Koh Tao Pub Crawl

We flew from Chiang Mai to the island of Koh Samui, and from there took a ferry to a smaller island called Koh Tao.  In Thai, koh means "island" and tao means "turtle"; several species of turtle come to the island's beaches to breed.

Here is a view around the harbor near Sairee Beach.  The island's primary industries are tourism and fishing.

Here is a view of the island from the ferry.  Very green and tropical.

We came here mostly for scuba diving.  We did four dives over the course of two days, and saw some interesting corals and fish as well as giant clams.  But of course we left our underwater housing for our camera at home, so there are no photos.  We do, however, have photos of a pub crawl we did on our last night.  After dinner in town, we made our way back to our hotel bar which had a DJ playing techno music for a mostly empty room.

My Mai Tai came in a glass shaped like a woman.

After a couple of fruity drinks, we headed to Lotus beach bar.  It is right on the ocean, and has mats on the beach where patrons can lounge while sipping cocktails.

It was a very comfortable place to sit and watch the three firedancers who started performing around 9 o'clock.

They would dip either batons or poi (a wick on a chain) into a large container of kerosene and then light it and begin twirling.  In a little while, the whole place smelled like diesel.  



At times they came awfully close to the people sitting down, but they seemed to know what they were doing.

We were mesmerized for at least two hours, but they showed no signs of stopping.

But finally we had to tear ourselves away so we could head to the last bar on our itinerary, the Queen's Cabaret. 

The cabaret show had started several hours earlier, but we arrived just as they were lip-synching to "It's Raining Men".



I think it must be a requirement for these shows to include at least one version of "Lady Marmalade".  This "lady" was clearly channeling the Christina Aguilera version.



The "singer" for Aqua's "Barbie Girl" was very pretty...



But not nearly as sparkly as the "lady" performing the Abba medley.



Afterwards the performers came around and took photos.  I'm not sure who's face is scarier -- mine with no makeup or "hers" with so much makeup!

Chartres Part 2: Nighttime

Since 2003 the city of Chartres has put on a light show "Chartres en Lumières" as a way to honor its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and also as a way to draw throngs of summer tourists to the town for a day or two.  The event is free of charge and there are 27 historical sites around the town that are lit up from nightfall until 1am, every night from May 21 to September 17.  You walk from site to site guided by a free map and these illuminated lights in the sidewalks.

The main façade of the cathedral had an animated show set to music that was captivating.

On the north portal was a static display that "painted" all the figurines.

Here is a comparison of the portal by day and at night.

The south portal was also animated, with the focus on the rose window.

Double-click this image to see the animated version.

Some of the other sites were kind of ho-hum, like this stone bridge across the Eure.

But most of them were very well done.  This is the Église Saint-Pierre, a 13th century church.  The stained glass windows were lit from within, blending the old and the new technologies to create a beautiful display of color.

The town theater had a very good animated show.

We tried to capture it on video, but we caught it mid-show and you'll hear lots of cars passing by over the music!



Here is the 16th century Chapel of St. Foy.  Its original Roman gate is in the foreground, and you can faintly see the cathedral in the background.

Unfortunately our mini-video camera was just not up to the task of capturing the animated cathedral show in low light.  So instead I will include this short video that gives a great idea of what it was like.


Chartres en lumières from spacewil on Vimeo.

How to Steal A Million

Holy cats, was it rainy today in Paris!  A link to this video was posted on a TripAdvisor message board; we're so glad we weren't in Montmartre during the downpour!



Since it was a rainy day, we decided to take a day off from our walking tours and go see a movie.  We ended up going back to Le Champollion theater to catch a showing of "Comment Voler un Million de Dollars"/"How to Steal a Million" (1966) directed by William Wyler, starring Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn (wearing fabulous Givenchy outfits in every scene).

It's an art heist caper film shown in the Version Originale (English with French subtitles).  Here is the (rather cheesy and full of spoilers) trailer:



It was a cute film that neither of us had ever seen before.   Since it was set in Paris we enjoyed spotting the familiar locations.  From this really great write-up on another blog, I learned that the fictional Musée Kléber-Lafayette from the film is actually based on the Musée Jacquemart-André, which we just visited this week.  While watching the film we had recognized a slightly altered version of the museum's gorgeous staircase but we knew logistically it couldn't be exactly the same one.  Turns out the museum exteriors were shot on location at the Jacquemart-André but the interiors were filmed in a studio just outside Paris.

