jeremy in paris!

bonjour and welcome to another wonderfully adventerous post on germy in socal!  like big ben in london, this photo of the tour eiffel is another that led me to travel 8,000+ miles for the sight of something so grand i knew i would someday have to study its visual glory with my own eyes to see its significance. and to say that i saw its significance gives no justice to the experience i felt standing at the base of this massive, beautiful, structure of supreme human imagination.

but i cannot dive too deep into this post without first recognizing the real reason paris made such an impact on my life. my host, christophe and many other proud residents of this city gave me memories that will always make my first adventure in paris something i will remember for a lifetime. hospitality, generousity and a willingess to explore one's curiousity helped to surround me with people rich in the happiness of life.

this is a simple photo of my hosts neighborhood, but simple in paris is beyond extroadinary

when i arrived in paris i was running on 36 hours without sleep. ive recognized a robotic like personality in my body as its instinctive intuition understands that every opportunity it has at that moment is once in a lifetime. i departed from the airport towards the city center to meet with my host christophe. from that moment on, each minute of everyday was spent in awe of france's amazing history. we went straight to lunch with his friends and hit the streets for a stroll of a building that floats in the sky, montmartre. this ancient cathedral gives you an entire panorama of the city. i couldnt believe my eyes as i looked out past the horizon...every inch of every street was lined with something beautiful, something significant, something distinctly french.

i got a glimpse of the entire city and it was literally at my feet. my friends pointed out the various sites i was
soon to visit and my heart began to race. overwhelmed with beauty and anticipation, i tried to keep myself
grounded in the moment, but i felt myself floating away off into the sky, hitching a ride on the levatating
cathedral behind me...

thanks to my incredible host, i awoke to a french breakfast on the daily and had the honor and pleasure to share it with him before his shift at work as a policemen. a fresh baquette and croissant with jelly, butter, café and orange juice!

its not hard to figure out i had a bit of an obsession with tour eiffel. i made two visits (almost three); one at night and another during the day. the size of the tower was astonishing and i was taken aback when it appeared from behind a few trees after deboarding the metro train.

at night the tower has thousands of lights attached to it that twinkle at the top of every hour for five minutes.
everyone sits with blankets and picnics on the mall at the base of the tower and when the lights begin the
people clap and shout in happiness.

everywhere the eye can see, the garden streches nearly to the horizon.  it is unimagineably large and beautiful

my paris day trip was versailles. while there is a chateau, a beautiful one at that, my intention was to marvel in the splendor that is the iconic garden of versailles. since a highschool history lesson where we studied the french monarchy, i have dreamed of seeing the gardens of versailles and slowly strolling its endless landscapes. and due to the absolute longest line i have ever been somewhat happy to wait in, i missed out on precious hours i coveted inside the garden. my experience was rushed and i will, i must, return one day and make up for those precious hours lost in line. only next time, i will be in the company of a lovely girl to share in the gardens beauty...

after a late night out in paris, we made a stop at the louvre around 4am.  i was told its much more beautiful when there are no tourists and it couldnt be more true...

another beautiful and breathtaking garden, the jardine de luxembourg
rests in the middle of the city and offers a quick escape from the metropolis

don´t hate me for forgetting the name of this grand cathedral.
the fountain in front was the biggest ive seen so far!

french macaroons!

my final night in paris was spent with friends at a picnic on the river that cuts through paris.  notre dame pokes its head out in the back...and to my host christophe, thank you for making my time in paris so memorable.  i have fallen inlove with paris!

my time in paris could not have been any better. my final day was spent with new friends at a picnic along the river, with notre dame and beautiful parisien bridges dotting the horizon. christophe deemed it my french graduation and our first toast solidified my new parisien roots. tomorrow i am off to barcelona, spain the captial of catalunya. with the little spanish that i know, im nervous and excited to see how difficult it may be to communicate with the locals who pride themselves in catalan culture and its distinct dialect of spanish! i will miss paris more than words can express, and i await the day that it once again fills the days of my calendar...

please join me as i continue my grand tour of europe in the remarkable city of barcelona. soon my feet will feel the warm sand of the shore and the soft waves of the mediterranean. au revoir paris, hola barcelona!


thanks for reading!

