Brie

IMG_0185, originally uploaded by eesley.

I bought this brie sandwich and apple and sat in the park next to the Tour Eiffel yesterday for lunch. The girl behind the counter made fun of the way I said "Brie" when ordering the sandwich. She laughed and repeated "Breeeeeee" in a slightly twangy American accent which sounded like a caricature. I still don't know how to pronounce the word in the French way . . . ah well!

In the afternoon I mostly read and worked on my dissertation. I headed to the Musee Louvre around 6pm on Friday and walked around almost all of the museum. I guess I either walk too fast or don't spend enough time looking at the art. Either way by 8:45pm I had seen all the highlights including Aphrodite and Mona Lisa as well as walking through every major branch.

I took the metro to meet Claire and her friends for the party they were having. They told me it was a typical "Parisian" apartment and party. The apartment was in the center of this kind of courtyard type thing several floors up, full of plants and lots of candles under the night sky. The food was incredible, pies, pizzas, cheeses, fruits and people were gracious to speak English with me until late in the night. At about 2:30am we caught a cab back home and I fell asleep easily once in the apartment, having drank my fair share of red wine throughout the night.

Louvre

IMG_0223, originally uploaded by eesley.

Tour Eiffel

IMG_0184, originally uploaded by eesley.

I'm very lucky to be staying at Colette's place in Passy in Paris since it is about a 2 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower. So last night after my dinner and a glass of wine I walked over with my camera to get a few shots of it all lit up. Every half hour or so they turn on the twinkling lights that you can see in some of the shots.

It was very nice, but kind of a strange feeling being at the Eiffel alone. You're surrounded with romantic couples both of the younger and older varieties and with bus loads of school-age children visiting on some type of trip. Some of the couples had brought glasses and bottles of wine. It's almost like you're viewing life from some odd angle where you've slipped into a place at a time when you're not "supposed" to be there. It was very nice to appreciate the view and then be able to walk back home, but it definitely makes me appreciate that what is really special about this location is being there with a romantic partner.

Dinner

IMG_0164, originally uploaded by eesley.

After 7+ days of eating out in London and Paris, I was ready for a nice, cheap, home-cooked meal last night. I went to a market nearby and picked up some spagetti and sauce. To go with it, I managed to use my broken and limited French to buy some fresh bread and a couple bottles of wine. The nicer bottle on the left is reserved for a party I'm going to tonight.

I didn't actually have the yogurt with dinner, but I'm fascinated by the Europeans' obsession with different types of yogurt. I've been having these with the pastries that Colette left me for breakfast.

Making Friends (and Dinner) in Paris - Frugal Traveler - Travel - New York Times Blog

Making Friends (and Dinner) in Paris - Frugal Traveler - Travel - New York Times Blog

I've been enjoying my posh little neighborhood in Passy the past couple of days.

Louvre

IMG_0153, originally uploaded by eesley.

Yesterday I had a relaxing day. Did a bit of reading in the afternoon and then met up with Claire, walked along the Seine river and went for dinner at an alternative kind of restaurant then walked a bit more to grab a couple drinks and took a cab home.

Eiffel

IMG_0149, originally uploaded by eesley.

Punting on the river Cam

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Originally uploaded by eesley

Paris

I took the Eurostar train from London to Paris Monday evening and met Sylvain at the station in Paris. Tuesday morning I headed out via the metro to meet a few friends who are management professors now as well as Colette at La Flor - a croissant place in Paris. We had pastries and espresso and chatted until noon while sitting out on the street.

I then met Sylvain at his university for a nice lunch and then to present, along with 2 other professors some of my research on entrepreneurship in China. After my presentation, Sylvain and I met up with Colette for dinner at a little restaurant with one guy who acts as waiter, chef, host, and dishes guy. The food was great and the guy was hilarious - talking to himself in the back to make it sound like there were more people ("Hi, pass the plate, please!").

I am staying at Colette's place now with a view on the Eiffel Tower and getting by alright with a few sentences of French. I am enjoying the food and relaxing a bit today.

