Here are the quick & dirty highlights from my trip to Paris - but if you really want to see many more cool pix of Paris & Budapest - you should go here….

Paris seems to have discovered my love for all things glam & sparkly (& no, it doesn’t quite do it justice - but it is still awesome) & is my Favorite New Thing from this trip to Paris:

Click here to watch the movie (2.5MB)

I also enjoyed viewing the end of the Tour De France from my mobile viewing platform rented from the city no less)….

Click here to watch the movie (8.3MB)

The “mobile moving platform” was VERY cool - basically the city of Paris rents bikes for reasonable rates from various locations around town & also from a bus that sets up at special events! I did a good bit of biking in both cities…. Here is a shot from Budapest…

The other thing I loved about Paris & even Budapest was that since the cities were bigger - things were up and available til all hours. My cousin & I did a LOT of dancing - which rocked…. < PEEVE MODE >And before any of you SFer’s go - “yeah I wish…”- how often do you go out late? < PEEVE MODE OFF >

Again, for all my favorite pix from Paris (& Budapest) click on over to my pix page…. Click HERE for more…

I just got back to Paris from Budapest & since that means a dedicated DSL line again I feel at home*. (whew!)

What did I do in Budapest?….. Why, I performed live in front of my adoring fans of course:

You MUST HAVE QUICKTIME 7 to Play the Movie

90 sec small video version (2.8MB)

90 sec big video version (8.6MB)
(looong download - but worth it)

Well actually, my cousin (the cameraman & Mr. never-done-karaoke-before!) & I stumbled into a “Hungarian Idol”-type night at a local club & after much hemming & hawing, I went for it. Unfortunately, the contest was over before they let me on, & much of the audience had left, but dammit - someone needed to bring the funk to Budapest!…. so I pressed on…. and lest the video fools you, there were more Hungarians there than the footage shows….

Can anyone figure out what the announcer is saying at the end? Near as I can tell from my 3 day immersion course in Hungarian, it is something like “and his hovercraft is full of eels.”**

‘deep
writing from Paris…

* The other thing that made Budapest feel alien was the fact that you can spend hours upon hours with nary a latin root as far as the eye can see! These people should have been conquered by the Romans better or something. The only respite lay in words like, my favorite, “szandvics” (sound it out). Makes Paris & French feel downright homey.

** bonus points if you know the reference Click HERE for more…