New Orleans Day 2

Wednesday morning we woke up excited about the "continental breakfast" offered at our hotel. It consisted of day-old mini-danish and bruised apples, which weren't appetizing in any way. We returned to our room to grab the guidebooks and see what else the French Quarter had to offer for breakfast and found, to our delight, that there's a great bakery just around the corner from the hotel - the Croissant d'Or. The croissants are the second best I've ever had (the best were in Paris) and they have quiches, tarts and other treats as well. Delicious!

New Orleans Day 1

Russell and I had such a good time driving out to New Orleans and were so excited to arrive. We are staying at the Hotel Provincial, which is adorable (read about its history here), and has two courtyards (one with a pool and one with a fountain) and an award winning restaurant (Stella!). We got settled and immediately headed out into the French Quarter. First, we walked down to the Mississippi river and then headed back into the Quarter at Bienville Street (here's a map, if you are interested). We walked for a while and looked at the great buildings, had a beer, and then some dinner at a pub before returning for a good nights sleep.

Above: left over Mardi Gras decorations.



Russell at the Jager Haus.

















The view from the Jager Haus.














Out and about in the French Quarter.














A home in the Frenc Quarter:
















A view of the pool from our room:

marfa, texas

this seems to be the only photo i took when we were in downtown marfa. they don't have too much going on, but they do have a nice little coffee shop/bookstore, the pizza foundation, art galleries (an andy warhol show was up when we were there - the last supper series), the paisano (the hotel where james dean stayed during the filming of giant), and a goodwill where i bought a used copy of rhythm nation and a buck owens best-of compilation.

prada marfa

courtney and i visited marfa, texas on the way back from el paso (may 2006). the prada marfa art installation is located just west of marfa, on state road 90. i wasn't sure what to think about it, and i'll spare you my social commentary, but it was compelling nonetheless. we actually passed it the first time - i didn't know it was there - and had to turn around to see it.

that's courtney in front of prada marfa, and my rental car reflected in the window.

hell paso

i went to el paso in may of 2006 for the society of southwest archivists annual meeting. i drank a lot with courtney, evan and mat, which ended up being the highlight of my time in el paso. this photo really sums up my feelings about el paso.

the hotel had a tiffany stained glass window in the bar, which was neat, but was overall unexciting. we went to juarez for a reception (that, by the way, had amazing botanas, including one made with a corn fungus. not really sure how the dish was made with the corn fungus, but it was delish.), which was fun until we headed home and had to wait in a line for several hours. when i went through the border guard thingy, the agent asked me if i had anything to declare, and while i said "no" what i thought was "i declare that i never want to return to juarez."

courtney and i drove out to el paso, which was great fun. we listened to lots of music, including the scissor sisters and the pharcyde. on the way back, we spent the afternoon in marfa, texas and the night in ft. davis, texas. photos ensue.

traci travels

yeah, i haven't blogged on this site for a year and a half, and i have decided that it will be a travel blog in general. i still have stuff from my paris trip to blog about (i know, lame, but i just haven't gotten around to it, you know?), but you will find tidbits from my other trips here as well.

that's all, really.

plus des photos

here we have photos of the national archives of france and the pompidou, which is the museum of modern art in paris. guess which is which.

even more photos

another shot of the louvre and a building in the neighborhood i'm staying in.

more photos

this is the pont alexandre iii, sorry, it didn't actually make it into the first one, and beside it is a shot of the eiffel tower from the louvre.

more photos

delicious choco-coffee filled goodness and an apartment building in my neighborhood.

photos, part one

here are images from the pont alexandre iii, and around the louvre. the day was cold and sunny.

thursday night in the marais

amazing. last night i met betsy at the pompidou center - we didn't acually go into the museum, though, we ended up going to this amazing little falafel place several blocks away that was wonderful. it wasn't fancy or uptight, a real neighborhood type of place. we sat in back, and were sort of scooched into a corner so that betsy and eric (one of betsy's friends) couldn't get out without moving a table. this is common in the cafes in paris. we had a bottle of wine and a wonderful conversation with two young guys, joachim and roman, who were born in paris of algerian and brazilian immigrants, respectively. even with my poor french skills, i could follow and contribute to the conversation which was mostly about politics and the riots from last fall and the spurs. everybody in paris loves basketball (le basket) and they know tony parker because he is french. i shared the "mexican bike cop" story with the table and they were all surprised to hear that eva was so rude.

before we made it to the falafel place, though, betsy and eric gave me a walking tour of the area and showed me the location of the archives nationales de france and the library for french history. this is a very old part of town, and the buildings are amazing.

after dinner, we went to a little jazz club, the name i forgot, and proceeded to drink 3 more bottles of wine. i will tell you that there is nothing more fun than figuring out the metro while drunk at 1am. we had a great time. and i don't remember buying any of the wine, so i hope they did. i feel confident that we would have been stopped if the check wasn't taken care of...

the bad thing about being really drunk is that you forget to take photos, but i will post a few that i had taken earlier.

bloggus interruptus

sorry about not posting yesterday, but i arrived to find that the converter thingy for electronic devices wasn't working - missing a fuse - so i had to round one up today. my neighborhood is incredible, and everyone has been so friendly so far, especially the men and the teenagers/students. i always start conversations with excusez-moi or s'il vous plait and it works. people have used english when they know it, or they have used very simple sentences when they don't, and everything has worked out. i highly recommend a trip to paris!

so, what have i done? not much, buecause the jet lag had me out cold yesterday afternoon. last night i met betsy, a friend of a friend, for dinner, and we had a great time. we shared a bottle of wine and i had the duck confitte, an awesome chunk of fried duck with fried dpotatoes and a green salad. today, i walked to the louvre, about a 30 minute walk from my apartment. i saw some amazing french art, like the raft of the medusa (which, i promise you, is easily 10'x10' if not bigger) and oath of the horatii. ooh, and liberty leading the people. these were large-scale french paintings, but the floor with the regular-sized french paintings (of which i want to see) was closed, but i was planning to visit twice, and so i shall go back tomorrow and see the smaller paintings of the french artists, and also the german and i think belgian.

my favorite things so far have been the regular things - buying fruit and bread and cheese, interacting with parisians, riding the metro, buying stamps, things like that. tonight i am going to meet betsy at the pompidou, and i can't wait to see the modern art. i have taken a few pictures, and will post them later.

a bientôt.

ooh la la, or blogging from paris

howdy, all. on valentine's day, i will be leaving san antonio, texas, for a sweet one-week vacation in paris. i have wanted to visit paris since i was 14, and am so completely excited to be going! anyway, i hope to use this space to blog a little on each day of my trip, including adding photos to the blog, and i will also probably fill out details and experiences and add more photos when i return. so many people are so excited for me about this trip, i though this would be a nice way to share the trip with all the good folks who have been so supportive.

yay!