Paris Trip - The Details I

Carlos, Jason, Brandon and I spent seven days (plus a few travel days) in Paris, returning late night on Saturday, November 26.

If you want the 2:52 Short Attention Span Version of our Trip, click the video below.




If you want the details...

We left Friday morning, November 18 to catch a flight around noon. After a layover in Houston, we arrived in Paris around 8 am Saturday (November 19) morning. On the Paris flight over, I think I slept the most - and I slept only about 90 minutes.

Between finding an ATM, navigating the Metro, getting food and locating our hotel, we arrived around 11 am, tired and ready for some sleep. After checking into our hotel, we napped for about an hour and then went exploring....

Through a market a few blocks from our hotel...

Past the Bastille (now a traffic circle roundabout)...

To Notre Dame, where we spent a few hours, including eating freshly-made crepes and hanging out in the park behind Notre Dame ...

Through the outside of the Louvre and the surrounding area...

And that was Saturday (Day 2 of 9).

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Sunday (November 20) we spent at the Louvre. The last time I was in Paris, I went to the Louvre, but in the six hours I was there, I was only able to see the Denon wing. This time - in our kind-of-rushed-eight-hour journey - we made it all the way through the Denon wing, through all of the Richelieu wing (including the Medieval Louvre, which I find fascinating) and through the majority of the Sully wing. I feel there is still so much that we didn't see that I could go back again. Next time.

Here are some pictures to help convey how large the museum is...

After 9+ hours at the Louvre, we decided to tackle walking down the entire distance of the Champs-Élysées...

(stopping in shops along the way) to the Arc de Triomphe - and then walking up these steps to the top!

The view made it worth the trip (and the leg cramps)...

And that was Sunday (Day 3 of 9).

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I'll fill in more details, day by day, as I have time in the coming weeks.

Have you been to Paris? We're going back in 2013. Let me know your recommendations for places to go.

Paris Trip II

Our Paris trip is getting closer. So close that I am asking my staff, "If you were standing in the middle of Paris, what would you buy?"
Pat - shot glass
Keisa - ash tray
Monica - ankle bracelet

Pat doesn't really drink except once in awhile with her bowling league. Keisa doesn't smoke. Monica, well, Monica is the type to wear an ankle bracelet. I'm so glad I quizzed them. I would have gotten all of them candles from Notre Dame or scarfs.

I was describing to them some of my favorite photos from our last trip to Paris in October 2011. Here are the ones I'm bring to work on Monday.


Lost...

Notre Dame at Night...

Everyone Planning For The Weather Change - Except Me (at the top of the Eiffel Tower)...

Painting the Painting (at the Louvre)...

New Gap Logo

A story from here:

Gap changed its logo today without fanfare or even so much as a press release. It just kind of showed up on their website, no method of warning considered.

The new logo, a cold and unfeeling blue square crushed underneath the cruel weight of bold, black Helvetica, makes the company look more like it’s about to release a new word processor than a footwear collaboration with Pierre Hardy. Our questions about this abound, but we’ll start with this one: What the hell are they thinking?

BrandChannel points out that while Gap Inc. as a company might have posted over $14 billion in revenue last year, Gap as a brand isn’t doing nearly as well as it has in the past. And now it’s scrambling for a jolt of energy that will send it back to the top again.

“… Ditching the classic logo, recognized by everyone, in favor of whatever that new monstrosity is, demonstrates a prototypical brand panic move. With things not going in its favor, the brand decides to change the one valuable element it has going for it.

Ironically maybe, the new logo is perfect for the brand. It communicates exactly the values currently embodied by Gap: A sense of being lost and a lack of clear vision and creativity.”

Ouch. Well. We hate Helvetica as much as the next person who has a thing for fonts (we had the audacity to tell our 300-level graphic design professor that we thought it was the most banal font we’d ever seen). But we’ve noticed that the company hasn’t changed the logo on its Facebook or Twitter pages, so maybe (hopefully) they’re just testing it out and gauging how consumers would react to it. But if the company can make a design flub this big, should we expect the clothes to follow?

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An update to the above story is here.

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See the trailer for the 2007 documentary on Helvetica.

Shopping Feedback

This summer, we stopped at a Chic-Fil-A on the way back from Florida. I was so impressed, I submitted positive comments to the store via their web site. I received back a personal email from their Regional Manager, thanking me and letting me know that the employee that I mentioned and his manager would receive my comments.

I thought I would continue my project: Instead of complaining about bad service (see this post), I would compliment good service whenever possible (but with also being honest about a less than good experience).

Today, I shopped at Pier 1 Imports and our local Rouses supermarket. I didn't make a copy of my Pier 1 comments, but they were basically "the cashier was very nice, but I really DO NOT appreciate being asked for my phone number and email address. I understand why you are asking for it, but it really feels intrusive. If I have the choice, I will shop at another store." I was asked for my phone number at Party City yesterday. That is really starting to become a pet peeve of mine.

I did copy my comments to Rouses:
I was at your Airline - Metairie location this morning, trying to find all the items to create Muffaletta sandwiches for a dinner I am attending this Wednesday. I spoke with Florence (I think that was her name) in your Deli. She was very, very helpful - guiding me through all the items I needed to purchase. She even pointed out that Rouses carried the Olive Salad (in a jar) that I was looking for, but that I had not even asked her about. Great employee!!

I also asked one of your employees in the Bread/Dessert department if my Muffaletta bread would still be fresh if I bought it today (Sunday). She told me that it would not, and then offered to bake a special batch for me that I could pick up Tuesday (for my Wednesday dinner). I did not, however, get her name. There were two employees in the department at the time. The one who helped me also wrote my name (-------) in her log.

I live much closer to Wal-Mart, but drive the extra distance to shop at your store. This is why. Keep up the great work, and please let the employees that I encountered today know that they are doing a great job.

Winn-Dixie Sucks!

I got into a small "discussion" with a Winn-Dixie cashier today. I decided to complain via their web site. After filling out the store information, this is what I wrote:

The above Winn-Dixie location is the most convenient grocery store to my house. Even though almost every time I have to deal with a surly casher, I have been going there for over 15 years.

After today, I am done with your store and your company. The cashier working Register 7 at 5:15 pm today (8/6/07) saw that there were two of us in line. Apparently that didn't dissuade her from turning off her light and immediately announcing that she was closed. Because there was only ONE OTHER line open, besides the two 5-10 items or less lines, there was no place for us two customers to go.

This is just not acceptable. I am tired of being treated like an inconvenience instead of a customer at your stores. I hope you fire this cashier and seriously rethink your hiring and training practices.

You have lost another customer to Wal-Mart.

Thanks for your time.

I hope that bitch gets fired!