The bed was very comfortable, or maybe I was that tired after 1 day of my journey! Nonetheless after a good sleep, shower, and continental french breakfast I went back to the train station (walking this time...it was just a couple of blocks) to go to Keil, Germany! I had an open ticket, so fortunately there was one leaving in a few minutes. A short and pretty ride across the border (with NO customs) I arrived in Germany.
It had a different feel, eveing from neighboring Strausbourg. I can't explain it. In keil the buildings were mcuh more modern, though still over 75 years old I'm sure. After taking to the ticket office (thank God in English) my train was in about an hour...but I decided to go to München (Munich) instead of directly to Füssen so I knew I would have an easy time with trains. A few changing of trains (karlsrule and stuttgart) and it was no problem. The country side was BEAUTIFUL! Keil is at the foothills of the mountains. They looked like the Appalachians, but with a German twist. Many of them had vineyards going straight up, but on the ICE train going so fast I couldn't snap a picture. I even saw a castle on top of a mountain (in ruins) but I just got a tree in my picture. :( After a few hours I saw (what a thought was) my stop: Passing-München. After walking around the area for 5 hours, trying to find where I was on my map of München I was finally able to intrepret a sign in German that said this was the FAR west side of München. Very aggrivated and very tired and sore by now for walking for 5 hours worth of miles with a 50 lb bag on my back, I ate some McDonalds and got back on the damn DB train to the next stop = the REAL München. That's all I have to say about that, except I did see a Confederate flag flying there. odd. People gave me weird looks walking around the middle-of-nowhere Germany with a bag on my back. Anyway after getting to München at nearly 7:30pm I started waking to find the hostel I found online. It looked to be pretty far (and it was starting to get dusk). I walked just a few blocks and saw a ** Hotel/Hostel. Excellent! 18 euro and 3 euro for bed sheets is not a bad deal for the night. Glean bed, fairly clean bathroom and shower, contental breakfast, and close--yet 14 ppl to a room, ok so this is real hostel living.
So with only a few hours of daylight I attempted to see München--all of it. Which I was fairly sucessful ! Of course I couldn't go into the cathedrals, but it was pretty on the outside. I saw all the sights lit up by the lights, Where Hitler started froming his plans, the big building with teh awesome clock where figures dance around (which was under reconstruction, just like the rest of Europe this summer. I couldn't find the hofbrauhaus, even though I'm pretty sure it was right under my nose. Oh, well Seeing a lot in a few hours, now it was time to sleep.
7.07.2007
7.06.2007
Strausbourg
I awoke late, with Manuelle (my madame's {read: crazy lady} son) telling me to wake up so I could give him my key at 7:30. I was mostly packed from the night before, so a few minutes later I rushed out the door onto the metro all the way across Paris to Gare de l'Est. I'd be dammed if I wasn't 2 minutes late. Off to a great start. Fortunately, Eurail will let you take the next train. SO after changing my ticket to the one in a few hours, and 16 euro difference in cost, I would be off to Strausbourg. I walked around teh neighborhood trying to find a Orange telephone place to recharge my phone with minutes for emergencies. Finally, after carrying my, what came to feel, heavy bag around for a couple of hours I found a Tabac that would actually do it. So off to the train station to take a nap until my train. It was a short night because the rest of the group wanted the last few hours to spend together, then I had to pack. ONly a few hours of sleep...ahh. Finalay on my TGV to Strausbourg which was filled with occasional naps throughout, I saw the terrain to the East of Paris to Strausbourg. Very PRetty. Finally, just a little over 2 hours later on the very fast train ( over 120 mph ?? ) I was in Strausbourg. First things first: buy my ticket to my next location: Fuessen, Germany. Well after waiting for an anglophone person, she told me all the trains were full to Fuessen the next day. Anyway my pass would not cover a ticket that I bought in France, so I would have to buy it. Darn. All she told me to do was buy a ticket across the border and I could try there which would be free with my Germany-Czech Eurail pass anyway. So 1.50 euros was all I needed for a pass/ticket on a train in the morning. Great!
Onto find my hostel for the night. I had directions which were easy: take the #10 buss in front of the trains station 3 stops. Easy. Found the bust, but eh lady insisted on speaking French with me, not a big deal, which it was France now and not Germany or Czech later! After finally finding the hostel and checking in, it was just early afternoon. An 8 person hostel room, that was actually nice and clean. There was an Australian in teh room that I had a small chat with, then off to sight see.
The city was very beautifull. A very heavily German-Rhine river influence in the buildings. I saw the huge Notre Dame Strasbourg and St. Paul's protestant churches. There was a choir practice in the latter and I talked with the organists for a while after he approached me. The organ in the church is actually very famous, he told me. Many people have played it--including Mozart!. The echo of teh choir and organ was great sound. The city has a small tream running through it whcih had boat locks for a difference in the height. Ver small, but cool. I saw the island where they kept the people with Syphillis (long ago). What a great place to eat dinner, as it was getting that time--said my stomach. I asked a lady at one of the restaurants the guide book suggested...they don't start serving until 7h45. Damn Europeans! They eat soo late. We off to do stuff for 2 hours more. I went back to the Cathedral (Notre Dame) to actually go inside. I Somehow forgot to actually go in. It too was beautiful, better than Notre Dame de Paris I thought but I like the Chatres Cathedral better still. I watched the clock do it's thing @ 7pm, which (I'm sure) wasn't as good as teh noon showing; whcih I missed because of the train problem...my fault. After walking more in the town, I realized it was fairly small, after living in Paris for a month!
Finally dinner tiem I found another restaurant just down the smae road from the other I asked earlier. I saw people eating here: good sign. I was starvign by now. Starging with a "Salad Strausborgean", which was lettuce topped with a mound of swiss (?) cheese some white creamy salad dressing, tomatoes, onions, and a radish. Not bad, actually. Then came teh main course, I really didn't know what it was when I ordered it, but it said it was traditional regional food--so I wanted to try it. Turned out to be stereotypical German food. You've got to remember that these eastern regions of France were German before teh WW's for a long time. Only after the US kicked Nazi butt did we give it back to France. ANyway, it was sauerkraut with a few types of sausage and a potato. I ate as much as I could tolerate. The sausages were good, but it was just too much odd food for my stomach, namely the the sauerkraut juice on everything. For dessert I has some cheese and bread. Very good. I wanted to go see the UN Parlament before turning in for the night. It was a bit of a walk as it is on the outer part of town. nice & New glass buildings. As I was heading back I saw the huge cathedral tower lit up, so I started walking towards it to take a picture but 1/2 way there they turned off teh lights @ 10:30. Oh well, to the Hostel for some sleep!
Onto find my hostel for the night. I had directions which were easy: take the #10 buss in front of the trains station 3 stops. Easy. Found the bust, but eh lady insisted on speaking French with me, not a big deal, which it was France now and not Germany or Czech later! After finally finding the hostel and checking in, it was just early afternoon. An 8 person hostel room, that was actually nice and clean. There was an Australian in teh room that I had a small chat with, then off to sight see.
The city was very beautifull. A very heavily German-Rhine river influence in the buildings. I saw the huge Notre Dame Strasbourg and St. Paul's protestant churches. There was a choir practice in the latter and I talked with the organists for a while after he approached me. The organ in the church is actually very famous, he told me. Many people have played it--including Mozart!. The echo of teh choir and organ was great sound. The city has a small tream running through it whcih had boat locks for a difference in the height. Ver small, but cool. I saw the island where they kept the people with Syphillis (long ago). What a great place to eat dinner, as it was getting that time--said my stomach. I asked a lady at one of the restaurants the guide book suggested...they don't start serving until 7h45. Damn Europeans! They eat soo late. We off to do stuff for 2 hours more. I went back to the Cathedral (Notre Dame) to actually go inside. I Somehow forgot to actually go in. It too was beautiful, better than Notre Dame de Paris I thought but I like the Chatres Cathedral better still. I watched the clock do it's thing @ 7pm, which (I'm sure) wasn't as good as teh noon showing; whcih I missed because of the train problem...my fault. After walking more in the town, I realized it was fairly small, after living in Paris for a month!
