Google ads have earned enough for a slice of pizza and a drink YTD!

Pictures have been added to flickr.com. Blog post for the last month will be delayed due to a lack of notes from the last month.

As for now I've returned to the good old US of A. Flew in on August 1 after some long delays in Paris. Turned out to be the first flight from Paris to JFK for XL airways. They had to work some kinks out.

Today is a Megabus ride to Rochester at noon.

Feel free to check out the updated sets of pictures in the France collection! In addition to Brussels, Amsterdam and London.

I forgot to post that I didn`t find out Micheal Jackson died until 4 days after the fact. Strangely I feel proud of that. RIP pop.

June 29 - 30. LONDON. Visited the sights. Took one look at the Charlie Foxtrot going on inside the Tower of London and decided against getting to close. I found the contrast between the huge egg building and the patch work old fort funny.

Next headed to the Tower Bridge bridging the River Thames. Helped a few Asians get pictures in front of it.

Checked out Big Ben. Wow. Have to hand it to the weather man. Sunny and nice in London & Amsterdam.

BBQ'ed with our host Jean-Baptiste and roommates in their Notting Hill flat. The grill was smoking like crazy creating some brilliant British comments from the neighbors.

Walked miles of old canal in the North of London. Ending at the disappointingly Little Venice. Also checked out The Photographers' Gallery.

Places on a map. Holland Park, Hyde Park, Angel, Piccadilly Circus, Soho, Chinatown, Chapel and more.

Red phone booth bus, Micheal J memorials, Oyster cards, look right, mind the gap, black taxi, exchange rates, brilliant mate and cheers.

June 25-28. Amsterdam. Our schedule and pocket books only allow of short stays in our cities of Europe tour. I like to think of it as traveling like a rock star on tour. Less the musical talent, concerts, fans, money and pretty much everything else.

We stayed in a tent city a short ride from Amsterdam. Picked up a used tent for 10 Euros from a Detroit guy. I never stopped being impressed by the number of bike riders.

Of course visited the sights. Red lights and coffee shops serving sailer's and hippie`s delights. Found delight in the well done Vincent van Gogh museum. Walked the canals and discovered that one always ends up where they started. Visited many markets in the outskirts of the city. Definitely did do the following. Get soak to take a picture of a stupid wind mill. Go to a sex museum. Walk in circles.

June 22-24. Brussels. Took a bus for 5 hours to Brussels. Visited the sights and walked the streets. Drank the beer and tasted the sweets. Waffles, chocolate and beer OH MY! Played twister with our hosts Sabine and Celine. Met a guy who bought a 1940`s Leica for 70 Euros at a second hand sale. Saw an iron atom multiplied 165 billion times. Went for a run so I can fit into that old dress.

June 19-21. Meet some Troyes natives. Took the bikes out for a ride. Watched as Paris got over taken by music. Had a picnic and Jazz in the park with Gait, Emmanuel, Fèlix and Melodie.

Pictures have been updated to flickr.com in the France collection.

June 17-18. Pompidou (Musée National Dàrt Moderne) witnessed the exhibitions of Alexander Calder and Kandinsky. Kandinsky`s progression as an artist was astounding. Later years are great. The permanent collection was focused on female artists and feminism. A very different approach then the male dominated galleries I`ve been visiting.

Went to a picnic and played some Bocce Ball which is very popular here. Tried to get into a soul concert but the cover was to high so we went to a bar in Canal Saint Martin.

Celebrated Olivia`s birthday at the same wine and cheese bar I went to my first night in Paris. Also worked on the bikes more...

June 15-16. Gorilla glued some furniture. Adjusted the brakes and deraillers on some bikes. Attempted to true a wheel that ended up being beyond repair. Meet with friends. Explored the under ground quarries and catacombs of Paris. Discovered they do not allow flash photography if you have a nice camera but if you don`t its ok to do what you please.

June 14. Road trip from Rouen to cliffs of Etretat. A short drive away to the coast a couple of Melodie`s friends and I walked the cliffs along the edge of the ocean. A few remnants of WWII are visible but it isn`t the famous beach of D-day. Most of the cliff feature are shrouded in clouds for my pictures. However, it did clear up as we headed back to Rouen and eventually Paris.

