OHLALA Mag

TORONTO THE DUBAI OF CANADA

I have been all over the globe and I can assure you that besides in Dubai I have never seen so many high rise condos blooming so fast in every corner of the city. Toronto is such a surprising and interesting place. Even if I came here several times I never got the chance to experience the city like we did this week. Our trip was 99% business but the 1% remaining were extremely enjoyable.



Architects rival with amazing condominium residences giving the city a rejuvenated and futuristic look [The L Tower - Casa Condominium - Charlie Condos ...] The list is endless.

Weather-wise, it is not as cold as I though it would be but I would have loved to enjoyed the city during the summer.



Above and below the Toronto University of Art & Design designed in 2004 by architec William Alsop. It's a great building but I am not sure it is aging very well and even tho the 80's are back I am not sure that is the kind of things we wanna see now. But still it's a very interesting building.



Our favorite Nip/Tuck is the Royal Ontario Museum, actually hosting the "Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008" exhibit.















Toronto also has some amazing restaurants. Among our favorites the Spoke Club, Crush Wine and Bar and Golden Thai Restaurant.





Canada is a pretty hot place and Canadian men are sure part of the all experience ;-)

JAMIE DORNAN LIKES WOMEN ON TOP

With the couple of hours we had today not having to work, we ventured around our hotel to enjoy Toronto.



It may be not sunset boulevard but the billboards here are just as hot and even bigger, the other difference is that Canadians apparently like women on top. In that case it is Eva Mendes topping Jamie Dornan.









On our way back to the hotel we walked around Churh Wellesley Village the gay part of Toronto.



Alexander Wood [above] was a merchant and magistrate in Upper Canada who was the center of a sex scandal in 1810 when he investigated a rape case. The victim, referred to as "Miss Bailey", came to Wood claiming that she did not know the identity of her attacker, however she had scratched her assailant's penis during the assault. In order to identify the assailant, Wood personally inspected the genitals of a number of suspects for injury. Several contradictory rumours existed about Wood's conduct during these inspections. It was even alleged that Wood fabricated the rape charge as an opportunity to fondle and seduce young men. To this day, the truth of what actually happened is unknown.

On other Toronto news, the city have bee awarded with the right to host the World Pride in 2014, beating out Stockolm.

World Pride -- which includes a parade, an opening ceremony, festivals and cultural events -- promotes gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender issues internationally. Toronto's World Pride event will include a human-rights conference and an AIDS candlelight vigil, among other activities.

+ Hello Toronto

HELLO TORONTO

So we have left Los Angeles for the upper east side of the continent, Toronto Canada. It's been a couple of year since I have last been in Canada and Alek is a total Canadian virgin ;-) We are here with our friends Donald and Francis also from Los Angeles. The trip is mostly business but it will also be a lot of fun.



We have left a relatively cold L.A. to trade for a relatively warm Toronto. I was happy that Air Canada was providing French Cinema, it actually made me laugh to select French (Parisian) which I have never heard before, for some reason I was sure that French was just French but apparently not for Canadians ;-)

It is nice to be back in Toronto, especially with people who know the city. We will have lots of meetings but we will make sure to have time for some sightseeing.





Of course we brought our winter clothes even tho it was warm for like 2 hours before the sun went down and the wind from the lake blew in our now so fragile and sensitive L.A. faces ;-)



After a late lunch we went to Chinatown for Francis who was craving some tropical fruits ... and we bought enough to feed a small village!

Toronto is a new adventure for us and it's looking good!

OREGON PART 3: HOME SWEET HOME

I was born 6000 miles away but I have never felt like I was away from home. Even tho my family is still in the South of France and I miss them to death I always knew that home is where the heart is and where people you love are. So I always knew I would have several homes :-)

We now call Los Angeles home but since this past weekend, a part of our hearts and souls is somewhere lost in the forests of Oregon. Darion is an amazing friend and his parents welcomed us like their own children.