Finally dinner tiem I found another restaurant just down the smae road from the other I asked earlier. I saw people eating here: good sign. I was starvign by now. Starging with a "Salad Strausborgean", which was lettuce topped with a mound of swiss (?) cheese some white creamy salad dressing, tomatoes, onions, and a radish. Not bad, actually. Then came teh main course, I really didn't know what it was when I ordered it, but it said it was traditional regional food--so I wanted to try it. Turned out to be stereotypical German food. You've got to remember that these eastern regions of France were German before teh WW's for a long time. Only after the US kicked Nazi butt did we give it back to France. ANyway, it was sauerkraut with a few types of sausage and a potato. I ate as much as I could tolerate. The sausages were good, but it was just too much odd food for my stomach, namely the the sauerkraut juice on everything. For dessert I has some cheese and bread. Very good. I wanted to go see the UN Parlament before turning in for the night. It was a bit of a walk as it is on the outer part of town. nice & New glass buildings. As I was heading back I saw the huge cathedral tower lit up, so I started walking towards it to take a picture but 1/2 way there they turned off teh lights @ 10:30. Oh well, to the Hostel for some sleep!
6.22.2007
6.21.2007
Day 11
Not a lot happened today. It was fairly chilly. After class we all went to go to lunch together on Bastille. We decided to finally eat at the restaurant Indiana. We found out that Indiana served Tex-Mex. hmmmmm. I didn't know that!! Somehow I think French people are confused on geography of Indiana vs. the Mexican border. It wasn't quite don pablos or taco bell. It was ok, but I didn't have a strong urge to return.
We were to all meet up after a while to go to the IMA (Instiut de Monde Arab, or Institute of the Arab World) museum for class. It was supposed to be a museum for the muslium people in Paris. It was really boring and didn't have a lot in it. The artifacts were really ancient and showed nothing of the current Islamic peoples. The outside of the building was really cool and actually has pieces of metal that look like a camera sutter that open and close throughout the day. I didn't take any pictures, because there 1) was really nothing to take pictures of 2) I didn't really feel like I wanted to remember this pathetic museum.
We were to all meet up after a while to go to the IMA (Instiut de Monde Arab, or Institute of the Arab World) museum for class. It was supposed to be a museum for the muslium people in Paris. It was really boring and didn't have a lot in it. The artifacts were really ancient and showed nothing of the current Islamic peoples. The outside of the building was really cool and actually has pieces of metal that look like a camera sutter that open and close throughout the day. I didn't take any pictures, because there 1) was really nothing to take pictures of 2) I didn't really feel like I wanted to remember this pathetic museum.
 |
| Day 11 - Thursday |
6.20.2007
Day 10 - Wednesday week 2 (Musee d'Orsay)
After class, I went by myself to visit Musee d'Orsay. With little hype compared to the Louvre, I didn't know very much about it. After waiting in line for a while, I realized I didn't have to because I'm a student with a pass. After a few minutes trying to figure out the horrible map, I decided to forget it and just wander around. So I started off in the big main area. The building used to be a train station, so on the wall above my head was a HUGE highly decorated clock. Walking around the main area, there were a lot of sculptures, many by Rodin which I'd seen at the Rodin museum anyway--so that was a fast part. There weren't many people here at all compared to the Louve. Considering there are more famous paintings here by more of the famous artists, I was quite suprised. I was just looking around a room with some cool paintings, by guys I'd never heard of when I saw my first Monet painting. It was really weird and exciting to actually see something in person I'd only read about and been taught about in art class back in midddle school. There was a fairly good sized cut-away model of the paris Opera House (where the Phantom of the Opera lives). Which it was a good thing I took time to look at it because that was the one thing I didn't ever get to see in Paris (arrrg!) It was always closed.
There was the actual drawing done by Eiffel of the planning of the tower. I liked the paintings here much better than the Louve.
Later I walked into a room of just Monet. It made my heart beat fast just to actually be standing right next to these really famous, really amazing paintings.
Then I walked into the next room. Van Gogh! I absolutely loved this room.
After spending several minutes just looking at them, almost in disbelief of what I was actually seeing, I moved on and saw some huge toulouse latrec paintings. Unbelievable. Down the hall there were lowly lit rooms with pastels and watercolors, which were interesting. There were also some pointalism.
Afterwards, I met up with the other at, what was becoming 'our' bar, Kilty's. We sat outside and met locals passing by. Fun people they are. We saw this guy walking around in a red dress, heals, and a blonde wig. He was walking around with a few other guys who were all laughing at him. A couple of the girls went over and found out that it was his bachelor party. Quite funny hazing!
There was the actual drawing done by Eiffel of the planning of the tower. I liked the paintings here much better than the Louve.
Later I walked into a room of just Monet. It made my heart beat fast just to actually be standing right next to these really famous, really amazing paintings.
Then I walked into the next room. Van Gogh! I absolutely loved this room.
After spending several minutes just looking at them, almost in disbelief of what I was actually seeing, I moved on and saw some huge toulouse latrec paintings. Unbelievable. Down the hall there were lowly lit rooms with pastels and watercolors, which were interesting. There were also some pointalism.
Afterwards, I met up with the other at, what was becoming 'our' bar, Kilty's. We sat outside and met locals passing by. Fun people they are. We saw this guy walking around in a red dress, heals, and a blonde wig. He was walking around with a few other guys who were all laughing at him. A couple of the girls went over and found out that it was his bachelor party. Quite funny hazing!
 |
| Day 10 - Wednesday |
6.19.2007
Week 2 - Tuesday
So today we got out of class early to go to the Centre George Pompidou, the modern art museum. We walked through the Luxembourg gardens to get there. I had walked outside of them a few days before and didn't know what the big place was, other than some kind of park. It's really pretty cool. A lot of locals walk around and come here for lunch to relax. We walked to the metro and got off at Chatelet station, which I think is probably the biggest in paris. With Gladys leading us around to find the museum, we got lost. After walking through some interesting neighborhoods, we found a bus stop and realized it was only a couple of blocks away, so with it being pretty hot we'd just wait for the bus.
We finally got there and found out that this, as most museums in Paris--except musee d'orsay, are closed on Tuesdays. You would think Parsians would know that...Considering Nadege set up the day we would go with class. Anyway.
So we saw a gelato place at the top of the hill, so the class took a "field trip" there. And we found the best gelato place in Paris! Amazingly good. So after we stayed there...they were all taking, while I took a cat nap haha. And I awoke to them deciding to split up and go to more sights. I went with a few to go see l'Arc de Triomphe.
We found our way up to the Etoile. Which is the circle/star road around with arch, with 12 roads radiating out. Under the tunnel and up to the base. We got our free tickets, thanks to our school museum pass. We walked around looking at it up close first, and the eternal flame underneath. Then up the narrow stone spiral staircase, we found ourselves in the first floor in the middle. It was a tiny museum, but was under renovation (of course). It did have some pictures which were really interesting.
Continuing up to the top, we found a wonderful 360 view of Paris. With the design of the city having the streets radiate out from this point, there were no obstructions to get in the way. It was a bit windy, but not too bad.
Coming back down we ran into a military procession, which I guess happen nearly everyday, paying respect to the eternal flame.
Afterwards, we we to get some lunch at a cafe we'd gone to before. The sandwiches are great and cheap--not to mention the excellent desserts.
