tim merritt [dot] net

I’ve got more to tell, and show, about the trip I took to New Orleans last month with some folks from my church. We worked on a house, mudding and sanding drywall, painting the porch, and more. We stayed at Olive Tree Village, formerly a church and now a center for housing volunteer work crews from all over the country staying in New Orleans and helping Presbyterian Disaster Assistance with the ongoing Katrina recovery effort.

Of all the disasters of the last few years, one reason to keep New Orleans in mind is that it’s a great and unique American city, and it deserves far better than the sham “heck of a job” of recovery it’s received. Do what you can for New Orleans – it makes America a better country. Even if you don’t do it for New Orleans, do it for somewhere hit by disaster. It’ll make you a better person.

This guy was there, always keeping a helpful eye on sanitary conditions. He never complained and he had a drink of water ready whenever anyone was thirsty. So say hello to SinkMan.

As I said, more to come on the trip, but I thought you might want to meet him.

How I would love to have the chance to follow these tips from This French Life and spend more time in museums in Paris, or just more time in Paris, or even more time to just think about more time in Paris.

VISITING Paris museums and monuments are the things you most want to do in the capital. However, they can often be crowded, overwhelming, and expensive. Here are 10 insider tips, from Richard Nahem, that will make your visit to places such as the Louvre and the Palais de Tokio smooth, efficient, and sometimes cheaper.

Eric posts a photo a day of Paris. We’ll have to meet him when we go back!

Mark Bittman writes, in yesterday’s New York Times Travel Section, of his assessment of The Best Steak Frites in Paris. It isn’t, of course, only about the potatoes but about the steaks (or rib roasts or fried boneless pig’s feet) that go with, and justify, the frites. As a fairly avid carnivore myself, this is well worthy filing away as a reference for next time we go to Paris.

Back from our trip, including 2 nights in Avignon, 2 in Geneva, and the final 6 in a small apartment in St. Germain des Pres. Much more about this to come, with links and pictures. Great food, cool weather (three hailstorms – small and brief enough to be interesting instead of overwhelming), museums and art, and lots of walking walking walking. Good for the body, good for the soul.

Ellen and I are in the Air France arrivals lounge after a remarkably good flight. Business class is all it’s cracked up to be. The French keyboard on this iMac is quite different from the American layout. Odd. I hve to use the shift key to type a period, the a and q keys are switched, and other peculiarities.

Updates will be rare, as internet access is not assured for the rest of the trip. Count on many photos, however, when we get home, and exhaustive reports about food and wine (and hangovers, probably).

A bientot.

Downloadble, hi-resolution maps of subway systems around the world at travel site Amadeus.net.

Ellen was looking around for travel information, and found The Amateur Traveler Podcast – travel for the love of it and specifically, Episode 42 – Paris, France – The City of Lights.

The Amateur Traveler talks about Paris, France, the City of Lights. The show will talk about French, what to see, what to eat, how to get around, etc.

Another for the iPod. Whew, now I’m wishing for a longer commute so I’ll have time for all these Paris-related podcasts.

The Times’ Sunday Travel section on how to spend a quick, intense visit to Paris , including a Friday evening dash through the Louvre, Moroccan food, Baudelaire’s grave and finding great costumes at the flea market.

“THE chief danger about Paris,” T. S. Eliot wrote to a friend, “is that it is such a strong stimulant.” That wasn’t merely the overcaffeinated ramblings of a Left Bank cafe habitué. Few cities thrill visitors with such a beguiling multiplicity of personalities. There is the devout Paris of Notre Dame’s Gothic solemnity, and the naughty Paris of Pigalle’s red-light bars. Sophisticated Paris radiates from the vaulted galleries of the Louvre and the gilded Opéra Garnier, while bohemian Paris emerges in the art galleries of the Marais and gritty rock ’n’ roll nightclubs. For every Gallic gastronomic temple, there’s an Asian, African or Middle Eastern restaurant brimming with exotic flavors. And for every Jean Paul Gaultier, there’s a fledgling fashion student opening his first boutique. In the words of Henry Miller, another American drawn to Paris’s manifold pleasures, lofty and low: “To know Paris is to know a great deal.”