This past weekend we have spent 4 too short days with no cell phone reception and no internet connection, which can sound like hell for some, but truly is a heaven. Heaven just like the 'Lowestein estate', it was very special for us to be able to spend time where Darion grew up. The two pictures above and below were taken from their home which is on a hillside surrounded by mountains. Just looking at those sunset photos relaxes me instantly.

One more time we want to thank Tim and Janai for being such amazing people. We love them very much!



Now let's go back to the crazy fun we had ;-)

The ride below on the tortuga was, I have to tell you, better than any ride I did at Universal Studios, Magic Mountain or Disneyland it's called the Shenanigan ride and it goes from their house to their lake down the hill ... and having Janai as the pilot was awesome ...



The ride was like a 4D ride, the wind, the movements and the branches slapping on the windshield, it was incredible ...

So was the contrast ...

As soon as we go to the lake shore (and after turning around the last tree twice) this is where we found ourselves:



Not a single noise but insects and other things I did not want to know the origin of... the stars reflecting on the lake. It was peaceful and magic.

Darion's parent live near a megapolis called Drain aka 'The Gateway to the Pacific' population 1072 + 3 with Darion and us this past weekend ;-) It was named after a couple, Charles and Anna Drain, who were the first to settle there in the 1800s and it is the only community named "Drain" in North America. Voila for the local history.

You may think it is a small town but they do light up their landmark at night .... unlike the Hollywood sign!



I did celebrate my birthday while in Oregon, and Janai made me a yummylicious banana coconut cream pie :-P Darion's parents are both amazing cooks, they grow most of their food and we had the chance to eat fabulous homemade meals 3 times a day :-)



We also met Darion's sister who had us install this amazing tv at the back of her car ;-)





The forest around the house is magic, I am not kidding you, fairies were spotted there several times ...



Darion's mom transformed the entire forest into a relaxing retreat and if you pay attention you may see many things, like this buddha.



This is the same lake by day time. This is where we went to pick fresh wild blackberries for snacks.



One of our excursion was to the Yellow Creek river.



I really loved the entire experience even when I crashed my butt on the rock for not paying attention to where I was stepping, lol!



Below a couple of my now world famous reflection pictures ;-)



We also did cliff climbing ... I am not kidding you, we even took some pictures as you can see ;-)



On our way back home we stopped in Oakland, for some antic shopping! Darion got me two amazing vintage cameras from 1920.



The museum was fun, we were the only ones there, as you can tell by the photos we did below. Those poor mannequins didn't had that much fun since 1925.



Below, I am holding an aerial camera used in world war II which was on sale at the antic shop! I wish I could have fit that one in my bags ...



The next day we drove in the mountain and one of our stops was the lava field.





On the way to Clear Lake [See the photos of Clear Lake] we went to feed the fishes.



I am not kidding you, those fishes were HUGE, as big as sharks. I have learned that white sturgeons can live 100 years and grow up to 15 feet long!



The fun part was also going from point A to point B. We had all the comfort and food you can dream of and no matter how long or short was the drive it was never boring.





Darion and Alek found an energy drink called GO GIRL ... LOL Isn't that the best energy drink name ever !?





At the end of the day we went to a natural hot spring pool. Since it was right in the middle of the forest I was hoping for my first bear encounter :-) And I did, boy those Oregon bears are such a tease ;-)



Below the steamy pool, it was perfect to end the day in a very relaxed way.



Darion's dog, Bast, is the sweetest dog ever! She loves him so much that she really smiles when he is around. Look at the picture I took she is sooooo in love with Darion!



Eugene Airpost has lots of ducks to support the Oregon Ducks Team. And they have all kinds of ducks ...



Those of you who went to Eugene airport sure remember its best feature! The flying people wall, honoring some of the most famous people who lived in Eugene county ... and look who I found flying on the fame wall .... Darion!



We really feel like we have a new home now and we cannot wait to go back already ...

+ Oregon Part 2
+ Oregon Part 1

OREGON PART TWO:WE HAVE BEEN TO 'SAHALIE'

We took so many photos while in Oregon this past weekend that I do not even know where to start! Everywhere we went whatever we did was incredible. Darion's parents were the most amazing tour guides and we had such a great time together.

