From the ancient to the modern - Paris Days 1 and 2

Today's Paris trivia- you are never more than 450 meters from a Metro stop anywhere in the city.

Day 1

Napoleon Sparschu Phillips along with her group of travelers left the Crown Plaza Republique 1 hour and 45 minutes early for a 20 minute Metro ride to the Ile de Cite(Napoleon was remembering the 'Wimbelton instead of Westminster Tube incident of '04'). Of course as many of my Francophile friends have told me repeatedly, the Metro is super clean,easy and quick. We arrived at our scheduled meeting place for our 9:40am tour at 8:20am. There are worse ways to spend an hour and twenty minutes than stolling the banks of the Seine and people watching on the Ile de Cite.

I had booked a walking tour of the Ile de Cite and Notre Dame with Key Tours (I really like to use this company for sightseeing and transfers, I have never had a disappointed client). Our group met up with Adam at the Ile de Cite Metro stop. On that very spot a nomadic Celtic tribe the Parisis founded Paris on the larger of two islands located in the middle of the Seine. We spent the next two hours discovering the island from 3000 BC until the Nazi Occupation of WWII. Notre Dame was our final stop with a guided tour of the history and art of the thousand year old cathedral. How amazing it was to see the past come to life. Stained glass windows destroyed during the French Revolution, Mideval and Renassaince oonstruction techniques, the place where Napoleon turned his back on the Pope and crowned Josephine and himself emporer and emperess of France. All the ghosts and memories of 1000 years swirled around us.

Our afternoon was spent having lunch at a cafe on Ile St. Louis, visiting the world famous Shakespeare and Company book store and ending back on the Ile de Cite to see King Louis IX Sainte Chapelle chapel. Louis was an extremely pious man, so he had a chapel built inside his royal palace to store his relics and provide a place for easy access worship. St. Chapelle is small, but the beauty of its stained glass walls is gigantic. The chapel is currently under restoration and cleaning, the before and after is quite amazing.

Day Two

Our second full day in Paris found us on a private driving tour of the city. I chose this tour as an overview of the City of Light, a chance to see its famouns sights, museums and landscapes as an orientation to our follow up visits.

The first days of our Paris vacation were gloomy and rainy, but when our driver Celena pulled over by the Invalides the sun suddenly broke through and the Effiel Tower was bathed in a halo of gold, a picture postcard come to life.

Montmartre was our afternoon destination. Sacre Coeur Basillica was our first destination. Its white dome standing out against a turqoise blue sky follwed by lunch in a Montmartre cafe of beouf borganion and l'onion soupe. At Place Tertre David and I chose two oil paintings from one of the many artists painting and selling the wares in the square.

I am pleased to report after walking down several hundred steps from the top of Montmartre's hill and winding our way through its cobblestone streets, we not only took the Metro back to our hotel, we had to change lines at one of the stations! I am going to call it my own personal 'Arc de Triomphe'!

Up next Versailles and the Louvre!