I fully realize the Paris I’m expecting will not be the Paris I actually see, and that’s perfect.

The Open Culture blog posts several links to the Foreign Language Lesson Podcast Collection at iTunes. I’ve posted about similar Podcasts before, but these are reminders as much for me as anything.

Home sick today from work and poking around the web, I followed a link to cautions about pickpockets abroad. A search for Paris pickpocket led to Virtual Tourist, a site with thousands of members worldwide sharing their experiences. After learning not to leave my bags unattended, to keep my hand on my wallet in the Metro, and avoind people trying to help remove daubs of condiments or pigeon crap from my clothes, I came across Paris Restaurant Tips by BeatChick I’m enjoying her first-hand recommendations for places to go and see and dine. Virtual Tourist is a large site full of first-hand accounts from real enthusiasts; it doesn’t seem slick or too packaged.

I’m getting excited about going.

Came across a pointer in the TextDrive forums to this very cool looking online lens rental service, ZipLens.

I want to try out a fast normal lens, like this Sigma 30mm f14. It would be $25 for a week, and they’re offering $5.00 discounts through the end of the year.

English journalist Craig McGinty blogs about life in France at This French Life. Ironically, I found This French Life not while looking up travel information. No, it came up while while looking for advice on septic tank maintenance, and how nice that he’s posted information about caring for them in France, complete with local product names. Vive la France indeed.

He recently posted an interview with Hugh Nagle, who has a French instruction by podcast site called, plainly enough, Learn French by Podcast. I’ll be heading there regularly.

C’est marveilleux!

Might be able to call home cheaply with OneSuite. Current rates from France – after dialing a toll-free number – to the U.S. are 12.9¢ a minute. Not bad.

A quick list of links E found; have to close her browser, but don’t want to lose these.

• Marriott Rewards
• Paris Eiffel Tower News, a blog by a frequent Paris traveller
• A Romantic Paris Vacation
• Anthony Atkielski on Paris Fast Food

• Anthony Atkielski’s Paris FAQ

Behave, baby. Wikipedia’s list of French faux pas. Here’s one: “Like in many languages featuring a T-V distinction, addressing people with the familiar “tu” (like in Middle English thou) when they should be addressed with “vous” (you) is seen as derogatory, insulting, or even aggressive. Conversely, addressing familiars with “vous” is considered snobbish and introduces distance.”

Via kottke.

In Paris, Photographing a City That Has No Bad Side – New York Times

More Paris travel coverage from the Times. I plan to photograph that city.

A Photoshop tutorial on Making Your Own Passport Photos, found via LifeHacker.
The State Department has specific guidelines for photographers too. Should I post a copy of my passport photo here?

More romanticism about Paris from the New York Times.

Paris at night has the irrational power to trigger the imaginations of even ordinary folks. There are always Parisians who leave open the window shutters of their living rooms, allowing passersby to peek inside. The often high ceilings and tall windows offer glimpses of crystal chandeliers and fanciful moldings and projections about the lives of the inhabitants. What are they serving for dinner? And do they sleep in canopied beds?

So the real secret to Paris’s beauty at night can be described in one word: light.

In some cities, lampposts are designed to light only the sidewalks and streets, so that surrounding buildings recede into darkness. In much of Paris, however, streetlights are attached to the sides of buildings, highlighting the curves and angles of the structures themselves.

Much like an ordinary-looking woman who turns beautiful in candlelight, unremarkable buildings in Paris glow. Architectural details that are lost by day suddenly proclaim themselves.

We’ll just have to stay up and walk everywhere all the time. Okay by me.

Nice find, this: Language Courses from the U.S. Foreign Service, including text and audio files free for the download; apparently in the public domain, having been produced with American taxpayer dollars.