The Many Hats of Jared Bendis

November 21, 2009

Castle Hunting & Research :

Castle Hunting

People often ask why I call what I do Castle Hunting.

While exploring Ireland in 2003 I happened upon many unmarked ruins. Quite often the GPS would report the street as “unnamed country road”, I would have no idea of what town I was in and even worse it was not uncommon for the locals to just refer to it as the local ruin without having any idea of its name or history.

In order to avoid this type or frustration I try to keep very good notes to help me on the trip and allow me to further investigate when I return home.

Of the 95 castles I visited during my 2004 trip to France I was able to record the names of 94 of them. The one that eluded me was a ruin on a hillside somewhere on the D14 (the only information that I have). I promised myself that one day I would try and identify it and moreover that I did not want that to happen again.

Both before and during my 2009 expedition to France I conducted an extensive amount of research and I brought with me binders of information and maps and along the way took notes and of course photos.

Especially challenging are the mountaintop castles because they look very different from the air (which are the photos usually seen in books) than from the base of the mountain than from directly in front of or from inside. In fact on the entire drive to the Chateau de Peyrepertuse in the Pyrenees I was not 100% sure about whether the castle I was seeing in the distance was in fact Peyrepertuse or another of the many Cathar castles. The question of Peyrepertuse was quickly resolved as I drove up the mountain and was able to verify its identity in person.

From the peak of the Chateau de Peyrepertuse you can see another chateau in the distance this is the Chateau Queribus. It is well documented as being visible from Peyrepertuse and also very identifiable.

The next day as I was driving out of the Pyrenees towards the Mediterranean Sea and I spotted a small tower on a mountain peak. I pulled over to the side of the road and too this photo:

At the time I thought it was the Chateau Queribus from the other side and only later did I realize that I was nowhere near Queribus so now I had an unidentified chateau.

For this trip I used a geotagger. A geotagger is a GPS device that records in regular intervals exactly where I am located and saves this information as a time-coded data stream. By cross referencing this data with the time-stamp in my digital photos it can tell me exactly where I was when I took each photograph. From this I can see that the unidentified chateau photograph was taken from the side of the road in Cases de Pène.

My research could find no castles related to Cases de Pène which is not surprising considering how far away the castle looks from my location in the picture. This is the bad part about geotagging photos – it only tells me where I was standing – not in which direction I was looking or how far away the subject was.

Looking back at the photograph it is clear that the castle is situated on the peak of a hill so to find my unidentified chateau I need to look at a terrain map of the area.

Most of the elevations appear to the northeast where I see three possible peaks.

Returning to the satellite imagery, it is still very hard to see anything that looks like a structure.

However, when I zoomed in on the first location I can clearly see the circles of a structure that looks like a base and a tower. While not definitive proof, nothing rules this out as my unidentified chateau and I mark it on the map as the most likely item to research.

Returning to a wider view of the area it is becomes clear that the closest city to the unidentified chateau is not Cases de Pène but instead Tautuval.

The city of Tautuval has a very nice website (in French of course) and it mentions in the region that there is a local castle and a tower farther off.
http://www.tautavel.com/

The Château de Tautavel is located inside the city, on a much flatter area, and is made up of several ruined structures so it can’t be the one I am looking for.

The tower “la Torre del Far” however looks close. Described as being situated on a peak between the villages of Tautavel and Cases de Pène, could this really be the same place as the photo I took but from a different angle?

A quick search about the tower took me to a website about the history of the region.

http://histoireduroussillon.free.fr/Thematiques/Batiments/Histoire/TorreDelFar.php

The page includes an engraving of the southern elevation of the tower.

This exactly matches a close-up of unidentified chateau which is logical as I was in Cases de Pène and facing north.

There can be no question that the unidentified chateau is “la Torre del Far” - the Fire Tower also known as The Sentinel of Roussillon. While no records exist of its construction it is mentioned in an order to provide supplies for it in 1341.

Voila! I love research!

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November 08, 2009

Tom and Jared - Enter a Video Contest : Jared as Artist

OK so here is the deal. Doritos is having a "Crash The Superbowl" contest and looking for the best commercials. They choose the best 6 (who each get $25,000 and a week long trip to Florida) and then the public votes the 6 down to 3.

The 3 selected then get shown DURING the superbowl. If the USA today poll picks the commercial as first place the entrant gets $1,000,000, second $600,000, third, $400,000. If all three top spots are Doritos commercials then each gets an additional $1,000,000!

OK - so Tom and I put together 2 commercials (a third involving Tom and some outtakes just kind of emerged). Here they are:

"The Wish"

"The Fall"

"2 Flavors, 3 Takes"

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October 05, 2009

Tell Me A Joke at SillyServices.com is now Live! : Jared as Artist

Building on the success of my 2007 Found In A Crowd (with Rita Montlack) and my 2008/2009 Hands-Across projects I am proud to announce my newest community contributed art project entitled "Tell Me A Joke" which premiered at the 2009 Bridge Project on the Trolley Level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge.

The premise is simple, I told everyone:
"You tell me a joke and I'll give you a nickel."

282 people signed a release form and allowed me to videotape their performances!

The collection of jokes are integrated into my website and I am currently producing a DVD of the complete (dirty jokes and all) 282 jokes - this is 2.5 hours of jokes!

Check it out at my SillyServices.com website!

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September 11, 2009

Of Castles and Crepes : Video Post : Jared as Artist

So as many of you know I went to France earlier in the summer.

Final tally - 21 days - 21 hours of video - 3415 photos - 45 Castles - 38 Other Cultural Sites.

What I am presenting here is not the finished movie just a teaser of what happened on the trip.

Oh and I also included the bloopers!

Be sure to click the HD button (and then full screen) to really get
the full quality of these videos.

Enjoy!

Thanks again to the Maison Française de Cleveland for their generosity in support of the project.

Also don't forget to watch my 10 minute "My Cameroon Experience" which I recently re-cut:

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June 06, 2009

France - last entry : Jared as Artist

Hi all.

Typing this from iPhone

In Paris

Visited museums

Saw medeival chateau de Louvre and remains of the Bastille

Ate good food

Visited Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde's graves

Went shopping for antiques, souveniers, and ritzy stuff

Head out in the am - see you in the USA

Jared

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June 03, 2009

France Trip Update: Day 16-18 : Jared as Artist

Day 16
(31) Chateau de Malmaison
(16a) Tour Eiffel

Day 17
(32) Chateau de Versailles
(and everything that goes along with it)

Day 18
(17a) Notre Dame de Paris
(18a) Sacre Cour
... Internet Cafe

OK So the hotel is fantastic! Great location great price - No Internet.

This is a quick update from an Internet Cafe.

We returned the car after a quick trip to Chateau Malmaison and then went to the Eiffel tower where I had a great time hustling the salesmen for cheap trinkets.

We spent the next day at Versailles. Wow it was so tiring! After we hunted down a movie theater and I got to see the new Tom Hanks film. It was OK but very welcome to have some media in my life (and some popcorn).

Today we went to Notre Dame which closed early to have a service for the victims of that flight from Rio. We will go back so we can climb the tower. Next we went to Sacre Cour. I have been there before but never have I climbed as high. I mean I climbed the tower but not to the very very top of the dome - wow that was intense. I mean the staircase was OVER the dome.

OK that's enough for now.

PS I am still clean shaven and wearing a blue shirt!

Jared

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June 01, 2009

France Trip Update: Day 12-15 (Brief) : Jared as Artist

Quick Summary Day 12-15 and a look ahead.

Day 12
(26) Fort de Salses
(9a) Arena in Nimes
(10a) Maison Carree
(11a) Pont du Gard

Day 13
(27) Palace of the Popes
(12a) Pont d’Avignon
(13a) Arena in Arles
(14a) Theater in Arles

Day 14
(28) Chateau d’If
(29) Chateau de Savilly

Day 15
(15a) Cathedral in Autun
(30) Vaux-le-Vicomte

Ok summary aside. Let’s review. Car was broken into and I spent many hours in a police station getting a police report. Other than Tim’s stuff and our general inconvenience of having a car that couldn’t be secured everything is fine.

I skip ahead. We arrived at the Chateau de Savilly very late which was disappointing though I did get my pictures of it in the morning. We left our bags there and visited Autun and then got the bags. We then drove to the hotel to put our bags in the room before Vaux-le-Vicomte but the hotel was closed until 5pm so I cancelled that reservation and moved to another hotel.

Our plan goes on from here:

We leave this morning and drive (yes DRIVE) into Paris to drop our stuff off at the Hotel. Then we drive to Chateau de Malmaison and then from there the Airport to drop of the car and deal with them. At that point two things happen: (1) we are on foot – which is good because I can leave a lot of stuff in the room and it makes me more mobile (even though we are less mobile) (2) The hotel doesn’t have Internet so at best I will post from Internet Café as we find them.

I have more pictures and stories to share about the trip and that will unravel over the next few weeks as I will continue to post but I wanted to give a quick tidy up message to everyone who has been following.

I also want to once again thank the Maison Française de Cleveland Fund for their generosity and support of the expedition.

Our plan for the week is to do some typical Paris stuff. Don’t laugh it is important and part of it all. Thursday is the long day at the Musée d'Orsay and Friday at the Louvre. And yes we will sneak off and do a full day at Versailles either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Next time from an Internet Café!

Jared

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France Trip Update: Day 12-15 (Brief) : Jared as Artist

Quick Summary Day 12-15 and a look ahead.

Day 12
(26) Fort de Salses
(9a) Arena in Nimes
(10a) Maison Carree
(11a) Pont du Gard

Day 13
(27) Palace of the Popes
(12a) Pont d’Avignon
(13a) Arena in Arles
(14a) Theater in Arles

Day 14
(28) Chateau d’If
(29) Chateau de Savilly

Day 15
(15a) Cathedral in Autun
(30) Vaux-le-Vicomte

Ok summary aside. Let’s review. Car was broken into and I spent many hours in a police station getting a police report. Other than Tim’s stuff and our general inconvenience of having a car that couldn’t be secured everything is fine.

I skip ahead. We arrived at the Chateau de Savilly very late which was disappointing though I did get my pictures of it in the morning. We left our bags there and visited Autun and then got the bags. We then drove to the hotel to put our bags in the room before Vaux-le-Vicomte but the hotel was closed until 5pm so I cancelled that reservation and moved to another hotel.

Our plan goes on from here:

We leave this morning and drive (yes DRIVE) into Paris to drop our stuff off at the Hotel. Then we drive to Chateau de Malmaison and then from there the Airport to drop of the car and deal with them. At that point two things happen: (1) we are on foot – which is good because I can leave a lot of stuff in the room and it makes me more mobile (even though we are less mobile) (2) The hotel doesn’t have Internet so at best I will post from Internet Café as we find them.

I have more pictures and stories to share about the trip and that will unravel over the next few weeks as I will continue to post but I wanted to give a quick tidy up message to everyone who has been following.

I also want to once again thank the Maison Française de Cleveland Fund for their generosity and support of the expedition.

Our plan for the week is to do some typical Paris stuff. Don’t laugh it is important and part of it all. Thursday is the long day at the Musée d'Orsay and Friday at the Louvre. And yes we will sneak off and do a full day at Versailles either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Next time from an Internet Café!

Jared

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May 30, 2009

France Update: No Shit They Did It Again! : Jared as Artist

So we came back to the car after visiting the Chateau d'If in Marseilles and some asshole broke the drivers side little window (which I now know is called the deflector) got into the car - open the glove box, broke open the armrest - and got into the trunk.

Funnily enough other than the damage they didn't steal anything... of mine.

Tim on the other hand lost two bags (one of them was very important and everything was valuable but useless to a thief).

So after three hours in a police station getting a police report we finally made out next stop VERY late.

Now we can't secure the car and have two more days in it.

Man Plans

God Laughs

Jared Adapts

More as it happens....

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May 27, 2009

France Trip Update: Day 9-11 : Jared as Artist

Day 9
(18) Chateau d’Angers
(19) Chateau du Roi Rene in Ponts de Ce

Day 10
(20) Chateau du Rocamadour
(7a) Church in Rocamadour (whose name eludes me right now)
(21) City of Carcasonne

Day 11
(22) Chateau Comtal (inside Carcasonne)
(8a) Church in Carcasonne (whose name eludes me right now)
(23) Chateau Peyrepertuse
(24) Chateau Queribus (seen from Peyrepertuse)
(25) Chateau des Ducs de Joyeuse

OK so here goes with a quick update.

Angers is a big fun castle and we did it quickly and outside of town saw a castle by a bridge which I quickly photographed. The road to Rocamadour was long and rough and it started to storm. So bad they wouldn’t let us pump or gasoline! We finally made it to a small hotel near the train station and after we got settled we saw a lightning blast so bright and heard a pop and the power went out for a bit. The next day was overcast and slightly rainy but we were able to walk the ramparts in Rocamadour and visit the Church.

We then drove to Carcasonne. The GPS must have been mad at me because it started to give me bad directions because it thought that 2 roads merged that didn’t and then started to put us in an endless loop! (I am not kidding). We figured it out and forced it to take us back on the right road. The bed and breakfast was fabulous! Like a villa – the rooms so nicely decorated and our hosts so polite and helpful. She didn’t want to be interviewed for the film but one of her neighbors is a scholar on the city and agreed to be in the film instead! She translated the questions and he answered in French – I understood about what he was saying but I will need to get it translated when I get back. At some point I think he was disparaging tourists buying snow-globes so I videotaped some of that just in case. I had an amazing meal of a local white bean stew that I am sure I will blog about more later.

The next morning we visited Carcasonne again but only quickly so we could get on the road to the Pyrenees. Mountain driving is tough but the day was glorious and we hiked up to the top of the mountain and not only visited one castle but I was able to see another via my telephoto lens! Our last stop for the day is a 16th century Chateau Hotel that so far has been my favorite (in terms of me owning a castle) and I ‘might’ have an interview in the morning.

Wish me luck.

Some random unlabeled and uncorrected (hence slightly blue) pictures follow.

Jared

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May 25, 2009

France Trip Update: Day 7-8 : Jared as Artist

Sorry for the light postings. It is a lot of work and between shooting and driving I am really tired. I am including some technical details at the end of this posting on how things are going from a techie standpoint. And of course some photos (remember they are blueish because I can't edit or color correct on here!)

Day 7
(12) Chateau de Chenonceau
(13) Chateau de Villandry
(14) Chateau de Azay-le-Rideau
(15) Chateau de Rochecotte (We stayed there!)

Day 8
(16) Chateau de Langeais
(6a) Dolmen de Bagneux
(17) Chateau de Saumur

The Loire is amazing and the weather has been great – just a light mist one morning. A couple of highlights for you:

We ran to Langeais to be there first thing in the am and at 9:30 they did indeed drop the drawbridge (and I got it on film). Because it was a Sunday they also had a market which was a lot of fun.

Backing up a little bit our stay at the Chateau Rochecotte couldn’t have been better. Not only is it an amazing castle but one of the owners agreed to let me interview her. She was nervous and some of the questions she answered in French (which I said was fine – I will have it subtitled when we get home). Some questions she answered in English though (so I knew what she said) and then she took us on a tour of the grounds and into the woods and we spent over an hour together and it really was magical. Afterward we ate dinner at the Chateau and WOW it was a real event – even nicer than the night before – I think tomorrow (or the next time I have Internet) I will devote some of the blog to a discussion of food. She gave me a bottle of wine which we now have to figure out how to get home.

As a surprise to Jenny and Tim I drove on a little side trip (all of 10 min) to the Café Dolmen in Saumur which houses the largest Dolmen in France – it was pretty kewl. Not a castle but a very large and very old stone structure nonetheless.

The Bed and Breakfast in Angers is lovely – we are starting to hit regions where the bathroom and toilet are separate. This is GREAT if you are traveling with other people. The proprietor really doesn’t speak any English so I am not going to even try and interview him.

It is strange how the film part of this is going. I have been able to film everywhere but almost all handheld. I have recorded very little audio and I have also gotten a ton of photos. As the trip progresses the post production of the film keeps changing and I can safely tell you I have no idea what the final product will be like yet.

Some technical stuff:

So far I have taken:
12 Hours of Tape
1390 Photos

I have used the tripod twice: once during the interview and the other time to watch the drawbridge drop. Generally it is hard to carry and no one lets you use it. I am using this $50 pro-cam sports mount handle thing I bought before the trip and it works better then expected. The bean bag mounting thing was a waste of time. So was the whiteboard it just isn’t convenient (however the superclamp I bough to hold it as well as the car window mount did prove useful for the microphone).

From a microphone perspective I am only use the Rode shotgun mic – it has good wind and ok noise elimination and I am able to sneak it in most place. Often we only pull it out when I want the ambience or will speak myself. The base of it broke but I was able to attach a tripod mount to it and it mount to the underside of the pro-cam mount it is pretty funny looking and quick to disassemble.

The rainslicker I got for the video camera I have used a couple of times and works well. For the most part I do not use the good handheld wireless microphone. The white balance card for the video camera I have only used a few times because I move to various lighting situations too quickly.

I have lost two lens caps. The video camera one just vanished and the zoom lens cap is floating in front of Azay-le-Rideau.

The GPS logger is working great s a live GPS feed into the NetBook computer I brought with me and have sitting on the dashboard for turn by turn directions. All of this goes into a backpack that never leaves my touch!

OK so there are some technical details for my geeky friends.

And some more photos for your enjoyment.

Jared

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May 23, 2009

France Trip Update: Day 5-6 (Brief) : Jared as Artist

Day 5 -6
So the Internet was ‘broken’ at Mont Saint Michel so I wasn’t able to post.

I am very short on time again because there is so much to do behind the scenes so I will be very brief today (longer tomorrow) and instead will post some pictures.

Be warned I cannot edit on this computer so the JPG versions of the RAW pictures from the camera and are just as is without resizing or white balance correction. Hence the blueish tint.

(9) Chateau Ducal in Caen
(10) Mont Sain Michel (I count it as a castle it is a fortified fortress!)

Day 6

(5a) Cathedral in Chartres
(11) Chateau de Chissay (Where we slept!)

I will write more narrative when I have time – the Loire awaits and we have 3 castles to visit and one more to sleep in!

PS This last one is where we slept!

More soon!

Jared

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May 21, 2009

France Trip Update: Day 3-4 : Jared as Artist

Day 3 – 4

The adventure continues…

I was informed in the morning by the proprietor of our Bed and Breakfast that what we say wasn’t a riot or a demonstration but actually a ‘manifestation’ and that they have them quite frequently. In fact on the way out of town we saw another group blocking traffic in a similar (though less flaming manure) sort of way. The Bed and Breakfast we found out as we left was a restored 18th building and very nicely done.

