The City of Lights

In all my travels, it is only the French who truly understand lighting. Every landmark is lit in such a way that is awe inspiring. Even the Eiffel tower sparkles in a magical show every hour for the entire city to enjoy. Lighting creates a mood. It should enhance an environment, not over power it. When a landmark is lit from behind it looks very different from a light shining from above it.

Table Top Rules- A French Traditional Table Setting

A luxurious table setting is not defined by whether one uses designer pieces with expensive finishes like vermeil, but rather by the precision in which the implements are laid. There must be a purpose behind each utensil. When setting the table, all materials used should be in pristine condition, that means impeccably clean without spots or tarnish. The beauty of the table can only be conveyed through meticulous attention to detail. Each piece has a function to perform and should be displayed properly. The pieces are laid out based on the order of their use. If not serving a role, the piece should not be set.

To the left of the dinner plate should lay the dinner fork (closest to the plate), then the salad fork. To the right of the plate is the dinner knife. The blade must be turned in facing inward to the plate to keep the protected side facing your dinner guest to your right. The soup spoon sits at the right of the knife if soup is served. If fish is being served as a pre- dinner course then the fish fork would appropriately set to the left of the dinner fork.

The Price of Art

In today's marketplace, isn't it amazing a painting completed merely a month ago can be sold for a figure that surpasses an masterpiece like a Caravaggio. How is this possible? How can we put a dollar on a masterpiece?

Parisian Architecture

Some might think that having the buildings look the same is boring but to me, the beauty of the city is its symetry. All the perfectly aligned columns actulally create a a perfectly balanced view provinding the true majestry the city's reputation deserves.

Traveling in Paris

Paris is one of my favorite cities. Everywhere you look you can see that every single tree is set a in a location to every other tree. The overall environment is complete magestry. It has been so well thought out. It was the best it could be from the beginning. It works. As far as you can see and as near as you can touch is the way the landscape ought to be planned. The same theory applies with lifestyle. Everything should be planned to look organic, but in fact it requires a lot of thought to achive that natural look.