November 19, 2012 - Like Napoleon I return to Paris

Like Napoleon, I return to Paris

I have a theory that every traveler has their own ’Waterloo’. A place that culture, history and even their fellow travelers rave about; but in their most secret psyche makes them feel overwhelmed and uneasy. I imagined myself to be like the great emperor, but instead of Wellington, I would meet the City of Light on my personal field of battle.Paris, world capital of: food, wine, art, fashion, culture and of course romance. The majestic city dating back 3000 years from the small nomadic tribe of the Pairisi who lived on a small island in the middle of the Seine to today’s greater Paris consisting of 12 million people with 2.1 million people residing in the city center. Readers let’s face it, the above list is the reason I fell in love with Europe over a decade ago. 3000 thousand years of history combined with the pinnacle of all modern culture, with one small drawback - the Parisians.I’m going to make a confession now. Prior to my current trip, I had visited Paris once before in the summer of 2002 for 8 hours. My tour consisted of a short ride around the city and 2hours at the Louvre. French culture was as foreign to me as Chinese. I was accustomed to the friendly and boisterous Italians, the fun-loving Irish , and the reserved but cheerful British. I found the Parisians to be cool and standoffish and in my limited exposure to the world, snobby. I felt like a fish out of water and thought that would be my one and only Parisian visit.Of course as I grew as a traveler and (I hope) became more sophisticated and open to other cultures I began to wonder if I wasn’t selling Paris short. Visitors since the time of Julius Cesar had fallen in love with Paris and all its wonders. For hundreds of years artists, poets, writers, scientists, foodies and of course lovers have flocked to this city, It took the personal Parisian stories of two women, who convinced me to give the French capitol another chance. Armed with my copies of Julia Child’s My Life in France and Eloisa James’ Paris in Love, I left Charles De Gaulle airport searching for my own Parisian love affair. It was the twin voices of two women who lived in Paris at the middle of the last century and within the first few years of this one who inspired this journey (like Napoleon, this wasn’t just a skirmish this was a major battle).These women may have lived at different times but their interests (writing and cooking) and how they completely embraced their adoptive city made me look at (pardon the pun) Paris in a whole new light. They made me understand what I perceived as ‘snobbery’ or disdain at my not knowing the language was a desire for language perfection. That unlike Americans who consider a restaurant or a shop as public places, the French consider these to be extensions of their private homes. I have already found a simple Bon Jour Madame along with general civilities like ‘sil vous plait and merci’ are the key to a better understanding of these formal and sophisticated people. Parisians aren’t like the average American citizen, and after all isn’t that why we travel in the first place, to learn and appreciate other cultures?Next up, my first days in Paris. I’ll share my adventures exploring ancient Paris on the Ile de Cite as well as the area around my hotel the Marais.Au Revior -Mis Amis.

Mexico Photos - Cancun, Riviera Maya, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum

Un Hombre Y Su Hotel - A Man and His Hotel

During my visit this week, I have waxed poetic about the Ocean Coral and Turquesa. My comfortable and well appointed Junior suite, the lovely grounds, amazing dining options, the many activities as well as its beautiful white sand beaches. These are all true and I urge you my clients and friends to experience these things yourself. However, similar attributes like the above can be found in resorts of this area and others. What sets the Ocean Coral apart is its people. Sebastian of the activities department who worked diligently with me to improve my Spanish is less than a week, Alan Ramierez, executive chef who took time out of his busy day to see if our meal was to our liking, Guillermo and Jorge in Los Girasoles Mexican restaurant whose expertise in making Mayan coffee was only eclipsed by their service, Dolores and Lupita at the Despacio spa who worked together to give me one of my favorite haircuts of all time, Raul at the Marina del Mar restaurant who always seemed genuinely pleased to see me and greeted me with the brightest smile and the many staff members who I crossed paths with during the day who always greeted me with a cheery Hola! They are what make the Ocean Coral and Turquesa special. This post is about one staff member in particular.

“Excuse me my lady” with that Joaquin conceirege of the Ocean Coral and Turquesa resort was off and running, literally. We were chatting in the light and airy hotel lobby where Joaquin noticed a guest had left their sunglasses on one of the couches. He sprinted over, picked up the glasses, returned them to the guest and within seconds was continuing our conversation. When I laughed and noted he was constantly scanning the room, he simply said, ‘it is my hotel’.

Joaquin went on to describe how he came to the property during construction and stayed to work at the hotel. His passion, dedication and enthusiasm did not go unnoticed by hotel management, he was quickly promoted many times to his current position of conceirage. After spending a week as one of ‘Joaquin’s people’ I got to benefit directly from his attention to detail, professionalism and his personal credo, ‘nothing is impossible’.

For Joaquin the benefits gained are a two way street. His passion for ‘his’ hotel is only matched by his passion for his ‘people’. He shared stories of how ‘his’ hotel combined with his ‘can do attitude’ provided an outstanding experience for his guests Joaquin’s obvious pleasure at seeing his guests satisfied with their visit was extremely uplifting. It was like seeing the living embodiment of the phrase ‘job satisfaction’. (I was chagrinned later in the week when I was whining about something I thought I didn’t want to do, and Joaquin reminded me with a grin, “Nothing is impossible”).

So my fellow travelers I take home with me a slight sunburn, some birthday surprises for my hardworking husband who wasn’t able to join me on this is visit, and I hope some of Joaquin’s unfailing commitment to customer service. I am making a March resolution, when I think something can’t be done, in my memory I will hear Joaquin of the Ocean Coral and Turquesa say, “Nothing is impossible”.

Thank you Joaquin, for the assistance with dinner reservations, that ugly hat you made for me and made me wear and for showing me the measure of customer service excellence I will endeavor to strive for myself.