You saw a couple of photos we took from our plane rides between Los Angeles San Franciso and Eugen, Oregon. Today we wanted to share some photos from two gorgeous places.

The first place is the Sahalie Falls (above) and Clear lake (below) both sites are located in the Willamette National Forest, one of the largest in the country.



Our first stop is the Sahalie Falls. Sahalie means Heaven and if this is not heaven it is pretty close. First Darion's mom made us look at a focus point on the waterfall for 30 seconds which makes the all earth breathe and move once you look around! Try it if you can it's a pretty amazing feeling!







We then took a hike along the river to a second waterfall. Where we made a stop to through flowers at mother nature :-)



This place is magic, in fact everywhere we went this weekend was magic. It is such a different and great energy than any city.



The river and the falls are real battery recharger. the noise, the smells (we have been smelling wood burning for the past 10 days in Los Angeles) so the smell of the rain in the forest was like heaven to us!







Ou second stop today in our Oregon trip is Clear Lake! About 15 minutes away from the fall this lake was created by lava flows almost 3,000 years ago. It has a petrified forest at the bottom clearly visible to boaters (non-motorized only).



The lake has colors I have only seen in tropical islands. Greens, turquoises ... it's stunning!



As you can see below, our friend Darion has this Karma and no matter where he goes, even in some remote lake in the middle of nowhere, there is always a cute boy next to him ;-)



But Karma is like a two way relationship, you receive and you give ... minutes after the pictures above, Darion was attacked by some pretty scary creatures!

Sometimes you forget that no matter how pretty those places are, this is mother nature at its wildest stage and you got to be careful when you walk around the lake, as you can see Darion was attacked by two evil wild animals that I have never seen before, you would think they are dogs but don't get fool by the city like camouflage those little creatures are in reality like mini extremely ferocious wolfs, you can tell them apart by their piercing red eyes ... SCARY!



And even in Oregon there are the Jet Set dogs, private canoe and life jacket! It's almost like Beverly Hills ...



Below a 'reflection' picture I took of the lake.



And all that was just a part of what we did in one day, there is more to come. To be continued ...

+ Oregon Part One: The Ride

CARNET DE VOYAGE! OREGON PART ONE 'THE RIDE'

Hope you all had a nice Labor day extended weekend! On our side we had the pleasure to join our friend Darion home in Oregon and spend some time with him and his incredible parents who made our trip one of the best we ever had ...

But because Alek and I got home late and we have to go through about 1000 photos, I am just gonna post a couple of shots from our ride between Los Angeles San Francisco and Eugene [Oregon] and back. The rest of the photos with some amazing sights will come later this week.

As you can see on the first picture above, our ride was so small that it felt like a private jet ;-) Of course if we had the money for a private jet we would get one that fits Darion who on top of being one of the nicest friends we have is also one of the tallest ;-)



On our way back from fabulous Oregon we stopped in San Francisco and had a pretty cool view of the city and the Golden Gate.



For our arrival in Los Angeles we had a nice sunset view of the city of angels.



And as you can see below the wildfires [157,200-acre blaze, the largest in the recorded history of Los Angeles County which are now 56% contained] are leaving on the city a light fog and a delicate smell that we sure did not miss while in Oregon! To be continued ...

SUMMER DAY IN LAGUNA BEACH

Today we are taking you with us to Laguna Beach. It's a short ride from Los Angeles and once in a while Alek and I just go there for the day.



This time it was to meet our friend Valerie who lives down there and that we haven't seen in 6 months ...





Laguna Beach is a really cool spot for the summer, even tho California has an eternal spring with 7 minutes of rain once in a while, the summer still has this je ne sais quoi that makes you just want to relax and do nothing but sitting on the beach (maybe it is also because no one is really working right now ...)



Laguna is also a great place for surfers, with little coves and great waves. I don't think I will ever get on any kind of board (I know I would crash my head on the first rock available) I still enjoy a lot seeing people surfing.