The cathedral in Amiens is massive – as massive as I remember and it just goes on and on. I won’t. It was interesting to see things through a more art historical eye. There was one chapel that was being worked on my some conservationists and it gave you a real behind the scenes sort of look at it all. Also they have the head of John the Baptist which I somehow missed the first time around. We spent a lot of time there – it is so serene.

The gift shop had (in English) the book that explains in great details European cathedral architecture that I had stolen on my list trip here (and that we couldn’t even find on the Internet) so buying that made me very happy.

Our next destination was Giverny. It was as lovely as ever – the sun shining and a wonderful breeze – just a magical place. There is a museum of American art in Giverny but they were running an exhibition of … Monet! Normally you can’t see any Monet in Giverny but they had 28 paintings from all over. They also had a lot of photographs and even some color photographs that were originally taken for a stereoscopic display (though they were only showing one image). A real surprise!

The house and gardens were fun. No photo or video in the house so I just walked around with the video camera on and held it from the top handle to see if anything might come out. The gardens were nice though not fully in bloom. I did get a little video of me on the bridge in the Japanese garden. Jenny is turning into a real cinematographer – positioning me for the best effect. To make life easier I am shooting everything without any sound and then we will add voiceover in post. This way I only need to add the microphone when I know I am going to talk. The compromise is that we are using the shotgun mic now (and Jenny even insists that she monitors the audio to get it just right). The base broke off of the shotgun mic (that attaches it to the camera) but we were able to jury rig a quick release mount to the microphone and the underside of my hand mount for the video camera. It works really well. And even with only shooting short ‘bumpers’ of 15-30 seconds each there will be a lot of them (30+castles as well as other places!).

The B&B in Giverny was almost too good to be true. An entire split level apartment dating back to Monet’s time. Full kitchen - 2 bedrooms (in a loft style second floor) – I can imagine spending a week there. After we settled in we went to the cemetery and visited Monet’s grave and to give our respects. It was a nice bit of closure to the whole space. Jenny needed some aspirin so we drove to the next town over and I found a castle! Well the ruin of some little towers. I will have to fill in the name later – I think it in Vernon. Tim opted not to go shopping so he missed it!

OK I lied – the closure to the day was dinner. Lamb and pate and crème caramel – yum yum. Plus live music from a French band – it was really fun. It did get cold though and the service here is not one to push you from a table or get you your check quickly.

Summary of Day 3
(1a) – Amiens Cathedral
(2a) – Monet’s House and Garndens (and Grave)
(3a) – The American Museum in Giverny
(5) – Ruined Tower in Vernon

The (a) indicates that the site is not a castle.

Day 4

Our first stop was the Chateau in Gisors. It is a nice ruin. A little castle on an artificial hill surrounded by a curtain wall. I can’t remember going up to the top because the last time I was there I didn’t! We went in and looked around but to get up to the top is an hour long tour – in French – on the hour. We walked around for a bit but skipped the tour.

I needed some lip balm and Tim wandered over to the cathedral (which we went to as well). It was a nice place and a bit of a surprise. Those walkie talkies really come in handy for when Tim wanders off!

We then headed over to La Roche Guyon. This is a big place. It has troglodyte caves in the basement, a 12th century castles on the rocky hilltop, an 18th century castle with gardens by the river, Romel’s WWII bunker, and it is all connected by tunnels and mountain. Jenny tried her EMF ghostmeter but alas she didn’t find any ghosts. There was also an art exhibition of a surrealist who only paints imagery of Mont Saint Michel. Very strange but very good. The castle is quite a hike up and down and through and it took hours.

It is a good thing we stopped for Crepes before! Oh yes my first Crepe of the trip. Salmon and fresh cream and caviar (the last was a surprise). Oh so good.

Our last stop of the day was the ruin of Chateau-Gaillard. Richard the Lionheart’s stronghold. It is a very nice ruin of what probably was a very unique looking castle. Lots more hiking and very peaceful atmosphere as we climbed along the ruins.

After Chateau-Gaillard we drove to Caen (not Cannes were the film festival is or Kahn ie Wrath of). We stayed at an IBIS (chain hotel) and had Italian for dinner. Today we visit the Chateau Ducal (of William the Conqueror) and then head over to Mont Saint Michel.

On a technical note, I am loving the new camera. The primary adjustment I use is not aperture or shutter speed but ISO. I leave it on 100 and only adjust as needed. I find the shots tend to darker then I like so I am bracketing often and shooting between 150-200 shots a day.

Still having trouble getting the data off the GPS into something useable so that will happen soon (I hope) and later tonight I will post some more maps and another teaser picture or two.

On a continuity note – I am wearing the same shirt every day (a clean version of course). Shaving every day has been too rough on my face so I am shaving every other day. The joke is I am getting redder and redder. Perhaps I will show you later tonight!

Summary of Day 4

(6) Chateau in Gisors
(4a) Cathedral in Gisors
(7) Chateau La Roche-Guyon
(8) Chateau-Gaillard

Thank for reading. Look later for pictures and maps. Tell your friends!

Jared

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May 19, 2009

Maps! : Jared as Artist

OK so I still can't post my good maps but this is a start of what we have done so far.

Paris to Compiegne

Compiegne to Pierrefonds

Pierrefonds to Chantilly

Chantilly to Amiens

OK more when I can - later!!

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France Trip Update - Day 0, 1, & 2 : Jared as Artist

OK folks sorry for the long delay. Be warned that my keyboard isn't the greatest and also that words are not my primary artistic medium!

Day 0 - Saturday and the Trip to France

I fell asleep on the runway in Cleveland (to fly to New York) and woke up an hour later to find we were still on the runway in Cleveland! We had a 2.5 hour layover so this wasn't going to mess up our flight but still! Then it took an extra hour to land because they kept circling around to find us a runway to land on in New York. The only good news is that we had no layover and he landed us right near where we took off from. Also the flight attendant had pity on me and let me store my carry on bag next to hers IN the plane instead of checking it curbside (like everyone else). This matters because it contains the cameras.

Day 1 - Paris & Compiegne

The flight to Paris was OK. I slept some and watched Jim Carrey in Yes Man which was nice but I did not way Horton Hears a Who. I drew the line. The landing was very rough. But we did arrive in Paris. Customs was easy - just grabbed the bags and headed to the phones to call for the car company to pick us up.

We waited for a bit at the wrong exit and Jenny and Tim had some money changed (yes even though we knew it would be steep it is good to have 'some' Euros). It was horrible Tim had less exchanged so his was $1.66 mine was a little better at $1.56 (this is overall because of the fees and such). Let's hope we do better or this will go over my budget by 30 percent!

We called the company again and they told us where to REALLY go. The car is GREAT. I mean fabulous - I love a new car - had the new car smell (I put a vanilla air freshener in to make it look like less of a rental - Tim hates it!). Holds the bags in the trunk no prob is very high tech and very comfortable.

I paid 1.05 for petrol which is better then by estimate (yeah) and I might have gotten super by mistake! We repacked the bags (somewhat and headed to Compiegne for our first stop the Tower of Joan of Arc.

Now you have to realize I did a LOT of research before we left. I have two red binders each with an entire ream of paper. One contains turn by turn directions from place to place and the other full background info and French history so I can talk on camera. This first stop I was still a little fuzzy on. I knew that in the hundred years war that Joan of Arc was sent to Compiegne to defend it from the Burgundians and it was here that she was captured. What I never understood is why they would imprison her IN Compiegne after.

The answer is - they didn't. During a retreat from a skirmish outside of town they closed the city gates before she could get back in. Was this on purpose by the Mayor, her enemies, or even her allies, the scholars debate. But in honor of her they renamed the 12th century tower ruin that used to guard the old bridge into the city after her. A great story that I couldn’t really tell on camera in the wind and the rain. I got some great photos! I even have some good video. But not really of me on camera – well maybe a quick intro. The whiteboard wasn’t going to work the way I planned. So I am definitely going to be doing a lot of voiceover when I get back home and maybe even intercut some footage of me with a backdrop. No real tragedy just changes the nature of the beast is all.

Now some of you know I was complaining about those little umbrellas that everyone was brining with them. We did stop at a Monoprix before we got to the ruin and I did buy a VERY expensive 15 Euro umbrella that helped a little during the shoot (not much it was a crappy umbrella). Plus Jenny was tired and Tim wandered off. Bringing walkie-talkies so that I could find Tim was probably the smartest idea I have ever had!

I couldn’t figure out how to make the GPS on the notebook work (which could wait) but I did have the GPS data logger on my person. It won’t read the right time so it turns out I set all the clocks on my cameras to Paris time for nothing. The first day’s photos all need to be retime stamped to work properly but I did get the data for the entire day. (Though I still have work to do on that before I post the map – sorry folks!)

We next headed to the Chateau de Compiegne. It was raining a little less and I was still a little dejected from my not successful shoot at the Tower. The Chateau was better than I remembered it and they let me video tape on the inside. At this point I realized that post audio was in fact a good thing! I just pretended I was a tourist and got as much as I could. Remember my goal is only to have 3-5 minutes from each place overall and I can also use my photos if I need to in the video. The new still camera is GREAT and I am also so glad I didn’t bring the steadycam. In fact I am only using the one video camera on the metal arm thing I got two days before I left.

It was still raining at the Chateau so I didn’t get to see the gardens but I filmed a few seconds on intro there – that is the new goal – film whenever I can and then just try and get an intro. I also retook a lot of photos I had taken in 2000 from my first visit without the flaws that have been bugging me. It really ia worth the visit.

The rain let up so we went back to the Joan of Arc tower and I was able to get a little more video and some more stills. It is funny how my plans for what I am doing have changed even though the itinerary is staying the same.

Tim and Jenny were both very tired and while I know Jenny is having a great time I was a little worried about Tim. He was pretty quiet.

We then headed to the first B&B. (Oh, for those of you wondering Jenny and I ate a sandwich for lunch at a corner bar and Tim stopped at the grocery and got himself bread and meat and fruit.) The B&B was gorgeous! It was a ruin of a farmhouse that an English couple has seen from the canal as they were barging (ala on a barge) around Europe. They purchased the 12 ruined houses on the lot and restored them all and sold them to English families. They seemed a little apprehensive about being on film so I didn’t push it though we did have a great time talking about castles. Dinner was fabulous Tim and I both has the Rabbit was a Plum sauce and the smoked salmon starter was SOOO yummy. They also brought out the cheese spread – oh my! So good.

We had our own rooms for the first night and I was really able to rethink the bags and such and yes I did shave so I am still smooth. The Internet however didn’t work so alas today is the first posting!

Summary of Day 1

(1) Gross Tour Du Roi (Rededicated as the Tower of Joan of Arc)
(2) Chateau du Compiegne
Day 2 – Pierrefonds and Chantilly

Today was going to be a crazy day. The castle I love most – Pierrefonds and the castle I hate most – Chantilly. As many of you recall it was at Chantilly in 2005 that I came back to find the car empty of $8000 worth of stuff (and it was my first stop of the trip). It was because of that event that I did NOT stop in Chantilly first but it Is so iconic I couldn’t skip it.

I had a discovery Monday afternoon that my little GPS data logger that I wear to tag my photos somehow shows up as a live GPS data feed to my computers. Instead of the roof mounted GPS that isn’t working the software likes the little GPS unit (and it still logs the data!). With that I tried putting the little notebook on the dash and viola: turn by turn voice directions around France. Damn you big red binder I didn’t need – come to think about it since I am not doing running history – damn you second big red binder I didn’t need. That actually isn’t true – it is nice to have some history and Tim really likes reading these articles by this Wikipedia thing (as well as other sources thank you). He was also complaining about one of the article’s bad translation and I told him it was an auto translate from Babelfish so the fact that it was readable at all was amazing – he was amazed.

Anyways we head to Pierrefonds with a new plan. Put all the technology that isn’t on me or in the backpack in the small blue suitcase and ask the castle to hold the bag (instead of leaving it in the car). Then the only risk is to the clothes. Sounds good right?

We drove to Pierrefonds where I couldn’t find the entrance. We ended up taking a service road into the castle and parked in the employee lot! We went with the blue bag and they told us they couldn’t take it because of terrorists but that she would call the director. I took out the print I had made of the castle to give them but it was a very confusing moment. They took the print with thanks and told me that if I didn’t mind having the bags searched that we could take them with us. Oy – heavy. But it was nice – they searched and we went around. It was even emptier than I remember – which is good- because the BBC is filming Merlin there on a regular basis. We got lucky because it is closed often now.

The other good news is that the lower lever was open with a special exhibition of effigies that were all laid out like in a crypt with audio and some projections making the space very haunting (but not tacky at all - really it was amazing). Tim was so excited – he told me how much fun he was having and that he never really got castles before – he was really smiling. Jenny has just been walking on a cloud and loves the whole feel of France – I am sure when I give her the computer to blog she will tell you all how she wants to move here right away!

We stopped for lunch and just grabbed quick sandwiches for the road and headed for Chantilly. Tim is very swayed by the road signs and wants to stop everywhere. I am holding fast to the schedule and explained that what I planned is better than what we will ‘stumble on’ in the time allotted.

Now I approached Chantilly with some trepidation. We have been working on the rule that you can’t go into the trunk before you leave the car so if you need something get it at the stop before. I still was scared. The parking lot is wooded with signs that say they don’t take responsibility for the contents of your car. So as planned I took the blue bag with me – rolled it to the castle and – NO – they don’t have a luggage check. However the security guard offered to hold it for me in his guardhouse! Yeah! The castle is fabulous. The stables are as big as a castle and are the ones featured in the James Bond film a View to a Kill. We didn’t have time for the stables and just went to the Castle and the art gallery inside it. Wow – I have finally seen the ‘Three Graces’ and many other great works of art. And again – they let me film the entire thing. I even took some video on the tour (though not of the guide – just the rooms).

It was getting late and starting to rain again so we didn’t get to see the gardens but it is ok because they were all under construction – I mean BIG crews with bulldozers rebuilding them!

Our next stop Amiens to another B&B. This place is lovely. We are sharing a room and Tim seems fine in his little bed. We are really just outside of Amiens so they sent us into town to get some dinner. Tim and Jenny had cold plate boards (Tim fish, Jenny meat) and I had a wonderful (but slow) Pate appetizer, steak dinner, and apple pastry dessert – yum.

During dinner we heard some banging and some booms (like fireworks or gunfire). It was very regular and it looked like a parade just across the river (which was less than a block over). Jenny thought it was school letting out and Tim said it was a demonstration. It got louder. It got rowdier. Then Jenny’s eyes started to burn as we say lots of smoke and head police sirens and fire trucks. We waited a while for things to calm down not knowing what it was.

Our car was parked RIGHT in the line of the parade demonstration and when we got to it – the streets were covered with garbage – hay – manure! The car was fine – though Jenny pointed out due to evidence right next to it that it probably had been pelted by a potato.

The next stop was tricky – getting out of town. There was hay and garbage everywhere. The manure has been set on fire and the police kept redirecting us. So however did the GPS – right into the thick of it. Tim kept joking that it was a bad scifi story with the computer trying to get us back into the action. While I am getting us lost – and Jenny will write about just how lots – wrong way on one way street – driving on a shopping plaza that wasn’t even a street – and not having my light on - Tim jumped out of the car to get shots of smoking manure!

We did make it back though it was late and our hosts thought they had given us the keys and didn’t really understand what happened to us. We explained as best we could. They don’t speak much English and because this isn’t a castle town I won’t press here either.

I posted the video clip I took from the restaurant before it got too bad on YouTube and was told it was a farmworkers demonstration. Looked like a riot to me – they trashed the place!

Mom! We are fine.

Summary of Day 2
(3) Chateau de Pierrefonds
(4) Chateau de Chantilly

I still haven’t gotten the GPS setup good enough to POST the maps – though I do have the data. As I am short on time (sorry) I will only post Tim’s smoking manure pic and the YouTube video. I will post when I can. Today is Amiens and Giverny but NO Internet tonight so that might give me time to catch up!

That’s it for the first post! Tell your friends see ya next time.

Jared

PS OK - One castle picture....

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May 16, 2009

Let the trip begin!!! : Jared as Artist

Sitting at home putting the finishing touches on the packing. In less than 2 hours I will be picked up and taken to the airport. This time tomorrow I will be in France starting on a whirlwind 21 day expedition that should take me to 30 castles 15 or so other cultural institutions and over 2200 miles.

See you on the other side!

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May 10, 2009

Movie Trailer/Invitation: Of Castles & Crepes : Jared as Artist

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April 28, 2009

Final France Map : Jared as Artist

Here is the big France Map!!

View France Expedition in a larger map

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April 17, 2009

ShowCase Aftermath! : Jared as Artist

Wow yesterday's Research Showcase was a hoot!
I had such a great time and I want to thank the 208 of you who added yourself to Hands-Across bringing the total population to 2035.

The photos are now posted at www.hands-across.com

I can't thank the folks from Research Showcase enough for putting on a really first class show!

I also want to thank my very special participants:
Dick Baznik, Cyrus Taylor, Barbara Snyder, Bud Baeslack, and Lynn Singer.

Don't worry if you missed your chance - it will be back again at Ingenuity 2009!

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March 23, 2009

France Expedition Update and Map : Jared as Artist

Its been a while since I posted an update on the planning of the documentary and expedition to France.

The reason is simple I have been knee deep in planning.

http://fromcastletocastle.com/

Imagine scheduling 16 hotels for 21 nights and trying to stay at mom and pop bed and breakfasts for most of the trip.

I will post a longer update later - but the gestalt of my trip is available
here via Google Maps

Red = Hotel/B&B (sometimes a Castle Hotel)
Blue = Castle
Green = Not a Castle

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February 27, 2009

On the Importance of Castles : Jared as Artist

Like so many, my initial interest in things medieval stemmed from the all too pervasive romanticism that surrounds the middle ages. In my case this interest extended to participation in the local chapter of the SCA – The Society for Creative Anachronism. But it was my professional involvement with a course of French civilization and culture, for which I helped design an educational virtual reality castle, that I started looking at these topics in a more academic manner. In fact, it was on my first trip to Europe to present this VR castle at a language conference in Compiegne, France that I first experienced the echoes of the true medieval culture during my visit to the Chateau Pierrefonds. It was there that I became “hooked on castles”, the pinnacle of secular medieval architecture.

In this I am not alone. That is to say, there is indeed a great wealth of resources on castles their history, use, and construction. Generally however, these resources too often fall to the fringe, taking a back-burner and forming their own subculture. Literature about castles is almost exclusively about castles – and nothing else. In the case of art history, castles appear not to fit into the program of discussion virtually ignored in a landscape almost exclusively devoted to Christian art and architecture.