Anyway, it was a fun thing to do on a rainy day...but we're hoping the weather improves for the weekend!

Shopping in style: Galeries Lafayette and Printemps

Today we went back to the Opera Garnier for a guided tour, since Kevin hadn't yet seen the inside.  I won't bore you all with too many more photos of the Opera house, but the guided tour did provide some insights that the self-guided tour did not.  Such as this entrance hall ceiling, where Charles Garnier "signed" his work by hiding the words "1861-1875 Jean-Louis Charles Garnier, Architect" in the ornate plasterwork.

Apparently Garnier wasn't the only one who liked to put his own stamp on things.  Remember this Marc Chagall ceiling in the auditorium?

Well, by the time he designed the ceiling, Chagall was well into his 70's so he didn't actually paint the whole ceiling himself.  But he did paint this part, a self-portrait.  Sneaky, no?

Okay, enough about the Palais Garnier.  For lunch, we decided to walk over to the 10-story flagship store of the Galeries Lafayette, a French department store chain.  As we crossed the street, we saw these people perched on the roof.

We went inside and made a beeline for the terrace.  We weren't the only ones up there, either.  Everyone else was sitting down eating lunch and ignoring the spectacular view.

From this height you could see so much more of the detail on the facade of the opera house across the street.

The terrace restaurant was bustling, of course.  But after looking at the menu prices, we realized why people were enjoying brown-bag lunches on the astroturf instead.

Since we had not thought ahead to bring a picnic, and we weren't willing to spend a bazillion dollars on lunch with a view, we headed downstairs to the tourist-packed cafeteria instead.

We had a decent, but still overpriced, meal of two salads and two diet cokes.  Not horrible, but not fantastic either.  The tricolor terrine with the salmon salad was pretty to look at though.

After lunch we did a little exploring of the shopping galleries.  The space is huge.  Want contemporary fashions?  Head to level 2.  Want Children's or Maternity?  Try floor 5.  "Designer Fashion" is on level 1, while "Seduction Fashion" (whatever that is...lingerie maybe?) is on the third floor.

Looking down, you'll see the cosmetics, fragrance, and jewelry kiosks.

Looking up, you'll see the gorgeous art nouveau ceiling, added to the building in 1912.

As we left the building, we saw this chalk artist creating a tribute to Salvador Dalí.  He certainly got the crazy eyes and moustache right.

For comparison, we walked over to another Paris shopping institution: the Printemps department store.

The displays and merchandise inside could hardly compete with the turn-of-the-century elegance of Galleries Lafayette.  To me, it looked pretty much like any department store anywhere back home.

Except, of course, for the Ladurée kiosk inside.  Actually, I'm kind of glad we don't have this temptation in clothing stores back in the states!

Le Palais Garnier - The Paris Opera House

During the reconstruction of Paris by Napoleon III and Baron Haussman, an architectural competition was held to design a new opera house.  An unknown architect by the name of Charles Garnier designed the winning entry.  The result was the Palais Garnier:

The opera took 15 years to build and was inaugurated in 1875.  The facade of the building is adorned with busts of famous composers and mythological statues -- this one represents Harmony.

The entrance for the tours is guarded by a bust of Charles Garnier, and a plaque on the base shows the plans for the design of the opera house.

The Palais Garnier was home to the Paris Opera until 1989, when the company moved to a new opera building near Bastille.  Only a handful of operas are performed here each season although the Paris Ballet still uses the Garnier as its primary venue, as these souvenirs in the gift shop boutique attest.

The striking Grand Staircase is made of multi-colored marble and leads up to the foyers of the different levels of the auditorium.

At the foot of the staircase are bronze female torchères holding bouquets of light.

The Grand Foyer has a very opulent feel.

The ceiling of the Grand Foyer was painted by Paul Baudry and portrays scenes from the history of music.

The enormous mirrors along the side of the foyer contribute to the feeling of open space.  We took the opportunity to take a self-portrait.

It seems as though every surface within the building is elaborately carved and gilded.

The ceiling of the avant foyer is no exception -- it is also covered in golden mosaics.

The auditorium seats 1900 people and when you enter, it feels like you have stepped back in time.

The plush seats are covered in red velvet fabric.

In the late 1890's one of the counterweights for the six-ton chandelier fell, killing a spectator and injuring several others.  Gaston Leroux used this incident and other details about the opera as inspiration for his novel "The Phantom of the Opera".  In 1964, Marc Chagall painted a new mural on the ceiling above the chandelier.