Hair cuts, language and ruins- Mayan Riviera days 2 through 4

As your self proclaimed navigator of all things travel, when I embark on a new travel adventure I consider it my duty to participate in as many new experiences as possible. It was that sense of duty that turned my feet towards the Despacio Spa at the Ocean Coral and Turquesa resort (I know dear readers, I know but I care that much!). My tour of the modern, soothing facility; combined with my horrifying glimpse in the mirror of my too long and stringy hair tamed for the beach in a scrunchie (a scrunchie!!! What the hell was I thinking, ) that brought me at 4pm CST to Dolores, stylist for the salon.

I sat in the chair with some trepidation. I was weeks overdue for my regular cut(I have a bad habit of suddenly realizing I didn’t make an appointment for my haircut with important dates looming on the horizon ex.a vacation) and my normal style definitely wasn’t easily apparent.
Mi espanoel es muy mal and while Dolores’s English was better, how would we bridge the communication gap with something as important as my head? I needn’t worried, I love my new cut. Dolores was extremely thorough, checking progress many times during the process. I was ready for anything the resort had to offer!

As salsa musica blasted from the speakers, Sebastian set up a white board and chairs near the activity pool edge. Tuesday at 10am the Mexican sun was shining, but the heat not oppressive for my Spanish language lesson. I love foreign languages and studied Spanish for four years in high school and two in college. But what my education has always lacked is the ability to practice with a native speaker. My classmates were the approximately 10 year old Americans Charlie and Reed who had never had a Spanish lesson as well as Candela and Camilla who at about the same hailed from Argentina. The class was everything I could have hoped for a review of basic vocab for the less experienced with an opportunity for myself as well as the young ladies from Argentina to practice Spanish and English with each other. I was absolutely delighted with Sebastian’s pace and energy in the class. His enthusiasm for his language was infectious and when some ladies from Argentina (the lovely Vanessa and Lucia ) the class became even more lively and fun. Sebastian approached me after class and let me know he would prepare some advanced Spanish concepts for my lesson on Thursday.

The Toyota van rolled down the highway through Rivieras Cancun and Maya Seated behind the driver, I could see the Cancun Riviera laid out before me. As we passed elegant and impressive resort after resort and were passed my late model sedans, SUVs, and trucks, it occurred to me this was not the Mexico I experienced in 1982. Its citizens and the country itself (at least in this area) seemed to be enjoying prosperity and growth. More surprising there wasn’t a 60s era rusted out VW Beetle in sight. This Mexico was not unlike South Florida in its white sand beaches and upscale feel. The excursion had been arranged by my colleague in Cancun Alejandra Ozzorco, owner of Your Cancun dmc. Ale’s company provides ‘everything on the ground in Cancun to make the guests stay more pleasant’ like wedding assistance, private airport transfers. Today I was using Your Cancun’s services for a private tour of the Mayan archaeological ruins of Tulum. Located an easy hour and half ride from my hotel, Tulum was the major center of Mayan commerce with goods coming to the market there from Mayan tribes from as far away as Honduras and Belize for import with the Cancun area’s major exports of salt and honey also being traded at the market. The site is well preserved. The chief’s palace and the temple being in the best condition. The most surprising thing about Tulum? Its lovely public beaches, offering a cooling break from the midday Mexican sun. After our tour we chose to go to Playa del Carmen where our tour guide David Celis recommended Yaxche, a local restaurant serving traditional Mayan dishes. I had barbeque pork with hand made flour tortillas along with home made tortilla chips with the Mayan pumpkin seed sauce. During our lunch break we discussed Mexican mourning rituals, the country’s celebration of Dias de las muertas (days of the dead), Mayan cooking methods. For me, relaxing and visiting with a native person is the highlight of my trip. A private tour allows you the luxury of not only setting the pace of your day, but getting in depth knowledge of a country’s people.

Benevideos a Riviera Maya de Mexico

I venture to Old Mexico to have a working vacation

I’ve been having a streak of good luck lately. After almost four years, the gremlins who rejoice in taking my stuff and then suddenly placing it right in front of me, decided it was time to give me back my gold earrings. I got in line at the airport just in time to score the last three business class seats for a mere $40.00 each, and I arrived at the lovely all inclusive resort, the Ocean Coral and Turquesa, Riviera Maya Mexico.