In one book on medieval armor, the entry for castle simple reads “castle, see fortress”. The term castle is derived from the Latin word for fortress “castellum” which evokes a wide range of buildings from an even wider range of periods. A more refined definition is that of a “building that is fortified for a lord.” A fortress has a communal purpose while a castle is the dwelling of an individual. The French, who use a more specific language in their medieval architectural terms, created a further distinction and use the term “Chateau-Forte” for fortified castles and the simpler term “Chateau” for any great house (including renaissance palaces). The era of the Chateau-Forte is roughly from the 10th to 16th century.

In a review of a book of Hungarian castles one reviewer claims that the authors succeeds “in making a dull subject extraordinary”. This backhanded compliment challenges the validity of the subject for discussion in the first place. Clearly a chateau like Pierrefonds is as monumental as Amiens Cathedral in both its design and implementation. Is the difference then in their program? Is it this differentiation between secular and religious purpose that causes castles to be overlooked?

In Medieval Architecture and Meaning: The Limits of Iconography, Crossley observes that “if the true task of iconography was to situate the work of art in its cultural milieu, then the public and didactic nature of medieval buildings seemed to open up particularly rich perspectives” and then almost immediately defines architectural iconography as “a study of symbolism of churches and their fittings”. Is this to say that castles do not have a cultural milieu? Or is the text of religious architectural iconography so accessible that castles become too much of a bother?

The September leaf of the 1410 Book of Hours of the Duc De Berry shows grapes being harvested in front of the Chateau Chinon in France. In its day, the castle clearly had its own representational iconography. Perhaps it is the evolved nature of the iconography that makes castles hard to discuss. 600 years later, grapes are still grown and harvested in front of the Chateau Chinon but the meaning and significance of the Chateau has changed while, not too far away, the function of Amiens Cathedral remains largely the same.

Perhaps the bias is based on modern cultural ideologies. The idea of preserving ‘in place’ a fragment of a ruined wall from an age long past would seem alien to most Americans, not just because of our lack of ancient structures but because it stands in the way of modernism and progress. You can almost hear someone proposing the transplanting of the ruin or its complete removal like the monumental Hulett ore unloaders in downtown Cleveland.

Even more is the deeply European mindset that stems from the generational legacy of castles that have transformed the ruins into something else entirely: the 18th century idea of the “picturesque”. Did the concept of the ‘ruin’ so change the meaning of the castle that it becomes a ‘ruin of thought’ with castle iconography now stuck in the 18th and 19th century making it difficult to view from its time of origin?

Could it be the priority of the program that places castles as secondary to cathedrals? Cathedrals, by program, are meant to uplift and to bring the masses closer to God while a castle is meant for one or few (though admittedly stimulating a wider local economy) and whose defensive nature dictates form based on function (practical not spiritual) and therefore less important from an iconographic standpoint. Castles are buildings that were designed to prevent their own destruction. Because of this, when looking at a castle, you cannot help but to think about it from a military perspective, to lay siege to it, to attack it or to defend it and not necessarily just to live there. And as the race between the cathedral and the castle was won by the cathedral – cathedrals after all are still being built - you would think that the castle would then be even more important. Castles have a defined era – its birth and death dates practically bookend the “middle ages”.

Today, castles exist in one of three states: ruin, restoration, or memory (memory being simultaneously both the best and the worst case scenario). Restoration is a difficult concept and is usually viewed as a derogatory term. Buildings evolve. If they don’t they become ruins. In fact, it is by this evolution (or lack of it) that we can learn about a culture. One of the best-restored castles in France is the Chateau Pierrefonds, which was restored (starting in 1857) by the 19th century French architect Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. “To Restore and edifice”, according to Viollet-le-Duc, means “neither to maintain it, repair it, nor to rebuild it; it means to reestablish it in a finished state, which may in fact never have actually existed in any given time.” The Duke of Valois built Pierrefonds between 1390 and 1420. It is a monumental structure composed of many linked buildings with huge halls, multiple living rooms, and a separate living quarter for the Duke inside the main keep or donjon. The Emperor Napoleon III idealized this period of French history and his vast restoration efforts were intended to reclaim some of this glory. Viollet-le-Duc was also responsible for the restoration of the Chateau Comtal the castle proper inside of the fortified city of Carcassonne. Carcassonne is more than just a 19th century restoration of a medieval city but part of a continuum that goes back to the 4th century Gallo-Roman foundations when the city was first fortified.

While generally secular in nature, some castles do have strong religious affiliations. In 1208 Pope Innocent III launch the Albigensian Crusade against a sect of heretics known as the Cathars. The Cathars fled Carcassonne for the Pyrenees where they built castles to fight off this inquisition. The Chateau Peyrepertuse lies on a mountain-top at 730 meters. Originally fortified during Roman times, the castle was built between 1245 and 1280.

During the medieval period castles were everywhere. Their decline is often attributed to gunpowder and the canon but that claim is generally erroneous and had more to do with the expense of their upkeep and their function in a society that was becoming more united and required less strongholds; the aftermath of which was the more settled times of the renaissance that saw these fortified castles transformed into more glamorous palaces.

Castles are unique but they also are ubiquitous. Every town has a castle. And that town only exists because of that castle. It is the shadow of the past and the foundation of the present. In terms of cultural identity it is as important as the church – it is that thing that is always there. For some it is a touchstone – a point of pride and personal history – the thing that puts them on the map. Or maybe it is just the park where they played when they were a child.

You can learn much about a culture from castles. Not just their history but their present as well. How they are maintained – how they are presented – who lives there – who visits there – what message are they sending. To me castles are more than an architectural subculture but a medium by which a culture in its entirety can be examined, explored, and experienced.

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February 17, 2009

Camera Lenses! : Jared as Artist

Just when I thought I was done!

In a previous post I mentioned that I own these lenses:
Tamron 17-35mm
Tamron 70-300mm
Vivitar 28-210mm
Pentax 50mm

I actually have been very happy with my Tamron lenses and have even recommended them to others. The Tamron lenses replaced the lenses that were stolen on my last trip to France.

I used to only shoot with 2 lenses: one wide, one medium, and then later I added the telephoto.

As I was getting ready to place my orders I looked again not just at what I was about to buy - but what I would be able to sell when I as done.

I was going to buy:
12-24mm Pentax Lens
55-300mm Pentax Lens

and also bring my:
17-35mm Tamron Lens

And as much as I like the idea of the 12-24 - is this really the ultra wide I want?

This brings me to the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6
(my original ultrawide was a Sigma 17-28mm)

So if I am rethinking my ultra wide - shouldn't I also rethink my other lenses too?

I don't mind losing the long zoom if I can have less of a gap in my mid-range.

This brings me to the Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3

Both of these lenses have good reviews and give me more of what I need on the wide to mid range. I save some money and in theory can survive with just 2 lenses. This is the way I like to shoot - keep the ultrawide on all the time and occasionaly switch to the other.

I would probably still bring the 17-35mm but only as a backup.

Just some thoughts.

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Final Still Camera Kit & Technology Woes! : Jared as Artist

One of my favorite sayings is - Man Plans - God Laughs!

I have been working on the multi-teared approach to preparing for the trip one of which is to work out the photography equipment and then then videography stuff.

As mentioned in a previous note my photo kit should look like this:

Pentax K20D 14.6 MP dSLR
12-24mm Pentax Lens
55-300mm Pentax Lens
17-35mm Tamron Lens
2 Batteries
2 Battery Chargers
3 8GB High Speed Memory Stick
GiSTEQ PhotoTracker
Memory CardHolder
ColorSpace O with 160GB Hard Drive
Netbook Portable Computer
DC Adapter for Computer
DC Adapter for Camera Batter
Lens and Sensor Cleaning Supplies
Neck Strap
Wraps for Camera and Lenses

Sounds like a nice kit - not too big.

I went out and purchased the Wind u100 Netbook. Nice little unit.
Got it on Sat, Configured it on Sunday, Battery won't work on Mon!
Now I have to go back to Microcenter and get a new one!
I spent a lot of hours configuring it - getting Windows XP all nice and smooth and pretty.
I even had it running Photoshop CS3.

Knowing that I am brining a notebook brought up another technological issue.
Should I purchase a USB GPS unit and then use the notebook for navigation as well?
It is very tempting. But first I have to get one that works for more than 2 days.

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Documentary Update: Finally an Itinerary! : Jared as Artist

Documentary Update: Finally an Itinerary!Last night I realized that I had planned a 4 week schedule instead of a 3 week one!
I was so worried about not being at certain places on certain days that I wasn't counting the number of days. Oops!

However here it is - a doable 3 week schedule!

Route info via http://routes.tomtom.com

France Film Itinerary

Sunday
- - Arrive CDG Airport
- - Drive 43 min to Compiegne
Visit Gross Tour Du Roi in Compiegne [Open: Always]
Explore City
Sunday Night: Compiegne

Monday
- - Drive 18 min to Pierrefonds
Visit Chateau de Pierrefonds [Open: 10am-6pm]
- - Drive 52 min to Chantilly
Visit Chateau de Chantilly [Open: 10am-6pm]
- - Drive 1 hour 17 min to Amiens
Monday Night: Amiens

Tuesday
Visit Amiens Cathedral [Open: 8:30am-6:45pm]
- - Drive 1 hour 55 min to Giverny
Visit Jardin de Monet a Giverny [Open 9:30am to 6pm]
Tuesday Night: Giverny

Wednesday
- - Drive 38 min to Gisors
Visit Chateau de Gisors [Open: 10am, 11am, 2pm, 3:30pm, 5pm – Tour 1 hour]
- - Drive 32 min to Les Andelys
Visit Chateau-Gaillard [Open: 10am - 1pm, 2pm - 6pm]
- - Drive 31 min to La Roche Guyon
Visit Chateau de La Roche Guyon [Open: 10am-6pm]
- - Drive 1 hour 29 min to Chartres
Wednesday Night: Chartres

Thursday
Visit Chartres Cathedral [Open: 8:30am-7:30pm]
- - Drive 3 hour 15 min to Mont Saint Michel
Visit Mont Saint Michel
Thursday Night: Mont Saint Michel

Friday
Visit Mont Saint Michel [Open: Always]
- - Drive 2 hour 49 min to Angers
Friday Night: Angers

Saturday
Visit Chateau d’Angers [Open: 9:30am–6pm]
- - Drive 48 min to Saumur
Visit Chateau de Saumur [Open: 10am - 1pm, 2 pm - 5:30pm]
- - Drive 43 min to Langeais
Saturday Night: Langeais

Sunday
Visit Chateau de Langeais [Open: 9:30am - 6:30pm]
- - Drive 18 min to Azay-le-Rideau
Visit Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau [Open: 9:30am - 6pm]
- - Drive 15 min to Villandry
Visit Chateau de Villandry [Open: 9am - 6pm]
- - Drive 40 min to Chenonceaux
Visit Chateau de Chenonceau [Open: 9am - 7pm]
Sunday Night: Road to Saint-André-de-Cubzac

Monday
- - Drive 3 hour 4 min hours to Saint-André-de-Cubzac
Visit Chateau de Bouilh [Open: Unknown]
Monday Night: Road to Rocamadour

Tuesday
- - Drive 2 hour 42 min to Rocamadour
Visit Rocamadour [Open: 9am - 7pm - Maybe]
- - Drive 2 hour 49 min to Carcassonne
Tuesday Night: Carcassonne

Wednesday
Visit Carcassonne [Open: 10am - 6:30pm]
- - Drive 1 hour 41 min to Peyrepertuse
Visit Chateau de Peyrepertuse [Open: 9am- 7pm]
- - Drive 2 hour 37 min to Nimes
Wednesday Night: Nimes

Thursday
Visit Arena of Nîmes [Open: 9am – 6:30pm]
Visit Maison Carrée [Open: 10am – 7pm]
- - Drive 36 min to Pont du Gard
Visit Pont du Gard [Open: 9:30am – 7pm]
- - Drive 34 min to Avignon
Thursday Night: Avignon

Friday
Visit Palais des Papes [Open: 9am-7pm]
- - Drive 52 min to Arles
Visit Arles Amphitheatre [Open: 9am-7pm]
- - Drive 1 hour 8 min to Marseille
Friday Night: Marseille

Saturday
Visit Chateau d’If [Open: 9:30am – 6:30pm - Boats hourly 9am–5pm]
- - Drive 4 hour 49 min to Autun
Saturday Night: Autun

Sunday
Visit Autun Cathedral
- - Drive 2 hour 48 min to Maincy
Visit Vaux-le-Vicomte [Open: 10am-6pm]
Sunday Night: Maincy

Monday
- - Drive 52 min to Versailles
Visit Versailles [Open: 9am - 6.30pm]
- - Drive 41 min to CDG Airport
- - Train to Paris
Monday Night: Paris - 1

Tuesday
Visit Eiffel Tower
Visit Arc de Triomphe
Tuesday Night: Paris - 2

Wednesday
Visit Notre Dame de Paris
Visit Sacré-Cœur Basilica
Wednesday Night: Paris - 3

Thursday
Visit Musée d'Orsay
Thursday Night: Paris - 4

Friday
Visit Chateau de Louvre
Friday Night: Paris - 5

Saturday
Saturday Night: Paris – 6

Sunday
- - Train to CDG
- - Fly Home

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February 15, 2009

Trip Planning, Netbooks, and Camera Questions : Jared as Artist

First - I have some more updates and then I had some questions.

I went to get the Netbook from Walmart for $298 and it was out of stock. I then went to BestBuy who had the solid-state version for the same price (no HD just an 8GB RAM drive) - which was nice - but I need the storage. I next went to Microcenter which had the unit in stock but... sitting right next to it was an MSI Wind u100 netbook. This computer has the same processor and RAM but a larger HD - 160GB, a non glare screen, a slightly larger keyboard and it just felt nice - all for only $319.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001P5GKCG/?tag=youlovisl-20

The funny this is that to upgrade the RAM you have to violate the warranty - but I will wait to see how performance is first. It turns out to be an interesting beast. It comes with XP Home so I had to do my normal clean it up routine to make windows run smooth and fast. I found that the trackpad had tapping enabled and the only way to remove it was to install drivers from another company but now that it is off I am very happy.

It does introduce a host of new questions, beyond just backing up my memory cards I should install some software. Office (which version), Photoshop (which version), should I get navigation software and a gps for it and carry one less device? All problems to ponder.

In response to my post of yesterday about still photography I was asked a few questions.

1) Are you sure the old lenses will work on the Pentax dSLR?

Yes that is what makes Pentax such an amazing camera - they even have special modes to fine tune and remember up to 20 custom lenses. It also let's you map out hot pixels and has a find dust on the sensor utility.

2) Why shoot in RAW+JPG why not just in RAW and save space?

I doubt I will get to play with the images in Photoshop on the road so it will be nice to see them on the netbook as JPG - plus it is just one more copy.

3) Why not just get some cheap and small SD cards?

It isn't the size it's the speed. Most memory cards are Class 2 but for faster access to the camera you really want Class 6.

4) Why don't I borrow Tom's 20D?

Because while it is a GRACIOUS offer (thank you Tom) I won't be happy with 8MP plus I hate borrowing optics from anyone. And at the end of the day I like to be able to customize and tweak my own stuff.

Next - more updates on my Netbook installation and we ponder video!

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February 14, 2009

Trip Planning Continues - Moving from Film to Digital : Jared as Artist

So the next big planning hurdle for the trip is how will I be shooting my still photos?

And there is an irony to this question.

With only one exception I am only going to places that I have already been (this of course is the nature of the trip).

So I will only be replacing and augmenting photos from my collection not really expanding on them.

Part of me considered not shooting stills at all - but since I wouldn't know what to do without a camera in my hand the question remains.

The first step is to establish what I won't be shooting:
1) No 3D
2) No Panoramas
3) No VR

It is hard to let those go - but it is an awful lot of equipment.

My regular camera is a Pentax MZ-30 35mm film camera.

On my last 3-week trip I took 120 rolls of film and at 24 photos/roll that is 2880 photos.
(On my two week trip to Peru I took close to 2600 photos)

Rolls of film can range in price (from $1.30 to $2.50 depending on the ISO) and at an average $2/roll of film and then another $3.88 for processing and printing (at Costco) my photo costs would total $705.60.

The same 2880 photos printed at $0.13 each from a digital camera would total $374.40 for a savings of $331.20.
This ignores the added discounts from the fact that not all the photos would get printed and the time saved from scanning my negatives.

I own 4 lenses for my Pentax:
Tamron 17-35mm
Tamron 70-300mm
Vivitar 28-210mm
Pentax 50mm

I scan my 35mm negatives with a Nikon Supercoolscan 9000 ED which gives at 4000 DPI gives me between 20 and 22MP.
I like the digital ICE feature as well as the grain removal tool - though I find I also like what NeatImage does for me in post.

To migrate over to digital I would want to stay with Pentax and I am considering a K20D 14.6 MP dSLR.
This has vibration reduction in the camera so I can still use my older lenses with it.

The first problem is the magnification factor of 1.5 that comes with a non-full frame sensor.
I know for a fact that my Tamron lenses are designed for digital - the others would work but I would want to test for quality.

My lenses then become:

Tamron 17-35mm = 26-53mm = wide but not super wide
Tamron 70-300mm = 105-450mm = very telephoto
Vivitar 28-210mm = 42-215mm = we will see if this lens works
Pentax 50mm = 75mm prime

On my trip to Peru I didn't bring the Vivitar because of it's vignetting - this should go away with the smaller sensor.
The only reason I brought the 50mm lens was because I was scared to travel with a gap between 35mm and 70mm.
I used the lens maybe 4 times - I really do love shooting with a wide angle lens the best.

Because I need ultra wide angle for my castle photos I would need to get an additional 12-24mm (18-35mm equiv.) lens.

Step one - purchase new camera and lens = $1160

Looking at lenses again I keep seeing this Pentax 55-300mm lens (with great reviews) for $300.
That would eliminate the Tamron 70-300mm, the Vivitar, and the Pentax 50mm.
I like the idea of fewer lenses.

Now what else do I "need" for my still camera kit.

Well it comes with 'a' battery which with LiveView off and no flash averages to 530 shots.
While more than enough for a single days shooting - I still want a spare battery.

A spare battery is another $40 and an extra charger (with car adapter) is $18.

I was tempted by the other accessories like the add-on grip that holds the extra battery but for $130 I don't think I want the extra 'heft'. or the infrared remote - which while 'cool' is something I won't use - since I am never in my own photos nor will I be able to shoot on the sly with it. I also don't need the AC adapter because I won't be near any.

This brings us to the matter of memory cards.

Shooting in the Raw+JPG mode I should be able to fit about 100 pictures on a 4GB card.
If I shoot 3000 pictures I will need about 120GB of storage. Film is starting to look cheap again.

