July 3, 2025
Hi folks -
How is everyone doing? Its been a long six months since I last wrote and I have decided to try and catch folks up with a few updates that should come out over the next two weeks....sorry about the bombardment, but i took a hiatus from writing the blog....life is busy in Paris and now i am chillin in the states for a month or so and will try and catch folks up.....
the first post will be about my January time in Paris and the trip I took to Vegas, through LA to see friends from different times of my life.....it was crazy to do this for a week, i know, but i really want to see the hype that is vegas and have realized i only need to return there for one thing and one thing only....to see a live show at the sphere...otherwise, now that my friends have moved away from there, is not the place for me.....
but the time i had there and in paris between xmas break and that Feb break trip will be seen in this post....on with the pictures....
as most folks are aware, Notre Dame Cathedral reopened in Dec 2024....so while my friend Laurie was in town visiting, we made a point to go check it out....January was the perfect time....no crazy lines for when it just opened or crazy lines that are now happening with all of the tourists in Paris for the summer....as you can see, it is a stunning view on the outside, without all of the scaffolding.....
we had a beautiful, clear, winter's day....so the sunlight coming into the very clean cathedral was just amazing...i loved all of the colors on the walls from the stained glass... the interior is soooooooo clean and beautiful (almost too much for my taste)....but it was amazing to see the reconstruction and how it currently looks after the amazing work done to repair everything after the fire....
this is Laurie, Bill and I on the outside after our wander through.....if you do come to Paris and have been to see Notre Dame before, you might just want to walk through again, because it is beautiful and it looks so very different from the time before the fire....
We also went to a very swanky hotel with a rooftop bar overlooking the Seine....not sure I will go back, but wow, what a view for sunset!
one of the many exhibits I went to this winter/spring was this one, by Chiharu Shiota, a Japanese artist who uses string/yarn/thread, and everyday objects to weave & tie them together....this piece is all about people making a choice to leave their home and experience travel....seems to fit me perfectly....my favorite line from her write-up of this piece is "The further you drift and the more you mix, the more you arrive at a place that allows you to to stare hard at yourself, anew....I think back on the feelings of these people (the owners of the luggage) on the morning of their departure." Love it!
Over Feb Break I decided to do a crazy trip to Vegas, through LA so I could connect with friends and catch up with their lives....my less than 12 hour stay in LA connected me with David Ing and my friends from China times, Deb & Eric....it was wonderful to reconnect and catch up with these folks...even if it was for a short moment in time.....here's to the next meet up somewhere in the world!!!
And then it was off to Vegas to meet up with Shannon and Josh, and their friend/now my friend Laura...I landed and in my jet-lagged haze, I signed up for a 5K.....what was I thinking?????
This is after the 5K was finished....Shannon & Laura ran, while Josh and I walked....first one for me...no idea if I will do that again...but you never know....i do hope if i do it again, it will not be jet-lagged...people were kind...music was playing and it was cool to walk through Vegas...Baby!!! And we had a celebratory drink at the end!!!! Cheers!
The next day Shannon and Laura did the 10K, with Josh and I cheering them on from the side....we stayed the night just off the Strip and had a blast watching everyone run the 10K or half marathon on the Strip...it was definitely a partyin atmosphere and good time!!! it ended near the Bellagio, so here is shot after it was over, being mesmerised by the fountain!
the next day we grabbed a bite to eat under the Eiffel Tower....what?!?!? crazy....but it was tasty food and funny to see how Paris is represented in Vegas....I think i'll stick with the real Eiffel Tower😜
After some time in the city, Josh and I went exploring about an hour away from Vegas to the Lee Canyon Ski Resort, which was having a ski day with beautiful blue skies and sunshine....the mountains in the area, as you can see, still had snow on them (it was February)....
It was a beautiful day to see the boarders and skiiers...who knew this was so close to vegas??? I had no idea, as i had never been to this region of the area.....
Josh and I also caught a show at the sphere....U2 had opened the sphere between September 2023 & March 2024...and the film they shot that was all of their shows stitched together is what is playing at the sphere when a band is NOT in residence....the outside of the sphere is used for emojis and current events, etc....so cool!
the movie was crazy!!!! they were not present during this movie...but man, it sure seemed like they were playing live....if you zoom into the picture you will see the band members in 3-D down at the bottom of the shot on the stage....how did they do this??? I have no idea...what I do know is that i need to go back to vegas to see a live show there....i would love for this to happen with Dead and Co, but they always perform in May, when I am still at school...but one can dream...
Josh and I also took the time to go to the Valley of Fire.....what a stunning State park this is...the colors of the rocks are burnt orange due to it being sandstone, and in places it looks just like the Rainbow Mountains found in Peru and China....it was incredible!
This rock is known as elephant rock...can you see it??? I love the red sandstone that this park is composed of...and we went down to the park to wander a bit and have a picnic....
this park is known for its 2000-year-old petroglyphs....here you can see some of the ones we found in the canyon walls....these were first carved by members of the Basketmaker Culture 2500 years ago, and then the Early Pueblo culture moved into the area, which are who these petroglyphs were written by... the Paiutes were the last tribes that came into this area.....
the color of the rocks in this valley were simply stunning and the park is so close to vegas...only about an hour away....i had never been to visit this regions just outside of vegas and i am so glad i got to experience this state park and Lee Canyon firsthand....
it may have been a looong flight to and from vegas, but it was totally worth it to see my friends in LA during the layover and then to spend a week getting to know a place my friends Shannon and Josh called home for a few years....our last night of fun was at the golden tiki...which even had shrunken heads...it was wild everywhere you looked....vegas baby...wowowow what a trip.....
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