lunch in Brussels.

Paris.

Métro Graffiti...

meets Louvre Renaissance.

Tour Eiffel

la Fée Verte

Absinth tasting on the outskirts of Paris.

La Vie En Rose

London Part II

I think Winston Churchill looks like a pug. My third time in London and it may have been my best. I ate the most delicious Indian food near King's Cross Station. Then I saw a T-rex at the Natural History Museum, my favorite Renaissance painting (Da Vinci's Virgin on the Rocks) at the National Gallery, and my favorite band (Broken Social Scene) at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Kevin Drew started out by saying he was thrilled to be playing in the same venue where he saw Jeff Buckley when he was 18 and backpacking through Europe. The set list was great and so was the cast. At one point there were 13 people on stage, sometimes two trupets, two trombones, a sax and a clarinet, other times there were 6 people playing guitar at once or 3 people playing drums. I sat in the first row of the lowest balcony right in the middle. The view was great, the only problem was that everyone in the balcony was sitting. It was nearly impossible for me not to stand up and dance. At one point Kevin told everyone to stand up. I was getting down to Major Label Debut when some guy behind me tapped my shoulder like he was going to ask me to sit down. Not that it mattered, a strait jacket wouldn't have stopped me from dancing at that point. Then K. Drew played a Lover's Spit solo as a tribute to Jeff. Gary let us in on his little "science experiment" and he played guitar to humans speaking while some other guy played sax. AFTER the show, I walked past the band in a side alley next to the venue. I actually had the courage to say "Thank you so much, you guys were great" with the biggest smile on my face. They all looked at me, Amy Milan and Kevin Drew too, and said "no, thank YOU" with welcoming smiles. Kevin looked me right in the eyes and gave me the most genuine smile, it took every inch of my willpower not to jump on him or say something stupid but I wish I had said "I would have loved to have seen Jeff play here, how was it?" I will have to save that conversation for the next time we meet...

It's a pretty amazing feeling when your heroes look you in the eye and smile.