Montpellier, France

I arrived in Montpellier on Friday, May 25, 2007. To be completely honest, my first impression was that is was not quite what I expected. I had this image of a charming little city in my head, but Montpellier seemed to be big, congested, and radiating urban sprawl in every direction. (Ultimately, my opinion of Montpellier would change dramatically, but more on that later...) My French class at the Alliance Française would be starting Monday, as would the housing that they had arranged for me, so I checked into a hotel for the weekend and took stock of my surroundings. I wasn’t alone for long – Robert decided to take a drive down to visit Montpellier over the weekend with Brian (another guest from the Lotus Tree) and Jean-François (a Canadian guy was working at the Lotus Tree).


Brian, Me and Jean-François over dinner in Place Jean Jaurès in Montpellier.

And of course, before the weekend was out, the barstaff at my two instantly-favorite watering holes, Le Heaven and PopArt, all knew me by name as well as my favorite cocktails. How welcoming is Montpellier?!?! And while we’re on the topic of drinks, remember the various accoutrements adorning the Smirnoff Ice bottles throughout South America? In France, dressing up the Smirnoff Ice is unnecessary, as it simply radiates with an inner glow:


Smirnoff Ice at Le Heaven

Other cocktails, however, can be downright tacky – but deliciously so – such as this concoction at PopArt.

I won’t do the full overview of Montpellier just yet, but suffice it to say I quickly became immensely fond of the city. Here are a couple of snapshots to tide us over:

L’Arc de Triomphe

Tromp l’oeil just outside the city center. There are a few really impressive examples of this type of art around the city.

L’Opera de la Comedie

Place de la Comedie, with the Fountain of the 3 Graces

And here’s a photo of (most of) my French class. Being the only American wasn't enough -- had to stand out even more by once again wearing my colorful floral-print shorts.

Next up, a day trip to Sete and more on Montpellier...

Montclus, France

I spent the nights of May 23 & 24 at the Lotus Tree Resort, located in a rural area near the Ardeche Gorge, about 2 hours north of my final destination, Montpellier. The Lotus Tree is a small gay guesthouse run by a British couple in a converted centuries-old farmhouse and related outbuildings, with a view out to the medieval city of Montclus.


The view of Montclus at twilight from my bedroom window at the Lotus Tree.

Although pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and traveling alone, I had the great fortune of meeting a really cool British guy at breakfast my first morning at the Lotus Tree. Robert was also traveling solo, so we decided to spend the day exploring the Ardeche Gorge together. The Ardeche Gorge is a really scenic gorge (obviously!) formed (appropriately enough) by the Ardeche River. Here are some snapshots of our little driving tour:


Arch on the Ardeche River. Canoeing seems to be a very popular way of seeing the gorge – I’m hoping maybe Miguel and I will be able to do this when he comes to visit in July…


Me standing on the road that runs through/along the Ardeche Gorge.


Ditto


The Ardeche Gorge. Pretty, no?


I’m not really sure why I thought this was an appropriate sight-seeing outfit, but it was hot as hell that day and these were my lightest clothes.


It is forbidden to throw Pierre’s into the gorge. Fortunately, I don't know any.


Close up of all the gorges on my face.


Just to break up the monotony of gorgeous scenery, there are a number of impressive caves along the way. We decided to stop in for a tour of the Grotte de la Madeleine. It was actually awesome, but the tour was in French and I basically understood nothing. But it was very pretty and a welcome respite from the intense heat of the day.


Robert in the Grotte de la Madeleine. Unlike me, he was actually dressed respectably.


More of the Grotte de la Madeleine


Me in the Grotte de la Madeleine


Another view of the Gorge from the Grotte de la Madeleine


Me and Ditto.


Back out on the road.


Yet another view of the Ardeche Gorge


For lunch, we stopped at this cute little outdoor restaurant, the Auberge du Pouzat.


Robert and me at the Auberge du Pouzat


Back out along the gorge – I decided to climb up for a better view.


Later that same evening in the nearby town of Barjac, where we had dined al fresco.

It was so great hanging out with Robert and seeing the beautiful countryside around Montclus, that I was a little bummed to have to get up the next morning to continue my journey to Montpellier. But of course, very excited to finally see the city where I’d be spending nearly two months of the summer taking French classes.

Lyon, France

On Tuesday, May 22, I left Paris in a rental car and drove back to HEC for my “official” campus visit. This had become somewhat superfluous after already having spent so much time on the campus the week before, but I wanted to meet with a few folks from the admissions and career offices to see what they had to say. The thing that stuck out most for me was some remark about all students receiving an iPod through a partnership with Apple, and all of the lectures being available as podcasts. Just when I thought the university experience had hit some pinnacle of technology, there’s yet another new development. In college, it was the rollout of duo-docking laptop systems and the World Wide Web itself. Then in law school it was fully “wired” classrooms. Now podcasts. I can’t imagine what universities will be like in another ten years…

Anywhoosie, after having lunch with a couple of current students and some other prospective students, I hopped back in my Renault and moseyed on down south to Lyon. Since the increasing strength of the Euro against the dollar is causing the cost of my MBA program to grow progressively more expensive week after week, thereby wrecking my rather unforgiving budget, I decided to economize and camp out in Lyon.