June 13. In the morning we hopped a train to Rouen for the weekend. Rouen is in Normandie and is a tourist draw for its old buildings. Melodie used to live here so she took me around to the sights. Joan of Arc Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral (famously painted by Monet), Saint-Ouen Abbey church, Great Clock (one of the oldest in Europe) & Aitre Saint-Maclou (a high light of the great plague).

Unfortunately we didn`t have time for the many museums and the streets were packed with tourists so I didn`t feel like taking to many pictures of the old buildings. After our exploration and my guided tour we went to a birthday party a few miles out of town. I spent the night and early morning sipping wine and using a mixture of English, French and body language.

June 12. Preparation for for arrival. Melodie`s parents are in bound for the week so we cleaned the flat and continued to use our Thai cooking training with an attempt at sticky rice with banana. I also made some hummus with my world famous skills.

June 11. Musée d`Orsay. Spent the whole day exploring every bit of this museum. Most impressive to me is Monet, Van Gough and the impressionist / neo-impressionist work they have in permanent collection. This is the first museum to have almost all the art information in English. I learned a lot but still can`t claim to be anything but art illiterate.

On my walk back to the flat I took pictures of the Louvre and surrounding gardens. Sunny day with tons of people out enjoying!

June 10. In preparation for dinner Melodie and I took bikes via Place de Italy to Paris`s version of China town. In the streets we found a grocery store with all the Asian ingredients we needed for our planned Thai dinner & slide show. We settled on a more simple dish Pad Thai also picked up some sticky rice for later in the week. Cooking went well and the slide show was a bit long for everyone.

Check the France photo link for updated pictures! Also I actually proof read my posts this time so there might be less grammar mistakes.

June 9. Parisien life. Place de Vosges, Notre Dame Cathedrale and Musèe Carnavalet (Paris history). A note to any English speaking travelers. Nothing is writen in English so you`ll have to take a tour or opt to learn nothing but a visual history. I choose the latter. There was a revolution at some point and they don`t have a guillotine on display. I asked. "Maybe the Louvre?" they say.

June 6-8. Paris Tour con`t. Free first Sunday visit to the Louvre. Escape culturel Louis Vuitton and the trippiest elevator ride around. Attempted to cook an Indian favorite Roti/chapati and curry. Failed miserably with that cooking adventure. It looks so easy when they do it!

Walked a ton. North in a wandering zigzag pattern to Gare du North (train station). I like to walk without a map until I get lost enough then I reorient with the compass and map. East to Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Took some pictures and enjoyed a baguette with Camembert cheese. Next South to Cimetière du Père Lachaise. Which is resting place of a few famous people including Jim Morrison of the Doors. I didn`t have time to find his. Security kicked me out for closing time. Ended at the Place de la Bastille.

Finished the weekend with some of Steve`s famous home made hummus.

June 4&5. Paris. A sushi dinner and Argentinian DJ. Helped Melodie prepare for a bacheloret party. Took a few pictures of the festivities before they took off to the south of France for the weekend.

When I returned it was late so I went out to take some night picture of the streets. Not a block away I broke my cheap Walmart tripod taking a picture of a mannequin in a shop window. Not a big surprise and its not able to hold my heavy camera well anyways. Continuing on using my camera bag as a tripod I headed in no particular direction.

Near a metro stop I almost literally ran into a guy. He was talking quickly in French and getting way to close to my personal space. Personal space that gets larger when I have my expensive camera with me at night. It took me a while to explain I do not speak French. By this point I figure he might be trying to mug me. But then he throw himself into me and gave a good shove. It all came together, he just wanted a fight. He didn`t even notice my camera. Apparently Daddy hit him and Mommy didn`t hold him enough. Anyways, I ran away.

June 3. Paris tour continued. Tour Eiffel, Champs Elysèe and Arc De Triomphe. Paris has a wonderful collection of public bikes that are rented by the hour or day from automated bike racks. Once you figure out the basics you can travel environmentally friendly all over the city in ease. I did learn a valuable lesson about the system. When the bike seat is turned around facing the wrong direction it may appears a minor inconvenience. Thats what I thought anyways. A few yards down the road I realized that is French for this bike is broken. So if public bikes catch on in your city keep that in mind.