We finally got there and found out that this, as most museums in Paris--except musee d'orsay, are closed on Tuesdays. You would think Parsians would know that...Considering Nadege set up the day we would go with class. Anyway.
So we saw a gelato place at the top of the hill, so the class took a "field trip" there. And we found the best gelato place in Paris! Amazingly good. So after we stayed there...they were all taking, while I took a cat nap haha. And I awoke to them deciding to split up and go to more sights. I went with a few to go see l'Arc de Triomphe.
We found our way up to the Etoile. Which is the circle/star road around with arch, with 12 roads radiating out. Under the tunnel and up to the base. We got our free tickets, thanks to our school museum pass. We walked around looking at it up close first, and the eternal flame underneath. Then up the narrow stone spiral staircase, we found ourselves in the first floor in the middle. It was a tiny museum, but was under renovation (of course). It did have some pictures which were really interesting.
Continuing up to the top, we found a wonderful 360 view of Paris. With the design of the city having the streets radiate out from this point, there were no obstructions to get in the way. It was a bit windy, but not too bad.
Coming back down we ran into a military procession, which I guess happen nearly everyday, paying respect to the eternal flame.
Afterwards, we we to get some lunch at a cafe we'd gone to before. The sandwiches are great and cheap--not to mention the excellent desserts.
 |
| Day 9 - Tuesday |
6.18.2007
Monday - Week 2
After class, we had a scavenger hunt to find things in Montmartre area of Paris (around the Sacre Coeur to the north) This is a really fun part of town. There were 15 questions and 9 of us...so we thought team work was needed and divided them up between us to meet later to collaborate. Good plan to save a lot of time. There is some weird things in Paris we found out. Also there is a big painting square with many painters painting live and you can buy their pictures. There are some really good ones, and I might go back to get one. After meeting back up with the whole group, a few of us went inside the Sacre Coeur. No pictures allowed inside. It was nice, but nothing like any of the older gothic churches. We went up to the top, with very narrow spiral staircases. Getting to about the roof level, we had to go outside up and over the roof (on stairs) to get to the second set of spiral staircase to get to the top. It was a great view. Coming back down, we went underground to the crypt to see some of the church's collections. They had a lot of gold hearts (sacre couer means sacred heart). There was also another sculpture of St. Denis carrying his head, similar to the one we found earlier on the scavenger hunt. After we got done we wandered around over to Saint chappel to find it closed. Another Day.
 |
| Day 8 - Monday |
6.17.2007
Sunday - Louvre
Our weekly pass for the metro expired today and we had to get a new one. no big deal. I wanted to go to the Louvre, which would take 15-20 minutes on the metro, except I couldn't figure out the computers because they were in french, and no one was at the window. So being a beautiful day, I decided to just walk there because it wasn't far, and I could mess with getting a ticket later after the museum closed. So on to the museum, our passes don't work there and I actually had to pay to get in. I entered through the main entrance of the huge glass pyramid. There are 3 pyramids like in Egypt. The smaller ones are what you see in da vinci code where there forms an inverted pyramid below ground level. I thougth it was the big one, but I was wrong.
So after stopping to eat at a cafe inside, I first took off to the egyption part--going through the Medieval Louvre to get there. I guess the Louvre actually used to be a castle long ago, and the moat area is still there, which I walked through--literally the Medieval Louvre. Then winding my way I found the Egyption section with a lot of heiroglyphic writings and old things. These looked all the same to me, so I kept walking to find the mummy and sarcoffagus. Those were pretty cool to see real ones, not just pictures.
Next I the Italian art was around the corner. I knew I didn't really want to spend a lot of time here, because I don't like it. So walking quickly throught the perfect images of people, saints, and thousands of Mary's I found the Mona Lisa. Boring. What I did like about this section was the actual building. It was really amazing. A lot of carving and beautiful paintings on the ceilings and walls. So that's what I looked at and took pictures of. I found the Apollo. She was nice, but headless of course. So I kept walking to the Apollo hall with beautiful ceilings and walls, along with some crown jewels. You're not supposed to take any pictures in here...so I did. I'm sneaky.
Then I went on to the North and South American, African, and Oceanic part. It was very small, but had some interesting things.
Then it was on over to Napoleon III's chambers. These kings were way too rich. No wonder the people hated them. Les Mis popped into my head of the beginning and the poverty of the peasants. Jerk french kings. But all of the gold was amazing.
I wound my way through some other parts of the Louvre which were fairly boring, finally finally finally finding the right floor for the mesopotamia art to see Hammarabi's Code. That was really cool.
Then I found the Northern Europe art section. Much better art. Not so many pictures of a perfect Mary. I of course had to find one of the pictures from my history class this past semister, Popular Culture of Early Modern Europe, by Pieter Brueghel, "Blind Leading the Blind". Too bad it was on the top and I could barely see it. Then I found a piece by his son, which was really small, but at eye level. I saw a giant picture of a guy and a dog and took a picture for Carrie. I thought she'd like it in her house. It could fill up a whole wall. So that was the Louvre in a few hours. Fairly boring.
After coming back home, I went out and got some dinner, and walked over to see the Statue of Liberty that the US gave to France. Much smaller than the one in NYC. I guess we're cheap. It's just down on this small island/sandbar in the middle of the Seine by a bridge on the south part of Paris, by the Eiffel Tower. Walking down there, there were several tents with hobos under the bridge.
So after stopping to eat at a cafe inside, I first took off to the egyption part--going through the Medieval Louvre to get there. I guess the Louvre actually used to be a castle long ago, and the moat area is still there, which I walked through--literally the Medieval Louvre. Then winding my way I found the Egyption section with a lot of heiroglyphic writings and old things. These looked all the same to me, so I kept walking to find the mummy and sarcoffagus. Those were pretty cool to see real ones, not just pictures.
Next I the Italian art was around the corner. I knew I didn't really want to spend a lot of time here, because I don't like it. So walking quickly throught the perfect images of people, saints, and thousands of Mary's I found the Mona Lisa. Boring. What I did like about this section was the actual building. It was really amazing. A lot of carving and beautiful paintings on the ceilings and walls. So that's what I looked at and took pictures of. I found the Apollo. She was nice, but headless of course. So I kept walking to the Apollo hall with beautiful ceilings and walls, along with some crown jewels. You're not supposed to take any pictures in here...so I did. I'm sneaky.
Then I went on to the North and South American, African, and Oceanic part. It was very small, but had some interesting things.
Then it was on over to Napoleon III's chambers. These kings were way too rich. No wonder the people hated them. Les Mis popped into my head of the beginning and the poverty of the peasants. Jerk french kings. But all of the gold was amazing.
I wound my way through some other parts of the Louvre which were fairly boring, finally finally finally finding the right floor for the mesopotamia art to see Hammarabi's Code. That was really cool.
Then I found the Northern Europe art section. Much better art. Not so many pictures of a perfect Mary. I of course had to find one of the pictures from my history class this past semister, Popular Culture of Early Modern Europe, by Pieter Brueghel, "Blind Leading the Blind". Too bad it was on the top and I could barely see it. Then I found a piece by his son, which was really small, but at eye level. I saw a giant picture of a guy and a dog and took a picture for Carrie. I thought she'd like it in her house. It could fill up a whole wall. So that was the Louvre in a few hours. Fairly boring.
After coming back home, I went out and got some dinner, and walked over to see the Statue of Liberty that the US gave to France. Much smaller than the one in NYC. I guess we're cheap. It's just down on this small island/sandbar in the middle of the Seine by a bridge on the south part of Paris, by the Eiffel Tower. Walking down there, there were several tents with hobos under the bridge.
 |
| Day 7 - Sunday |
loss
I called home last night, and my aunt answered the phone. She asked if I'd heard the news. What news? I said. My step dad died Friday night of a heart attack.
