v a l l e j o n o c t u r n o

In the fair city of London

So we went out to Knightsbridge to experience the holiday shopping of the English. . .

Trees and things

Vallejo Nocturno 2009 - Vegas!

Russian Liberators in Sofia

Vallejo Nocturno 2009-the past

Where to sit on a plane

Seatguru.com

Paddington Station

Silver Seoul Survivor

Vallejo Nocturno 2009-Seoul Man

Korean sum

I found myself at the Grand Hyatt in Seoul an environment unique in itself. Now for some business battles.

Luxembourg Ideas in Paris

Vallejo Nocturno 2009 - brief afternoons

Random Paris Thoughts from a Traveler

from old skool @Flickr

From a recent post at Independent Traveler:

I have just a few more thoughts about Paris. A month ago I finished 10 days in the this marvelous city, and, yes, I did do a few of the things on my list of "musts" left from four years ago. But somehow I always "must" go back to many of the places I have been before and never seem to add many new ones.
One new place I went was the Musee Carnavalet. This museum in the Marais district is comprised of two mansions. It tells the story of Paris, and is a very interesting place to visit. All kinds of exhibits go back to the early Roman times of Paris and move up to the present. Paintings, sculptures, maps, decorative arts can all be seen. There are even a couple of complete rooms. The museum has a huge collection of memorabilia from the French Revolution. Following the plan provided leads one through the two mansions in a sensible way. I would recommend it for any lover of Paris.
Another new place was the Basilique St. Denis in a northern suburb. This is where, depending on which legend you hear, St. Denis finally rested after carrying his head from the place he was beheaded, I believe, in Montmartre. Or this is the place where St. Genevieve arranged for his body to eventually be buried after his martyrdom. Either way, it is a beautiful church, and interesting to visit. This is the burial place of many of the French monarchs going way way back. During the revolution, as a painting in the Carnavalet shows, the graves were desecrated, and the remains dumped together into a lime pit. Later the remains were buried together because there was no way to tell who was who. The archeological area was open and could be visited before the crypt. Some of the tombs go back to the time of St. Denis so he was probably buried there. In the crypt area there are plain tombs with names on them and then behind and to the side of the altar area there are monuments, many with the same names as in the other area. I'm not quite sure why this is. Some of the monuments are only effigies showing the royals in death. Some have this kind of effigy with marble columns and a "roof" on which kneeling figures of the same people appear. I know I saw Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's names at least three times. For some reason a couple of the effigies, most notably Francois I, are naked though with strategic draperies. Maybe when I read the book I have about the basilica, I will know more.
I am not much of a shopper (except for books), but on a rainy Friday morning when I had thought to go up the Eiffel Tower, I headed to Bon Marche instead. I mainly wanted to see the food halls I had read about because I am a foodie. But I didn't realize it was in a different building. I did find the baby department and bought the only two gifts I brought home--shirts for two soon-to-be-born greats, one a niece and one a nephew. And low and behold there in the baby department was a sign indicating access to the food section. It was across the street in another building altogether. I found this great fun to explore--beautiful produce, meat, cheese, baked goods, candy, and more. I also discovered why, as I had read, this store is very popular with people from other countries who live in Paris. There was a section of American food such as Campbell's and a lot of Tex Mex. Other sections featured other countries. Shoppers could also buy items from Fauchon and Hedlard, two well know Paris food shops. What did I buy? An apple crumble and a walnut tart for dessert the next two nights and seven small jars of flavored mustard to bring home.

Morning in Siem Riep

VallejoNocturno 2009 - space light sigh