Me, my car and my tent. It was a great campground just outside Lyon, but oddly I was the only one tent-camping. Everyone else was in a winnebago.

Once I was all poled out and staked down, I made my way into Lyon. This was my first visit to the city, and I really liked it: beautiful architecture, friendly locals, and a pedestrian-friendly historic center. Here are some snapshots of the city:

The requisite equestrian statue of Louis XIV. Does every French city have one of these?

Buildings and fountains in the city center.

I forgot what this building was. Actually, I don’t think I ever knew. But it does bear a striking resemblance to the Hotel de Ville in Paris, so maybe it’s the Hotel de Ville of Lyon. Yes, let’s go with that.

Fun with light and shadows.

At the very top of my list of things I love about Lyon is the fact that they have a circus supply store right in the heart of the city. Just in case you need to pick up a unicycle or a red clown nose on the way home.

Another thing I loved about Lyon is that they have these self-service bicycle rental depots scattered around the city.

Equestrian Louie at night.

But alas, the magic couldn’t last forever. The next morning, as I groggily opened my eyes, this little beast was staring right back at me inside my tent:

Accordingly, I decided to break down camp a day early and head out for my next destination: Montclus.

Le Blog Is Back!

Ohmigosh! I can't believe I arrived in France on May 15, and I've been so horrendously bad about updating my blog! :-( I have had only limited internet access here and there, but I hope to be much more on top of it going forward. Anyways, here's a quick recap...

After I arrived mid-May, I spent a few days in and around Paris. This is a photo of my room at the Centre International de Sejour de Paris. I'm still not clear on what this residence facility is; it's rather inexpensive and seems aimed at large conventions and groups of students or athletic teams. While I was there, there was a 9-day Esperanto convention going on, if you can believe that. (I thought that language movement died out about 20 years ago...) This is also the same residence where I will be staying for most of August when I return to Paris for the 3-week langugage course organized by HEC.

Anywhoosie, I didn't spend much time in my room. I was much too excited to finally see the HEC campus, where I'll be spending an awful lot of time in the upcoming months. I left my dorm at CISP to take public transportation the 15 miles or so to HEC, and about 2 hours and 45 minutes later, I finally arrived. (How happy am I that I will have a car when I arrive on campus this fall???)

Stepping off the train at the station in Jouy-en-Josas. Jouy-en-Josas is a small town of about 8,000 just a few miles south of Paris. It's also home to HEC. After I got off the train, I wandered a bit through the town. Then it started to pour. Then I began the 2-mile walk to the HEC campus. Carrying all my stuff. In the mud. In dress shoes. Uphill. Good times!

Here are a few snapshots of Jouy-en-Josas:

Jouy-en-Josas Train Station

Church of St-Martin

Typical street in the village of Jouy-en-Josas

Somebody's house in Jouy-en-Josas

Finally, I arrive at the HEC Campus

The HEC MBA Building. This is where it all goes down (and where I will be spending all my time). All the administrative offices and classrooms for the MBA program are located here.

A slice of the HEC campus. Perhaps they'll let me use this building as my dorm?

Actually, this is the MBA dorm. Expansiel. It's quite a bit nicer than I expected, but I still got a little twinge of nostalgia for my cute little Manhattan apartment with the Central Park view in a full service doorman building. I guess home is where you hang your hat, right? :-)

The first day I visited the HEC campus was actually the opening night of the MBA Tournament, which brings together participants from most of the top-ranked MBA programs in Europe (plus NYU-Stern!) for three days of competitive sports, networking and drinking. This annual event is a really big deal and everyone at HEC works hard all year preparing for it. Fortunately for me, HEC had already assigned me a "buddy," Vincent, who happened to be the chief cameraperson for the MBAT, and who let me tag along as he dashed from event to event capturing all the excitement on film. Somehow, I made it through 19 years of schooling without attending more than 2 or 3 sporting events total (except, of course, for all those horse shows I actually competed in back in college), so this was very new for me. I stayed at HEC for a couple of days, and happily spectated at volleyball games, soccer matches, a particularly vicious badminton contest, and hours worth of pétanque -- simply riveting!

The pétanque field on campus.

Finally, it was time to return to Paris. Here is a shot of Les Halles at sunset. While in Paris, I took a little time to check out some neighborhoods I had never visited before, register for my Augutst language course which will take place in the Marais, meet up with another future HEC MBA participant who's currently working in Paris, and generally experience the city through the lens of someone who's going to be spending a lot of time there. All in all, it was a very reaffirming visit and I'm actually really looking forward to the MBA program this fall.

