Jeff’s blog

Almost everyone including Mag thought that we were going to Deauville, but I had secret plans. So here we are in New-York. It’s been a while for me and first time for Mag. More news coming…

We’re back in the biggest city on earth. After a dreamlike week on the beach, we reach our first location and final stay: Tokyo. We started off with Shinjuku and its sky scrappers, Yoyogi garden, Harajuku and Shibuya’s fashion shows !! Today, we went to the fish market in Tsukiji, the electric town of Akihabara, Ueno’s museums and Asakusa shops and restaurants.

I must say we’re really sad to leave tomorrow. Mag’s in love with Japan too now so we might come before 10 years this time. Back to reality…

Finally we managed to go diving Manta Ray Point, the most famous diving spot of all Japan. And as our instructor Satoki-sensei said : we were lucky !!! The average is one or two manta rays and we had more than 8 !!! Mag and I are delighted. Please go check the pics on the gallery

I am the happiest man on Earth !!! You should have seen the sweetest face of Mag when we were on final approach around the island with it deep blue see, the white foam of the coral reef, the clear blue sea inside and the white sand beaches !! It was all worth it just for this look on her face.

Now, the real honeymoon begins let’s live it plenty !

So here is the end of our Honshu trip. We visited Himeji castle this morning and went to Kobe. Tomorrow morning is our flight for Ishigaki. There rest, snorkling, diving, swimming, padding… awaits us.

I don’t know if there will be any Internet access. You’ll see

I really wanted Mag to taste Horshima’s okonomiyaki. It’s the local specialty and she always wanted to eat what they cook in the mangas with the metal tools. So we went to a weird second floor in which there was at least 20 little restaurant one next to the other, all doing okonomiyaki. We didn’t know which to choose until some Australian guy invited us to join. We really enjoyed.

Today we went to Miyajima, the most lovely island in the bay. We took 2 different rope ways to the top of the mountain to have an incredible look around with our monkey friends. The we climbed down and took a last look at the floating torii before taking off to Himeji.

I have to tell you about this little sushi bar we ate at tonight !!! Incredible ! It was so small, no english carte, no picture of food… Luckily I know some food name in Japanese which allowed me to order the most delicious sushi of my life. We did not even stop once full as they were so good. And it only cost us 25 euros for 2 !!!!

We finally got to our guest house in Kyoto. The housekeeper was very nice, helpful and interesting. Thanks for everything Harumi-san.

We did most of the main activities, 2 days by bicycle and 2 days by bus (because we were tired ;). I will not cite them all as it tooks us 4 busy days and there were so many little spots to check on the way that would deserve attention too. But we really enjoyed.

We then took off to Nara. In a rainy day we walked all the way around the park, saw the greatest wooden structure on earth and the great buddah contained. Climbed to assist to a ceremony. And finally went back down for a good and warm meal.

It took us a while to get to Koya-san especially since we had to switch from one train company to the other. 3 trains, a bus and a cable car (impressive) later we were there, in the rain and the cold. We enjoyed as much as possible our weird, cold and vegeterian food at 18:30 (too early), jumped in a hot bath (one good thing per day seems enough) and went to bed. We did not really sleep because of the cold. Yes, it seems that paper wall are not so efficient at isolating from cold nor light. We were woken up at 5 by the bell for the morning office, which was interesting but long and cold. We decided it was then enough and went on to Hiroshima.

God, how a nice, warm… hotel room is sweet. We even got a nice view, a little indoor balcony, an electric massage seat and the Internet !!!

We stayed in a lovely ryokan and went to eat in a Japanese grill, teriyaki place. There we were at the counter and they did not speak English and the carte was almost not even written in roman letters. We still managed to order thanks to a funny (as in drunk) couple sitting next to us. They offered us some sake and some grilled fish. So we offered sake back… You guess how this ended: they were even worst off and Mag was not so walking straight either. It was fun !!!