So how do I get 120GB of storage?

Well I don't. Instead I get some reliable memory cards - in this case 3 - 8GB High-Speed - Name-Brand cards.
Each 8GB card can hold 200 images so that should be good for a day and also be ok in case one -gasp- dies.

But that is only 600 pictures (and 24GB) so how do I store more?

I have been investigating the various "photo safes" that are on the market that allow you to transfer your SD card to a portable HD.
Years ago I owned an early model called a Terrapin Mine. It was bulky and bizarre but it worked well.
Most of the products on the market have mixed reviews - people love em - people hate em.
If I am going to do this I will go with the ColorSpace O by Hyperdrive.
It has the best of the 'works well' reviews and you can install your own harddrive which I figure is better because I can pick
the brand and size. It also will read and display the RAW files so I can use it as a viewer too!

The problem is - do I really want to put all my eggs in one basket?
As a film photographer I only have several worries:
1) Xrays
2) Crushing/Opening the roll
3) Losing the roll

I know how to combat x-rays (fast talking and lead bags)
and after years of travel I keep all exposed rolls on my body at all times (in case of loss).
As for damaged film - I carry a changing bag and accessories in case of emergency.

But with this - hardware failure looms - and it is so scary!
Even if I purchased this device for $250-$350 dollars the only way I would be happy is if I purchased two of them!

I could bring my laptop - but I don't want to lug it around France (and I plan on having some repairs done to it while I am out of town).

One thought is to get one of those little Acer Netbooks and an external USB hardrive as backup.

I like this idea because I have two copies on two devices that are small enough to keep on my person.

The problem is if the notebook dies - I can't get the data to the USB harddrive.

I even looked into portable DVD burners!

My concluding logic is as follows:
I will get a Netbook and a ColorSpace so that I am as secure as possible and both should be small enough to keep on my person.

One last item!

I have been looking into GPS data loggers. They are so powerful and so inexpensive these days.
I think it would be great to be able to track exactly where I was when I was shooting and to route the entire trip.
At first I was a little apprehensive because the one I like holds - 'about' 3 weeks of data - but since I am getting the NetBook I can monitor how full the device is getting.

I really like the look of the GiSTEQ PhotoTracker and my friend Mace went out and got one and is in love with it!

So what will my digital kit look like?
-Pentax Camera + Lens = $1160
-Pentax 55-300mm Lens = $300
-Extra battery + Charger = $60
-3 8GB Memory Cards = $180
-ColorSpace + HD = $260
-Acer Netbook = $298
-GiSTEQ PhotoTracker = $80
-Tamron 17-35mm= Already Own
-Camera Wraps = Already Own
-Blower = Already Own
-Cleaning Supplies = Already Own
-Camera Strap = Already Own
-MemCard Safe = Already Own

What won't I bring (that I usually do)?
-Stereoscopic Camera
-Light Meter
-Panoramic Camera Mount
-Small Digital Camera
-Fisheye Lens
-Scissors
-Changing Bag
-Film!
-Film Shields

So what does all this get me?
1) Less equipment - it really is just one camera
2) Instant Feedback - which I admit I do like
3) No development or processing costs
4) Cheaper printing costs
5) No scanning time
6) Vibration Reduction
7) Kick ass new Wide Angle and Telephoto Lenses
8) GPS Data Tracking

I think it is doable.

Next up - let's talk Video Equipment!

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February 13, 2009

Updated List, Updated Order, and Fuel Costs : Jared as Artist

As I continue to plan for the film I have been updating my destination list - the order of the list and so on...

I had to ad one more place to the list because I had a very long stretch of driving between Marseilles and Paris. I decided that even though I haven't been there that the Cathedral at Autun could not be missed and made a very nice break in the trip.

Going through my old records I found that the website http://mappy.fr/ was good at estimating, time, mileage, and even estimate of petrol, fuel costs, and tolls!

On the bad side of things is that many places are closed on Monday or Tuesday so I needed to arrange accordingly.

The total distance is about 3289km or 2087 miles.

Now let's do the math.

I am looking at leasing a 308 SW Premium turbo diesel 5 door automatic (cause I cant drive stick).

This car gets 7.13L/100 km or 14.02km/L.

For a total of 234.5 L of diesel

At 1.107Euro/L the total is 238.5 Euros

At 1 Euro = $1.289 the total is $308 for fuel!

and

My revised list - in order - looks like this:
* = Not on my original proposal list.

Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport
Gross Tour Du Roi in Compiegne
Chateau de Pierrefonds
Chateau de Chantilly
* Amiens Cathedral
* Chateau de Gisors
Chateau-Gaillard
* Jardin de Monet a Giverny
Chateau de La Roche Guyon
* Chartres Cathedral
Mont Saint Michel
Chateau d’Angers
Chateau de Saumur
Chateau de Langeais
Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau
Chateau de Villandry
Chateau de Chenonceau
Chateau de Bouilh
Chateau de Rocamadour
Carcassonne
Chateau de Peyrepertuse
* Arena of Nîmes
* Maison Carrée
* Pont du Gard
* Palais des Papes
* Arles Amphitheatre
Chateau d’If
* Autun Cathedral
Vaux-le-Vicomte
Chateau de Versailles
* Eiffel Tower
* Arc de Triomphe
* Notre Dame de Paris
* Sacré-Cœur Basilica
* Musée d'Orsay
Chateau de Louvre
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport

More to come...

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February 12, 2009

Updated Destination List : Jared as Artist

Planning this film is a lot of work!

So I have gone over my original list of 20 Castles and asked myself what is missing from the 'experience'. I am holding to the original premise that I will not be going anywhere 'new' on this expedition so that my previous research has some value and that I have at least some constants. That being said - you can't go to France and only see the 20 castles previously listed.

So I went and added some iconic destinations to the trip and also mapped them around France so I could get an order to the list so I can start building a real timetable.

Here is the updated destination list - in order:

* = New to List

Chateau de Pierrefonds
Gross Tour Du Roi in Compiegne
Chateau de Chantilly
* Amiens Cathedral
* Chateau de Gisors
Chateau-Gaillard
* Jardin de Monet a Giverny
Chateau de La Roche Guyon
* Chartres Cathedral
Mont Saint Michel
Chateau d’Angers
Chateau de Saumur
Chateau de Langeais
Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau
Chateau de Villandry
Chateau de Chenonceau
Chateau de Bouilh
Chateau de Rocamadour
Carcassonne
Chateau de Peyrepertuse
* Arena of Nîmes
* Maison Carrée
* Pont du Gard
* Palais des Papes
* Arles Amphitheatre
Chateau d’If
Vaux-le-Vicomte
Chateau de Versailles
* Eiffel Tower
* Arc de Triomphe
* Notre Dame de Paris
* Sacré-Cœur Basilica
* Musée d'Orsay
Chateau de Louvre

More updates to follow...

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February 10, 2009

Of Castles and Crepes: A Documentary of French History and Culture : Jared as Artist

I am thrilled to announce that this Summer I will be heading back to France to film:
Of Castles and Crepes: A Documentary of French History and Culture.

I am able to announce this because of La Maison Française de Cleveland and their generous support of this work.

This film will document an expedition to 20 castles around France. These castles have been chosen from those I have visited on my previous expeditions and selected based on their geographical, historical, and cultural significance with the goal of giving the viewers the widest possible vision of France. The film is part history, part travelogue, and part cultural exposé in order to entice the viewers to learn more and to visit France from themselves. The feature length (90-120 minute) film will be in English, however some interviews will be in French with English subtitles. The final film will be screened locally, produced and distributed on DVD, and made available for viewing online.

The 20 Castle Destination Includes:

Chateau de Chantilly
Gross Tour Du Roi in Compiegne
Chateau de Pierrefonds
Chateau-Gaillard
Chateau de La Roche Guyon
Mont Saint Michel
Chateau d’Angers
Chateau de Saumur
Chateau de Langeais
Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau
Chateau de Villandry
Chateau de Chenonceau
Chateau de Bouilh
Chateau de Peyrepertuse
Carcassonne
Chateau d’If
Chateau de Rocamadour
Chateau de Louvre
Chateau de Versailles
Vaux-le-Vicomte

This list is tentative and is subject to change.

I will post planning updates regularly.

I want to say Thanks again to La Maison Française de Cleveland!

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December 23, 2008

Virtual Menorah : Jared as Artist

Just wanted to remind all my Jewish friends out there about my Virtual Menorah at: http://www.virtualmenorah.com

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November 21, 2008

Lord of the Burgeoning Lumber : Jared as Artist

So tonight I went to a play. That's right - the theater. To see a live performance. This isn't something I normally do but since a friend of mine wrote the play I figured - why not?

To be honest I was a little nervous. But I have to tell you that I spent the entire time grinning from ear to ear and then I laughed my ass off. And I wasn't alone - everyone there was having just a great time. To try and describe the plot of 'Lord of the Burgeoning Lumber' would be - well difficult is an understatement. At the end of this posting I will include the formal description from the website.

The play was fun, clever, thoughtful, funny, dirty, and fun. The acting was great. The theater is very intimate and with the actors so close to you it would be easy to lose the authenticity of the performance - instead they sold it so well that you really felt immersed in the time and space.

The little things were everywhere, from the music (live and canned) to the lighting and bits of f/x everything fit so nicely. For years I told my friend Tom that I didn't really get theater. Well this wasn't me sitting in front of a fourth wall - I really did feel like I was in an experience that was special and that I was sharing it with those around me.

Ever go to a bar and hear a new band. And feel that you just discovered something? Feel that the band was really there playing for you? That's what I felt tonight. So kudos to the theater, kudos to the players, kudos to the director, and kudos to my good friend Tom Hayes who should be very proud of writing something so thoroughly enjoyable.

So get off your asses and go see it for yourself!

http://www.convergence-continuum.org

The description reads:

Lord of the Burgeoning Lumber

Cross the threshold into a lush and lascivious forest.

When a very nearsighted forest ranger stumbles upon two rough-and-tumble cowboys having a really good time roughly tumbling in the woods while camping, all manner of surreal gender-bending, shape-shifting, psyche-shattering mayhem erupts. Can the wily Ranger counter the carnal camp craziness, or will the howling power of the eternal forest overcome them all?

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July 22, 2008

Ingenuity Festival : Jared as Artist

OMG! Its Tuesday and the Festival starts on Friday. That's right Ingenuity 2008 is only a few days away. Its 'the' arts and technology festival and its taking place in downtown Cleveland (playhouse square). I'm a featured artist this year and I am building a monster of an installation called 'Hands-Across'. The footprint for the machine is 13'x18'!

Its a photo booth that will scan your entire body after your put your hands and feet in the right positions. Once I have the picture of your body I add you to the group and on another display there is a constant chain of hand holding participants.

Its very fun to be a part of the festival again this year. So everybody come on down! I will be setup in from of the Halle Building on Huron (by one of the entrances) but you won't be able to miss me!

Bring your family and tell your friends!

Jared

Jared at the Ingenuity Festival 2008

Hands-Across.com

JaredJared.com

Here is my interview for the Ingenuity E-Flash newsletter:

Q&A with Jared Bendis

Featured Artist Jared Bendis returns for his second year at Ingenuity with a new installation, Hands Across, which is an interactive piece that will run continuously outside the Tech Center & Gallery on Huron. Hands Across unites Ingenuity attendees into a single chain of "hand-holding" participants that grows throughout the festival and allows person-to-person interaction with tens of thousands of festival attendees without real-life encounters in the same place at the same time...

How exactly will your installation unfold? Describe the photo pods participants will have to walk inside.

That's a very interesting question. “Hands-Across”, which I am still in the process of building, is going to be very large, it is a booth, a capture platform, ramps, and a backdrop. “Unfold” is probably the right term. The original intention was to build a capsule-like backdrop for a photographic doorway. But as I've been building, I have modified the pod concept because of something that has bothered me since last year: the accidental exclusion of participants in wheelchairs (due to the location of the camera). The trick this year was to ask myself "How can I include everyone?" and I used the ADA guidelines for accessibility as a reference, which has had the added advantage of creating a nice flow. A participant will approach “Hands-Across” go up a short ramp to the capture platform, turn to face a large display that will tell them where to place their hands and feet (there us an override switch for wheelchairs) once properly positioned a full body photo is taken and the participant goes down another ramp to exit. It should be a very quick process. You go in, you take the photo and you go out. Last year we assigned people ID numbers so that could find themselves on the website but since people didn’t write them down this year I am hoping to have the installation automatically print out the ID and website address of www.hands-across.com.

Hands Across can be seen as an example of digitally and visually uniting people across a moment in space. How does your work begin to instigate human connections thru the virtual?

When Rita Montlack and I created last year's "Found in a Crowd", we captured the 'group' but displayed them as 'individuals'. Funnily enough, last year, people took their photos in 2s, 3s, 4s and even 5s! This was totally unexpected, but in the end they wanted to be part of a group and to touch each other. So this year my idea is to focus on that touching. By shooting the entire body and having people visually (and virtually) hold hands we are inviting people to see how they connect with those around them, it isn't about seeing their faces on a grid, but within a chain of a community we create.

You note the importance of individual experiences in your artistic statement. To turn the tables, how has Hands-Across affected you in a way that is unique from your other work?

You mean besides the fact that I am photographing people? I don't do portraiture! My primary medium is architectural photography (castles and ruins). As a photographer my motto is: "I travel the world so you don't have to." It’s an idealized form of documentation with art masquerading as truth. But in many ways that is what Hands-Across is as well, people photographed as building blocks of a community that creates something that isn't there but that really might be - its an illusion but its also a reflection.

Do you see immersive virtual reality as something that will eventually transform not only art, but also everyday life? To what extent?

The problem with immersive virtual reality is three-fold: You to learn to shoot it, to display it, and to get people past the past the gee-whiz factor. The bigger problem is that these problems were first written about in 1898 by Oliver Wendell Holmes when talking about stereoscopic imagery - the original immersive virtual reality. This isn't a new question, which in itself is telling. While I'm a firm believer in the power of virtual reality and its transformative nature, I also believe that not everyone will get it. It's a homeopathic technology - if it works for you it will change your life but if it doesn't then you will just think I'm crazy!

Your work certainly has social and cultural undertones…does Hands-Across have a political message?

Hmmm, that's hard for me to answer. It’s not like I’m going to tag people red and blue based on their political affiliations! The goal of the work is to have people look at themselves and others in a different context which is one of unity. So while I can't deny the social or cultural undertones I think I will steer way from the political ones (for the moment).

The continuousness of Hands-Across is especially intriguing. How does the digital create a continuity that couldn't otherwise be achieved?

Now that you ask the question all I can think about is how I could do this without the technology! I could stand there all weekend taking polaroids and then attaching them to a giant pulley system that.... never mind. You have to remember that in the end the installation is not just about the final display system but the entire machine. Think about it this way, as an artist I am building a machine that invites people to participate to add themselves to the collection of photos that will be unified by another machine into a continuous stream.

The installation is about potential and that potential is only reached by people volunteering to be a part of it. It only works if people make it work! But then again how is that different from a painting? If no one looks at it then what good is it? My art just requires the audience to be on both sides of the canvas.

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June 03, 2008

Peru Day 14 - Atlata, Cleveland, Aftermath.... : Jared as Artist

We landed in Atlanta and cleared customs without any troubles.

The only trouble we did have is that after we boarded he plane to Cleveland they kept us on the ground for 1.5 hours trying to fix it before we took off.

Finally we made it home. My wife met us at the airport and all the luggage made it - none of the presents broke!

We dropped Tim off and then headed to Cosco.

Finally tally 83 rolls of regular film, 2 rolls of 3D film, and about 500 digital shots.

They called Monday night to let me know that the film is ready and I'm heading to Cosco this am to pick up all 2600 prints!

Thanks for reading - hope you enjoyed.

Jared

Peru Trip Closed!

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Peru Day 13 - Lima : Jared as Artist

So its 7am and we made it back to Lima. The problem is - our flight doesn't leave until 12:30 am. So how do you kill 17 hours in Lima.

Well first you find a hotel. We figured that the best thing to do was get a room just to shower and pack from so we could be decent on the flight back home.

We also found an amazing museum - The Rafael Larco Herrera Museum in Lima which houses the largest private collection of pre-Columbian art: 45,000 pieces! So we had the taxi take us to a hotel near it and we took a nap before venturing out.

The museum was gorgeous. Very well organized and very educational. The storage is open so you can see literally all 45,000 works just stacked on shelves - it was just crazy!

They also had a very fancy restaurant which we ate at and a really good gift shop so Tim finally got the reproductions he needed for teaching purposes. Lastly, the erotic pottery was very well... explicit.

After spending the day there we headed back to the hotel. Along the way we stopped to get money since we were told we would need $30us as an exit tax to leave the county.

The taxi to the airport was very scary. He took a lot of side roads and Tim and I both thought we were being kidnapped! But eventually we made it.

The airport experience was great. Peru officials hand checked my film (thats right 4 airports - 0 xrays!) and they separated me and Tim to give us more room. They showed "The Bucket List" on the flight again but I just slept into Atlanta.

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Peru Day 12 - Arequipa : Jared as Artist

On Friday we woke up knowing two things - we had to be at the bus station at 4:30pm for Lima and that we couldn't leave our bags for the day at the hostel.

We got up and took a taxi (with our bags) to the town square - where I recalled from the night before there being a 4 star hotel. They let us keep our bags there for the day (very nice thank you).

As Tim and I wandered around the square with a few hours to kill we decided to split up and meet back at 4pm. Arequipa, is a big city and it was nice to get a feel for it. The Spanish architecture is everywhere and seeing a colonial town made for a nice comparison.

I went to a music store, a couple of churches, a craft market, it was a slow but nice day. I met a match salesman - he just sold books of matches on the street corner.

I went back to the square and loved seeing the snow capped mountains in the distance. As I tried to take a photo of the mountain and a church a policeman stopped me and told me not to photograph the church. I thought this was weird as its not a government building or anything and then he explained himself. He told me not to photograph the church from the square but told me a building that would let me up and give me an even better vantage point!

Very nice guy.

Tim showed up on time at 4pm and we headed for the bus station.
At the station we were amazed as ever at the myriad of little convenience store like stands that all sell the exact same thing!

We boarded the bus (first class) and found that it was just me and Tim on the 14 hour ride back to Lima (at least in first class).

They played some music and some Spanish Karaoke and then the dog of a movie "The sound of thunder" which you shouldn't see and I've seen like 4 times (thank you HBO).

At about 1am first class filled up but it was a nice ride that actually arrived in Lima early! So there we are last day in Lima at the bus station at its 6:45am....

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June 02, 2008

Peru Day 11 - Puno : Jared as Artist

[So technically its Monday and I'm back in Cleveland, but I figured some of you wanted to hear how the story turned out.]