Disembarking from the plane, navigating immigration and customs are pretty much the same everywhere. Long lines of people excited to begin their trip, not paying attention to signage or instructions from the personnel, it’s the pre vacation shuffle. But, when I finally walked through the door from the bleak Detroit pre dawn and snowy morning into the riot of color, light and noise that is Mexico, I was immediately energized.

The beauty of an all inclusive resort is of course .’everything is included’ which in reality means everything is done in large quantities to accommodate as many guests as possible at one time to maximize effiency (and lets be honest profit as well), The ‘shared airport transfer’ is no exception. It’s a bus plain and simple. However how a guest is treated on the bus certainly sets the tone for the visit. I booked my trip through Apple Vacations. Their representatives were easily identifiable in their tropical floral shirts, and once we approached they quickly took our bags and got us situated on the correct bus by property. Once on the road a representative barely had time to explain the check in process and we had arrived at the first resort- the Now Sapphire (another resort I recommend, and I have to say the grounds were as lovely as I expected. I will be touring the property during my stay). Those who were staying at that resort were quickly off loaded and we arrived at the Ocean Coral and Turquesa five minutes later - literally 20 minutes from the time we left the airport.

Check in was pretty painless. We had chosen the Prividge package (ocean view junior suite, secluded area of the resort, priority dining reservations) so we were met by Joaquin, our conceirage for the duration. Our rooms weren’t ready so Joaquin took us on a tour of the property. It was definitely the single most helpful thing he could have done. Everyone has gone on a cruise or to a resort and it is only when you are ready to leave you can easily find things. The Ocean Coral has several pools. One ‘quiet’ pool located in our section of the resort. A larger pool with fountains and the built in tile lounge chairs as well as jets and finally the activity pool the most lively of the three. We had lunch in the Marina del Mar restaurant overlooking the activities pool and by the end of lunch our rooms were ready. Our Junior suite has a nice sitting area, flat screen tv, balcony with table and chairs and more than ample storage. Our room overlooks the garden onto the ‘Quiet pool’ and over to the beach. It’s bathroom has a large tub and separate shower.

.Joaquin had made reservations for us at Los Giraloes the property’s authentic Mexican restaurant. No ‘nachos bel grande’ or ‘seven layer dip’ to be found. I enjoyed a well seasoned flank steak with rice and a three queso dip with warm tortillas. Others in my party enjoyed fajitas, a fresh local wrapped fish in a corn tortilla and beef chimichangas. The high light of the evening was Joaquin’s recommendation of ‘Mayan coffee’ A coffee beverage with kahlua, a local honey liquor and whipped cream. ( I can’t adequately describe the process, so I am posting a few photos).

Pompeii

After a ride on the bus from Rome, we arrive at Pompeii, one of the world's biggest archeological sites. The exterior of the site is uneventful and there are a handful of vendors outside the gates. It has been ten years since our last visit to the "dig" and we were anticipating an eventful stop. We meet our guide Maria and she is pleseant and takes us through the gates. Pompeii was a grand Roman city until 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and sent volcanic ash to rain on the citizens of the area around the volcano elminating all its inhabitants. To understand the plight of Pompeii, it is necessary to know that the citizens did not know that they lived next to an active volcano they thought it was onlt a mountain. Next, in 62 or 63 AD there was a great earthquake that rocked the area but still the citizens did not understand that this was the precurser to the eruption. Vesuvius erupted more times to present in 472, 1631, and 1944 as well only serving to further hide the devastation of the original eruption.

Today, Pompeii still has a dense population at its feet and the next devastation seems inevitable. However, from a tourist and visitor perspective this is a dream into the past of a grand and luxurious Roman city. There are 37 bakeries in the city, a Roman spa with heating in the ceiling and floors, and a brothel. The informal devastation of the site is that it has fallen under budgetary cuts in recent years that led to subpar unkeep and preservation of the buildings and collapses of two of them. In the news today the world preservation agency UNESCO - an agency through the United Nations based in Paris, FR has agreed to assist the Italian Government in improving there efforts to continue Pompeii's rich heritage. UNESCO agreed to provide the expertise and Italy hasd agreed to provide the finances. In the current budget state of Italy, it remains how thisw effort and partnership will unfold. The fate of the city and the site seems as uncertain as the capricious nature of its volcano.