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!