On Friday we also went in the area for the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach which was great and trust me you do not want to miss those photos either ;-)



In the gallery below enjoy more photos from our day trip in Laguna Beach.

OHLALA US OPEN OF SURFING IN HUNTINGTON BEACH CALIFORNIA

So yesterday since we have decided not to go for a swim in Malibu, we made our way to Huntington Beach aka Surf city for the US Open of Surfing.

We LOVE Huntington Beach and the surfing competion made the place even more fun. So after safely parking our car right under the tsunami hazard zone sign ... we walked to the beach and OH BOY I was not expecting that many people and even less that many hot people.



The fun part was alos to check out the latest trends in swimwear and after a couple of hours looking around we came to the same conclusion ... mega low rise shorts are in this season. This guy winning the palm for the lowest low rise of all times ;-)





The beach was packed with thousands and thousands of people. The funny thing is that we got to enjoy less surfing due to the competition then usual but watching some pro surfers was pretty cool.



After that we spent some time on the beach, had a late lunch on mane street and came back to our relatively calm Hollywood Hill. It was a very fun day and if you are in Southern California don't miss the final two days of competition. You can have a look at some of the photos we took today in the galleries below.







It was quite a contrast comparing to our last visit to Surf City [Welcome to Surf City USA] But I am so glad we went there for the US Open of surfing. Sunday we are making our way back to the south of Los Angeles to meet with friends in Laguna Beach, it should be busy but nothing like Huntington Beach.

OHLALA PARIS! PLAGE + FIREWORKS AT THE EIFFEL TOWER

Paris is about to get closer to Ipanema or Malibu, at least in its utopian vision, the reality, since 2002, more than 50 tonnes of real sand will be laid at the edge of the Seine river to create an artificial beach.

This year's official poster represents a bourgeoise whose mouth is getting dangerously close to Paris' biggest erection, the Eiffel Tower.

Last year Alek and I were still in Paris dealing with the sell of our condo and preparing our big move to Los Angeles so we got to enjoy some Paris Plage [Ohala Paris Plage 2008] This year our heart is in Paris but our butts on some real nice hot beach ;-)

So while we are in Paris, we invite you to see the amazing Bastille day fireworks. The video is a little long, 30 minutes so if you are impatient you can fast forward to the last 10 minutes (absolutely mind blowing!) Love the song they used for the final, Sex Bomb, indeed the Eiffel Tower is one big sex bomb.

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY & JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE TO THE EIFFEL TOWER

Le 14 Juillet aka Bastille Day in the rest of the world was celebrated in France and Paris in particular.

But this year was calling for even more celebration since the Eiffel Tower just turned 120! It is my favorite landmark in the world. Usually the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower do not really take place on the Eiffel Tower (like many people may think) It's only for the millennium that the tower was used in such a way. Alek and I were there and it was just the most amazing firework ever.



This fireworks was pretty nice too I have to say. The Eiffel Tower was looking sexier than ever. I am sure it was a nightmare to be there, over 800000 people were expected at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. But I am sure the lucky people who can see the Eiffel tower from their condos must have had a nice time.



Before the fireworks, the famous Champs Elysees hosted the Parade.



I remember when I was in the army I did all I could to avoid taking part of the defile on the champs Elysees. Not everyone has to do it but when I was in the army my 'section' was selected to go to Paris and 'parade' ... at the end I stayed in Bordeaux and went to celebrate with friends at the Cap Ferret, which was a lot of fun too ... shame on me I know ;-)



A simple history of Bastille Day is this: Bastille Day is considered the first day of the French Revolution in 1789. On the morning of July 14, French citizens armed themselves and stormed the Bastille Fortress, which mainly housed political opponents to the French government. The citizens viewed it as their first victory against the government, which they felt was corrupt, and the revolution began. Bastille Day was proclaimed a French national holiday in 1880 and its motto is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."



Once again Happy 14 Juillet a tous.