Catching up

Leather suitcases of old

I'm including some pictures from Portobello Road market because they are soooo representative English to enjoy:

My love of photography here

I went to Rotterdam yesterday to have a lunch meeting with James Thornton, Rogier van Vliet, donor/founder of Adessium Foundation, and Rogier van der Weerd, Director of the Foundation.  I was surprised to find them both in their 30's, extremely smart and sophisticated at approaching philanthropy, having only set up their Foundation 3 years ago.  Transportation consisted of Prius taxi at 6am to airport; prop plane to Rotterdam; bus to city center; walk through center to rail tram; tram to outling stop; lunch at a fabulous restaurant (I watched them all eat 3 course meals and I stuck to a small piece of fish); and then the reverse arriving back at Club around 6:30.  This is normal business practice in Europe, as the countries are all so close together....much like our states are.

Michael arrived on Friday, and after catching up on sleep, we spent Saturday in financial meetings for ClientEarth, followed by a catch up dinner at the club with friends James, Martin, and Martin.  Sunday found Michael and I at the theater watching Jersey Boys for probably the fourth time!  It's always a trip through our past and fun.
I caught these guys taking a break:

Monday started the week with an all-day ClientEarth board meeting including guests followed by dinner.    
These meetings continue to get better and better....and the work produced is extraordinary considering ClientEarth operations have been up and running for only four years.  Check out its website for a look:  www.clientearth.org.  The following day we hopped on the Eurostar and headed for Paris.  We are settling in, familarizing ourselves with the Left Bank neighborhood, and keeping tabs on our email so as not to be overwhelmed when we return home.  With a full 10 days of work behind us, we are looking forward to some relaxation in wonderful Paris.  I plan to take copious pictures, eat wonderful food, and drink plenty of wine.....more later from gay Pareeee.  And by the way, if you haven't seen Woody Allen's new movie, dooo go see it.  It is wonderful:  Midnight in Paris!