The Massive Louvre

You could easily spend a week in the Louvre or maybe longer depending on how much time you wanted to spend soaking up each piece of art.  We spent about three hours in one wing on just one floor of the museum, but we were able to see some beautiful pieces.  

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

Fun group picture

Two pictures showing just how many paintings they fit onto the massive walls and their gorgeous paint colors that perfectly accented the paintings.

I just couldn't resist taking this photo

Aphrodite - Venus de Milo

The Eiffel Tower

Before dinner on Saturday we walked to the Eiffel Tower.  We caught it right at sunset and were able to witness the lights coming on and sparkling every half hour.  It was decided we would go to the very top by walking up the stairs to the first two decks and then riding the elevator to the tip top.  While riding the elevator I started to feel uneasy and then when the wind slightly shook the elevator, I decided I was officially scared.  I did not look over the edge, but Scott, Steve and Lisa enjoyed the view.  

After our decent we hopped in a cab and had dinner at Cafe du Marche on Rue de Cler for good food and even better wine!

Cathedral of Notre Dame

Luck was on our side this past Saturday, we were one of the last group of tourists allowed into the cathedral before they closed the doors for the day.  We were able to see the interior and listen to the evening service that was given in French.  It was very spiritual, minus the annoying teenagers that did not respect the rule of silence.

Scott is in Portland

Scott has arrived safely in Portland, only 12 more days until I get to see him again!

Paris - Where are the Deckers?

Good news!  We had a wonderful time in Paris.  It flew by, we saw the sites we wanted to see and we walked and walked and walked around the city.  Steve and Lisa experienced the frustrating parts of traveling by being delayed for a day in Atlanta due to thunderstorms, staying in a nasty hotel with none of their luggage and arriving a day before their luggage in Paris.  Thankfully it all worked out and they should be enjoying Italy as I write this post.  Here is our photo journal from the first half of Saturday.

Riding on the train and playing Scramble against each other to pass the time.

Having a wonderful lunch at Cafe Hugo in Paris

Walking through a park and thinking the same thing as this statue, "Where are the Deckers?"

Taking photos in the rain and using our fun tripod that wraps around anything

They have arrived!  My first photo of the couple.  They don't look too shabby, do they?

Paris with the Deckers

Scott and I are packing this evening for our weekend in Paris with Lisa and Steve!  On Monday, Scott will fly out to Portland for work and I will return to Geneva to report to work.  In the past eight years, I have never gone this long without seeing Lisa!  (It has been three months and twelve days.)  I can't wait to give her hug and try to get caught up as much as possible in 48 hours, see a few sites, and bring our husbands along to join in on the fun as well.  

Wisteria & Mike Wong

Geneva smells so good right now.  All of the flowers are in bloom.  Everywhere you turn there is wisteria creeping up a wall or the side of a home.  It is truly beautiful.

We finally went to the local Asian food chain of Mike Wong this evening.  For whatever reason, when I saw their logo, I knew I wanted to eat there.  I would say the food was okay, I don't think we will go back.

Earth Day

Finland

It has been decided, June 19th - 21st, I will be touring around Finland with my friend Inkeri and her family!  I am so excited to see this country that I have heard so much about over the years.

Photo taken at Inkeri's wedding in 2005

Sunday Tradition

Today Heather and I enjoyed our weekly bike ride (Heather) and run (Scott)! The weather was a bit cooler than last week which proved to be fine conditions for our longest journey yet. 

We've found a nice route which includes non-congested roads, bike paths, and other side streets that allows us to go uninterrupted for over 12 miles round trip. The highlight is a section (pictured below) that meanders along a creek near the neighboring village of Lully. We're probably running next to west Geneve cantonal sewer, but hey it looks pretty and there are plenty of others taking in the afternoons on the same path.

The highlight of the journey occurred about 2KM from Soral when all of the sudden we realized that we were on the same street as a local bike race. Heather snapped some quick photos of the guys zooming past us in true Tour de Suisse fashion. There were even chase cars behind this large pack of racers.

Finally after 2 hrs of laborious exercise we returned to Soral where I thought it would be appropriate to take a snapshot of lovely Heather Bulloch adorning her Sunday's best with a pleasant backdrop of wisteria and Swiss blue shutters.  
Have a wonderful Sunday! 

Best Regards,

Scott and Heather B.

NBS Real Estate Capital

Three years ago this month I was the sixth employee at NBS Real Estate Capital and when I left  the firm in January it had grown to thirteen.  They are a great group of people that provided me a wonderful environment to learn and grow professionally and personally.  Now that I have started working at a company with thousands of employees all over the world and over two hundred in our office alone, I make a lot of comparisons to my days at NBSRECAP.  I will say this, I miss everyone speaking English!  I was in a meeting today and so many side conversations were in French it was annoying!

Lasagna

Last night we hosted Kyle, Cari and Tania over for some homemade lasagna, all three are coworkers of Scott's at Columbia.  Scott made the lasagna and the appetizer of asparagus wrapped in prosciutto.  The meal was a hit.  I am very thankful for having a husband that is willing to cook and actually does it well!

Lucerne

The second city we visited in Switzerland this past weekend was Lucerne (Luzern in German).  We had read it was the tenth most visited city in the world, we don't understand why though.  It has two covered wooden bridges that are replicas to the originals that were lost in fires and a lion that is carved into a sandstone cliff.  All in all we tried to take as much in during the time we had in Lucerne and we can cross this destination off our list.

First Day Jitters

I survived my first day at Lexmark!  Here is a quick summary of my day.

• I learned most people don't arrive to work until 9:00 to 9:30 am and I am use to starting my work day at 7:30 am
• Europeans tend to take the week off after Easter, so we experienced light traffic driving to work and 70% of the desks in my area of the office were empty
• There are 220 people that work at the Geneva office
• Lexmark likes to have security.  I need a badge to go anywhere (except the bathroom) and I have to constantly re-login to various software
• The controller for the EMEA (European Middle Eastern Africa) is Italian and I had a half hour meeting with him today and probably understood every third word.  His accent is thick, I mean extremely thick.
• My manager is Italian (his accent is not as thick) and my boss is Canadian
• The entities I will be in charge of are based in Algeria, Dubai and Slovakia
• Most of the manual accounting work is done in the Philippines since it is cheaper to employ people there, however, they make a lot of errors and that will cause my most headaches
• I had a salad at a cafeteria for lunch and it cost 17 francs!

Top of Monte Bre

Walking to the top of Monte Bre looked easier than it turned out to be for us on Saturday.  There was not a direct path to the top, so we weaved back and forth on various streets, climbed thousands of steps and eventually made it.  I was appropriately dressed for the occasion, but Scott was wearing jeans, which proved to not be comfortable during the two hour walk in seventy degree temperatures.  The view from the top was rewarding (it was a hazy day though) and we enjoyed more merlot from the region.  Instead of walking all the way back down, we rode the funicolare!

Half way there!

Directional signs were posted on various streets

Some of the wicked steps we climbed - I felt like I was on a stair master for two hours

Wonderful vino!

It was cheap too!

Scott played games on the iPhone and I gave my feet a break and took in the view