Disbelief. Grief. Shock. Sadness.
It was hard to talk to my mom half the world away like this. She lost her best friend.
I'll miss you David.
I love you mom.
Disbelief. Grief. Shock. Sadness.
It was hard to talk to my mom half the world away like this. She lost her best friend.
I'll miss you David.
I love you mom.
 |
| david |
6.16.2007
Saturday - June 16 - Eiffel Tower
First off, I've had a few requests I'd like to address. I'm using a french keyboard so my spelling could be off, a lot, and I can't always find the right keys; and I'm switching back between French and English in my head so I can't remember which language spells words which way... Second, I'll try to explain any French words in English, but usually the French words are just place names. Also the pictures on here are links which you can (and should) click on to view hundreds of pictures.
On Saturday, we all just rested up all day--a week of rushing around a new city is tiring, especially with jet lag. I woke up late in the afternoon. Mme. de Richemont was out of town in the Bordeaux region for the weekend, so I had the apt. to myself. I walked around the neighborhood with my mp3 player just enjoying and relaxing. I got a crepe for dinner at a stand, which, of course, was delicious. It was a clear day, with the Eiffel Tower in sight so I decided it was a good time to go to the top. I walked over and waited in the line to take the stairs, which was much shorter than the elevators. I had to buy a ticket to get to the first and second levels, then I'd have to buy another to take the elevator to the summit. I think it's important to note that around the base of the Eiffel Tower, as well as a few other places around the city, there are national police with huge automatic guns. You think the US has good national security? Think again. These guys look mean and trigger happy; and France isn't even at war or under CODE ORANGE...what a joke.
I finally got to the front of the line and bought my ticket. On to the first floor. The stairs are actually easy to climb because there are a few steps, then a flat, followed by a few more steps, then a landing. So you really don't get tired going up. I thought I was pretty high up at the first level. I took pictures all around, as it was dusk and looked nice all around. Onto the next level. Once again, I thought I was high now, and realized I wasn't very high before. Taking more pictures 360 degrees around. There are restaurants, gift shops, and even a post office on these first couple of levels. I wanted to mail some post cards because they get stamped with the official Eiffel Tower post office stamp, but it was closed so late. I bought my ticket to take the elevator to the top and wait in line for it. The elevator went really fast to the top, as several people were crammed into the small lift. At the top, there is a closed in area with glass. On the celing there are the flags of countries with how far away they are in that direction. I found the US ones for washington d.c., NYC, and LA on the west side of the tower and snapped a photo. Then I found the stairs and made my way up to the open platform above. Beautiful. Now, I actually was high up. The South and West sides were incredibly windy. It was dark now and the search lights were on. I could watch them rotate from just a few feet away. Also there are several radio and tv antenna on the top, along with some lightning rods. Up there I took pictures all the way around again. The City of Lights was impressive at night. There was also small rooms in the middle. On the South side a room with wax figures of Eiffel and two engineers planning the tower. On the opposide side, a room that Eiffel built for his daughter, which had wax figures of them. I stayed up there for quite some time, until most of the tourists had left. It was very peaceful up there by myself and a few others. As the tower was closing, a guy came around and said in French to come down. I thought he worked there, but going down I found out he and his wife were Swiss. They were very nice as I talked to them down the elevator. He first thought I completely understood him in French, but as I had a weird face of trying to understand him, he asked if I spoke french. I told him a little (in french). Then he asked in German if I spoke German (do I look German with my red hair?) Finally I told him I was American, and he spoke clear English to me. He and his wife spoke three languages fluently and clearly-impressive. We had a little chit-chat going down, as my ears actually popped because were were that high up and going down so fast. While on the second floor, the tower had the light show for the 3rd time that night. There are little strobe lights all over it that go off in random patterns. It was neat to see it from this angle and not from the ground.
On Saturday, we all just rested up all day--a week of rushing around a new city is tiring, especially with jet lag. I woke up late in the afternoon. Mme. de Richemont was out of town in the Bordeaux region for the weekend, so I had the apt. to myself. I walked around the neighborhood with my mp3 player just enjoying and relaxing. I got a crepe for dinner at a stand, which, of course, was delicious. It was a clear day, with the Eiffel Tower in sight so I decided it was a good time to go to the top. I walked over and waited in the line to take the stairs, which was much shorter than the elevators. I had to buy a ticket to get to the first and second levels, then I'd have to buy another to take the elevator to the summit. I think it's important to note that around the base of the Eiffel Tower, as well as a few other places around the city, there are national police with huge automatic guns. You think the US has good national security? Think again. These guys look mean and trigger happy; and France isn't even at war or under CODE ORANGE...what a joke.
I finally got to the front of the line and bought my ticket. On to the first floor. The stairs are actually easy to climb because there are a few steps, then a flat, followed by a few more steps, then a landing. So you really don't get tired going up. I thought I was pretty high up at the first level. I took pictures all around, as it was dusk and looked nice all around. Onto the next level. Once again, I thought I was high now, and realized I wasn't very high before. Taking more pictures 360 degrees around. There are restaurants, gift shops, and even a post office on these first couple of levels. I wanted to mail some post cards because they get stamped with the official Eiffel Tower post office stamp, but it was closed so late. I bought my ticket to take the elevator to the top and wait in line for it. The elevator went really fast to the top, as several people were crammed into the small lift. At the top, there is a closed in area with glass. On the celing there are the flags of countries with how far away they are in that direction. I found the US ones for washington d.c., NYC, and LA on the west side of the tower and snapped a photo. Then I found the stairs and made my way up to the open platform above. Beautiful. Now, I actually was high up. The South and West sides were incredibly windy. It was dark now and the search lights were on. I could watch them rotate from just a few feet away. Also there are several radio and tv antenna on the top, along with some lightning rods. Up there I took pictures all the way around again. The City of Lights was impressive at night. There was also small rooms in the middle. On the South side a room with wax figures of Eiffel and two engineers planning the tower. On the opposide side, a room that Eiffel built for his daughter, which had wax figures of them. I stayed up there for quite some time, until most of the tourists had left. It was very peaceful up there by myself and a few others. As the tower was closing, a guy came around and said in French to come down. I thought he worked there, but going down I found out he and his wife were Swiss. They were very nice as I talked to them down the elevator. He first thought I completely understood him in French, but as I had a weird face of trying to understand him, he asked if I spoke french. I told him a little (in french). Then he asked in German if I spoke German (do I look German with my red hair?) Finally I told him I was American, and he spoke clear English to me. He and his wife spoke three languages fluently and clearly-impressive. We had a little chit-chat going down, as my ears actually popped because were were that high up and going down so fast. While on the second floor, the tower had the light show for the 3rd time that night. There are little strobe lights all over it that go off in random patterns. It was neat to see it from this angle and not from the ground.
 |
| Day 6 - Saturday |
6.15.2007
Chartres Day Trip - Friday - Day 5
We had to be at ACCENT at 8h15 this morning to catch our SNCF train to the local town of Chartres. (pronounced Char'-t) There there is a cathedral that is amazing. The current one (rebuilt quite a few times) is from 1140s. There are two contrasing spires, one 349 feet and the other 377 feet built in the early 1500s. The relic here is a tunic which belonged to Mary. It has been test and does date about 2000 years ago, so maybe this one is true. We took the metro down to the southside of Paris, and then boarded the SNSF train to Chartres. It was an incredibly windy day, and actually a bit chilly. We were getting a tour by the renound Malcom Miller, a Brit who has done it for ~50 years. So we were going to stroll around and take in a cozy medieval town. We saw this souvenir shop with toilettes, so while some people were going we looked around. They had actual medeival weapons, well replicas, but yeah heavy metal. They could do some serious damage. I didn't think the airlines would like me bringing that back...