After a good day sleep, we took off to get breakfast when we realized that we forgot our guide book at the grill. Surprising huh !?! So we were really lucky that someone was there and gave it back. Off to the castle were still stunned by the crowd even if we already knew it was a holiday. More than a hundred meter in 2 different lines. And there is just no way to explain how many people inside at the same time.

We deserved a good meal of soba, the local speciality. The tenant of the ryokan gave us what looked like a typic local address since there was a line for it. It was goooooood. It gave us the energy to get 2 trains for Kyoto. As you can see in the pictures, we stay one night at the station hotel from which 11th floor, we could get a pretty good view of Kyoto by day and by night. Mag is impatient !!!!

Today we enjoyed hiking through the mountain to see the many temples, trees, ponds, Japanese and tourists… Nikko is really a wonderful place. Mag was delighted and so was I.

Then we needed energy so we went a to a so small restaurant that it took us 10 minutes to find the entrance even though it is on the main street. There was only one meal at the carte, but that was the one we were there for : Unagi, Japanese style grilled eel. I still dream about it a few days later!!!

We really wondered why there was so many people and the hotel tenant told us that it was holiday in Japan. The streets were so crowded that we had to pull our luggage all the way down to the station since there was no way for the bus to reach it before us. Our feet still remember thoses many miles and we got sunburned!!!

Finally we were off for 4 differents trains to reach Matsumoto 5h later.

Yesterday we went to Ginza, one of the biggest and most famous commercial street of Tokyo. They call it the Japanese Champs-Elysees. Of course we went to the Sony Building to see many technological goodies. Cameras, video cameras, home theaters… and of course the Rolly. Even if it is really useless the temptation to get one was there.

Then we travelled to Mitaka to see from old friends of ours at the Ghibli museum. Of course we took some souvenirs!!! Ju, prepare Be for Ghibli invasion We really had a great time even if the museum is more for kids. A piece of film allowed us to see one of the 3 exclusive short movies of the museum. The story of a lost little baby dog, very touching.

Finally, after some Teriyaki and onigiri we took the Shinkansen (Mag’s first time) to Nikko. The were could finally enjoy nature… and Onsen (Mag’s first too). We are in a really lovely little hotel and it has it’s own onsen. Mag loves hot baths but for the first time since I know her she found it was too hot !!!!!

PS: Due to a DNS issue last night, I could not connect to any of my sites works this morning out of the blue !?!

Finally with a little delay we boarded our flight to discover our lovely environment for 11 hours of flight. We really enjoyed the services on board and the flight was quite pleasant except a few turbulences but without it, it wouldn’t be flying. Mag watched the Untouchables, me National secrets and we both enjoyed Hitman.

After a little rest and a nice landing we were reassured, our fears were not founded, our luggage were there. We exchanged our voucher for JR pass, got some Yens and were off to Tokyo.

A nice little room in a friendly hotel, a good shower and we were ready. The emperor’s palace, the modern art museum, Asakusa and Ueno delighted Mag, so was I. Of course we had ramen in a little shop and bought the typical cookies from Asakusa for desert.

All this in image our my gallery.

Hi everyone,

Since we were crazy enough to travel in business class we enjoy all the available services (meals, beverages (with moderation), showers, lounges…). I wish we could travel this way all the time !!

We are testing Terminal 5 and we hope our luggage will arrive with us at Tokyo or we’ll have to dress up sumo style :$

That’s all for now.

Mag and I finally found time to go on holidays with the financial help of our engagement party’s donations. That why, first of all, we want to thank you all for your generosity.
Now back to the tour.

We found ourselves forced to take last week as holidays since Mag’s hotel was closed for 2 weeks as every year. At first, we had the idea to go to Russia (St Petersbourg and Moscow) but the 15 days required visa couldn’t be done in time. Then we thought that we could join Cecile and her future husband in Guadeloupe, but then again cancelled when she told me that it is actually the rain season. We have been talking about Italy for while and I thought that it was a good opportunity.