So on Thursday Tim and I got up and found that our bus tickets to Ariquipa were still not there yet but the hotel guy promised they would be there by the afternoon.

They were still trying to sell us on a 'tour' of Titicaca and we almost went for it - instead we took the taxi to the dock and charted a boat for the day. They told us to take pencils or candy with us for the children so I got a pack of pencils. If I would have known I would have brought more. So there we are me, Tim, and 3 Peruvians on a 5 hour boat ride on the highest lake on the planet.

Instead of heading to the tourist island they took us deep into the lake and to a very small island that only 5 families lived on. After about 1.5 hours we found ourselves in water so murky with seaweed that they had to pole the boat. A small rowboat full of children came out to our boat and then rowed us back to this little floating island. The island which is really floating reeds was very flimsy and we found ourselves getting wet just walking on it. I gave out my pencils quickly and Tim and I saw a living hut and a cooking hut. We gave money to their parents and then after about 15 minutes left the island for the boat. It was devastatingly poor there and Tim felt really bad that the little kids were rowing us and tried to take over. He wished he had food to give and not just money.

We went back to our slow boat across the lake and Tim asked them to go a little faster when the boat stalled out for like 15 minutes (which I thought was funny). We finally came back to the more touristy islands that were selling crafts and had restaurants and even a place to 'stay' and have the experience. To be honest everything was overpriced and nothing they were selling were they actually making. We did have a nice fish lunch and then headed back.

All and all it was about a 5.5 hour cruise and very nice.

We then headed back to the hotel to find that the travel agent sent us really cheap bus tickets at a later bus and then was nowhere to be contacted.

I was angry (still am) so instead of accepting the late bus we just headed to the bus station and tried to find something sooner. I found something an hour earlier (that was supposed to get in at midnight) and Tim pawned off our old tickers for 3/4 their value.

The bus was a local and very slow and cramped (and cold) and got in at 1am instead of midnight.

We got a taxi and Tim found a cheap hotel (in fact a hostel) and pretty much passed out at 2am in Arequipa.

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May 29, 2008

Peru Day 10 - Cusco to Puno : Jared as Artist

Well I got up before Tim and went to a travel agen to find out what to do next. See its Wed am and we are in Cusco and on Sat pm we have to be in Lima. Tim wants to fly but I don´t want to get caught in that mess and also want to lower the risk on my film. I am up to 74 rolls (72 regular and 2 3d).

At the travel agent I arranged a bus from 11:30 from Cusco to Puno (but not a luxury bus - a bus that the locals take) and also a bus on Thursday night from Puno to Arequipa. The lady told me that buses from Arequpia to Lima run regularly. She also got us a hotel in Puno - The Camino Real where I am writing from right now.

I woke up Tim, we at and headed out. The bus was a real trip. No AC and very filled with locals. Every few minutes they would sell food. The trip took longer than expected. I slept most of the way (thank you dramamine and sore muscles) though at one point we stopped at people through their garbage out the window at some waiting dogs who scooped it all up.

We got into Puno and it is cold - I mean VERY cold. Winter cold.

I got up to write this and brief you all on the rest of the trip. On friday the University is shutting down the blog server for the weekend so this might be my last entry till I return.

Its Thursday - we are in Puno and we visit Lake Titicaca and the floating islands - we bus tonight to Arequipa.

On Friday we visit the colonial town of Arequipa and maybe hit a museum of two. Friday at 5pm we have first class seats on a luxury bus to Lima (its 14 hours).

Sat am we hit Lima where we will get a hotel room near the airport so we can shower and repack and leave our bags there while we hit a few more spots and then catch out 12:30 am (yeah that late flight)

We arrive back in Cleveland around noon on sunday!

Thanks for reading will post more if I can.

Jared

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Peru Day 9 - Machu Picchu : Jared as Artist

I got up on Tuesday and reflected a little on the night before. After the long crazy day I had a fun evening. I ate Alpaca, bumped into people I saw up the mountain and was feeling very good about how Tuesday would go.

I felt so good I decided to bring the Stereo Realist and see if I could get some 3D pictures at Machu Pichu. Tim and I slept in, ate a nice big breakfast, loaded ourselves with supplies and headed out around 9:15.

Tim and I took it slow around MP. The place is an entire city and the weather was fabulous, sunny, and clear. We ended up splitting off after about an hour and I just photographed and enjoyed nice and slow. I love the fact that Llamas just walk around the place.

At about 1:25 I found myself in this litte room that seemed perfect to try and capture for Pocket Virtual Worlds. I had shleped my gear but still didn´t know if I could do it 'in the field'. The little room was nice as it has a room off of it (like a closet or a cave) where I could stash my bag. I unpacked and started to try to grid out the room. I figured it would take about 18 panoramas to get it right. The sun wasn´t helping but I ended up working up a rhythm and did the entire room in about an hour. I would have probably try to shoot it again but my private hour was all I was going to get and people started to move through. I learned a lot and even if it doesn´t come out right I know what we do next.

I kept wandering and climbing (very slowly with the bound knee and my cane instead of a walking stick) and I bumped into Tim who had gone the other way. After 3pm the place starts to empty and you can really get some great shots. Tim and I met up again about 4:40 and walked to the exit together.

At the exit I met a girl who had a dog sleeping at her feet. She told me it wasn´t hers it just walked up to her and plopped down and went to sleep. She told us that there was a public bus that went from Ollantaytambo to Cusco after the train fro only 5 sol or that people took cabs. This sounded good to us so we headed back to the hotel for dinner and the guys at the hotel made us a reservation back at our old hotel in Cusco and told us not to spend more than 50 sol if we got a cab.

The guys at the hotel were great and we showed the my Africa book and Tim played harmonica. I took pictures with them and then Tim and I grabbed a burger togo and they took our bags to the train station.

This time even though we were on a backpacker train it was more luxurious. And we left at 9:30 and go to Olly around 11pm.

There were two cab drivers hustling for our business and Tim got one down to 50 and we were off. The best part of the whole trip was that the night was clear. I mean really clear and you could see stars but not just a few I mean lots of em the entire galaxy was there and it was heart stopping to see the stars with the mountains all around you.

Very fun.

We got to cusco at around 12:30 and yup it was locked up! They did let us in but they put us in this tiny tiny room on the third floor!
We left our bags downstairs and just went to sleep.

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Peru Day 8 - Machu Picchu (and a nightmare!) Continuation.... : Jared as Artist

OK sorry about the few days break its hard to get internet here sometimes. So where was I, that´s right I was hiking up to the summit of Waynapichu the steep 70 degree sloping mountain that overlooks Machu Picchu. I climbed slowly, drank often, got passed a lot and took 9 rolls of film on the way up. About 2/3 up I came across some Incan ruins (The Temple of the Moon) and kept going, to get to the very summit you have to crawl through this cave that is so small you have to get your pack off. But I kept going until I came to a pile of boulders that made the summit. You go under the boulders and reach a small ladder. It was at the base of this ladder I twisted my knee, it hurt but since I was there this guy with a walkie talkie helped me up the ladder and voila I was at the summit of the mountain and it was 1pm. I rested there for about 20 minutes. Several of us joked around, the guy with the walkie talkie took my picture on the rock (with Machu Pichu in the background) and I even tried to get a spherial panorama (since I had lugged the rig all the way up on my backpack). Oh yeah in addition to my vest and my freshly sown pants I purchased a Peruvian backpack to bring my camera gear.

Well since it took me almost 3 hours to get up I figured I better head down at at 1:20 started to head down when I realized just how bad I messed up my knee! Pain with every step. I started slowly down. Always one step at a time,sometimes on my butt, sometimes on my hands and knees. Now Im starting to get muddy and I see Im covered in bug bites that are acutally bleeding. You can imagine the mess I look. People start to come down and pass me one at a time asking if they can help and if I am ok. I tell them not to worry I made it up and will make it down.

After about 20 minutes I figure out what´s wrong with me knee. It hurts when I bend it - not when I put pressure on it. So I start down sideways one step at a time. Then to my shock at about 1:45 I run out of water - that right I drank the entire 2 liters!

I haven´t eaten anything yet all day cause I thought I would meet up with Tim for lunch so I grab a hard candy and keep slowly going down when the man with with walkie talkie asks if I need help. Then I realize. He works here and I´m the last one on the mountain. He offers to get a stretcher and have them carry me off the mountain but I refuse. I can do it I tell him just slowly. He takes off my pack, and my empty water, and my vest, puts them in the pack and hands me a walking stick and we go down together. He keeps insisting I go slow, and continues to offer the stretcher (which I think would be worse!).

Finally at 2:55 I arrive at the base and sign out where I signed in (this is a security thing so they get everyone off the mountain). Several of the people who passed me where waiting to see how I was and gave me water and power bars. I tried to give the guy who carried my bag down some money and he only took it when I explained it was because he saved me not because he carried my bag.

I realized I would never find Tim so I headed for the exit. It took me till 4:30 to find me way out and I bussed back to the hotel. On the way I get a bandage to put pressure on the knee and some gatoraid (which they sell a lot of). At the hotel I left Tim a note and got some food and drink.

Tim showed up about 7pm. He waited for me at the last bus and then came back and ate himself. It turns out he didn´t see Mach Pichu either and went the other direction torwards the Incan train and hike up to the entrance gate that way. I went and had a massage (they did a great job on my knee) and we agree to go back to Machu Pichu on Tuesday to see it and photgraph it nice and slow.

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May 26, 2008

Peru Day 8 - Machu Picchu (and a nightmare!) : Jared as Artist

So I wake up at 6am because I´m so excited to go to Machu Picchu and its pouring, I mean rain rain, the whole city is in a fog. So I grab my stuff and head out anyways. I buy a rain poncho and head to the bus station and find out you have to buy a ticket to Machi Piccu somewhere else. I figure I should look into getting out of town and go to the train station and purchase tickets to Olyantatambo on the only train I can Tuesday at 9:15 PM (backpackers again). I also buy the tickets to Machu Picchu cause I don´t want Tim to get up and find that they are sold out (only a certain number of people per day).

I come back to the hotel about 8am wake up Tim, hand him his tickets and brief him on the situation and head out. The situation is: no food, no drink, no bottles, no walking sticks unless elderly. I emptied most of my bag but did take but 2 liter water backpack. Tim was going to bring food in his bag later for the two of us.

The moment I get to the bus it stops raining (im told it rains everymorning) and I head off. Its way up through the mist and mountains and I´m very excited. I get off and head into Machu Piccu and follow throngs of tourists (its already busy!) and I walked to the comeplete other end and I find that the big mountain over Machu Piccu is open still (they only allow 400 people a day) and I figure what they hell and at 10:15 signed in the log book and started my ascent. It was a crazy trek up and up and up and I didn´t reach the summit till 1pm!

But they are closing this Internet cafe so you all have to wait to hear what happened tommorow!

Boo hoo

Jared

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Peru Day 7 - Cusco to Aquas Calient : Jared as Artist

So there I am packing up for an early morning when I hear the hotel buzzer buzz. Its about 12:30 and its Tim coming back. Problem is they all fell asleep, so he buzzes and bangs and calls up to me but I can´t let him in cause we are locked into the hotel. He just buzzez for 20 minutes till they finally let him in.

And of course we have a 9:30 taxi.

I get up around 8:30 to run some errands, I wanted to get some food and take some last minute pictures of the Incan ruined walls that make up most of the city when I open the door and its Mario, the guy who arranged our driver and our hotel (who we accidentally stood up the other night). I tell him that we have a taxi and we are going to get train tickets when we get to Olantaltyambo, he says this won´t work and while Tim is getting dressed Mario, the driver and me go to the train station and I get the backpacker train that night from Olantalytambo to Aquas Calienti.

Mario is a licensed travel agent and would be happy to arrage everything until we leave but we like a little more flexibility. We did have him get us a hotel for two night in Aquas Calient for a good price.

So we finally leave the hotel with train tickets and all our baggage and will drive about 80 miles to the train station. Our first stop )10:15) is the Incan Temple of the Sun which turns out to be the same as the Church we saw last night (but in daylight) I also was able to stop into a store and get needle and thread for my split pants.

We spent about 15 minutes there and then headed off to Chinchero where we passed a parade of children coming through the town. Since it was sunday Chinchero was having a big Sunday market. Beyond the trinkets I really enjoyed seeing people selling alpaca yarn by the kilo and powedered pigments. The ruin in the town was right in front of a small church, the ruin itself was outstanding and just want on and on.

Around 1pm we hit the small town of Moras and I got to see donkeys up close I mean so close the flies came in the car! We then headed down this dirt road to Moray which has these Incan circular terraces. Very nice but a long hike down to the bottom and it started to rain. Tim and I just hung out for a few and walked partway down and headed out.

Our next stop was the pre-Incan salt mines. It was a very scary dirt road into a valley where a saltewater stream was diverted into a bunch of pools that dried to become salt. Very nice to see.

We got to Olantatambo at 4:15 which was just in time to get in, it was massive, Tim and I hiked up and down it till 5:30 when they through us out. It really was this entire Incan city.

When Tim realized it was 6pm and our train was at 8:30 he was a little distraught so we went into the train station and had a nice SLOW dinner, salad, soup, cheese, burger, really good food.

We met a nice couple she was Irish he was Peruvian and they met and live in India! They had a 4.5 month old with them.

Tim and I were nervous about the 2 hour trainride since technically we were not on a train that allowed luggage but nobody cared and they stored it where we could see it from our seat. (they even carried it for us).

When we got if is Aquas Caliente it was amazing. There are no roads so there are no cars! Just huge steep walkways. They had people from the local hotels with signs - It was funny my name is ´Joset Bendit´. The hotel was straight up and they helped drag our very heavy bags to the hotel. The hotel is only two months old and gorgeous (but no internet) and really the entire town is about Machu Pichu and the local hot springs.

Sunday night I packed for MachuPicchu since you can only take one small bag with you. Tim and I agreed that I could go whenever he could go whenever and we would meet up and just come back together. I set my alarm for 7am and went to bed.

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May 25, 2008

Peru Day 6 - Cusco (ish) : Jared as Artist

First I have to tell you as I went to use the computer in the hotel I needed to log on. The administrator password is 123456. Nice...

When we got up today we had breakfast and the first person we see is Mario the agent who got us this hotel trying to manage the rest of our trip. Before we left the room Tim and I made a list of exactly where we wanted to go and showed it to a taxi - he made us an offer but didn´t speak any english. Mario called a driver for us for the same price who spoke english. He was a fabulous driver and we had him from 11am till after 6pm.

To start we wanted to hit the furthest ruin first in Pisac about 20 miles away but up and down mountains. He first took us in town to the church of St. Chritsopher which was build on the ruins of the palace of the first Inca king Manco Cappa.

Then he drove us past the ruins we saw the night before and got some nice long daylight shots.

The trip through the mountains and valleys weer wonderful - the andes are so green and brown and some snow capped. We passed Puca Pucara from the road and took some photos but we went back to it later in the afternoon.

We saw so much of the countryside and finally some animals, cows, sheep, bulls, donkeys, horses. We also saw large ceraminc and cooking ovens. We passed a textile school and an open air market but we had to manage our time wisely.

Pisac is enourmous. It takes hours and hours to walk up and down the various sites and the Incan terraces. We drove to the top and walked around and then drove to the bottom and walked around. We were there over an hour and got some fun souveniers and pictures.

Our next stop was at Tambomachay to see the Incan aquaducts, I only found out later it was the water of eternal youth but since I didn´t know I avoided it like all other non bottled sources. The market there was horrible and the prices were outrageous!

Next we went to Puca Pucarra which we saw earlier and was pretty small but nice and easy to photograph. By this time I was getting nervous because it was getting near 4 and the sun sets at 5:30 and is useless after 5.

The next place Salapunco was this large rocky outcrop with an Incan wall but was filled with natural caves. Tim and I climbed up to the top and then started climbing down and up and through the caves. It was wild and not at all easy. He would go and then I would with him showing me where to grab and where to put my feet. I made him take some video since no one would believe what we were doing. Alas I think it was here I split my pants and my black jeans are being retired until I find needle and thread.

The last stop (yes there is more) was to Qenko which is a giant sundial to predict the rainy season and an alter and caves to sacrafice lamas (with grooves to drain off the blood). They have also unearthed some mummies there.

With the sun going down we arranged for our driver to come back for use tommorow morning for another grand adventure.

Since our tourist ticket had a lot of activities we were going to see the native dancing but Tim saw that the church was open for mass (meaning we didn´t have to pay) but more importantly that he could go to mass. We went and the place was packed because it was a wedding! We stayed but we left before they came running back down the being pelted with rice.

We then walked down past the Church of Santo Domingo which is very important and I may have succesffuly shot at night using the digital camera. Then off to the Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo to see the 1.5 hour native dance show which was fabulous. At one point they asked us to all clap along but nobody coudl find the rhythm and a guy had to stand up and show it to us. During the intermission they gave out coca tea which I didn´t have but I went and got some great corn cake and saw this perfect museum (which Tim missed).

After the show the reopened the museum just for me and Tim and then we watched some of the dance students rehearsing. Next door we went shopping at a souvenier market. I finally found myself a sweater that fit! A baby alpaca sweater for $22 isn´t bad right?

Last we had to do he essentials. I needed Chapstick and Qtips water (I have been drinking my 2 liters per day and then some) and snacks. I bought a finger pupper from a little girl on the way back to the hotel. Everyone is selling them. Some teenager was pestering me why I didn´t want hers and I said I didn´t need any and she said it was to warm my fingertips!

So Tim and I have an 8:30 am wakeup call and the next adventure begins. It looks a little like this:

At 9:30 our driver comes to pick us up with our luggage.
He takes us to the ruins of the temple of the sun (in town).
Then we head out of town to Chinchero, then to Moray, then to the salt minines, then to Ollantaytambo (which has a huge ruin). In Ollantaytambo we will catch a train to Aqua Caliente and then spend the night there so that on Monday and Tuesday we can do Machi Piccu.

Tim keeps saying that two days there is too long but I´ve been firm about my intentions and insist on two full days. He gets these sudden bursts of energt in fact its 11:45 and he came downstairs telling me he heard live music and we should go find it (he of course has his harmonicas) - he also locked the key in the room. I told him to have fun so I can finish up here and get ready for the am.

Having fun!

Jared

38 rolls of film.

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May 23, 2008

Peru Day 5 - Cusco : Jared as Artist

Woo boy, catching up is fun.

So while sleeping the bus to Cusco you find yourself slowly acending through the mountains. Its only 600km but it takes 14 hours! Anways at 2am I woke up feeling sick and realized it had been 6 hours since my dramamine and it was wearing off - I took another 2 and went to bed.