We sat around for a while gazing at the huge size of the cathedral. We saw some little kids having a field trip there. I had to fly across an ocean to see it they, they probably drove 1/2 an hour...not fair. There was a middle school right by it too, and the kids were yelling things. I asked Gladys what they were saying. Just normal middle school kids saying normal annoying middle schooler things. Somethings don't change.
We walked down some winding streets, it really was out of a fairy tale book. Quite contrasting from Paris. Great little shops. Chocolat, bonbon (candy), clothes, butchers, etc etc etc.
We walked back up to get the grand tour from our brith Malcom, who in his humor let us know he didn't like the US very much. He went through and explained the extensive history of this cathedral, and the ones which stood there before. He explained how the windows aren't just to be pretty. They tell the Bible story. They didn't have printing yet, nor could people even read then, so pictures told the story. It actually was before the council of Trent, so parts were in the windows that were in the Bible then, not the one they took stories out of. Like how Jesus performed miracles before he was baptized. Nonetheless, we went through two of the windows on the front of the church, then moved over and looked at a few more. When this church was built, a fire destroyed the one before it, so they had huge fundraising across Europe. Pilgrams from all over used to come to the one before to see Mary's tunic, given to the church by the King. Which actually does date to 2000 years ago, so it could be real. After the fire, the priests came out of the treasury behind the steel protection of the doors, and revield (after three days of course) they still had the tunic and it wasn't destroyed in the fire. It was a "miracle" he said. Well...fundraising yes. People could still come form all over to pay (literally) tribute to the relic. They also had a campaign for donations, which came from the kings and commoners. You can see their marks in the windows all around the church. The ones donated by the king has the fleur-de-lis on it. Others have images of bakers, shoe makers, etc etc, to indicate who paid for it.
We went outside to see the reliefs on the outside of the northern door, which had just been recieved back from cleaning with lazers which cost several million dollars to do. They used to be black, and people think now they are just fake. You can see the paint undercoat, and a few places the original paint. Evidently these and much of the inside of the cathedral had bright paint on it back then. Almost gaudy. Malcom explained the importance of these sculptures in the reliefs, the stories and dichotomy.
After we walked through the town for some lunch and touring. We had lunch at the "Welcome Pub" there. They were out of the plat de jour (because it was 2pm), so Nadege being a lawyer at heart I think, negotiated with the cook to exchange out the menu for something else. We got some steak and potatoes for the main dish, and a salad. The salads here have things I wouldn't think of putting in salad: rice, corn, among other things. The steak was tiny! Maybe 2" x 4", served with some bleu cheese. I like american steak better...french steak has not much flavor at all. The potatoes were good though. I had a Brugs beer, from Belgium. It rained while we were inside, thankgoodness now when we were walking around.
After the weather cleared we walked around the town. Finding a great smelling chocolat shop...oh my gosh it smelled great. A fish shop. Eww. The opposite smell. A butcher shop. Then we walked down and found some clothes shops, but Joe and I saw a candy shop, which we decided to explore instead. oh la la. Tres bien. We really were little kids in a candy store. They even had the "bonbons" we had in high school. Of course I had to get some, only 1,49 € per 100 grams. I have no idea what that means...so i got a little of a lot. It was really really good. So much sugar.
Then a bit more looking around the streets and we had to catch our train back to Paris.
Everyone was asleep with in 20 minutes, but I found a french newspaper and did the sudoku...very hard. I haven't been able to solve one of those dang things in the french newspaper yet. I think they are made impossible here.
When we got back we all went home, to meet for dinner later. Mme. de Richemont is out of town for the weekend, so I just came back and rested up. We finally met up later, with some miscommunications about where we were meeting. We went to a neighborhood, and looked for a cafe for dinner. Everything there was really expensive or packed full. We finally found a place, and were met with a really nice waiter. I had an omlette, because we had read another menu at another cafe, and read eggs and bacon. It sounded good because they only have bread or croissant for breakfast here. Then I went to the toillets, which are rather controlled. Most places don't just let you use them, you have to have bought something there first. But they are all down in the basement, so down this twisty spiral staircase in stone and we found them. One bathroom, two stalls: one with a figure of a woman (denoted by her purse and boobs) and one for a man (without that). Interesting.
We traveled around the city for a long time, finally getting lost because we were kicked off a bus when it shut down. So we walked around for a while, and finally found another bus, while others took taxis.
We sat around for a while gazing at the huge size of the cathedral. We saw some little kids having a field trip there. I had to fly across an ocean to see it they, they probably drove 1/2 an hour...not fair. There was a middle school right by it too, and the kids were yelling things. I asked Gladys what they were saying. Just normal middle school kids saying normal annoying middle schooler things. Somethings don't change.
We walked down some winding streets, it really was out of a fairy tale book. Quite contrasting from Paris. Great little shops. Chocolat, bonbon (candy), clothes, butchers, etc etc etc.
We walked back up to get the grand tour from our brith Malcom, who in his humor let us know he didn't like the US very much. He went through and explained the extensive history of this cathedral, and the ones which stood there before. He explained how the windows aren't just to be pretty. They tell the Bible story. They didn't have printing yet, nor could people even read then, so pictures told the story. It actually was before the council of Trent, so parts were in the windows that were in the Bible then, not the one they took stories out of. Like how Jesus performed miracles before he was baptized. Nonetheless, we went through two of the windows on the front of the church, then moved over and looked at a few more. When this church was built, a fire destroyed the one before it, so they had huge fundraising across Europe. Pilgrams from all over used to come to the one before to see Mary's tunic, given to the church by the King. Which actually does date to 2000 years ago, so it could be real. After the fire, the priests came out of the treasury behind the steel protection of the doors, and revield (after three days of course) they still had the tunic and it wasn't destroyed in the fire. It was a "miracle" he said. Well...fundraising yes. People could still come form all over to pay (literally) tribute to the relic. They also had a campaign for donations, which came from the kings and commoners. You can see their marks in the windows all around the church. The ones donated by the king has the fleur-de-lis on it. Others have images of bakers, shoe makers, etc etc, to indicate who paid for it.
We went outside to see the reliefs on the outside of the northern door, which had just been recieved back from cleaning with lazers which cost several million dollars to do. They used to be black, and people think now they are just fake. You can see the paint undercoat, and a few places the original paint. Evidently these and much of the inside of the cathedral had bright paint on it back then. Almost gaudy. Malcom explained the importance of these sculptures in the reliefs, the stories and dichotomy.
After we walked through the town for some lunch and touring. We had lunch at the "Welcome Pub" there. They were out of the plat de jour (because it was 2pm), so Nadege being a lawyer at heart I think, negotiated with the cook to exchange out the menu for something else. We got some steak and potatoes for the main dish, and a salad. The salads here have things I wouldn't think of putting in salad: rice, corn, among other things. The steak was tiny! Maybe 2" x 4", served with some bleu cheese. I like american steak better...french steak has not much flavor at all. The potatoes were good though. I had a Brugs beer, from Belgium. It rained while we were inside, thankgoodness now when we were walking around.
After the weather cleared we walked around the town. Finding a great smelling chocolat shop...oh my gosh it smelled great. A fish shop. Eww. The opposite smell. A butcher shop. Then we walked down and found some clothes shops, but Joe and I saw a candy shop, which we decided to explore instead. oh la la. Tres bien. We really were little kids in a candy store. They even had the "bonbons" we had in high school. Of course I had to get some, only 1,49 € per 100 grams. I have no idea what that means...so i got a little of a lot. It was really really good. So much sugar.
