From Paris with love

Yesterday took place the last PDP picnic and despite the threatening weather (it poured in the morning!) we managed pretty well. The thing is that I started the PDP picnic series in 2006 because of Jeff (with the blue jacket on the left) - I did not know him at that time - and ever since I always organized them around his Paris visits (I'm working on a PDP book at the moment and I'll have the occasion to disclose more info about these picnics). This year again we had a wonderful time, I met great new people (people who follow PDP, but never comment) and reconnected with older ones. It almost did not rain...  ;-) BTW, what do you think about the true Frenchman with the beret?! ;-)

San Jose PDP Gathering

You might have seen that I'm currently on the West coast of the US at the moment and I took advantage of it to gather a few Paris lovers who follow PDP from California. I picked a restaurant in San Jose, close to my hotel and there you go! I really had a great time, being surrounded with people I mostly know virtually though the comments they make on PDP or Facebook. Some even thought of bringing some of my favorite Ceasar salad dressing, for me to take back to Paris ;-) A big thank you to (from left to right): Denis, Jeanne (aka French Twist), Eileen, Mariatta, Sara, Jim, Jocelyn, Suzy, Daniel, Beverly. More on Facebook, if you're on it! 

Flooded!

I was really lucky today: the weather was great, I was not not too jet lagged and the company was, once again very pleasant. We really had a great time for this 2013 PDP picnic, even though I had an unexpected surprise when I arrived on the premises at 1 pm: the designated are for the picnic was all flooded (you'll see in the video tomorrow). Fortunately, not far from the initial location, there was this little "headland" which allowed us to eat and drink while remaining dry! It was fun ;-). Thanks for all your good wishes everyone, speak to you tomorrow when I have spent a good night in a real bed!

A nice experience

Thanks everyone for your nice comments yesterday. Browsing through 6,5 years of photos to prepare the presentation, I relived many nice memories (picnics, PDP meetings in SF, NYC, the 1st anniversary of PDP, the Smitha/Manu proposal...). Today at the Salon de la photo, I told everyone how much PDP brought to my life in terms of knowledge of the world. It also allowed me to make good friends. A special thank to Michael (for his help), Stuart (who took this photo), Cathy who came to see me talk (and someone from Canada whose name I forgot) and to Benoît from Le Déclencheur, who gave me the opportunity to give this speech today. Update: I just entered a Blog contest, can you please vote for me? Thank you!

Bonjour de Paris!

Here you go, here is the family picture of the 6th PDP picnic! As always it was great fun. Lots of new faces and lots of nice encounters. More tomorrow with the video (if the camera worked!). Right now, it's time to go to bed ;-) Love you all.

Picnic Time!

It's D-Day (or rather P-day!) for those of you who happen to be in Paris and want to gather around a little something to eat and drink by the Seine. The weather should be fine, but bring a little sweater with your food and drinks, just in case... This year I really have very little idea of know who is going to show up, which makes it even more fun ;-) And for those of you who are far from Paris, well, what can I say? Wish you were here, I suppose ;-) BTW, this is the Window of Smooth and Co, a new yummy Juice Bar chain!

PDP Picnic 2010

Hello everyone, here is DA photo you've all been waiting for... Due to the bad weather, a lot of people were discouraged (I don't blame them, even I wouldn't have come if I weren't kinda involved in the gathering!) but eventually it did not rain and we even had a few rays of sun... As always it was wonderful to meet all these -very - nice people. We were lucky enough to have a chef among us (Ulla, just behind Andrew, the man in the green shirt) who brought some delicious food. Champagne was brought by... Drummond  (for yes Drummond, his wife Mae and his humor were there!). Pasta Salad by Anissa, the lady from the Hungarian Cultural Center. I was spoiled by Jeff and Rose, we all thought of Lynn (PHX-CDG), spoke to Lynn (UK) on the phone and had nice talks and laughs with everyone, including newcomers. And yes, I think I was photographed a few times, although I did not notice anything in particular... (Maybe Sab did!). I also took a few videos and this year, I promise, I will post them!
From left to right, starting with the last row: 1-Jeff, Cathy, Mai, Drummond, 2-Ulla, Guille, Linda, Rose, Michael, 3-Andy, Anissa, Philip, Allan, 4-Vicenzo. 

PDP Picnic day!

