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Day 1: From Paris with love

Well, after getting no sleep over the 4th of July weekend, and no sleep on the plane, it’s a wonder I’m awake enough to write this post.

First, it took us about 2 hours to get a rental car. Which blew up about 200 yards from the airport entrance. Man, Parisians get MAD when you block traffic. But some nice lovely fellows came and helped us take the rental car back to Hertz. We had too much trouble entirely, and about 2 hours after renting the first car, they finally provided us with a suitable automatic vehicle with air conditioning.

We were so happy to finally be on the road. But that joy did not last, because it took us nearly 3 hours to find our flat. Some streets in Paris are car streets, some are pedestrian only. Who knew?

BTW, Google is not really a great tool for learning to drive in a foreign city. Get a GPS. I am dead series. It will save you so much time and stress. I never needed a GPS in the States, but when you can’t figure out French directions, you need all the help you can get.

Luckily, my salvation came in the form of a handsome cab driver who spoke English. I jumped out of the rental car at a stop light near Notre Dame and hopped in his cab and he knew exactly where to take me,

THANK GOD. Cuz at this point, I was hungry, thirsty, crotchety and tired of my mom’s constant slamming on the brakes.

The folks I rented the flat from are beyond belief. They are the nicest people I’ve met in Paris so far. They came down to the rental car and helped us park and get the bags and left us with tons of information about how to get around Paris. They pointed us to the best gelato spot in the 5th District (where we are staying) and even walked me to the nearest ATM so I could get some Euros. Super sweet people, just divine. And the little 1-bed flat we are staying in is perfect. I’m going to dig up their contact info and post it later, because this is the mopst affordable place to stay in Paris with the loveliest landlords ever.

The area we are staying in is very cool. It’s a little residential street off a busy main street, so it’s quiet. But lots of shops and pubs are right around the corner. 3 grocery stores and 2 train stations within walking distance, so that’s sweet. A nice diverse mixture of young people from many cultures and a happening nightlife. Definitely a good pick on the accommodations. Yay me!

After washing up and getting some grub and a nap, tensions improved. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to visiting the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Hopefully we can make it there in one piece.

 

90 Days to Phoenix

90 Days to Phoenix is an independent media project that documents Arizona’s ongoing struggle with immigration and chronicles the stories behind them. A journalist I knew, and her film director partner, had approached with with the concept and we launched it in under 2 weeks.

http://www.90daystophoenix.com

 

JerrySellsPipes

JerrySellsPipesWhen my old college friend Jerry said he wanted to start an e-commerce business, I thought…good for him! But when he needed help setting up his site, I thought…yikes! I’d never done a full-fledged e-commerce site before, so of course, I jumped at the challenge. The site is built using a specialized WordPress theme that was customized for him and integrated with PayPal checkout.

http://www.jerrysellspipes.com

 

Survey

 

Squid

Squid on boat in GreeceFreshly caught squid drying on an old Greek fishing boat alongside a restaurant on the island’s main shore.

Mykonos, Greece

 

The Green Queen

Danielle The Green QueenLocal TV & radio reporter Danielle Williams wanted to build her brand as The Green Queen and needed a website to showcase her green tips and informational videos about sustainability and ecofriendly programs and products.

http://www.daniellethegreenqueen.com

 

Walter Cronkite

Walter CronkiteWalter Cronkite waits for his turn to speak after Arizona State Univeristy President Michael Crow gives the opening remarks during the groundbreaking of the new downtown Phoenix location of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

I love the patient smile on his face.

ASU University Center
Phoenix, Arizona

 

Mark Scarp

Mark Scarp websiteWhen veteran newspaper columnist Mark Scarp was laid off from his daily newspaper, he knew he needed to develop an online presence to attract potential employers. He wanted an inexpensive but simple platform to display his resume and his work. I took an existing template and customized it for Tumblr. The maroon and gold are the colors of his alma mater and his tweets appear below his pictures.

http://www.markscarp.com

 

Sonoran News

Sonoran News websiteSonoran News is a weekly newspaper in suburb north of Phoenix. Their former web designer handled all the news updates, but they were looking for an alternative. I built a template for them and taught the staff some basic HTML skills so that they could update the news site themselves.

http://www.sonorannews.com

 

Birthday Bonus

The ANA Advertising Services asked for a fun, motivational video to encourage advertising sales people (and publishers) to participate in a bonus program.

Starring ANA advertising assistant Kay Wilmoth, we created the Birthday Bonus promotion, where the winners of the bonuses were announced on Kay’s birthday.

 
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© 2010 Perri Collins