Then a bit more looking around the streets and we had to catch our train back to Paris.
Everyone was asleep with in 20 minutes, but I found a french newspaper and did the sudoku...very hard. I haven't been able to solve one of those dang things in the french newspaper yet. I think they are made impossible here.
When we got back we all went home, to meet for dinner later. Mme. de Richemont is out of town for the weekend, so I just came back and rested up. We finally met up later, with some miscommunications about where we were meeting. We went to a neighborhood, and looked for a cafe for dinner. Everything there was really expensive or packed full. We finally found a place, and were met with a really nice waiter. I had an omlette, because we had read another menu at another cafe, and read eggs and bacon. It sounded good because they only have bread or croissant for breakfast here. Then I went to the toillets, which are rather controlled. Most places don't just let you use them, you have to have bought something there first. But they are all down in the basement, so down this twisty spiral staircase in stone and we found them. One bathroom, two stalls: one with a figure of a woman (denoted by her purse and boobs) and one for a man (without that). Interesting.
We traveled around the city for a long time, finally getting lost because we were kicked off a bus when it shut down. So we walked around for a while, and finally found another bus, while others took taxis.
 |
| Chartres Trip |
6.14.2007
Day 4 - Thursday - Relaxing Day
After class today, the girls wanted to go shopping! I was soo...not...excited for that. Fortunately Kim didn't want to go either, so we took a nice relaxing trip to the Rodin museum and back to les Invalides. Rodin Museum was tres cool. First it had an exhibit of chinese art, which i couldn't take pictures of. There was a lot of nude art, and some of it rather vulgar. But there was a giant van Gogh which was awesome. Then we went out to the gardes where there were Rodin sculputures. First the Thinker, who was, yes, still thinking about something. And the roses across the who garded were beautiful. Huge bronze and marble sculptures everwhere. Adam & Eve, and the Gates of Hell. The garden area was nice too because it wasn't a huge bustling city. Then we went inside the center building to see more sculptures. Beautiful ones everywhere, including the famous Kiss.
Kim hadn't gone to Les Invalides yet, and I didn't mind seeing more of it, so we went next door to it. I didn't look up behind the alter going into the crypt yesterday, so I took a picture of it. I saw the relief representing the Napoleonic code too. We found our way into the actual church part too. I talked to Madame de Richemont last night and she told me she actually got married here! So I had to find my way in. Behind a huge door that just said push I found it. You could smell the flowers from a wedding sometime before. There were guys getting equipment and chairs ready for another; and another guy tuning the piano. This church alone was magnificant. The pipe organ was huge too.
After that we didn't know what we wanted to do, so we rode the bus around so we could just see the city. We just got off when we got tired. I saw the opera house, where the phantom (still) lives. Well it was just water in the sewer that made noise, but i think he is still there haha. We walked around the area where we got off and saw the Trinity Church. I made sure to take a picture of the sign so I could rmember what it was. About that time, Bridget and Jess called asking if we wanted to go to dinner. So we met up and found a cafe, then wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower at dusk to see the city lights. We waited about 1/2 hour in line, just to get to the front to see a sign that said Summit Fermme. (top closed). well dang. We didn't want to go up to not go up the whole way, so another day I guess. They closed it because there were a few sprinkles, from what looked barely enough to call a cloud. dang french. So we waited for the lights to come on and sparkle for a while, then went up to Sacre Coeur for the rest of the night before heading home to bed. Early day in the morning.
Kim hadn't gone to Les Invalides yet, and I didn't mind seeing more of it, so we went next door to it. I didn't look up behind the alter going into the crypt yesterday, so I took a picture of it. I saw the relief representing the Napoleonic code too. We found our way into the actual church part too. I talked to Madame de Richemont last night and she told me she actually got married here! So I had to find my way in. Behind a huge door that just said push I found it. You could smell the flowers from a wedding sometime before. There were guys getting equipment and chairs ready for another; and another guy tuning the piano. This church alone was magnificant. The pipe organ was huge too.
After that we didn't know what we wanted to do, so we rode the bus around so we could just see the city. We just got off when we got tired. I saw the opera house, where the phantom (still) lives. Well it was just water in the sewer that made noise, but i think he is still there haha. We walked around the area where we got off and saw the Trinity Church. I made sure to take a picture of the sign so I could rmember what it was. About that time, Bridget and Jess called asking if we wanted to go to dinner. So we met up and found a cafe, then wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower at dusk to see the city lights. We waited about 1/2 hour in line, just to get to the front to see a sign that said Summit Fermme. (top closed). well dang. We didn't want to go up to not go up the whole way, so another day I guess. They closed it because there were a few sprinkles, from what looked barely enough to call a cloud. dang french. So we waited for the lights to come on and sparkle for a while, then went up to Sacre Coeur for the rest of the night before heading home to bed. Early day in the morning.
 |
| Day 4 |
6.13.2007
Day of the Dead - Day 3
After class today 3 of us visited Paris's underground (literally) world of the Catacombs. site We got some lunch at a sandwich cafe, oh so good. All of the food here is soooooo much better than anywhere in the US--even the simplest sandwich. I enjoy the french bread, but really can't wait to get softer bread back home. It almost hurts my mouth to eat it all the time.
After walking around the area and finding a giant statue of a Lion for le defense we found the entrance to the old limestone quarries. This is where all of the limestone for the buildings was mined. After seeing the Cities of the Underground of the History Channel I knew what to expect, visually. Something like 30 million skeletons are down there in the old tunnels from graves, dug up in the 18th and 19th century because the city was running out of room. They decided to take the space of the cemetaries and move the bodies to an underground resting place.
On the way there we passed a cemetery, and decided to go in for a peak. They are much different here than the US. For one thing they is no grass and a simple headstone. There are large slabs of stone over the burrial and huge elaborate headstone sculptures. Some even have little 'houses' over them. Maybe the are some kind of small, individual mausoleum, I'm not sure. We found a sign that told of several famous people and intellectals burried there. We had talked in class earlier that day about some of the people burried here, oddly enough. So we figured we would try and find them. One elusive one was Col. Alfred Dryfus. But we wanted to get to the Catacombs before it gets crowed in the afternoon, so we'd have to come back.
Getting in free with our museum pass, which I'm starting to really like, then on down through some displays and down down down a small spiral staircase. Something like 83 steps. Walking through several yards of limestone tunnels, which were cool by themselves, we came to an open room and a door. It read above it "Arrêt; c'est ici l'empire de la mort". Walking through the dark tunnel to see large stacks of bones to the left and right was eerie. The large bones were all stacked up in the front with the ends on the outside forming almost artwork, with skulls making patterns in them. Patterns were from just horizontal lines down the walls to crosses or hearts. A few places they made the skull and cross bones like on a pirate flag. I saw that on the top behind the front is where all the rest of the bones were: ribs, vertebrae, etc. There was a temple in there too, where they said a prayer over them when it was finished. All along the walls were concreted plaques with inscriptions, ranging from quotes about death, sayings, or what was written on headstones of the unearthed. My camera did a pretty good job adjusting to the light, since I couldn't use a flash. There was even a small water well there, that the miners used to get a drink. I think the creepy part isn't the huge colleciton of bones, but the thought of having to dig up the graves, transporting them down there, and arranging them into art. That night I talked to Madam de Richemont about what I did that day. She almost got embarrassed and said "Paris has some weird habits." Walking out we found some large rooms in the rock quarry, which were pretty. Coming back up the 80-some steps, the guards checked our bags to make sure we didn't have any bones.
Heading back to the cemetary from before, we were determaned to find Dryfus's grave. Consulting the map sign a few times and walking around we finally found it. Many people still visit his grave after a couple hundred years to pay their respects. There are several small rocks and pieces of glass atop his grave.