- j

jeremy in london!

i traveled over 8,000 miles for this photo, and the story behind it is just as special as the memory this photo will give me to last the rest of my life.  my quest in london above all else was to see the parliament building and the famous clock tower big ben and it all begin with a simple trip on the bus.

victoria tower stands at the south end of the house of parliament and the house of  lords.  it is an enormously impressive structure with britains flag flying high above its top

i boarded from streatham hill, a small town in south london enroute to the middle of the city.  the hustle and bustle of the city began to grow as we approached the city center and passengers began squeezing tighter and tighter inside the iconic big, red double decker.  little did the bus driver know as he commanded each rotation of the wheels on the bus, that my heart began to pound ever more rigorously as we came closer and closer to our destination...

the steps of lambeth bridge, victoria tower peeks through in the background

and then, suddenly it happened.  as we made our way through a tunnel, a sight these eyes have waited to see for a lifetime began to slowly apparate on the other end...the london skyline presented itself to me in an act of true british magic. the emotions burst out of me in a wide, face splitting smile that i couldnt and wouldnt hold back in the slightest...

the house of parliament,  commons and big ben light up londons skyline.

all the many things i had the opportunity to experience in the city of london are too numerous to try and express here now.  the moments i have wifi access are usually short, and i wouldnt want it any other way! so please allow the following photos to express what i do not have time to put into words  :)

buckingham palace!  i was told i just missed seeing the formal papers on display announcing the new royal baby

windsor castle was my london day trip:  its the oldest active castle in the world and also the official residence of the queen!  this is a view of the castles dry moat

the gardens of windsor as well as the many other activities it takes to maintain a castle helped to develop the town of windsor that sits just outside the castle walls

gaurds patrol the grounds of windsor.  here they were on their way to replace one soldier from his post

my wonderful host kamila took me for drinks at her favorite pub waxy o'connors, it was a castle all in its own with atleast 15 different rooms and levels with little nooks everywhere!  never seen anything like it!

a special thank you to my friend jack for showing me what a night on the town in london is all about, a true english pub crawl!  and also to my amazing host kamila!  my experience in london was better than anything i could have hoped for and so much of that is due to you and your hospitality, thank you!

tomorrow i am off to paris, the city of romance & love and theres no telling what might happen  ;)  i am truly sad to be leaving the uk.  I face the unknown in each new day that comes and i welcome the excitment this inspires in my soul. i find myself in awe of the deeply rich culture that europeans possess...cheers london, bonjour paris!

stay tuned for the second stop of my european tour, paris france  

thanks for reading!

- j

jeremy in europe!

26 years...this is the length of time i've spent on earth in pursuit of the adventure i always knew i wanted, but could never quite base in the realm of my reality.  my dreams of backpacking through europe were met with subliminal sarcasm, taunting me with, 'you might as well dream of going to the moon brother' (which also happens to be on my wishlist, along with flying (or even just riding in) a supersonic fighter jet).

my last post was also a day of elation, however just the anticipation of traveling has my heart racing the same way it was kicking and pushing, and gliiiiiiiiding my way across the city of los angeles during ciclavia!  in just a few hours i will be departing my beloved los angeles and the next 25 days will be filled with that once elusive adventure, as i take my grand tour of europe!

stops:  london, paris, barcelona, rome, athens (mikonos, ios)

since completing my work on a grueling 10 month season one of a television show called home & family this last thursday, i've been scrambling to tidy up last minute errands.  sleep has come in short supply as i found myself wide awake with anticipation every time i tried to lay down or sit still:  "don't forget that one thing!  oh, wait! i need to call that person about something!  remember to submit those photo's before you leave!  go to the bank!  make sure you grab that extra thing for your camera!"

