11/4/00 - London today, LA tomorrow...

Hello Friends,

Jeanne and I are in London today. We finished the tour in Furth, Germany on October 31st and instead of flying back home like the rest of the band and crew, we went to Paris for two days and then came here yesterday.

Try and understand our short attention spans. Perhaps it is a product of the way we see the world when we are on tour. In, out, on to the next town with very little time to spend there. Yet we have learned to get everything we need out of the experience. So when there IS time, we find that we still don't need much to get the feel and flavor of a place, whether we are there for a show or not. We have come to accept it, but I don't blame you if your brow crinkles a little bit at the thought of it. Or, maybe we are just like everyone else. I couldn't say. All I know is that after two days in Paris, undeniably the most stunningly beautiful and romantic city we have visited so far, we were more than happy to board the Eurostar high speed train from Paris to Waterloo, traveling underneath the English channel to get to the other side. It was and still is a bit mind boggling to think of taking a train from France to England, but we did it, so I suppose there is no denying it anymore.

Those of you who travel frequently to and from Europe, forgive me for being a little wide-eyed in my storytelling, but lots has changed since I was here last. The European union is a reality. Border crossing is about as painless as it could possibly be without abolishing the borders altogether. The French were very nice, spoke what English they knew, and even offered us English menus in every restaurant. Add this to the civilization of 42nd Street and Time Square and I wonder if this really does signal that the end is near? AND The Eagles DID get back together! Be afraid. Be very afraid.

But meanwhile, I will finish my tale of the short attention span vacation.

We spent all afternoon on the Left Bank of Paris, umbrella up, umbrella down in the on and off showers that only added to the romantic vibe. We found that we are definitely Left Bank People. With all due respect to the posh Right Bank and its breathtaking beauty, the left Bank of Henry Miller and Jack Keroac spoke to our senses, appealed to the Beats in us. If I get a chance I will post a few of the photos we took. Amazing what a good photographer you become when you have a location like Paris to work with.

We try and take the subway at least once when we travel, just to get a feel for it, and because it is usually the fastest, most direct route between point A and point B. The French subway system was very similar to the feeling of the NYC system. No nonsense, no frills, just good old public transit. And we could not have been happier to see the Arc D'Triomph as we emerged from the Metro station at Charles DeGaulle etoile.

Here in London we are staying right across from Covent Gardens and had a great time there last night after an afternoon of high speed compressed English history by our driver and friend Brian Cooley, who taught us more in 2 hours about the history of the Monarchy, Oliver Cromwell, the great fire of London, the Romans and The Square Mile, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, et al., than we had learned in all our years and previous experiences.

This morning we set the alarm for 7:00 AM, had some juice, coffee and "porridge" then headed straight for Potrabello Road and the Saturday morning market. Very similar to the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, except that the stores are permanent and every Saturday they are then joined on the sidewalks by the others who set up stands with goods, foods and all sundry other things new and old. We got there just as the merchants were opening for business and enjoyed a pleasant stroll down the right side of the street. By the time we crossed over and started back up, the population must have multiplied by 10. It was a crush of humanity! All there looking for that certain thing, whatever it was. So the items we had made mental notes of going back to see became more like Holy Grails than casual knick knacks. It was like swimming upstream, and there was no downstream option. Still we emerged with just what we needed to feel complete in our Portabello Road experience. Fish and chips at the T&J Bernard Pub in Paddington and we were ready for the biz bag. Now we are back at the hotel, thinking about the High Tea going on downstairs that we are entirely too freaky to be taking part in. They will have to get by without us.

One more trip to over Covent Gardens to by a cheap suitcase in which to haul back our extra stuff, a meal in some little hole in the wall restaurant and we can put a period on this trip. It has been swell.

Tomorrow, back to the good old US of A.