London Day 3

IMG_0136, originally uploaded by eesley.

Yesterday I met up with Erin, a friend from a few years back when we were both instructors in Duke's TiP program. We went to Shakespeare's Globe to see a play and then walked around London.

We went to Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey as well as Trafalger Square before grabbing some dinner in Chinatown.

Today I'm preparing for my talk in Paris and then taking the train there this evening, arriving late at night when my friend Sylvain will meet me at the station.

King's College (photo)

IMG_0114, originally uploaded by eesley.

My friend Sung Joo and I left Cambridge (the old one) this morning and took the train to London. After dropping off my stuff at the hotel, we had lunch and headed for the British Museum. There was an enormous amount of pollen falling from the trees and between that at the pollution my eyes were burning. One we got there though, the museum itself was very nice.

After grabbing a quick bite for dinner, we headed to Her Majesty's Theatre to see if we could get tickets for The Phantom of the Opera. We did manage to get two seats and the show was great.

Cambridge, UK

 


I arrived in London on Weds. and met up with a couple of friends there then took the train to Cambridge in the afternoon. I gave my presentation at the conference today which went fine I think. I didn't practice so I rambled a little, but it was ok.

Yesterday, after a full day of conference presentations on Open Innovation, we had a glass of champagne and dinner at St. Catherine's college (one of the many colleges in the University of Cambridge system here). Then Ethan, Sung Joo and I went out in search of thai food and wandered around the city. Eventually we gave up on the thai restaurant and found our way to the Eagle Pub which was where Watson and Crick had a pint after discovering DNA. We didn't make any discoveries but it didn't stop us from having a pint there too.

This afternoon we went "punting on the Cam" which means going for a little boat ride along the Cam river. It was very nice and beautiful weather. Tomorrow Sung Joo and I will go to London together and visit the British museum.

Other side of the pond

This post will be short since I haven't slept in over 24 hours and the keyboard is all British, but I've landed, had a quick breakfast near the British Library (where there was a line to get in at 9:20am), and found my way to Lourdes Sosa's office at the London Business School.

So far I'm puzzled by the toilet paper which comes out 1 sheet at a time (WTF?!) and my HSBC global ATM card which doesn't want to work at the airport, meanwhile the American Bank ATM card, of all things, worked just fine. Oh yeah, i think I spent half the morning getting through the immigration line which was massive and waiting for my bags which came to the wrong Baggage Reclaim (I guess re-claim makes sense) carosel (probably due to the hours spent in the immigration line).

Off via train to Cambridge this afternoon.

Update

Blogging has been slow as I've been keeping busy. Here's a quick update.

The dissertation is making progress, I've been TA'ing an undergrad class on entrepreneurship, still working part-time with Flagship looking and (and passing on) medical device opportunities. I've also started this consulting firm for life sciences, http://www.lobby-10.com. It's been fun.

I think that's about it. I'm headed to Cambridge, UK and Paris next week for about 10 days (vacation and to give a couple of talks on my research). Then down to UNC to present a paper June 3-7th. Also, probably headed to South Africa to give a presentation at a conference this summer (July 27-31st). Then to Anaheim, CA Aug. 8-13th for a conference and up to the Bay area Aug. 13-19th.

Once (2006)

Once (2006)

I saw this movie on Friday evening after Yoojin cooked a nice dinner. I highly recommend it. It reminded me of nights back in high school when Chris Madine, Buddy, or Rick Hanf would play guitar at Angel Emerick's or some sketchy campsite we had picked out that weekend.

At Duke also I had friends who were more musical and would play guitar from time to time such as Connor Briggs (now Connor Desai and check out her album on iTunes!) or Dan Purdom.

At MIT, things have changed and between the workload and hanging out with economists, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs, those more musical nights of listening to CDs or live music are fewer and farther between. This movie was great to watch with the music reminding me of Ida, Nick Drake, Smog, or Devendra Barnhart.