aemilys' VirtualTourist Home Page

Back from my first ever trip to Asia - Thailand and Laos . It was also my longest solo trip thus far (four weeks). I had an excellent time and I can't wait to go back.

I visited Bangkok which was really a pleasant surprise. I'd read so much negative stuff about the city but I loved it. It's a big sprawling place with lots to discover.

After that I went to Vientiane the very charming capital of Laos and then on to Sam Neua near the Viet Nam border in northeastern Laos, which was one of the real highlights of my whole adventure.

From Sam Neua it was a very exciting bus ride to Phonsavan which in itself was not at all exciting and actually pretty disappointing. Had I known it would be so boring (at least to me - I guess archeological sites just don't do it for me) I would have gone the long way through Nam Nouan and then to Nong Khiaw in order to get to Luang Prabang which was the last place I visited before returning to Vientiane then going back to Bangkok and then home to Paris, all too soon I may add.

So all in all an excellent adventure for 2006. Next year I've decided to visit the Middle East and Syria sounds like a most interesting destination...

My August 2005 vacation included NYC and my birthplace: Springfield MA. I had a great time. See the next chapter for a little about me and you will understand why Spfld was such a thrill.

It had been seven years with no Walmart/KMart, no real fresh corn on the cob, bought the same day it was picked on a roadside stand, tomatoes still hot from the sun in my sister's garden... And the Supermarkets, aisles and aisles of all sorts of strange things. It was my daughter's first trip to the States and it was so much fun watching her reaction to the fridge that makes ice, the v v giant bottles of diet coke, the skyscrapers in NYC...

Paris just feels like a village now.

I was born in Springfield Massachusetts. I always wanted to travel but didn't make it out of the States until 1986 when I came to Europe for the first time and wound up staying. It's been almost 20 years now.

I have two "almost adult" daughters and we have a dog, three cats and some big mean tropical fish.

My dog Violette is a Tibetain Spaniel so her ancestors must have travelled some many years ago. She was born on a farm in Normandy and then travelled to live with me in Paris. She also travels quite well on the Metro when I have to take her places.

Working on my Paris page is such a fun experience. Instead of "Metro Boulot Dodo"* I feel like a tourist all over again. It's a more intimate view of Paris and of the things that I love here and bits of daily life.

Now, although I have lived here for many years there are still some things that I do not understand, like what is this strange death ray thing doing next to the Bassin de la Villette? If I find out I will let you know... I finally have the Answer.

*Metro Boulot Dodo is a French phrase to describe the daily routine of taking the Metro to go to work (boulot) and then going home and going to sleep (dodo).

Paris is great but it's still the big city and some times I just need to get away. If only I could do it more often. Normandy is close by and Etretat is one of my favorite places.

In preparation for my trip to Asia I spent a lot of time in Asian neighborhoods.

After Chinatown in NYC I explored Belleville in Paris. It is one of two Asian areas in Paris, the other is in the 13th arrondisement. You can see more on my Paris ligne 2 page. Belleville is on the 2 Metro line and a good place to go on Sunday because everything is open.

Now I think my big mistake as concerns Laos was not learning the language before going and that's not going to happen again. And since then I've planned for Syria and planned for Niger...I only wish I could plan some giant deposit into my bank account...we will see.

Perhaps in Roscoff? This was my first ever trip to Brittany and after 20 years in France I can't imagine why it took me so long to get there.

And, in closing, although I do try to keep up to date and test out my links from time to time, if anyone, anywhere finds any errors, broken links, or other irregularities on my pages, please, please let me know so that I can correct them.