Here is a Segway with a crowd of people surrounding it wanting to know everything about it.

One of the most fun ways to do a tour is by Segway. Tours are offered in Paris and I tried one. There is a short lesson beforehand but it is amazing how you can turn on a dime, stop and speed along passing all of the other tourists on foot. I think it was initally made for older folk unable to get around well but it is so much fun, tours are now done on it. We started are tour near the Eiffel Tower and a college student led us on a tour of the area. We attracted so much attention that it was like being a movie star. As soon as we would stop somewhere, other tourists would surround us wanting to know what it was, how it worked, and where it could be rented. I often felt like what I’m sure Madonna must feel like when she gets out on the streets somewhere. One guy on the tour turned to me and said, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done!” And it was. Towards the end of the tour my legs and feet ached from standing still in one spot for so long. There is a weight limit-you can’t be too light or too heavy and its not as cheap as a bike tour or walking tour, but it sure is fun.

Here was our guide. They are all American college students. The rental place was Mike’s Bike Tours.

Here is a Segway with a crowd of people surrounding it wanting to know everything about it.

One of the most fun ways to do a tour is by Segway. Tours are offered in Paris and I tried one. There is a short lesson beforehand but it is amazing how you can turn on a dime, stop and speed along passing all of the other tourists on foot. I think it was initally made for older folk unable to get around well but it is so much fun, tours are now done on it. We started are tour near the Eiffel Tower and a college student led us on a tour of the area. We attracted so much attention that it was like being a movie star. As soon as we would stop somewhere, other tourists would surround us wanting to know what it was, how it worked, and where it could be rented. I often felt like what I’m sure Madonna must feel like when she gets out on the streets somewhere. One guy on the tour turned to me and said, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done!” And it was. Towards the end of the tour my legs and feet ached from standing still in one spot for so long. There is a weight limit-you can’t be too light or too heavy and its not as cheap as a bike tour or walking tour, but it sure is fun.

Here was our guide. They are all American college students. The rental place was Mike’s Bike Tours.

This photo is taken through the window so not too clear. This wonderful tea shop is selling special tea for the Japanese. The Japanese love this tea.
Mariages Freres is a sublime tea shop found in two great locations in Paris. They have been selling tea for centuries, often to French royalty.I always take guest inside just to inhale the fabulous fragrance of the teas and to see the old French ambience. Loose tea is sold in large containers and they let you take a wiff of any tea you would like to get an idea of the taste. You can also buy tea bags there, candles, incense and tea pots. My favorite tea sold there is Marco Polo and their Christmas tea. They also have a tea shop in each location but I find them very crowded and noisy although it is worth it all to get a taste of their desserts, especially their creme brule-the stuff of heaven.

A nearby painting on a wall looking like a waiter in a window.

Last year the Eiffel Tower was lit up in red for a week as part of a celebration with China. It was spectacular to see.

Here is another reflection in water that I like, taken at Palais Royal.

Around the World

January 9th

Off to the Siam district by metro. We were told it was lively. What it seemed to be was mostly department stores in giant malls. I had read on the Internet raves about shopping at the MBK mall which turned out to be just another ordinary mall although it felt great because it had a/c. A lady had stopped us in the street to ask us what we were looking for-we obviously stand out as tourists-and told us not to bother with MBK as it was over-priced and full of teen-agers–and it was. According to the map that we picked up at the air-conditioned information booth, Jim Thompson’s Museum was nearby. He was an American who came to
Thailand by chance, fell in love with it, stayed, and restarted the dying Thailand silk industry. He built a beautiful home which is now a museum. The guide we had on the tour we took there said that his Chinese astrology sign is the horse and it is said that the 61st year can be dangerous. He was 61 when he disappeared without a trace on a walk in Malaysia. We found his home on a canal. His home is all of wood, six old Thai buildings fitted together and very chaming. Afterwards, we walked down the little canal and saw a boat pass by. It stopped on the other side of the canal so we missed it and walked past primitive shacks and little places selling food. We crossed back and forth on a few bridges when the sidwalk ended. At one point we came to a wall, a dead-end, and someone had left a wooden ladder which we climbed ending up onto a busy street. We found a busy market which seemed to sell wholesale in packages of twelve. We finally got a boat which only went one stop where we walked to the Golden Mount, another temple, up many stairs. Great view but not that impressive. We saw a monk in orange robes who looked like an American. Then we caught the canal boat back. The boats are very long and low as they have to pass under bridges and at one point even lower the roofs until it almost touched our heads. It was an athletic feat to get aboard stepping on a little rim on the outside of the boat, over the side onto low seat while ducking under the roof holding onto a rope to get inside. Sometimes the boat barely came to a stop and people were quickly getting on board, some being women in heels. There were two guys who collected the money-8 bat-clinging to the side, holding on to the rope and, somehow, not dropping any money. They wore helmets, probably because I’m sure one of them occasionally hit their heads on the low bridges. Two plastic curtains were on either side of the boat that could be raised to keep out sun or water spray. It was a fun experience. Then back to the hotel for a cool bath. We had a pizza in Siam-a late lunch or early dinner. Too tired to do anything else, then back to our room.

The boat we rode on the canal. It was used mainly by natives, not tourists.