When we finally arrived at Cusco around 11am we were now at an altitude of 10,500 feet. FYI the other movies on the bus was Toy Story and We Are Marshall (both in spanish). Im assuming you could never see We Are Marshall on a plane and someone on this busline likes Mathew McConnehey.

While I got the luggage Tim negotiated a ride to a hotel 5 blocks from the main square for $30/night and they brought us Coca tea to help with any elevation sickness. We didn't drink the tea.

We went to the Plaza de Arnas and saw some wonderful architecture - La Catedral and Compania de Jesus and I can understand why Tim get upset when they want admission to visit a church he is always inquiring about going to mass but he hasn´t made one yet. The room is nice but alas no pool like in Nasca.

We went to the Museo de Inca which was a former palace of the Spanish Governer and it was really well done some very advanced ways of showing pots and lighting etc. I think we are getting museumed out though by now we know what we are looking at.

There were weavers in the courtyard and I am reminded of a weaver I met a few days earlier who showed me his wares. I didn´t like what he had but I asked if he had anything like he was working on and he told me to come back tommorow. Some lady with a Alpaca sweater that almost fit said if I saw her tommorow she would have one bigger. The sweaters are like $15-$20 each.

Everyone is walking up and down the street trying to sell you crap. The finger puppets are my favorite. People in traditional grab want to pose for you for money. I tried giving for little girls .20 soles each but they held out for 1 soles coints (about 30 cents). I also took a photo of two ladies and an alpaca.

We wanted to find a decent lunch and some barker was moving us from place to place until she showed us some little hole in the wall that had soup, meal, and soda for 15 soles (it is 2.75 soles per dollar).
I can corn soup and steak and it came with fried and rice and bread. We were stuffed.

We heard that there was a tourist ticket that you could buy and Tim found the place it was 70 soles, it was half for students but she checked my passport and said I was too old! The ticket is good at some museums and a lot of archeological sites.

Our next stop was the small but nice Museo de Arte Popular and we walked around the square some more. You couldn´t tell that yesterday the place was fully decorated for Corpus Christi (we missed it).

All of the sudden Tim gets the energy to visit another ruin even though its near sunset. He hails a taxi who wants 10 but the next guy says he will take 3 (until we got there and then insisted on 10 even called the police - I gave him another 3 and he shut up and left).

The ruin of Sacsayhauman is an amazing Incan fortress of perfectly aligned stones. We walked around it until the sun was down and it was completely dark - a valley surrounded by the stars and the city lights. I told Tim we have to get to these places earlier so I can shoot - he likes the night ambience which is fine but we need another 30 min or so.

We went back to the square and I left Tim at the church to drop off my stuff at the hotel but got lost. When I finally got back Tim headed back to the hotel. There is a massotherapy place across from the hotel and I just had a very nice 1 hour massage for $20.

So the place for tommorow is to get up and visit Pisac which is a huge ruin about 20 miles away and then hit the Tambomachay trail which is 4 other ruins. (these are all on our tourist ticket)

Depending on when we get back we may see some other museums. We will spend the night here and then head to Olloysomething or another which has another ruin in town and one we want to see out of it.

From there we must train to Aqua Caliete - the nearest town to Machu Pichu where we should spend another 2 days. Tim made it clear that if I wanted to see sunrise of the valley then I would be on my own that morning :)

All is well missing everyone

PS The University is probably shutting down this blog server as they are having a power outage next weekend - I will try and host elsewhere and post in the entry.

PS Im up to 26 rolls of film.

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Peru Day 4 - Nasca : Jared as Artist

So we head to the airport because we don't want to get scammed by all these middle men and buy our tickets to flyover the nasca lines. The taxi driver tries to hustle us but eventually drops us off at the airport. Tim and I find a airline, look at the plane, and negotiate a price of $85 each to fly over all 12 Nascar Lines and all 10 Palpa lines in a 3 passenger plane. This is the deluxe package.

We took our dramamine and then they took us to the gates where we found out it was another plan (and later found out another airline) and away we went, me and Tim and this guy from Turkey. It was amazing! Such a wonderful flight and a clear day.

But after seeing all of the 12 Nasca and 2 of the Palpa lines he said that was the end of the tour and took us back. When we went to complain we were shuffled all the way back to the other counter. After an hour of being jerked around by the owner of the airline who claimed we only purchased the 40 minute tour and that the guy who sold it to us was a middle man Tim got really frustrated and said he was going back to complain at the terminal.

But instead of taking a Taxi he just walked out onto the tarmac! That got everyone's attention and they send a van for us. After talking to everyone on the planet it turns out that the kid who sold us the tickets was a subconractor for the airline. The airline didn´t have any planes going up and handed us off to another airline and they took us on a lovely but wrong flight.

After having lunch at the airport I went back to the hotel to pack up while Tim handeled the rest. In the end he met with local police, airport police, the aiport commisioner, and every airline involved and the forced some guy from the ground crew to fork over $30 for each of us and free tickers the next time we come to Nasca (ironicaly though for the 40minute not the 1 hour tour).

I picked Tim up luggage in hand and talked the Taxi driver into taking us to the adobe ruin I mentioned yesterday - Cahuachi. I told him I wanted to be there before the sunset and he said it would be hard since it was all gravel, dirt, and sand in the desert. He drove those 20 miles like a bat out of hell it was like driving in the open desert we could barely see a road. Then this caretaker came out and showed us around and we stayed till the sunset and it was dark dark.

Then a little slower he drove us to the bus station for our bus to Cusco. The ride through the desert reminded me of something that happened on a previous ride through the desert on the day before at the cemetary as we drove two wild dogs chased the car. Wild dogs are everywhere and just kinda wander around.

At the bus station Tim and I balanced the first 4 days of the trip and I watched as Tim talked a moth land on his tongue. It was gross!

We had the front two seats on the bus. I took my dramamine and faded out to a subtitled Deja Vu - unlike the last trip the movie was in spanish with english subtitles.

We left Nasca at 8:30 at an elevation of 1800 feet.

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May 22, 2008

Peru Day 3 - Lima to Nasca : Jared as Artist

Wow 5:15 sucks.

We got up and go out of the hotel, our cab was waiting and so was Gino from the other day so we shook hands and said goodbye. The bus station was nice and they checked our bags with more care and security than they do at the airport! When we left Lima we were at 413 feet. Instantly both Tim and I got bussick. The second floor sways really bad and I ended up taking my anti altitude pills which worked like dramamine and I was fine (but a little loopy).

The showed to films on the plane - a Kim Bassinger, Tom Corbitt vehicle called "Elvis... has left the building" that probably defines what a B-movie really is. The cast is all star in the worst way. Then they showed "Failure to Launch" which Tim and I had already seen but is still quite funny.

Hour into the trip we stopped t a resort hotel to let some people off and Tim decided to sneak off and use the bathroom. He took longer than expected and we left without him - we noticed right as we were pulling out and I finally got to see Tim running after a bus going "wait wait".

About 5 minutes later we stopped at the busstop that wasn't the resort hotel and they told us we would have only 5 minutes to get out and stretch our legs, I decided to stay on the bus. They then said it would be 10 minutes and I should get off the bus. At which point I see 10 guys standing around the back of the bus with tools and belts and it took over an hour before we left again. Since the bus was almost empty Tim and I moved downstairs to first class with the huge sleeping bed chairs (Tim even asked first!) and the rest of the trip was just a dream as we drove across the desert and mountains.

Nasca is about 1968 feet so not too high yet.

The moment we got off he bus they wouldn't give me my bags until I verified my baggage claim tags and then we left the station.

At the station 2 guys offered us a ride to a luxury hotel - they had pictures of this wonderful place with a swimming pool etc an it was $30US. I have to stay if you are every in Nasca the Don Agucho Hotel is fabulous! They really took care of us and the bags and its very secure here.

They then arranged a driver for us to take us to the Cementario Prehispanico de Chauchilla which is a huge excavarted gravesite (with mummies) out in the desert. It was amazing walking around the desert with the mountains all around. There was a cool wind like when we were in Hawaii. Tim met an Italian couple who just got married a week ago and they were really pleased that he took their picture for them. Tim said that we knew how nice it was to be married because we were both married - to which I interjected "not to each other!" they thought it was very funny and later he went up to me later and said: your "husband" is very slow in walking (he even used the finger quotes).

On the way out from the desert site we stopped and watched the sunset over the desert (well through our cameras at least) and he said he wanted to take us to two more places a gold craftsman and a cermanic workshop.

The ceramic workshop guy did a nice 5 minute demo and then tried to sell us very very expensive reproductions (that he didnt make). The gold guy next store was just some crazy old miner who showed us some jewelry and had a rock collection out. Tim picked up a light blue stone and asked what it was and the man told him sulphur. Later when he was turned to Tim and handed him a blue stone and asks "do you know what this is?" Tim said "sulphur" and he was very impressed.

He then played us New York New York with his own lyrics on and out of tune guitar and started calling us back that we should give him a tip as we walked away.

Both of the add-on excursions were within a block of the hotel, it was funny.

We walked into town to find the restaurnt "El Porton" that was good. I had some steak with cheese and ham and some leaves on it. Tim had a seafood combo of some sort (he has this dream of finding the perfect seafood platter here). The sprite tasted funny, and then the coke did, and then the pineapple soda did so I think its the sweetener or the water in the local bottling plants. I will stick to my bottled water till we head out.

At dinner we heard some live music and went upstairs to see some drummers and a boy and a girl dancing for tips. It was nice and this and the markets we visited afterward were very much like our trip to Africa.

In the market I purchased some real dramamine (well generic actually) and it was nice to see what and how people shopped, olives, chickens, fruits and vegetables.

Today we fly over Nasca, Tim wants to take the bigger economy plane because it is more stable while I figure dramamine is dramamine we should go for the private 4 seater and get the better views and longer ride. It will be betweem 25 and 45 minutes. Afterwards we re going back to the hotel in case we have to shower and then we will try and see the Cahuachi ruins which has a large adobe (formerly macromedia) pyramid. Hit a museum or two and then bus out at 8pm for Cusco.

So was there wifi on ths bus? yes - in the station!

Oh and I woke up this morning and the temple broke off my glasses. Its at a point that I could wedge and tape so I am ok but the panic and the first aid surgery on them was nerve wracking.

Wow and its only Thursday morning (and yes I found out who won American Idol)

Jared

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May 21, 2008

Peru Day 2 - PS : Jared as Artist

Im up to 11 rolls of film....

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Peru Day 2 - More of Lima : Jared as Artist

This probably won´t be too long as I´m on a funky keyboard, its late, and we have to be up at 5am to catch a bus.

First some updates. I forgot to mention yesterday that when we stopped for water I didn't check and bought WITH bubbles and had to go back and purchase 'sin gas´. Ooops

Second, in my delight in telling you about the big mall area where we had dinner Tim reminded me I forgot to mention how lost we got in getting there. We walked to where they told us and the entire place looked empty and as we were about to give up we noticed an entrance to this vast undergound cliffside complex and realized we were idiots.

Today we booked our bus to Nasca (though we have to sit on the second floor in the regular instead of the luxury first floor seats) and headed into central Lima.

We started off by going to the San Fransisco cathedral. It was very nice though Tim didn´t take off his hat (he said he did it on purpose) and the monks chased him down to take it off. Later they chased me out cause they were closing and ended up locking Tim in (I waited at least 10 minutes for him to come out of the other exit after everyone was gone). They had great pigeons in the square there and I've gotten some great pigeons shots all over.

We then went to the catacombs and got student discounts... the first guide only spoke spanish so we ditched them and joined an english group but it was private so we ditched them and just walked around until we got busted cause I was taking photos and they heard me. Eventually they got us with an English guide and we stayed with them for a while but ditched two more groups before we left. It was funny but we had a good time and didn't get kicked out.

We then went shopping and didn't buy anything. The t-shirts are the clinging cotton though they do have 2xl and the alpaca stuff is very cheap which I find funny cause we have the same stuff at home (but not cheap). We then went to the mayoral square and I photo´d the presidential palace, the fountain, and another cathedral.

We went in but they wanted money for the full tour and we were short on time. Tim went to look at the postcards rack and we kept peeking into the cathedral. I went to take a picture (which was allowed) and the person next to me used a flash and everyone started to yell at me - but it wasn´t me!

We took a taxi (these guys are crazy!) to the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia del Peru. It was amazing (and free today) it was outside and inside with big courtyards and wonderful art. Tim went though so slowly he only got to see the precolonial stuff (which is what he cares about). Now I have seen two last suppers where they are eating Guinee Pigs!

We stayed at the museum till they kicked us out. Tim and I both got some books and I got a refrigerator magnet.

We headed back to Mirflores to have dinner at this resteraunt that Tim saw yesterday. It was a nightmare. While I enjoyed my Beef stroganoff wich was beef with mushroom soup and 1 slice of bread, his fish dinner was still frozen and he sent it back while I finished mine.

This led us on the quest to get Tim fed to a level of satisfaction that took us to a cafe and a chinese place. The chinese place was funny cause they sold gelato and they gave me a little spoon sample of a flavor and when I asked about a different flavor he prompted me to return the spoon from my mouth so that he could scoop the second flavor. Think about it.

We ended up in the town square where we first found a wonderful art gallery with an exhibition on merging modern and ancient artforms and then went outside and saw a fabulous photo exhibition www.yannarthusbertrand.org that just really made us think.

On the way back we stopped in city hall to use the restroom - I just found it funny that at 11pm they were open just for that. And then got some munchies before heading back to the hotel.

We have a 5:15 wake up call and I have to pack.

Having fun... heading to Nasca

Jared

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May 20, 2008

Peru Day 1 - What a day!! : Jared as Artist

So much to tell!

Tim didn't like the lack of hot water at the hotel and when he complained they moved us to a bigger room - a much bigger room (4 beds and a huge bathroom) with tons of hot water. Tim is very happy with the new room and we are going to spend 2 more nights here (more on that later).

After breakfast Tim and I had planned on doing the local museums but we ran across an entry on a local Incan ruin right near where we are stayng called Huaca Pucclana. We got a taxi and he said he would wait for us while we visited and then take us downtown to Central Lima for the museums.

The ruin is a place of games, by which they mean human sacrafices, arts and banquets. The pyramid is built from little rooms made of mud bricks and concrete that get built and sealed over the centuries. They are still going through it now. They had some amazing pottery that was also 'sacraficed' where they would built a pot and then break it and bury it. Tim liked the idea a lot and I expect a round of Raku students will be destroying pots next year.

We also met a very strange looking Peruvian hairless dog also known as a hot dog. Gino (our driver) kept saw that I was trying to photograph it so he went and held it for me so all my photos are of Gino holding the dog. Its an Incan dog and all Incan sites are required to have one on site. The guide was very informative and told us about the old fish gods and then pointed to the new gods - McDonalds and Starbucks (which are plentiful).

There was no charge for the site because of some cultural days thing going on all week - though they almost would't let me in because my camera looked to professional - which I talked my way out of - 'this old thing?'

Speaking of cameras - I decided that I'm probably not going to shoot much video this trip. Video is really a solo activity for me to shoot and talk to the camera and the rhythm isn't right with everything else I want to shoot.

We met this English guy named John and he told us about another ruin that was free this week but outside of town. He told us about the bus but we ended up negotiating with our taxi driver (who took the taxi light off his car) and he agreed to drive us the rest of the day. Our next stop was the gas station - which at $16 US a gallon has finally convinved Tim that we will not be renting - wher we got some munchies sandwhiches, water, candy, and for me some gatoraid.

We then drove about 30km south of Lima to Pachacamac. The site was huge (and again free) and really had 5 distinct ancient complexes, a museum, a snack bar, a bookstore, some local artisans, and several Incan dogs.

I loved watching the decoaritive weavers mixing colored yarns by hand and painting scenes with yarn on the loom. It was pretty cheap to get one but we did't want to pick much up this early in the trip. I got a real kick out of the Chess set that has the Incans face off against the Spanish. One craftsman Sixto Seguil Dorregaray was doing some amazing carved gourds and jewelry and I picked up a couple of small items for Jenny (but don't tell her).

The site was vast and really a baren wasteland of sand and stone. If you tried to go where you shouldn't a guard would whistle from out of nowhere and tell you to get back on the path. We drove from site to site and were really glad to have the car and driver.

The largest of the sites was the Temple of the Sun that you could climb all the way to the top of. When you got here you found yourself overlooking the pacific - it was wonderful.

I at this point was a little ahead of Tim who I saw talking to four ladies who looked like American hippies. He later told me that they were smoking pot and blowing on their ocarinas. Our driver who didn't speak English asked if they were Bruja - which he explained were like women on Halloween ie witches and we all had a big laugh.

Tim loved seeing some of the original polychromed wall (though its hard sometimes cause he touches everything!)

The sun sets here around 6pm so by 5 we started to head back. I noticed some ads and it appears both Whitesnake and Megadeath are visiting Lima soon. Tim saw an ad that had Brad Pitt selling something and I found a poster for Indiana Jones openings on Thursday!

On the way back to Lima we passed this big white mansion that we recognized from the tourbook as we stopped and with 30 min left visited the Museo Pedro de Osma this huge Mansion with Cusco school paintings and a museum of religios silver (that was really well done - all glass and lights and just a sleek display).

Our last stop with the driver was to a Pharmacy where Tim purchased a new diabetic testing kit and supplies since it fell out of his bag at customs (don't worry Michelle his blood is perfect!). At the hotel the driver tried to get some more money from us and we gave in since he was such a great guy all day.

We then walked to the local tourist area where they had a Marriott and a mall, a movie theater, bolwing alley, starbucks, food court etc.. it was really nice over the ocean and Tim and I reflected on why our downtown wasn't as nice.

We found a resteraunt - La Dama Juana that had a buffet of Peruvian dishes (and desserts). They was a show during dinner and for an extra $20 they put you next to the stafe - we didn't and so instead they sat us 10 feet away from it - a perfect view.

The buffet was great - stews of every meat - and I ate so much flan. They asked where we were from and then put an american flag on the table - when you looked around the room you could see where everyone was from. The floor show was amazing - one traditional dance after the other - the scissor dance looked like modern hip hop acrobatics and during once dance they kept lighting their backsides on fire! At one point Tim turned to me and said that the show was going on longer than his capacity to eat!

Afterwards we went back to the hotel to plan Tuesday (it was an amazing first day). Today we will do the local museums and then catch a luxury bus fist thing Wed morning to Nazca and then perhaps another luxury bus Wed night to Cusco. We will see how long we stay in Nazca. We still want to be in Cusco on Thursday for the Corpus Christi celebration.

I got up and showered and stuff and came down to write this entry. I think I didn't pack enough Q-tips! Funnily enough its very cold here and we haven't seen any bugs.

