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Vandra Quest· Jul 24· from 5 Days in Paris

Skipped the palace queue, walked the gardens instead

Did the Hall of Mirrors early and then spent most of the day outside, which is where Versailles actually gets you. Walked out past the Grand Canal until the crowds thinned to nothing and it was just gravel, hedges, and a lot of sky.

Palace of Versailles

Vandra Quest· Jul 23· from 5 Days in Paris

Learned that butter is a quantity, not an ingredient

Cooking class near the Panthéon: market walk first, then four hours of technique. Made a tarte and something with a pan sauce I'm still thinking about. The chef's entire philosophy appears to be more butter, and honestly, results speak.

Le Foodist

Vandra Quest· Jul 22· from 5 Days in Paris

Gave up on seeing it all by 11am

The Louvre is not a museum, it's a country. Saw the greatest hits, then abandoned the plan entirely and wandered the Richelieu wing where there was almost nobody. Sat with a Vermeer for ten minutes. Better than the three hours before it.

Musée du Louvre

Vandra Quest· Jul 21· from 5 Days in Paris

Straight up the tower, jet lag and all

Dropped the bags in the Marais and went directly to the thing you're supposed to be too cool to go directly to. Summit at golden hour, wind coming through the ironwork, the whole city laid out flat and pale gold. Worth every stair-shaped cliché.

Eiffel Tower

Vandra Quest· Jul 11· from 7 Days in Tokyo

Breakfast standing up at Tsukiji

Last full morning, so: tamagoyaki on a stick, a grilled scallop, and an unreasonable amount of uni from a styrofoam tray. Ate all of it standing between two stalls. Best meal of the week and it cost about as much as a coffee at home.

Tsukiji Outer Market

Vandra Quest· Jul 10· from 7 Days in Tokyo

The crossing, from above and below

Crossed Shibuya four times just to do it, then went up and watched the whole thing resolve into a pattern — a thousand people and not one collision. Dinner up high afterwards with the city doing its thing underneath.

Shibuya Crossing

Vandra Quest· Jul 9· from 7 Days in Tokyo

Incense at Senso-ji

Got there early enough that Nakamise still had shutters down. Washed my hands, pulled a fortune, got a middling one and tied it to the rack like you're supposed to. The smoke from the big censer is meant to be good for whatever hurts, so I gave it my shoulder.

Senso-ji Temple

Vandra Quest· Jul 8· from 7 Days in Tokyo

Knee-deep in a room full of koi

teamLab Planets makes you leave your shoes at the door and then walks you through warm water in the dark while light swims around your legs. Somewhere between an art gallery and a very calm fever dream. Go on a weekday.

teamLab Planets TOKYO

Vandra Quest· Jul 7· from 7 Days in Tokyo

Turns out rice is the hard part

Three hours of sushi class in Asakusa and the fish was the easy bit. It's the rice — the temperature, the pressure, how little you're supposed to touch it. Mine looked like a first attempt. Tasted great regardless.

Sushi Making Tokyo

Vandra Quest· Jul 6· from 7 Days in Tokyo

Fifty-second floor, completely awake

Checked into the Park Hyatt running on airplane sleep and stood at the window for a stupid amount of time. Tokyo doesn't end — it just keeps going until the haze takes over. Fought the jet lag until 9pm and lost anyway.

Park Hyatt Tokyo

@ryan· Jun 26· from Europe wedding

Swam with Dolphins

We swam with the dolphins lol jking that didn't happen

@ryan· Jun 26· from Europe wedding

Did some awesome stuff today.

Vandra Quest· Jun 24· from 5 Days in Oahu, Hawaii

Garlic shrimp at a picnic table

Drove the whole north shore loop with the windows down and stopped at Kahuku because everyone says to. Paper plate, twelve shrimp, two scoops of rice, enough garlic to keep the week honest. Ate it at a picnic table in the sun.

Kahuku shrimp trucks

Vandra Quest· Jun 23· from 5 Days in Oahu, Hawaii

Waimea Bay, gold hour

Summer swell so the bay was flat and glassy, nothing like the winter footage. Sat on the sand until the light went orange and then pink and then gone. Nobody said much.

Waimea Bay Beach Park

Vandra Quest· Jun 21· from 5 Days in Oahu, Hawaii

Hanauma Bay before the crowds

Worth the early reservation slot. The bay is a drowned crater and the reef starts about ten feet from shore. Floated over a honu for a full minute before it decided I was boring and went back to eating.

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve

Vandra Quest· Jun 20· from 5 Days in Oahu, Hawaii

Up on the third wave

Swallowed most of the Pacific on the first two. The instructor said stop looking at your feet, look where you're going — and that was the whole thing, apparently. Rode one all the way in and immediately understood why people move here and never leave.

North Shore Oahu Surf School

Vandra Quest· Jun 20· from 5 Days in Oahu, Hawaii

Shoes off, and they stayed off

Six hours over open water and then the doors opened and the air was warm and wet and smelled like plumeria. Dropped the bags at the Royal Hawaiian, walked straight down to the water in the clothes I'd flown in. The pink hotel against that blue is not subtle and I did not care.

The Royal Hawaiian