With so much dead things that day, we decided on another: Les Invalides church and Napolean's Tomb. The tiny little guy is in 5 caskets: oak, ebony, two lead, then mahogany, and tinplate. He wasn't originally put here, but transported after 19 years of being buried in 1840. He went to school right by where I live in l'ecole militarie. The total tomb is 15 feet high. It's huge. When you walk in you see the beautiful gold and then the black marble alter. Walking further in you can see a big open circle to the basement crypt. Looking down is the massive tomb. Surrounding him under the giant dome of tons of gold, are his brothers, son, and geneals. His son, Napoelan II is entombed right to the south in the basement crypt. He was placed on the thrown of Rome, in diapers, dying in his 20s. Half of the military museum is closed right now, so they have on display a few of the most important things. Nampoean's little tunic and huge hat being one article along with swords and guns. We toured (quickly in 1/2 hour because it was closing) the WWI & WWII museum. Most of the stuff in there was only maps, pictures, and fake models of equipment. Nonetheless, it was still interesting. Going through the WWII was more interesting. They had actual items. Nazi paraphanallia, an armband and banner, and a jewish star of david armband. It makes the history books real. There is some about Charles de Gaulle and how he lead the underground army against the Nazis, while the actual leader of france colaborated. Then there is some US stuff too, and a little on the Japan part of the war, including replicas of the bombs. I got a picture of teh "little boy" but the other was huge and inside the stars, so I couldn't get a good picture.
Walking out into the courtyard of the museum on the way out was cool. All cobblestone. Looking up I saw a statue of Napolean looking over it all, lined with several canons.
With the weather not looking pleasant, we decided to find some dinner. Walking around trying to find a good cafe, it started to DOWNPOUR. fortunately we had umbrellas. We finally just decided we would eat at the next place just to get out of the rain. We found le Champ de Mars. Neither Bridget or I were very hungry so we ordered some types of salads. It sounded good from the menu...but.. We got the food and were set back. My salad of ham, goat cheese, and tomatoes, well...wasn't at all what I would ever imagine. You have to see the picture. Huge cuts of ham over the top of lettuce with bad dressing and tomatoes. With pieces of french bread with melted goat cheese. The whole time we smelled something bad. Nearly halfway through I picked up some of the bread with the cheese, I found the smell..ick. The cheese tasted good, but smelled racid. Deciding we'd never go back here again (not that we need to ever go back to the same place there are so many cafes) we got the bill, and had to correct it because they put the people beside us on our bill too...we didn't eat 76 euro worth of food, ha!
After walking around the area and finding a giant statue of a Lion for le defense we found the entrance to the old limestone quarries. This is where all of the limestone for the buildings was mined. After seeing the Cities of the Underground of the History Channel I knew what to expect, visually. Something like 30 million skeletons are down there in the old tunnels from graves, dug up in the 18th and 19th century because the city was running out of room. They decided to take the space of the cemetaries and move the bodies to an underground resting place.
On the way there we passed a cemetery, and decided to go in for a peak. They are much different here than the US. For one thing they is no grass and a simple headstone. There are large slabs of stone over the burrial and huge elaborate headstone sculptures. Some even have little 'houses' over them. Maybe the are some kind of small, individual mausoleum, I'm not sure. We found a sign that told of several famous people and intellectals burried there. We had talked in class earlier that day about some of the people burried here, oddly enough. So we figured we would try and find them. One elusive one was Col. Alfred Dryfus. But we wanted to get to the Catacombs before it gets crowed in the afternoon, so we'd have to come back.
Getting in free with our museum pass, which I'm starting to really like, then on down through some displays and down down down a small spiral staircase. Something like 83 steps. Walking through several yards of limestone tunnels, which were cool by themselves, we came to an open room and a door. It read above it "Arrêt; c'est ici l'empire de la mort". Walking through the dark tunnel to see large stacks of bones to the left and right was eerie. The large bones were all stacked up in the front with the ends on the outside forming almost artwork, with skulls making patterns in them. Patterns were from just horizontal lines down the walls to crosses or hearts. A few places they made the skull and cross bones like on a pirate flag. I saw that on the top behind the front is where all the rest of the bones were: ribs, vertebrae, etc. There was a temple in there too, where they said a prayer over them when it was finished. All along the walls were concreted plaques with inscriptions, ranging from quotes about death, sayings, or what was written on headstones of the unearthed. My camera did a pretty good job adjusting to the light, since I couldn't use a flash. There was even a small water well there, that the miners used to get a drink. I think the creepy part isn't the huge colleciton of bones, but the thought of having to dig up the graves, transporting them down there, and arranging them into art. That night I talked to Madam de Richemont about what I did that day. She almost got embarrassed and said "Paris has some weird habits." Walking out we found some large rooms in the rock quarry, which were pretty. Coming back up the 80-some steps, the guards checked our bags to make sure we didn't have any bones.
Heading back to the cemetary from before, we were determaned to find Dryfus's grave. Consulting the map sign a few times and walking around we finally found it. Many people still visit his grave after a couple hundred years to pay their respects. There are several small rocks and pieces of glass atop his grave.
With so much dead things that day, we decided on another: Les Invalides church and Napolean's Tomb. The tiny little guy is in 5 caskets: oak, ebony, two lead, then mahogany, and tinplate. He wasn't originally put here, but transported after 19 years of being buried in 1840. He went to school right by where I live in l'ecole militarie. The total tomb is 15 feet high. It's huge. When you walk in you see the beautiful gold and then the black marble alter. Walking further in you can see a big open circle to the basement crypt. Looking down is the massive tomb. Surrounding him under the giant dome of tons of gold, are his brothers, son, and geneals. His son, Napoelan II is entombed right to the south in the basement crypt. He was placed on the thrown of Rome, in diapers, dying in his 20s. Half of the military museum is closed right now, so they have on display a few of the most important things. Nampoean's little tunic and huge hat being one article along with swords and guns. We toured (quickly in 1/2 hour because it was closing) the WWI & WWII museum. Most of the stuff in there was only maps, pictures, and fake models of equipment. Nonetheless, it was still interesting. Going through the WWII was more interesting. They had actual items. Nazi paraphanallia, an armband and banner, and a jewish star of david armband. It makes the history books real. There is some about Charles de Gaulle and how he lead the underground army against the Nazis, while the actual leader of france colaborated. Then there is some US stuff too, and a little on the Japan part of the war, including replicas of the bombs. I got a picture of teh "little boy" but the other was huge and inside the stars, so I couldn't get a good picture.
Walking out into the courtyard of the museum on the way out was cool. All cobblestone. Looking up I saw a statue of Napolean looking over it all, lined with several canons.