That's it! D-Day... It happens only once a year and... it's today (Wednesday May the 13th) . But pay attention, there is a change in the location. The weather is not good enough to take the chance to do it on the banks. Therefore, here is a nice surprise to all of you who have been following PDP and the little "family" that revolves around it. The 2009 PDP picnic will be taking place where Guillemette (better known as "Guille", here) works, that is at "The Cork and Cavan" on 70 quai de Jemmapes (10th arrondissement), by the Canal where I took this photo (see map here) - still @ 7 pm. Métro République or Jacques Bonsergent. Bring food but don't bring drinks, as they have to be ordered on the spot. See you tonight. See also Facebook.

PDP dinner at General Lafayette's

OK, I'm late... But it's for a good cause! I'm just back from a Paris PDP dinner, where, as usual, I had a wonderful time. I finally got to meet Carrie (who was at the South California PDP gathering, if you remember), and I had the pleasure to greet newcomers: Michelle, Elisabeth and Stuart. Of course the loyal attendees were there too: Guille, Thib, Michael and... Jeff via email and telephone! All this took place at General Lafayette, a restaurant near my place were I took this shot. But of course, there is the usual "family photo" - plus a little extra! - to discover here...

NYC PDP Party

Sorry I'm late posting, but you know why. I'm just back from... the NYC PDP party. As for last year in San Francisco and at the Paris gatherings, it's always a pleasure to meet people "for real". We gathered at Pipa (a recommendation of Alexa's), a tapas restaurant very nicely decorated. I had the opportunity to meet very interesting people, with different background and experience. From right to left: Alexa, Doug, Lori, Ming, Mame, Deborah, Elisabeth, Aliya, Charles.
Not to forget Vince, who kindly popped in a few minutes to tell me nice things about PDP ;) and Jessie who came in late and does not show on the photo. I was also touched to receive a call from Jeff (in Mineapolis) and a text message from Thib in Paris for the occasion. I may find it hard to post a daily photo of Paris sometimes, but all this is really rewarding ;)

Les Deux Magots meeting

When I heard Katie (from San Francisco), Lynn (from Phoenix) and Michael (from Miami & Paris!) were to meet at Les Deux Magots (one of the most famous cafés in Paris, located in the Saint Germain area) tonight, I was not sure I could join because of my work. I finally managed to get there at 8:30 to find out that Thibault, Guille and Heather, a newbe also from San Francisco were also there. We all ended up having dinner in the area and spent a super evening. I don't know who started this PDP thing, but it was a pretty good idea ;)!!

Thanks for a wonderful evening

It's always a bit tacky to thank everyone for coming to a party you organized, but I don't care, I really want to thank all the people who showed up yesterday evening, who brought gifts, who called (Lynn and Suzy) and all of you, who commented -a lot! I really enjoyed myself even if I did not get the chance to speak to everyone very long. That brings me to the video which is currently being uploaded... I really hope I'll manage to show it to you because it did take a lot of time to edit (gee, I'll never make a video blog!) and I really would like you to see it;) - I won't know until tomorrow when I wake up to go on Holiday for a week... Whatever the result is, there will still be photos for you here ;). PS: a big thank you to Michael, who ordered all these badges from Zazzle; He gave 33 of them last night! Update : check this, if you want to see more photos... Update 2: the video is here, but only 5 minutes ;-(

PDP Picnic 2008

Among the people who follow PDP, I've never been disappointed in anyone I've met - and last evening made no exception. I did have a great evening - and I'm sure everybody did. I know you're dying to know more, but you're going to have to wait a little bit because right now I'm half dead and I need to get some sleep. I hope this photo will keep you waiting... (Besides, it's worth the wait, as I not only have tons of photos, but also videos). I LOVE you pdpers! Update. See who is who on the making of.

Paris Daily Photo in San Francisco (part deux!)

You know I very very rarely post a photo that was not taken in Paris, but today, on this special occasion, I had to break the rule. So here it is... These are the wonderful people I got to spend the evening with, last night in San Francisco. Two are actually missing (Larry, where on earth was he?!) and Clo, who arrived a little later) and I let the others introduce themselves in the comments. I really enjoyed myself and I do mean it. Once again a big thank you to BuzzGirl (slightly hidden in the back LOL) for arranging the restaurant and to everyone for showing up.

D-Day! Paris Daily Photo in San Francisco

Today is a great day for me. It's Sunday and at 5 pm I'll be meeting all San Francisco PDP lovers who can make it to the little gathering organized by Buzzgirl at Cha Cha Cha in the Mission (2327 Mission St., between 19th and 20th streets). I'll try not to be late (providing I can park!) and to bring little surprises... Needless to say that I will also post photos the next day. (Sorry for those of you who are not in SF nor the Bay area. I promise everything will go back to normal on Tuesday!) .