Day One - Paris 2015 Minipalais Restaurant

The Minipalais restaurant is located inside of the Gran Palais buildling on Avenue Winston Churchill (www.minipalais.com, 01 42 56 42 42). This is our second year to spend New Year's Eve here. The location is good and inside atmosphere is terrific. With growing crowds on the Champs Elysees - closings of the street has now extended all the way from Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde so - we metro'd to Clemenceau but the metro shutdown during the fun. We had to walk back outside the street closure to the closest metro stop at Concorde to get home.




Minipalais Restaurant Entrance






Endive Salad



Pumpkin Soug



Filet Beof


Pear with Chocolate sauce


Raspberry and Meringue


Fruit Sorbet



Our New Year's Eve selfie

Day One - Paris 2015 The Borgias & Their Times

We always plan an afternoon activity immediately after arriving in Paris. It is the best way to fight off jet-lag and reset your internal clock to the new time zone. This year we went to Musee Maillol in the St. Germaine area of town to see the Les Borgias et Leur Temps exhibit. 

The Borgia family became notorious as many charismatic members of the family became statesmen or popes. Their bad reputation fascinated many over the centuries. These extraordinarily enlightened characters were also patrons of the arts, commissioning the greatest of Renaissance artists - with whom they often had close relationships - to produce
work for them, at the various Italian courts. 

The Maillol Museum’s exhibition not only features art depicting the Borgia family by the renaissance Masters themselves – Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Bellini, etc. – but also that of their great enlightened contemporaries, including philosophers, scientists, and
theologians.

It's a nice exhibit and worth seeing. No English language signs so the 5€ audio guide is a must. No photos inside the exhibit space.

Hong Kong - Day Seven Bye Bye HK

Sat Nov 15 - It is time to say our goodbyes to Hong Kong and begin the long journey back to the USA. It is a beautiful day with crystal clear skies. We arranged to have Albert Kwok from International H.K. Limousine Service (mobile 852.9980 0810) collect us. We enjoyed our stay at Lanson Place hotel but time to drive to the airport.

We were very pleased with Dicky Woollard (www.dogosee.hk ; www.facebook.com/DoGoSeeHongKong ) as our tour guide for four full days on this trip. He did an outstanding job showing us around the islands and teaching us about Chinese history. We'd never have seen and done so much without his assistance.

Amazing ship traffic into the Hong Kong port

Yes - this is the tram from the Big Buddha that we took the earlier in our trip

Premium Club at Hong Kong Airport

Hong Kong - Day Six Signs

Some fun business signs in Hong Kong that I captured during our trip.

Hong Kong - Day Six Sheung Wang Temples

Fri Nov 14 - We came across a couple of new temples during our NOHO/SOHO walk today. I cannot be certain of their names but a street sign announced the Shui Yuet Temple, Kwun Yam Temple and Kwong Fuk Ancestral Hall. They run along Tai Ping Shan Street near Pound Lane.

Hong Kong - Day Six Wilbur's

Fri Nov 14 - Wilbur's (www.facebook.com/pages/wilburs) is a fun and friendly lunch spot in the PMQ building. The food is western flare and tasty. Try it. 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Tel: 2803-2986

Hong Kong - Day Six Street Views

The shops at PMQ market don't open until noon. So we decided to walk the NOHO neighborhood down Hollywood Road, Des Voeux Road, and Bonham streets. We loved stumbling across several sights that we otherwise would have missed during our visit to Hong Kong. 

Hong Kong - Day Six Walking HK

Fri Nov 14 - It's our last full day on our adventure in Hong Kong. We are on-our-own today with plans to walk Hong Kong Island and help the local economy by shopping before our return trip to the USA. We have decided to attempt the MTR subway from Causeway Bay to Central Business District - and honestly, found the entire system to be easy to use.  Our arrival time in Sheung Wang was perfect with the popular Pedestrian Escalator running uphill towards Victoria Peak (the system runs different direction depending on the time of day - and trust me the uphill walk can be steep stairways in many places). 

PMQ Building

Our target is the PMQ (www.pmq.org.hk/) market building near Aberdeen and Hollywood streets in the stylish SOHO neighborhood. The old police married living quarters has been completely renovated to make way for about 100 of the city's best artisan boutique shops. The site is also the historical campus of the Central School also known as Queen's College from 1862. It was the first government school in Hong Kong providing western education to the public. Many of the shops do not open until 12:30 or 1 pm.

We made use of our time to walk the neighborhood and enjoy some new sights. Especially graffiti along the way.