I love talking to winemakers in their vineyards


We discovered this pretty-new winemaker, a father-and-son team. The dad was a French expat CIO in London who always dreamed of making wine. So he came back to Provence, bought a ruin of a chateau surrounded by grenache and syrah vineyards, and invested in reviving both house and vines. The winery is Domaine du Chat Blanc. They're new, but doing everything right -- organic vineyards, hand-harvesting (mostly) and lots of care in their wines. 

(Also: I love grenache and syrah, the only varieties they grow.)

So nice to meet these winemakers, and to share a few moments about their wonderful new winery. Can't wait to visit them again next year and see how they've grown. 

So many new places to discover in Provence!


No matter how many times we live in Provence, we still aways discover new and wonderful places. Like this village of Le Barroux, which is old and beautiful and a still-active community. A family still lives in the castle and, if you look closely, you can see them having dinner on their balcony. Here comes the drone video! 

A postcard from post-pandemic Provence


Greetings from Provence! We couldn't wait to return to Europe. So we didn't wait. We landed in Spain early in the morning on the first day Spain allowed vaccinated Americans without pandemic restrictions. And then we flew to France early in the morning two days later on the first day France welcomed vaccinated Americans.

After a few weeks, I'm here to report what it's like traveling in Europe after the pandemic. (tl;dr: It's awesome!)

Understanding the connection between 5G, Big Data, AI and multi-access computing

It's widely understood that 5G is set to transform business. But you can't talk about the coming 5G transformation without talking about 5G and big data. And you can't talk about 5G and big data without talking about artificial intelligence (AI) and multi-access edge computing (MEC). There's a ton of change coming. But don't be overwhelmed. Be prepared.

To oversimplify, 5G is needed to distribute AI to the edge and to devices. And AI is needed to bring intelligence to complex 5G networks. Widely distributed AI, edge computing and 5G all should drive very fast, very low-latency interactions throughout an organization. 

Here's why the future of business IT depends on the symbiotic relationship between 5G, Big Data, AI and multi-access computing. 

I'm staying on an "Island" in Provence

We're staying for a month in a town in Provence called l'Isle Sur La Sorgue, which means "The Island on the Sorgue." The Sorgue river starts as a natural spring coming out of the ground. At some point, the river splits in two, then re-joins later down the river. The land between the split is this amazingly charming town, an "Island" on the Sorgue river. Over the centuries, local residents have built canals throughout the town to support various industries, and so there's water everywhere (it's basically the opposite of California). 

The trouble with Paris

Amira pinned only the most excellent restaurants and bakeries in Paris for us to check out. 

My office today: our apartment in Central Paris

We are loving our apartment (for the next few days) in Central Paris -- it's in a very cool neighborhood, and the apartment itself is fantastic -- fiber optic internet, too. This is why we're nomads.

Tapas in El Born

And vermouth. And cava. At the awesome bar and restaurant called El Xampanyet. 

We got our covid test done for entry into France tomorrow. Now it’s tapa time. 

A beautiful morning on La Rambla

Amira and I came to Barcelona on our honeymoon many years ago, before overtourism burdened this unique city, and the city felt just like this. The pandemic is still keeping the tourist always, and these feel like stolen days.

How Spain vets incoming travelers


Today was the first day that Spain allowed people from some countries who have been vaccinated to enter the without needing to enter on important business. 

The Spanish consulate website said you need two things to enter the country now. First, proof of vaccination. Second, to complete a form on the website for health and travel published by the Spanish government. The form asks all the standard Covid related health questions (have you been in contact with some poor bastard dying of COVID?, etc.), asked if you were vaccinated and also if you had a negative Covid test in the 72 hours before arrival. 

But when I actually entered the country, they didn’t ask to see proof of vaccination They only scanned the QR code on the app, then waved me in.