Thats it for day one. 2 Incan ruins, 1 museum, 1 floor show (and 7 rolls of film).

See you all soon - the luxury bus is supposed to have Wifi! so that would be from my iPhone.

Jared

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May 19, 2008

Peru Day 1 - On lost wedding rings and violations of customs rules! : Jared as Artist

Monday - May 19

Whoo boy what a trip it has been so far.

So the flight was ok - I slept most of the time until Tim spilled his water glass (on my lap).

So late into the flight I'm getting ready to get off the plane and I can't find my wedding ring. I had it after I ate, I had it after the bathroom, but when my hands swell I put it on my pinky and I think it fell off while I was sleeping. When we landed we looked everyhwere for it and the flight attendant was actually rude to me for not telling her earlier that I had lost something - which I would have if I had known I had lost it.

Getting though the passport area was fine but it took forever to get out luggage and the whole time I am looking for a Delta agent to tell them about my ring to at least alert the lost and found. When the luggage arrived we went to clear customs and were randomly selected for 'searches'.

While they did not xray my bag (which is something I try to avoid because of the film) it turns out I was required to declare the extra cameras as a tourist is only allowed to carry 1 still and 1 video camera and I have something like 4 and way too many accessories for his comfort.

He let me off with a warning.

I didn't see them tearing apart Tim's bag but at least one toiletry item didn't make it back and we have to head to a store this morning.

So...

So we head out of the airport and its 1am, the Delta offices are closed, the Delta counter is closed and nobody wants to help me.

Finally I find the locked Delta office and bang on the door until someone comes out and laughingly hands me my wedding ring! Yeah!

Back home I found the name of a nice hostel in Lima and we asked a cab driver to take us there. It was going to cost 45S. An S is like 2.7S per Dollar so we are rounding to 3. He told us that the hostel would be full but handed us a bunch of brochures and tooks us up the pacific coast highway to the Miraflores area. We visited several full hostels and pricey hotels till we found a decent one for $45 US which included a free continental breakfast and Internet!! Woo hoo.

We will stay here another night so we can leave our bags and visit some museums even though most of them are closed cause... its Monday and all museums are close on Monday. Still we have enough to do and the hotel has HBO. There is a huge church the San Fransico with catacombs and a library and a ruins to explore around the corner.

Tim got eggs and I got ham. His eggs look good my ham was well - lunchmeat, but very tasty.

So heading up to get loaded up with camera and have a slow get our bearings kinda day.

For those keeping track when we landed in Lima we were at 75 feet - here in Miraflores at the El Ejecutivo its 175 feet.

I should be able to write again tonight or in the AM as we are staying here so until then....

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May 18, 2008

Peru Day 0 - Before the trip.... : Jared as Artist

Ok, so here it goes. Blogging for the trip to Peru. Its 3:30am, we leave at about 12:30 and I am still catching up on my last minute to do list.

Tim and I have a very open agenda, we know roughly where we want to go and roughly how one gets there.

We fly into Lima tomorrow via Atlanta. We expect to spend a few days in Lima seeing some museums and soaking up the culture and then taking a bus to Cusco. Tim wanted to fly but the risk of altitude sickness and bedrest once you get there is high and the long bus ride would be eventful and gradual.

Assuming my info is correct we can bus from Lima to Nasca and see some stuff about the lines (but not the lines themselves without getting a charter flight). From Nasca we take a treacherous but fun journey to Cusco. Spend a few days in Cusco.

Then we head to Machu Picchu for a few days and take a bus down to Puno and visit Lake Titicaca. We then head to Juliaca and fly back to Lima to fly back home.

That's the rough plan.

Now what am I bringing? Lots of camera, no pda, no computers, and one iPhone.

My Pentax film camera with a 17-35mm, 50mm, and 70-300mm lens.
My StereoRealist 3D film camera.
My new Nikon 12 Megapixel spherical panoramic rig.
My Sony HD camcorder with a wide angle lens and microphone (set to SD)

15 miniDV tapes, 110 rolls of film, 8GB flash card for the digital camera, 3 rechargeable lithium camera batteries for the digital camera, and 2 rechargeable camera batteries for the video camera.

And assorted gadgets.

Hopefully I will get to an Internet Cafe every 2 to 3 days to post more.

For your amusement a picture of the technology pre-packing....

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May 14, 2008

Reposting France to Prepare for Peru : Jared as Artist

Its funny how thins work. As I prepare to head off to Peru on Sunday for another adventure I was thinking that perhaps I should try and blog about it. And then I thought back to the last trip I blogged about (my 2004 trip to France) and realized that I had used a different blog server and then moved it and figured I should move it again. So for your viewing pleasure (any my archive) I will be reposting my 11 blog postings from my 2004 trip to France. Enjoy.

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November 27, 2007

Happy Chanukah (well almost)! : Jared as Artist

I can't exactly tell you why but I recently created VirtualMenorah.com.

Happy Chanukah and tell your friends!

Jared

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September 07, 2007

Long Crazy Summer & Gallery Opening : Jared as Artist

Well is has been a long crazy summer and of course not too much blogging.

But I decided to post because tonight (Friday 9/7/2007 from 5pm-730pm) is the opening of the Faculty Show at the Case Western Reserve Art Education/Art Studio Gallery at the corner of Adelbert and Murray Hill. As I have several pieces in the show (and its a good show) I encourage all to attend.

As an Artist I have been quite busy this summer.
First, in addition to having 3 design entries accepted into GuitarMania a fourth "Recycle Rock" that I designed with Rita Montlack was accepted and we actually built the guitar which is currently located at Tower City.

Rita and I were also featured artists at this year's Ingenuity Festival with a work entitled Found in a Crowd.

Lastly, I went to Cameroon for 2 and 1/2 weeks with Tim Shuckerow, Gilbert Doho, and Mark Augustine. And while the purpose was academic the true output would be the photographs that I took while I was there.

Well that's the "Jared as Artist" short version. Remember to come to the show!

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February 04, 2007

Introduction: Artist : Jared as Artist

I never considered myself an artist. In fact I avoided art altogether. My brother was the artist – he was always drawing – he lived for comic books. He even went to art school. Of course my brother is Brian Michael Bendis is most famous these days for writing Spiderman (as well as many other comic books). Instead I focused on music – to be honest I wasn’t very good but I enjoyed playing guitar and singing and it made for a nice contrast.

When I went back to school to finish my BA I took a summer course in Raku Ceramics out at the university farm. This is an amazing 2 week intensive course and a whole lot of fun. I’ve taken it 4 times and even produced a CD-Rom on it. After Raku I took Painting and things have just gone crazy from there. I love working as an artist. Surprisingly my brother was very supportive and he helped me whenever he could – which isn’t often as his area of expertise is in drawing and writing and as he once told me that it was only when he stopped drawing and started writing that he got famous.

Most be are surprised to find out that multimedia is my primary medium. I love painting and photography (not digital) and I specialize in photographing castles. I’ve been to about 250 around the world (so far) and am always looking for an excuse to visit more. I do work in some digital mediums especially in augmented and virtual reality.

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June 18, 2004

France 2004 - Day 20 : The Airport and The Final Tally : Jared as Artist

I got up on Sat to head to the Airport and on the way I actually got pulled over. The cops were very angry with me for something (probably not seeing them) but I talked them out of the ticket because I was on my way to the Airport.

I got through most of the Airport without incident until I came to the x-ray machine. Since all of my belongings were stolen and I since wasn’t going to be on video after all I had not shaved in 3 weeks and I was looking pretty scruffy. I let them x-ray my film (in the lead lined bags I finally found) and the man at the x-ray monitor looked at the bag then at me and said something in French.

I shrugged that I didn’t understand
and he said “I Liked Lord of the Rings”.
I said “So did I”
And he said “Are you Peter Jackson?”
I told him “No”
He says “Are you sure?”
“Yes” I said “I’m wearing shoes”

-

I arrived home without any troubles and the final tallies are as follows:

95 Castles
20 Religious Spots
19 Other Places of Interest

In the end I drove 6554 km which is 4008 miles

1-m Paris
1 Chateau Chantily
2 Chateau Pontarme
3 Chateau Raray
4 Chateau d'Aramont
2-t Michel
5 Chateau de Bernicourt
6 Amiens Cathedral
7 Mairie Trie Chateau
8 Old Walls Trie Chateau
3-w Gisors
9 Chateau Gisors
10 Ruin on D14
11 Chateau Gaillard
12 Monet's Gardens
13 Chateau La Roche-Guyon
14 Chateau de Bizy
15 Ruins of Chateau Robert le Diable
16 Chateau de Guillaume le Conquerant
17 Chateau Ducal
4-r Aunay-Sur-Odon
18 Chateau Fougeres
19 Chateau du Trecesson
20 Dolmen de la Maison-Trouvee
21 Chateau du Crevy
22 Chateau de Josselin (de rohan)
23 Chateau de Chateaubriant
5-f Angers
24 Chateau de Montgeoffroy
25 Chateau de Saumur
26 Chateau de Montsoreau
27 Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud
28 Eglise Saint-Michel
29 Chateau de Chinon
30 Chateau Usse
31 Chateau de Villandry
32 Chateau de la Bourdaisiere
6-s Amboise
33 Chateau du Clos Luce
34 Chateau Royal d'Amboise
35 Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire
36 Chateau de Chambord
37 Cesar Tower in Beaugenco
38 Chateau Dunois
39 Tower of St-Firmin
40 Chartres Cathedral
41 Chateau de Sully-sur-Loire
7-su Lassay-sur-Croishe
42 Chateau du Moulin
43 Chateau de Fougeres-sur-Bievre
44 Montrichard Donjon
45 Chateau de Montresor
46 La Corroierie du Liget
47 La Chartreuse du Liget
48 Chateau Logis Royale de Locheg
49 Donjon de Loches
50 Port Royale de Loches
51 Chateau de Preuilly-sur-Claise
52 Chateau Baronnial de Angles-sur-l'Anglin
8-m Niort
53 Donjon de Niort
54 Tour Saint-Nicolas
55 Tour de la Chaine
56 Tour de la Lanterne
57 Porte de Blaye de Bourg-sur-Gironde
58 Chateau du Bouilh
59 The Chair
60 Bridge in Orthez
61 Chateau Moncade
62 The Pyrenees
9-t Sauveterre de Bearn
63 Chateau de Nays
64 Ramparts of Navarrenx
65 La Bastion Des Contre-Mines
66 Chateau de Pau
67 Pyrenees from car
68 Chateau de Foix
69 Ruin on Leychert - Chateau de Roquefixade?
10-w Lavelanet
70 Chateau de Montsegur
71 Fontaine de Fontestorbes
72 Chateau de Puivert
73 Gorges de Galamus
74 Chateau de Peyrepertuse a Duilhac
75 Chateau de Queribus a Cucugnan
76 Fortresse de Salses de Chateau
77 Chateau de Fitou
11-r Outside Beziers
78 Maison Carree
79 Les Arnes de Nimes
80 Fort de Iles du Frioul
81 Chateau d'If
12-f Carpentras
82 La Synagogue de Carpentras
83 La Porte d'Orange
84 Le Pont Saint-Benezet
85 Le Palais des Papes
86 Stone Quarry at Glanum
87 Le Mausolee de Glanum
88 L'Arc Municipal de Glanum
89 Chateau des Baux
90 Les Arnes de Arles
91 Roman Theatre in Arles
13-s Uzes
92 Pont du Gard
93 Caves of Roquefort
94 Bridge
95 Chateau de Severac-le-Chateau
96 Chateau de Calmont d'Olt
14-su Limogne-en-Querco
97 Pont Valentre
98 Ramparts du Chateau de Roc-Amadour
99 Notre Dame de Rocamadour
100 Gouffre de Padirac
101 Chateau de Castlenau-Bretenoux
102 Tour de Cesar de Turenne
103 Tour d'horlorge de Turenne
104 Chateau de Val
15-m Orcines
105 Puy de Dome
106 Ruins of the Temple of Mercury
107 Chateau de Volvic
108 Chateau in Vienne
109 Temple d'Auguste et de Livie
110 Theatre Romain de Vienne
111 Centre Ancien de Romain
112 Grand Theatre Romaine de Lyon
113 Odeon Theatre Romain de Lyon
16-t Outside Macon
114 Theatre Romain de Autun
115 Porte d'Arroux
116 Temple de Janus
117 Porte Saint-Andre
118 Les Telots
119 Chateau de Couches
17-w Ribeauville
120 Ruini of the 3 Chateau
121 Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg
122 Chateau de Montmedy
123 Chateau-Fort de Sedan
18-r Riems
124 Notre Dame de Reims
125 Porte Mars
126 Institut de France
127 Hotel National des Invalides
128 Napoleon's Tomb
129 Eglise du Dome
19-f Paris
130 Sacre Cour
131 Arc de Triomphe de Carrousec
132 Saint Michel Fountain
20-s Paris
133 CDG Airport

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June 13, 2004

France 2004 - Day 18-19 : The Last Few Days : Jared as Artist

It is amazing how much faster the trip went without all the equipment. I did get to see Notre Dame de Reims and the ruined Porte Mars. It was a challenge almost in the middle of a busy intersection on a median strip.

I drove into Paris and found a public parking place near Notre Dame. From previous trips I knew that this was generally the area I wanted to stay in.

I went from hotel to hotel trying to find something reasonable and did manage to find a nice and AIR CONDITIONED room for about 90e a night.

I have been to Paris previously and there are not many things that I had on my list to photography. However, I went on my way to the Hotel National des Invalides I passed the very lovely Institut de France.

The golden Eglise du Dome and Napoleon’s Tombs are really quite amazing to see. And my far are views of them on previous trips really didn’t do them justice.

I got lucky in front of the Hotel de Ville as it flash rained and people scattered from view. For about 1 minute there was no one to be seen and I was able to take a great picture of it.

I had a great night’s sleep (thank you air conditioning) and the next day I went to Sacre Cour (which I had seen before) but decided to climb it (which I had not done before).

Later in the day as I was walking by the Seine I saw a girl crying. When I talked to her she told me it was her last day in Paris from her year abroad and was heading back to Ohio. When I mentioned how I was only gone 3 weeks and missed the states and being able to go the movies she laughed and explained how I could go to see Harry Potter in VO (Version Original) i.e. English verses VF (Version Francia) and I thanked her and ran off to the movies.

I also stopped by the Louvre gift shop and saw the Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel (I wasn’t happy with my previous photo of it) and on the way back to my hotel the Fountain in Saint Michel.

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June 09, 2004

France 2004 - Day 16-17 : Damn : Jared as Artist

I had this whole thing typed and my time ran out - it’s the damn euro keyboard.

Anyways - when I left the last Internet Cafe to get my film they where closed for lunch - so I stopped at the crepery next store and got a lovely crepe - creme de marron and chantilly - sweet chestnut paste and whipped cream - anyways - the lady doesn’t speak English and asks where I am from - she then pulls out a map an English tour guide booklet and shows me all the sights in town - the roman theatre - The Port d'Arroux, The ruins of the temple of Janus, The Porte Saint Andre and these twin hills Les Telots - by the time I was done visiting everything my film was ready.

This was the roll of 1600 speed film I shot in the underground gorge and river and several of my 4 second exposures did come out - like 3 - so that was good news.

On the way north I saw the Chateau deCouches and after a hearty dinner and q very long drive I slept in the car in Ribeuville - in the town square with all the Caravans - don’t worry it’s the last night I sleep in the car.

Ribeauville is in France but I think it used to be Germany and it certainly felt like that part of Epcot. On the hill by the city is 3 ruined castles and while I got lost in the forest on a dirt road for several hours - I never got very close.

My next stop was the Chateau de Haut Koenigsbourg - rebuild by Willhelm II which was funny because in the pamphlet next to it they put "The Kaiser”. It was very nice and very rebuilt worth the long drive.

The next long drive was to Sedan and along the way I saw the Chateau de Montmedy.

The Chateau-Fort de Sedan is the largest fortified castles in all of Europe - so it boasts - The inner courtyard was a construction site - i snuck in - and the outside was nice - it rained for 5 minutes and I headed off to Reins.

I found a hotel with a huge deep bathtub for 30e and I’m thrilled.

So here is the thing. Tomorrow morning I see the Cathedral and the roman ruins. That is my entire list.

SO far 6268km - 94 Castles - 16 church like things - 15 interesting things

So.... I’m going to sneak into Paris tomorrow find myself a cheap room for 2 nights and relax - I am on vacation y’know??

I so need to watch TV other than the BBC and listen to people talk English other than the BBC - I want to see Harry Potter!!!

OK I’m done - I might write from Paris...

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June 08, 2004

France 2004 - Day 15-16 : Last for a bit.... : Jared as Artist

I got up and went to the Volcano Puy de Dome which has a steep but well paved road to the top. What was insane where the SWARMS of bugs that impaled the car all the way up and persisted to impale everyone as we walked around - it was alike a wall of insects. I survived and saw all the volcanoes in the region as well as the Ruins of the Roman Temple of Mercury.

On the road in Volvic I saw a Chateau which I am calling the Chateau de Volvic until I learn otherwise.

Vienne was a great town - a Chateau on the way In I am told my have been the Archbishops Chateau but I will learn more when I get home. The Temple d'August et de Livie was very amazing - these 2000 year old building that just stand there are kind of neat.

They also had a Theatre Romaine and I walked around there at my leasure. They also had a Centre Ancien a sort of park and gateway in the middle of the city.

After Vienne I went to Lyon and finally found what I was looking for - a parking space. That and the 2 Roman Theatres the small Odean and the large Grand Theatre. Starting the next day they would have events but for now it was open to the public - but not for close inspection because they were 'setting up'.

Well their security isn’t very good because I managed to photograph the smaller one from above and I walked around the large one and even got on the stage.

Slept in the car at a rest stop in Macon and then visited another very ruined but lovely Roman Theatre in Autun where I am right now waiting for my film.

I then drive to Stasborg and the French Alps.

See ya soon.

Total so far 5414km- 85 castles - 15 temples/religious things - 15 places of interests.

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France 2004 - Day 11-14 : More... : Jared as Artist

After my night in the car I went and saw the Maison Carree in Nimes - truly amazing the building is over 2000 years old and has been in continuous use - THE ENTIRE TIME.

Talk about an ROI.

Nimes was a great town. I saw the Roman Arena - Les Arnes in French I also was able to get to a Bank, a Post Office and get lead lined film bags!! My film is safe.

I took a deviation from my plan my skipping Arles (for now) and going to Marseilles which was gorgeous the water of the Mediterranean is SOOO blue. I took a boat trip to the Fort de Iles du Frioul which was really just an excuse to photograph the Chateau d'If which we were not able to stop at due to the rough weather. This was a rough boat trip and we all got wet. Yes this is where the Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned and they have a special cell I am told inside which is funny since it is s a work of fiction.

