Bought some kicks and a gift at the Kitson boutique on Robertson boulevard. There was a Rolls-Royce Phantom parked out front, confirmation that I was in good company.

We went shopping at the Grove, just east of Beverly Hills. Probably checking out Kitson on Robertson Boulevard later.

We met up with a friend of ours in Santa Monica, who was kind enough to show us around the 3rd St. Promenade, the beach, and the pier. Pasteur wouldn’t exactly recommend swimming in Santa Monica, so we headed to Malibu Lagoon to take a dip in the sea there.

I’ve been staying in Nice mostly and venturing out to Ventimiglia, Cap d’Ail, Saint Tropez, Cannes, Juan-les-Pins, and Monaco on day trips. I haven’t neglected to kick it in Nice though (despite the rocky beach). Here are some photos.

It turns out that the guys below on the left and right (respectively) are grads of Western Washington University. We ran into a bunch of other people from Seattle that week traveling around Nice. Small world.

Yes, that’s a stone from a mini zen garden, heated on a gas flame for 10 minutes, and effectively used as a stand-in for a burning coal. MacGuyver at his finest. The whole time we thought Andy Samberg was going to show up, little did we know that instead we’d be graced by an 80’s icon.

Due to the fact that my sister lives and works in Midtown Manhattan, she never does any touristy things. I decided to change that by dragging her to Times Square and to the top of the Empire State Building, where we were able to immortalize the moment with these photos. Luckily, the Observation Deck on the 86 Floor was equipped with a strong fence that acts perfectly as a suicide-prevention device tripod.

The Biggest Apple Store in the World (not to mention in the Big Apple) juts out of the plaza in front of Bergdorf Goodman on 5th. I had to go to the Genius Bar to get a power adapter because European voltage destroyed it. Apple gave me the adapter for free with no questions asked, even though Europe destroyed it. Thank god for AppleCare.

We went to Cannes today. It was beautiful weather (as always in August) and I took in the sights.

I took this photo a week ago in Monaco, and the memories of being surrounded by Ferraris are still strong in my mind. I’m heading to Monaco for dinner tonight. I went to the beach in Antibes and Cannes earlier-it was beautiful, merci a dieu. The weather report said it would rain today.

I got to play Rugby today outside of the Hotel de Ville (Paris). My mom snapped this shot of me. When I was waiting to play, I asked a Frenchman (in French) about rugby strategy, as I’ve watched the game but not played it much, and he talked my ear off for an hour. Perhaps I learned something, though.

I’ve been flying quite a bit over the last few weeks, but this time I decided to have a few glasses of wine and read instead of trying hopelessly to fall asleep. Whenever I fly transatlantic, upon landing I try to stay up until 22:00 (10PM) local time in the city of arrival, which usually entails being up for 24 hours straight. Translation: Red Bull.

I think I’m getting quite good at this.

I didn’t know if it would be too choppy out there yesterday, in the end I’d only fallen once due to another boat’s wake. The other times were due to me attempting to spin. I didn’t land any of those. Cheers to Mohammad for taking the photo.

We’ve seen some pretty warm weather in St. Barths. I’m finally starting to work into a little tan. Flying to Nice tomorrow (albeit via San Juan, Newark, and London). Hopefully I’ll make all my connections.

Went to Monaco a few times this month. Here are some photos.

Meeting up with my mother this morning in Paris, she’d decided on eating at Café Marly, a chic eatery perched on the side of the Musée de Louvre, mere paces from I. M. Pei’s famed glass pyramid. We people-watched from our table…I ordered a delicious Croque Monsieur; my mother, an omelette with spinach. Here’s to good food, wherever you find it.