the list was lengthy, but it helped take my mind of the anticipation, or i would have surely died.

a 50 mm lens bought to slay down europe's architecture!

the sights to see are plentiful, and i only have one or two core must-sees in each city:

london:  parliament and windsor Castle

paris:  eiffel tower, versailles

barcelona:  la playa, la playa, la playa

rome: coloseum, italian coast

athens:  acropolis, parthenon  /  islands: mikonos & ios

if you're reading this in shock, please don't fret!  believe me when i tell you i have amassed a sightseeing list so impressive, that...well...you would be impressed, trust me!  a special thank you to some amazing friends who took time from their busy schedules to send me their own favorite places in these cities!

so i ask that you stay tuned and follow along as i make my way across lands of incredible human history.

to all the guests i've hosted: thank you for giving me the courage to forge my own adventure...

now its my turn to see the world  :)

as always,

thanks for reading!

- j

ciclavia - to the sea!

ahhh, venice  :)

life in los angeles is quick...time has found a way of blurring days and weeks together, so that the moments spent on-set...these amazingly spectacular, and always changing moments, must be dumped from memory to make room for the next flood of daily content.  i can't tell you the most exciting moment, or the coolest person i've had standing in front of my lense, but i can speak on the truth that i love my work, and that this is just the beginning for me and my career in photography.

with my first post in all these months, ciclavia is an event that is well worth the wait, although the break in posts does not come from a lack of subject matter.  the paragraph above explains it best; simply a lack of time!

ciclavia is an event put on throughout the streets of los angeles, with the first few originating just outside my window in beautiful downtown.  streets are closed to cars, and although the lanes are kindly dominated by bicycles, I, in my most perfect germy fashion, have taken to the streets with my longboard for an out-of-this-world sidewalk surfing experience.

sunday, april 21 2013 the route for ciclavia - to the sea! stretched the length of the city!  connecting my two favorite areas of this town via venice boulevard, i set out on my mission to longboard the entire 15 mile route from downtown to venice beach!

my friend kelly caught up with
me for the last mile to venice  :)

jenny joined me for a few
blocks from la brea to fairfax!

making my way from the routes downtown start / finish line, I was nervous as I approached my first hill and found myself already breathing hard, with beads, no rivers, of sweat pouring down my face...with only a mile under my belt I felt the split-second doubts that I may not make the full 15 miles...I had spent the previous three or four weekends longboarding the boardwalk from venice to santa monica, a 2 mile stretch that I can cruise with ease...and when the full scope of skating across the city of los angeles hit me as I made my way up that hill, I took those doubts and tossed them aside as the rewarding thrill of peaking the hill and surfing down the backside on smooth, open asphalt dominated my senses.

words of encouragement and shock from cyclists, 'are you going all the way to the ocean?!' yes ma'am, yes i am!  I fell into auto-pilot and the next thing i knew, the downtown skyline was in my rear-view, a mass of metal and glass was slowly fading behind me...kicking and kicking, and cruising, and carving my way past block after block, all of the sudden i had made it 8 miles.  just over halfway to venice and i couldn't have felt better!  next thing i know, downtown is no longer visible, and the smell of the ocean hits my soul...

laci made it from downtown on her bike, we met up in venice!

the realization that i had made the 15 mile trek, in just over 2 hours, was alot to take in.  the beauty of this city, it's inhabitants, and all the other things that make los angeles los angeles filled my emotions with humility.  it's so much bigger then me...and i love that  :)

me and my trusty board, we made it!

the next ciclavia is down 'Iconic Wilshire Boulevard' june 23, 2013 from 10am - 3pm.  you can be damn sure that you will catch me surfing the paved route, board beneath me, and the streets of los angeles welcoming the simplicity of human powered vehicles and smiles.

thanks for reading!

- j