Anjali’s parents had their 50th anniversary.  Here is Anjali with her parents in the middle and her brother on the right.  In the front and back row are her cousins.

Here are the kids with their Great Grandmother!

Here are the five of us.

Here are the kids at Anjali’s uncle’s vacation house outside of Pune.

One of the days we went to Sinhagad, a fort from the 1600′s with quite a colorful history.  Here are the kids at the entrance to the fort.

Here is the view from inside the protected walls of the fort.

On most days, we did our shopping trips and visits in a scooter rickshaw.

We did a side trip to Nagpur which is about a two hour flight from Pune.

We visited my uncles and cousins there.

My cousin Shirish (on the left in the photo above) took us to a wildlife sanctuary outside of Pune.

Here are some pictures from the Pench Tiger Sanctuary.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any tigers but lots of other big game including sambars, horned deer, antelopes and all kinds of monkeys!

On Christmas Day, we went out for Chinese food at Mainland China in Pune.  Probably the best Chinese food in India! Christmas Day in India is like any other day there.

On our last day in Pune, Anjali was lucky enough to catch her 30th year high school reunion at St. Joseph’s.  Here she is with her friends.

What a trip!

Here is Annika with her best friend Lizzy who came along with us.

Here is Vikram being camera shy!

On the boat ride, we saw lots of sea lions and dolphins.

Here is the start of the 4.5 mile hike on the island.

Here we all are just above Pelican Bay.

This is a view from my hotel room at the Sheraton overlooking the harbor.  In the center on the other side of the bay is the convention center and on the far right is The Peak.

From our base in HK, we went into mainland China to the cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and a couple of other smaller cities.

Going into China was much like visiting India or Nepal.  Lots of cars, smog, traffic and people.  Life is difficult with tremendous amounts of construction in every direction.  This contributes to the daily traffic jams and smog.

After a couple of tough days enduring the travel and food, our host took us to Mission Hills for a wonderful lunch. This is billed as the world’s largest golf course with over twenty courses in the complex.  It  is truly an experience reserved for the uber rich in China.  

There are some fabulous homes along the golf course.  It is comparable to Pelican Hills in Newport Beach.

On my last day there, we got to do some sightseeing around Hong Kong.  We visited the Floating Dragon Restaurant by taking a small ferry. We had a quick lunch and continued on to our next destination.

For the next stop, we went to Repluse Bay where I dipped my feet in the water and shopped at the Stanley Market.

Here is one of the many temples.

Finally, we went to the Peak for dinner and a view.

Another picture from the top of the peak.

On the ride out to the island, we encountered a school of several thousand dolphins!  They were literally jumping all around the boat.   This was apparently a rare sighting of so many dolphins.

We landed at Prisoner’s Harbor and did a 4.5 mile hike to Pelican Bay on the The Nature Conservancy side of the property.  There were several steep canyons and about 750 feet of climbing.

There were quite a few native flowers in full bloom.  This is a natural “soap flower”  If you rub it between your hands, it has antiseptic properties.  We also saw (and tasted) the “lemonade berry” plant which is also native to just Santa Cruz.

Here is a picture of the kids enjoying the hike:

This is one of the scenic views from near the top of the island.

On the boat ride back, we saw a blow hole, caused by the low tide and the water being forced thru the tubes in the lava rocks.

The Channel Islands are definitely worth a trip.  The tour guides were very knowledgeable and the Island Packers boating outfit was very professional.  Note that The Nature Conservancy side of the island requires a special permit (which we had access to because of the HMC connection).

The National Park side of the island is available to the general public.

Enjoy!

We were able to do all of the touristy things including a visit to the Eiffel Tower, Orsay Museum, Notre Dame, Champs Elysses and The Louvre.

Here are a few pictures with more to come later.

This is a picture of the toll road on the way into Paris on Friday afternoon. No traffic until the last 20 km and consistent speeds between 130kph and 160kph.

On Saturday, we started off at Notre Dame Cathedral.

We then went to the Orsay Museum. Featured were paintings from Degas, Cezanne, van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet, Manet, Degas and numerous other famous works of art.

We spent the the rest of the afternoon on the Champs Elysees. As we were standing at the Arc de Triumph pictured below, we saw a green Jag getting sideswiped by another car!

We did some window shopping and some real shopping. More on that in another post!

Late in the afternoon we visited Cafe Laduree on the Champs. This is the best 20 Euro cup of coffee and desert for two that money can buy. All kidding aside, the cafe is outstanding and I would highly recommend taking a tea break at Laduree after a full day of sightseeing and shopping. Make sure to sit upstairs and look out over the Champs as you enjoy your outstanding cafe au lait and savor the fabulous desserts!

Finally, we went to the Eiffel Tower on Saturday evening and watched the sun set as the lights illuminated the tower. The tower is even more impressive in person than any pictures can do justice to.

C’était un jour romantique.

Anjali is on her way home today…… I return in a few more days after finishing up some more meetings here in Geneva.

I’ll post some more pictures tomorrow. Au revoir!

1. The Grand Canyon
2. Great Barrier Reef
3. Florida
4. South Island
5. Cape Town
6. Golden Temple
7. Las Vegas
8. Sydney
9. New York
10. Taj Mahal
11. Canadian Rockies
12. Uluru
13. Chichen Itza — Mexico
14. Machu Picchu — Peru
15. Niagara Falls
16. Petra — Jordan
17. The Pyramids — Egypt
18. Venice
19. Maldives
20. Great Wall of China
21. Victoria Falls — Zimbabwe
22. Hong Kong
23. Yosemite National Park
24. Hawaii
25. Auckland — New Zealand
26. Iguassu Falls
27. Paris
28. Alaska
29. Angkor Wat — Cambodia
30. Himalayas — Nepal
31. Rio de Janeiro — Brazil
32. Masai Mara — Kenya
33. Galapagos Islands — Ecuador
34. Luxor — Egypt
35. Rome
36. San Francisco
37. Barcelona
38. Dubai
39. Singapore
40. La Digue — Seychelles
41. Sri Lanka
42. Bangkok
43. Barbados
44. Iceland
45. Terracotta Army — China
46. Zermatt — Switzerland
47. Angel Falls — Venezuela
48. Abu Simbel — Egypt
49. Bali
50. French Polynesia

We stayed at the Desert Pearl Hotel which I would highly recommend for traveling families.

The first day, we did a moderate 3 mile hike called Emerald Pools. There are three pools – Lower, Middle and Upper. There is also a wonderful little waterfall. The hike to the upper one is a bit challenging.

On the second day, we hiked a trail called Canyon Overlook.

This was by far the best hike that we were able to do in the park. There are some tricky paths with some strenuous climbing but the views are truly amazing.

The last day we were there, we took it a bit easy and had the kids participate in a ranger program.

While the kids were in class, Anjali and I went for a hike up the Watchman Trail.

This was about a 2 hour hike round trip to the top of a nearby peak that provided views of the entire Zion valley. This is a picture from the trail. On the left is the West Temple and on the right is the Altar of Sacrifice. Note the blood red stains down the side of the mountain.

Finally, here was our favorite breakfast spot in the park – the pancakes were the best. It is the Spotted Dog Cafe!

I also had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours at the Patek Philippe watch museum. If you have the opportunity to visit, it is well worth the 8 Franc entrance fee. It is 4 stories of watch making history. Included is the world’s most expensive watch – sold by Sotheby’s for $11 million and has 24 complications; everything from moonphase to stop watch to some pretty esoteric stuff.
I also saw my very first Ferrari Enzo driving down the street. It was a black Enzo zipping down the main Quai du Mont Blanc.