I headed north and spent the night in Carpentras - the next day I went to find the 14th century Synagogue there. Not easy since there was a huge open air market. I had a great talk with an Olive vendor who insisted that I not buy Greek olives but the olive de Provence that he made himself. They were good - I told him I wanted something salty and he gave me some garlic olives. I also met a meat vendor selling dry sausages - huge dry beef sticks- he insisted that try every type he had - I even tasted the Donkey one. he wanted 3.5 for 1, 7.50 for 3 or 15.50 for 7 - well I bought 7 (he gave me 8) and I figured I would eat one and send the rest home - till the guy reminded me as I was in line at the post office you can't mail meat through customs - oops :) well they have provided quite the feast here :) and I am on my last one.

The Synagogue was amazing - they buzzed me in at this fairly plain wood door - this lady handed me a yarmulke and let me walk around - I was the only one there - it was lovely.

On the way out of town I saw La Port D'Orange the old city gates. I love the old city gates.

I headed sounds to Avignon and saw the famous half bridge La Pont Saint Benezet and also Le Palais des Papes - It was a really nice they give everyone these audio guide things and it really helps - people were spending hours pressing buttons and viewing things and I even found myself listening to more of it than expected - its a great place and it was really well put together - they even managed to keep me on the bridge longer than expected with its history and legends and such.

I stopped at Glanum and was going to see the Roman ruins but it was a 45 min to take a 45 min tour in French - instead O saw the Stone Quarry, La Mausolee, and L'Arc Municipal and left.

The Chateau des Baux turned out to be almost nothing - but the multimedia tour and the extreme wind turned it into a long stop - plus they have a great village there where I was able to pick up a fleece cardigan and a knife, spoon, fork thing like the one I had stolen.

I did finally stop in Arles where I saw the Roman Theatre and les Arnes (the big Arena) I was invited to share Spanish Topas with an Australian Couple I met and had a really nice time - then I went off to see the Pont du Gard - which needs to be open to see and visit so I stayed the night in Uzes.

The Pont du Gard is a funny place - they try to sell you this whole ticket package for movies and activities and everything but if you just want to see this amazing architectural wonder - it’s free.

Afterwards I went to the real Roquefort expecting to just buy some cheese and leave but no... it’s a whole experience. You see in the 1800s all of the cheese manufacturers merged into one and there is only 1 Roquefort (with 3 varieties) and they have a whole tour of the caves. Well clearly these people have too much money because they have animated models, and a movie (in multiple languages via headsets) and a slide show and light and sounds and caves filled with cheeses and in the end a gift shop where you buy...cheese.

Well the funny part of this is the English couple in front of me - the guy sound just like Wallace from Wallace and Gromit and kept talking about Stilton and Wensdlydale. Then when I saw he had the English guide he said - well I don’t speak Frog now do I? OY - well during the huge light show that showed how the caves were formed this voice cried out - 'and the lord said - let there be cheese' it was my voice and only the English heard me and they laugh and told me that Stilton was the true king of cheeses. A very fun time. He told me about an underground river cruise that I should try and go on.

I did shoot the mountains that form the caves and they are lovely.

As I drove to my next location I saw this enormous bridge that look a mile or so long that bridge a mountain - its the new highway that isn’t opened yet but it was intense looking.

I saw the Chateau de Severac-le-Chateau and the Chateau de Calmont d'Olt which was closed and not in the city I though it was in. They actually fire their catapults and such and daily demonstrations. But alas another trip... I slept the night in Limogne-en-Querco.

I saw the lovely Pont Valentre the bridge that they say is the most photographed thing in France - which is crazy since I have been to the Eiffel tower. It was nice though.

I have to thank my friend Tom for telling me to see Rocamadour - it was this great mountain village with Ramparts and a Nortre Dame Cathedral. It also had an elevator going through the mountain (one up down and one diagonally) so I didn’t have to walk too much.

The underground river and gorge the Gouffre de Padirac was breathtaking. Gets a little scary to take 3 elevators down into a little boat and then walk around this underground gorge and river. I used my 1600 speed film (though no photography was allowed) and I am developing it as I write this.

The Chateau de Castenau-Bretenoux was nice from the outside so I had lunch there and went on to Turenne where I saw the Tour de Cesar a very nice tower that they let me climb to the top of and the Tour d'Holorge which I do believe is currently being lived in.

My Last stop for the day was the Chateadu de Val which was closed. As luck would have it a guy drove up to the gate - opened it - pulled his car through and then came back about 5 minutes later to lock up. You can imagine what I was going during those 5 minutes.

I then spent the night in Ochines.

Posted by jeb2 at 08:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

France 2004 - Day 8-10 : A week without the Internet – OY : Jared as Artist

Well this will be long :) I have been without the Internet for 1 week and it has been driving me Crazy.

When last I wrote I was in La Rochelle heading next to eat cheese to Rochefort. This would have been true had I 1) Spelled it correctly and 2) Had the correct one. More on that later.

I went south from La Rochelle to see a Chateau that didn't exist instead there was a park commemorating where the castle was and where the put a nice little very non castle building. I did however see the very old Porte dr Blave de Bourge-sur-Gironge.

I did get to see the Chateau du Boulin and then in the middle of a rotary (traffic circle to the Americans) there was a giant wood Chair. HUGE.

I then photographed the bridge in Orthez and the Chateau Moncade on my way into the Pyrenees - and yes I survived driving the Pyrenees in a Twingo - it’s a type of car - look it up.

At the start of the Pyrenees I stayed in Suveterre de Bearn (in the car) where I saw the Chateau de Nays. I saw a really neat town called Navarrenx that had some great Ramparts and La Bastion des Contre-Mines that were very fun to explore.

I then went to Pau which was a crazy city and saw the Chateau de Pau from MANY angles but it was an Australian who gave me a great spot to shoot from.

The Pyrenees are big and the driving was very rough - up in the mountains I saw the Chateau de Foix and I should have stayed in that tourist town for the night but it was early and I went on.

I saw a sign for a hotel and went up this VERY steep mountain side on a road smaller than the car - when I got to the top I saw the outline of what I think is the ruins of the Chateau de Roquefixade I was in Laychert so it might have been - thankfully there was a much nicer road going down.

I did find a hotel in Lavelanet - though I’m told that room 4 is haunted - I was in 14 but still. Had some fun with some English guys - it was funny instead of ragging on me for being American they ended up harassing the inn-keeper for the French NOT getting in the war. I didn't stick around.

I did get to the Chateau de Montesgur which was on top of a mountain and though it looked fun I was told it was at least an hours hike to the top - and I was tired. So I headed through the mountains till I found the Fountaine de Fontestorbes - a large spring coming out of the mountain leading to an underground river.

At the snack bar - everything has a snack bar- I picked up a butter and cheese sandwich and a postcard showing the roads and castles of the Cathar Pass region of the mountains. It was the Cathars - an offshoot of the Catholicism that had been chased into the mountains (by the Catholics) and there are a lot of their castles here.

I saw the Chatease de Puivert which wasn't to hard to get to and was very nice - the wind in your face made you realize just how strong the winds get when you get that high up.

I later found out after I drove around this tiny little road with an edge straight down and the other solid mountain that I drove around the Gorges de Galamus (and that most people don’t take that road). Lovely though.

At the Chateau de Peryepertuse de Duilhac I twisted my knee - and I blame the church for it - kidding. I did twist my knee bad and I only saw half the castle which is really on the TIP of a mountain. The wind is what stopped me though not my knee - it really would have been unsafe to climb much higher and I really didn’t want to fall off.

At the Chateau de Queribus a Cucugnan I didn't even try to go up - the winds were stronger and I was told it was even more perilous - don't get me wrong I have great photos I just didn’t go inside.

Back on my list I stopped at the Fortresse de Sales de Chateau and I feel horribly guilty - see I found this access road that took me all around the fortress - and from this dirt road I saw the whole thing - yes I shot the entire fortress and never left the car :)

A little down the road I saw the Chateau de Fitou and slept in the car outside Beziers.

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May 31, 2004

France 2004 - Day 6-8 : A REAL Internet Cafe : Jared as Artist

By real I mean that it has a 'standard' keyboard and I can type quickly and spell correctly - trust me it makes my brain hurt to type on a European keyboard.

If you aren’t familiar the real differences are - you have to shift to get the numbers - lord knows where the @ symbol is. The 'A' 'M' and 'Z' keys are in the wrong place and that really hurts.

Anyways - I last wrote from Chartes and since there was still some light I drove south for a bit to a town called Sully-sur-Loire to photograph the Chateau de Sully-sur-Loire it was dusk and if all goes well I should have some interesting shots with the moon overhead.

I had dinner at this Italian restaurant that kept talking about an assortment of jams - which sounded good to me - even better when I found out that jam = ham.

Speaking of funny restaurant stories - earlier I was at a place where the waiter spoke English - I still tried and for my French fries I asked "How do you say Mayonnaise in French?" "Mayonnaise IS French" was his reply - whoda thunkit. Well one more word in my vocabulary.

I started to drive to Moulin since there were no rooms in Sully and in my very tired state forgot to check how much gas I had - I really was in the middle of the country and figuring it would be better to not be lost that to be stranded I pulled over and went to sleep in the car in what I later found out was Lassay-sur-Croishe - don't look for it, its not on the map.

I woke up to a slight drizzle and thought of the Sting song - "woke up in my close again this morning - don't know exactly where I am ... Chateaus in the rain" OK OK the verse is really Shadows in the Rain but I thought it was better like this.

I did get to a gas station before I ran out but it only took plastic with a chip but we don't have those - so this very nice man bought me gas and I gave him cash.

Next to the Chateau du Moulin where I was adopted by a group of French couples who just decided to go see the Castles and bought my ticket for me so I could get their group rate - it was very sweet.

Then I went to the Chateau de Fougeres-sur-Bievre but they were closed for lunch - I wonder what Castles eat?

Then to the Donjon in Montrichard - really sucky castle with an AMAZING museum attached.

Then to the Chateau de Montressor which had a Medieval Festival going on and I got to eat a little.

On the road from there I found this building marked La Corroierie du Liget which I later found out was a 15th century fortified house - good enough for my Castle list :)

Also I stopped at the remains of La Chartreuse du Liget which only cost 0.5e to get into but it cost me 1 cause the little girl didn’t give me any change.

At the very outskirts of the Loire is Logis which turned into a 3 for 1 - I saw the Chateau Logis Royal - the Donjon de Loches and the Port Royale de Loches - its a walled city (2km around) with only one entrance.

I drove further and saw - by chance- the Chaetau de Preuilly as I stopped to photographs some Lilly pads in the water.

Drove a bit further and saw the Chateay Baronnial de Angles-sur-l'Anglin which was on my list - I wasn't able to go inside but I was able to climb around the rocky hillside that surrounds it.

I kept driving and drove though Chaunigny which -though I was tempted- I didn’t stop in - the Medieval Crepery that I twice ate at was still there but there was no parking so I kept driving - plus Id been noshing all day.

I found a self service hotel outside Niort - I love these things - I checked in and out and never saw a person just a machine. I managed to steal not a towel but a sheet from the hotel so I have something to wrap up in if I sleep in the car again.

It was drizzling this morning - its about noon now - and I photographed the Donjon in Niort - next to it was a little indoor food market - yummy.

I tried to go shopping but everything seems closed I think it might be some sort of holiday weekend cause the Banks were closed on Friday (they are always closed on Monday).

I drove up to La Rochelle (where I am now) and another 3fer-The Tour Saint Nicolas the Tour de la Chaine and the Tour de la Lanterne. Not easy to shoot in the rain and I figured I would duck in here and type for a few.

My next stop isn't photographic - it’s to Rochfort :) YUM

Then the long drive to Bordeaux. I’m pretty much headed south and my next big stop is the Pyrenees.

See what a difference a real keyboard makes.

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May 29, 2004

France 2004 - Day 5-6 : An Internet Cafe : Jared as Artist

Well it is a Cafe that has 2 computers in the back that they rent out.

I get waves of happiness when I think I didn't pack my keys, or leather jacket.

I could really use some Aloe Vera Gel for my sunburns.

I have 2 weeks to find lead film bags - this is going to be trouble. I hope I can find in Bordeaux.

OK enough whining.

I am in Chartres and the Stained glass is wonderful. I climbed top the top - over 300 steps OUCH.

When I last wrote I was in a hotel outside Angers heading east - which I guess is wrong since you are supposed to travel the Loire from east to west.

I went to the Chateau de Montgeoffroy which was just the Castle at the end of a dirt road.

I went to the Chateau de Saumur which has great Dungeons.

Then to the Chateau de Montsoreau - lovely but a real travesty of overdone multimedia - you couldn’t see the inside of the castle because of all the exhibits.

Next to the Abbaye Royal de Fontevraud - very nice - famous dead people.

Took some lovely photos of the Eglise Saint Michel there and learned all about Stencil Illumination.

Saw the fortified city and Chateau of Chinon

Finally got up close to the Chateau of Usse which I had seen years ago from a train and a bus.

Then to the amazing gardens of Villandry - very peaceful - I met some Americans there and funnily enough bumped into them here 200km later and they told me about this cafe.

I got lost and ended up at the Chateau de Bourdaisiere and almost got locked in - probably cause I snuck in - I made it out and then spent last night in Amboise.

Amboise int the home of the Chateau du Clos Luce where Leonardo da Vinci lived his last 3 years (he died here too) - there is a secret tunnel to the Chateau Royal d'Amboise where his Tomb is. You have to pay 11€ to see the house and there is some sort of park with is inventions - but interesting anyways.

Then off to Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire where I got lucky and found a hidden path that led around the Castle - i.e. I didn’t pay - I paid plenty at The Chateau de Chambord - not in admission - I was HUNGRY.

I stopped in Beaugendo which has some unusual stuff for the Loire - mostly 12 century it has a keep a tower and some other fun stuff.

Then I came here - I’m too close to Paris and so much driving to do and maybe some castles to see while it is still light.

Summary - 1826km - 34 castles - 5 churches - 1 other (Monet’s gardens)

More in a few days...

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May 27, 2004

France 2004 - Day 2-5 : Finally an Update : Jared as Artist

Since I haven’t seen an Internet Cafe I treated myself to 2 hours of wireless on my handheld. I can read but not reply to my email but I was at least able to delete some crap.

Boy this has been a challenge.

Anybody know what size pants they wear in France? How about underwear? And they stole my suspenders!!! Which I can’t find at the store.

How about which shampoo to get? They had head and shoulders. Which deodorant? How can you tell which soap is for what?

I spent 4 hours and $200 and barely got anything and that was at the mall.

Well it is Thursday night and I am sure some of you are wondering, where I am and where I have been?

I am currently in a little hotel in Angers - it was 29e a night which isn’t bad my best so far has been 22e.

It is Thursday Night and since my last post I have been to:

-Chateau de Bernicourt

-Amiens Cathedral - WOW was this place big.

-Mairie Trie Chateau

-Old Walls Trie Chateau

Slept the Night in Gisors

-Chateau Gisors

-Ruin on the D14

-Chateau Gaillard

-Monet's Gardens in Giverny which was AMAZING and I’m told it was rare that it was sunny,

-Chateau La Roche-Guyon

-Chateau de Bizy

-Ruins of Chateau Robert le Diable - Saw it on the highway and stopped to photograph it.

-Chateau de Guillaume le Conquerant - Turns out the first time I was in Caen I missed it all together there are really 2 castles here Ducal and this one.

-Chateau Ducal

I spent the next night in Aunay-Sur-Odon

-Chateau Fougeres

-Chateau du Trecesson

-Dolmen de la Maison-Trouvee

-Chateau du Crevy

-Chateau de Josselin (de rohan)

-Chateau de Chateaubriant

I had dinner in Chateaubriant where I met a guy who light castles for a living. He took my map and gave me some real hole in the wall places that he though I might like along the way.

Anyways the adventure continues - I will find out mid next week how bad I've blown my budget. I have as yet to find a film shields and earplanes and need both before I leave the country.

I should be back on in a couple of days!

Oh and I’ve gone about 1500km.

And some automatic car - if you want it to actually shift right you need to shift it yourself - the automatic mode doesn’t work very well its more of a clutchless stick.

Toodles.

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May 24, 2004

France 2004 - Day 1 : They Took Everything : Jared as Artist

So I get back to my car and I’ve been robbed.

All that was left - 120 rolls of film - my cane - my umbrella - a hair tie - and the road atlas.

I spent the afternoon filing a police report.

The bad news is - no VR, no panoramas, no virtual world tests, no video.

But I have my film camera and film so the show goes on. They didn’t get my Nikon 880 but I will have to buy batteries for it since they stole the charger and the spares.

My friend Michelle lent me a charger for my handheld and as Wendy said the rest is just stuff. Now the here is hoping insurance company likes my list!

I need clothes and toiletries.

FYI I photographed 4 castles today
-Chateau Chantilly - nice but I got robbed
-Chateau Pontarne - I think it is privately owned
-Chateau Raray - A hotel
-Chateau d'Aramont - I don’t know what it was and it looked like it would fall down soon

I am in Valenciennes - without the video camera or the meter for the 3D camera shooting should go faster and I should shoot more spots.

I hate European keyboards.

Night all

Summary Day 1 - 4 Castles, 0 Possessions

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May 23, 2004

France 2004 - Day 0 : Well I’m ready!! : Jared as Artist

I am fully packed - Finished with all my work - Ready to go!!!

And yes I saw on CNN that part of the Charles de Gaul Airport collapsed.

See you on the other side.

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France 2004 - Day 0 : The Packing Continues : Jared as Artist

Well my clothes are in the washer, my electronics are all assembled (but not packed), and I am almost done with the last of the work paperwork. I had to replace my GPS unit today. I looked everywhere for it but it appears that I lost it. There is some irony in losing a GPS - like getting your padlock stolen. I am sure it is somewhere and am comforted by the thought that IT knows exactly where it is. The good news is that the prices have gone down and the quality up so that I am taking a better GPS with me to France. Here is hoping I come back with it.

Well off to do to my whites and bills.

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May 21, 2004

France 2004 - Day 0 : Getting ready for the trip... : Jared as Artist

It's Friday night. I'm finishing the planning for the trip. I have my maps. I have my CDs. I have my film and I have my schedule. I will attempt to post whenever I can. Don't expect long entries just a quick where I am and where I am going.

Stay tuned.

Jared - sitting in my new (old) office in KSL - Cleveland, Ohio.

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May 14, 2004

France 2004 - Day 1 : Oh and... : Jared as Artist

They took my tunes!!!

All I have is one sting mix I made.

Grr why did I even bother to pack???

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