Next up, we head south!

White Winged Doves, Tambourines, Lace & Chiffon!

Sadly, I was only able to spend a couple of nights in New York, but wow, what a couple of nights they were! On Thursday night, I met up with some close friends at Le Zie Bar in Chelsea and had a fabulous time!


Um, shouldn't these guys be feeding me grapes??? Miguel, Erin & Christine & moi at Le Zie.

And then on Friday night, Miguel and I turned it out for the 17th Annual "Night of a Thousand Stevies," at the Hiro Ballroom in the Maritime Hotel.


Night of a Thousand Stevies (hereafter, "NOTS") is an annual event where hundreds of mildly unhinged Stevie Nicks fans don as much gossamer, chiffon and lace as humanly possible, come together in some subterranean space in New York City, and spin and twirl and sing along to "hauntingly familiar" music all night long. Seeing as this was the 17th annual NOTS, this year's theme was -- appropriately enough -- "Edge of Seventeen." And indeed, every time that particular song was played (on average 4 or 5 times per hour), it seemed the entire crowd rose and swelled in some mass rapture. (Not one to want to feel left out, I shrieked and swooned with the rest of them.)

VIDEO
"Welcome to NOTS!" As frightening as this guy looks in this video, he was much more so in person...


Miguel and I are totally cute, but we just didn't measure up to the inspired ensembles put together by Miguel's friends, Richard and Michael #2.


Miguel with Richard and Michael #2

Men and women and everything in-between came from such far-flung entertainment meccas as Asbury Park, New Jersey and Reno, Nevada to do their very best to channel the White Winged Dove herself up on the stage, with varying degrees of success. Some performances bordered on the sublime, others were total trainwrecks, but all were captivating in their own unique way...


An audience favorite. I captured this video just moments before this guy started whirling like a dervish, knocked over the microphone stand and generally made a mess of things. I was just hoping his head wouldn't explode.


Here another performer demonstrates that signature lip-synching move: walking away from the microphone in the middle of a vitally important lyric. Perhaps we are now combining lip-synching with ventriloquism?

What were the other highlights of the evening? Well obviously the aforementioned feathers, lace, chiffon, and generally speaking lots of layers of lots of different kinds of white fabric...


Stevie fan caught from the, um, front.


Another Stevie fan caught from behind.

...and of course lots of tambourines...




The distribution of dimestore tambourines from the stage, as seen in this video, worked the crowd into an absolute frenzy. No one was immune, least of all Miguel, who body-checked several pocket Stevies to secure his very own "NOTS" tambourine, which survived precisely 4 hip slaps before disintegrating into a shower of tiny jingling disks onto the floor.


Miguel proudly displaying his NOTS tambourine.

And of course, there were white winged doves everywhere! Overall, it was an amazing experience, and the enthusiasm of a thousand other Stevies is totally contagious. I obviously wasn't the only one affected by it; just as a landslide was bringing down my reflection from the snow-covered hills, I turned around and this was the face staring back at me on the dance floor:

Guess who will be organizing "NOTS 18"! :-)

Don't ask me why I own a poet shirt. As soon as we left the party, I folded it neatly and placed it in the nearest garbage pail.

Well, just when I thought I

couldn't handle any more chiffon for the weekend, I swung out to Bayside, Queens on Saturday for a family party celebrating my cousins Annie and Maya making their first communion. This is chiffon done right! ;-)

Annie

Maya

My sister MaryBeth and I spent Mother's Day at our parents' place. Here we are with Mike and Marie, who were visiting from next door. (Doesn't my old couch look great in my parents' house, by the way??) We had a fun afternoon, though I was in a bit of disbelief that I would be leaving for Paris in less than 24 hours, not to return again until Christmas!

Next up, France!

Kerri's Wedding

On May 5, my kick-ass cousin Kerri Ann tied the knot with her beau, Robin. I was still slightly deranged from only having just returned from Australia, but that may have only added to my enjoyment of the wedding. ;-)


The happy couple at the reception.


Me, my cousin Laura (Kerri's sister), Aunt Maureen and cousin Terence


As much of my immediate family as could make it: me, Kim & Tim, MaryBeth, Dad & Mom, and Tommy. Unfortunately, Tommy's wife Malgosia couldn't attend, nor could my brother Patrick make the trip from Michigan. (I'm pretty easy to pick out in this bright purple shirt, aren't I?)


Terence and me


MaryBeth, Tommy, my uncle Denis and me

Tommy, Timmy and me. 3 of 4 the brothers -- hopefully, next time Patrick will be able to make it, too.

Here are me and Tommy in the foreground, with some of our cousins standing behind us: Bryan, Jackie, Eddie, Jamie & Karen.

As always, it was great to see everyone, but the time goes by so fast!!!