Se here we were going out without any real plan, no hotel booked and not speaking the language. We started off in the middle of the afternoon saturday. We had a first stop in Milan, where we had a very good diner at Hana, a korean restaurant. The hotel was terrible and we hardly slept. We visited quickly the Cathedral, the covered markets and saw the castle and off we were to Venice.

We found a lovely little hotel right next to St. Mark’s Square. We would like to recommend to everyone this hotel as it is really clean, close to the main part of Venice and the people are really nice and so are the fees. We fell in love with the city, its ambiance, people, rivers (rios), bridges, cafes and shops (for Mag). Of course we visited the Doge’s Palace, its Bridge Of Sighs and almost every other touristic place. But we walked a lot and it really is the ambiance of the real town that we liked. We went to see the glassmakers of Murano, we enjoyed the local cichettis (small appetizers) among other specialities and it was time to go to Florence.

After having a hard time getting to the center of town which is forbidden to cars, we managed to get to our hotel. The next morning we were off to the Duomo, the Bargello, the Vecchio Palace on the Signiora’s Square and the Vecchio’s Bridge leading to the Pitti Palace. We tested the local specialities (Minestrone, meatballs…) and after a very good and trendy restaurant we decided to go to Rome.

I also recommend our hotel there which is located in a quite residential area near the Vatican City. It is a good place to start your journey accross the capital, espacially since cars are also forbidden in the historic center of town. We started off toward Castel Sant’Angelo, we crossed the River Tiber, walked around Navone’s Square, estonished by the Pantheon we climbed the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II and finally arrived at the Colosseum (Maximus, Maximus…). We tested a cray little restaurant in the Trastevere district on our way back to St. Peter’s Basilica. Our second day was dedicted to the Vatican Museums and its famous Sistine Chapel. After having one last bite of the local dessert, a pie of pizza bread stuffed with cream and nutella, we started our way back home with a pit stop in Pisa. We enjoyed the Field Of Miracles with its city walls, its Cathedral and of course its Leaning Tower.

We really enjoyed the whole trip but we were even more happy to be back. Home sweet home.

Sunday evening Mag & I were going to a BBQ @ Thomas’ when some crazy freak started shouting at us in the garage. I stop the car to understand why this guy was so upset about my driving speed, which didn’t even reach 10km/h, speed at which the doors lock by themselves. As there was no way to talk with him I drove away only to see him throw his baby to his wife and chase us with menaces. I stopped the car to put the key to open the garage door, the guy catches up and starts hitting the car saying he’s gonna break my car and my face. The garage door finally opens so I drive out and stop a few meters further to contemplate the damage to the car. Mag saw the guy running at us again and tried to get in the way to stop him. He didn’t even stop or go around her. Useless to tell you that she was thrown on the ground. The guy then jumps in the car his punch raised. I managed to move him off my face to see how Mag was.

Mag is badly hurt with sworn back and ankle and 3 neck bones tightened. I got burned by my shirt under the arm and some brewses. Not talking about the psychological damage and the lost safety feeling. The car damage repair bill raises up to several hundred euros.

But the best is yet to come. Our dear Mr Belleville, let’s call his name, dared saying that he didn’t touch the car and that Mag fell from the car by herself!!!!

Of course a case has been openned and news with details will spread everywhere.

Pictures and documents will soon be available here

Guess what …

After I met my cousin Raphael Pinson about a month ago, see his parents for only the second time of my life a few days later, here comes his sister Delphine. And even more fun we’re all having lunch together at Mag’s parents’.

Family really is fun …

Some pictures here

Hi guys, big news !!!!

Mag and I will be wedding crashers at our own wedding in summer 2007 !!!!

The date is not known yet (should be around the end of june) and the party place is secret, all the we can tell you is that it will be sunny, funny, trendy and sexy !!!!

Of course like our engagement party it will be over a week-end and more. Of course we’ll do our best to manage cheapest resting places and best activities. Of course you will be informed. And of course, we’ll be more than pleased to be with all of you !!!!

“‘Cause life is short but sweet for certain..” Dave Matthews