Along side the canal were homes with flowers and laundry outside. Life started in Bangkok on the waters of the city.

Inside the boat.

Part of the museum of Jim Thompson’s Home.

I think the monk on the left was an American, now a monk.

I like the way the sun was shining through this lampost which sits on the Pont des Arts before it crosses the Seine, near the Louvre.

Blue skies with a few clouds always make the Louvre Pyramid look better to me.

Bangkok
January 8th
We took a motorcycle ride to the skytrain. I hold on tightly, keep my eyes closed and pray we don’t wreck. I’ve seen too many victims of motorcycle accidents in my days as an operating room nurse to be comfortable. The fact that the driver had a helmet and I didn’t, didn’t help but we made it to the train station safely. We boarded the train, switched trains once and went to the end of the line which took us to the Chao Phraya River. At the harbor there we took a water taxi eight stops and went to see Wat Pho, the largest and oldest wat in Bangkok. The best thing there was the giant gold reclining buddha. It was huge with lots of worshippers burning incense. There was also a large gallery of many smaller buddhas. This is where a famous massage school is run as well. Then we took a very short boat ride across the river to Wat Arun, the temple of the dawn. It was much more elaborate with alot of Chinese porcelain covering the temples, some made into shapes of flowers. Then we walked to the Grand Palace. This was so huge, elaborate and ornate that the other two wats sort of fadded from memory. There was a huge temple totally covered in gold. The grounds were enormous and took forever to walk around, especially in the heat. This is the home of the Emerald Buddha which seems to be the most venerated in Thailand. There were many worshippers and it was extremely elaborate, almost overdone in decorations. The buddha was actually very small and was dressed in a gold robe-it is changed seasonnally thrree times during the year.
There is a famous week-end market, Chanachak, that we drug ourselve to. It was huge and packed with everything you could think of. We bought a wall hanging and two t-shirts and ran out of energy, tired of fighting the crowds in the heat. We took the metro back and then the motorcycles again back to the hotel.
The people seem very sweet and warm here. Whenever we enter a hotel or restaurant they put their hands together and bow their heads. Maurice and I like the difference between Hong Kong and Bangkok. Bangkok seems different than most big cities. Except for the food and the people, Hong Kong could be NYC in many ways as it is so very western. Bangkok seems very eastern still even though they are working fast to be modern. There is still a huge difference between the rich and poor.

Some of the tile made into a flower motif found on the side of a temple.

Three gods holding up part of a building.

I especially loved the roof line of the many temples in Thailand.

The head of the reclining buddha-hard to see how enormous it is.

I don’t know why the feet of this buddha are outside the container, just thought it was worth a photo.

The very elaborate gold covered Grand Palace.

Doesn’t this make you want to sit down and order something French?

Sacre Couer. Doesn’t it look great with the green trees and blue sky? When the skies are gray it isn’t near as dramatic.

January 7th
We slept in rather late then had a good buffet breakfast at the hotel which was to serve as both breakfast and lunch. Then we walked up the street from the hotel where there were supposed to be birds for sale but found another market instead. I liked it better than the Ladies Market which I took Maurice to see last night after we saw a very cold outdoor tennis match. I bought a large “designer” bag for my daughter in law to use as a diaper bag. At the market today Maurice found some jeans for only $10 which had a Levi brand which I doubt is real. They even shortened them for him in five minutes. They fit well when he tried them on later. On the way back we walked along a street selling all sorts of fish, mostly tropical.
Then time to go to the airport. We took a taxi to Kowloon metro stop where we then took the airport express train where we were able to check in our luggage , got a refund on the octopus ticket. It was a walk of at least 30 minutes to get to our boarding gate. I found a new inexpensive electronic solitaire game at a shop on the way.
We arrived at the Bangkok airport after a flight of less than two hours. We were told to make the taxi driver turn on the meter and, if he didn’t, to get out. Ours didn’t but we kept quiet. We knew the approximate cost so we let it go when he told us our charge. When we arrived at our hotel, the Davis, we were told our room was still occupied. We had to wait twenty minutes and got a suite in its place which was very nice. Driving to the hotel, I was reminded of Mexico-lots of shacks and open food stands with dogs here and there. We did a walk to the sky train which, it turned out, was a very long walk from our hotel. There are some guys across the street who gave rides on a motor scooter which we ended up using the next day as it is very hot and tropical. Again, on our walk, it seemed so much like Mexico. There was building going on at night looking rather primitive, no street lights, food stalls almost in the dark, people sitting on the streets, many mangy dogs, mansions along side old ugly buildings. We found the sky train and our route for the next day then went into a mall which is almost exactly like one you would find in the States and full of modern, well-dressed girls. We checked for e-mail at an internet cafe, got lost in the mall and came out finally not sure where to go. Finally found our way back. On the way we passed a huge restaurant, the Seafood Market where a sign said, “If it swims, we have it” and you can select your live creature and then it is cooked in a huge kitchen with an army of cooks. We had a horrible night probablly due to some chocolate we ate. We watched several movies as there are three movie channgels available at our hotel.

Here are a couple of the “dressed gods” that I saw in Hong Kong.

Lit incense rings with prayers attached.

I assume there must be alot of spitting in Hong Kong for this sign to be up. There were signs against graffiti as well.