With the weather not looking pleasant, we decided to find some dinner. Walking around trying to find a good cafe, it started to DOWNPOUR. fortunately we had umbrellas. We finally just decided we would eat at the next place just to get out of the rain. We found le Champ de Mars. Neither Bridget or I were very hungry so we ordered some types of salads. It sounded good from the menu...but.. We got the food and were set back. My salad of ham, goat cheese, and tomatoes, well...wasn't at all what I would ever imagine. You have to see the picture. Huge cuts of ham over the top of lettuce with bad dressing and tomatoes. With pieces of french bread with melted goat cheese. The whole time we smelled something bad. Nearly halfway through I picked up some of the bread with the cheese, I found the smell..ick. The cheese tasted good, but smelled racid. Deciding we'd never go back here again (not that we need to ever go back to the same place there are so many cafes) we got the bill, and had to correct it because they put the people beside us on our bill too...we didn't eat 76 euro worth of food, ha!
 |
| Day of the Dead... - Day 3 |
6.12.2007
Tuesday - Day 2
After class today, I went on my own to see Paris. I walked to Ile de la Cite from Bastille, seeing the Hotel de Ville along the way. Notre Dame is pretty. Very big. OUtside there is a statue of Charlemagne and Point Zero, where all measurments are taken in Paris. It is more beautiful inside. After letting my eyes adjust for a few minutes I began looking around. Even though it's still dark, my camera exposure allowed for it and gave me a nice, light picuture. The ceiling is so tall. Along side there are several saints sculptures and paintings, including Joan of Arc. The Rose windows are beautiful and colorful, but so far up there it's hard to see. I went in to the Treasury to see some of the goodies stored away. I had to pay 2 euro, but I spoke to the guy in good french. There are tokens from visiting popes and the old priests in there. Along with beautiful stained glass and a chappel. I started to hear some music, and realized I happened to be at the right place at the right time, there was about to be mass. So I came back out and saw the priest singing with a woman. Of course it was in french, so I had no idea what he was saying. I walked around the back of the alter/choir area to see a wall of reliefs of Jesus' life. The organ in there sounded amazing. It was too late to climb the tower, so I'll have to come back and do that some morning. I walked around back to see the flying buttresses and gothic architechure. I saw a lot of pieces on the ground as it slowly falls apart. I was leaving and heard an accordian player, how cliche. So I stopped and sat on the wall for the river and listened to him and looked at the cathedral for a while. I walked back up the island around the Palis of Justice (where the revolution government held its power) to see a movie being made. I wasn't sure what was going on at first. Then I saw the cameras and director and the crew. So I sat and watched the movie being made. Tres cool. Action! (think of it in a french accent, it made me laugh) After having to keep moving because they moved the shot, and didn't want us to be in the scene for some reason, haha, I asked one of the crew what film it was, les cars, i think. I realized I totally forgot to walk to sainte chapelle, but it was getting later in the evening, so I figured it would be better another day. I walked down place dauphine to the front of the island Vedettes du Pont Neuf and along side the river bank. I decided to walk down the Rive Gauge (left bank) and tour that area before we all were supposed to meet up for dinner.
I walked down the Seine to see the Institut de France and Academie Francaise. This is (among other things, Academie des Beaus Arts..) where 40 linguists meet to decide what new words should be in french and what things are considered french culture or not. Taking the Rick Steve's guide I borrowed from ACCENT, i found a lot on Rive Gauge. The statue of Voltare and la Palette Cafe. I could tell this area is a bit more upscale than most of Paris. Also there is Le Petit Prince Shop here! but it was closed, so I peaked into the windows. Really cool. I walked on down the twisty tiny streets to go over to Cafe le Procope. One of the oldest continuiously operating restaurants in Europe, dating back to 1686. I walked pas the Odeon and over to see St. Germain des Pres, dating back to the 1000s, making it the oldest church in Paris. I walked in to see the inside, but there was a concert that night. So I went in and looked and came back out. I walked pas the Luxembourg Garden area to the Patheon. I tried to go meet the others for dinner near Bastille, but I couldn't find a metro, so I skipped out. Instead I wanted to go up to see Sacre Coeur, as the sun was starting to go down. It was still a bit early to see the sunset and Paris lights at night so I detoured, out to the outer districts of Paris to see a contrast in social-economic class. Here, unlike the US, they aren't divided into race areas. There isn't a little Mexico, little Italy, etc. There is just divisions based upon money. The poorer area, which was much fewer whites, had a different feeling as soon as I got off the metro at Stalingrad stop. It wasn't all extremely happy cafes with people in high fashion. The people were either at cafes or just around in parks with close friends.
Climbing up the hill at Montmarte, I sat at a cafe had a glass of wine and watched the church atop the hill. Tres beau. There were a few americans beside me too, which we talked abit. Three women and a couple. They were all from upstate NY, and happened to live in the same town when they were young. Small world. After a while, the one lady was trying to get me to marry her daughter. She thought it was wonderful that a guy would even want to come study in Paris. I then saw some guys walking across with Purdue on one of their shirts. So we talked for a bit. They had just graduated and were touring Europe before starting their jobs. After it was completely dark I walked up the several several steps to the top of the hill to look out at the city lights at dark. This and by the Eiffel Tower is where the kids hang out at night and grab a bottle or two of wine. So it's a lively spot. Seeing that it was getting late, and the metros close at 12:30 (for some stupid reason...they mayor tries to extend the hours but they just strike because they are french and socialists...), I started going back home. Finding a good route on the metro lines, I saw that it went past Moulin Rouge. I thought I'd stop and take some pictures of the place. It's definately not like the movie at all. The place is pretty much just a high clss strip club. And the district, is well a very rouge district. I walked down a couple of blocks to the next metro station, quickly, taking pictures of the area. Lost of neon signs tell of what kind of place it is after dark. sex sex sex sex. I didn't see any prostitutes, but they are around. There is even a museum of erotic art there. But after some guy was trying to sell me some "cocain, cocain, cocain," I decided to walk faster to the metro station. On the way home at a stop I saw a sign of the Vagina Monologues and thought Whitney would like that so I took a picture.
I walked down the Seine to see the Institut de France and Academie Francaise. This is (among other things, Academie des Beaus Arts..) where 40 linguists meet to decide what new words should be in french and what things are considered french culture or not. Taking the Rick Steve's guide I borrowed from ACCENT, i found a lot on Rive Gauge. The statue of Voltare and la Palette Cafe. I could tell this area is a bit more upscale than most of Paris. Also there is Le Petit Prince Shop here! but it was closed, so I peaked into the windows. Really cool. I walked on down the twisty tiny streets to go over to Cafe le Procope. One of the oldest continuiously operating restaurants in Europe, dating back to 1686. I walked pas the Odeon and over to see St. Germain des Pres, dating back to the 1000s, making it the oldest church in Paris. I walked in to see the inside, but there was a concert that night. So I went in and looked and came back out. I walked pas the Luxembourg Garden area to the Patheon. I tried to go meet the others for dinner near Bastille, but I couldn't find a metro, so I skipped out. Instead I wanted to go up to see Sacre Coeur, as the sun was starting to go down. It was still a bit early to see the sunset and Paris lights at night so I detoured, out to the outer districts of Paris to see a contrast in social-economic class. Here, unlike the US, they aren't divided into race areas. There isn't a little Mexico, little Italy, etc. There is just divisions based upon money. The poorer area, which was much fewer whites, had a different feeling as soon as I got off the metro at Stalingrad stop. It wasn't all extremely happy cafes with people in high fashion. The people were either at cafes or just around in parks with close friends.
Climbing up the hill at Montmarte, I sat at a cafe had a glass of wine and watched the church atop the hill. Tres beau. There were a few americans beside me too, which we talked abit. Three women and a couple. They were all from upstate NY, and happened to live in the same town when they were young. Small world. After a while, the one lady was trying to get me to marry her daughter. She thought it was wonderful that a guy would even want to come study in Paris. I then saw some guys walking across with Purdue on one of their shirts. So we talked for a bit. They had just graduated and were touring Europe before starting their jobs. After it was completely dark I walked up the several several steps to the top of the hill to look out at the city lights at dark. This and by the Eiffel Tower is where the kids hang out at night and grab a bottle or two of wine. So it's a lively spot. Seeing that it was getting late, and the metros close at 12:30 (for some stupid reason...they mayor tries to extend the hours but they just strike because they are french and socialists...), I started going back home. Finding a good route on the metro lines, I saw that it went past Moulin Rouge. I thought I'd stop and take some pictures of the place. It's definately not like the movie at all. The place is pretty much just a high clss strip club. And the district, is well a very rouge district. I walked down a couple of blocks to the next metro station, quickly, taking pictures of the area. Lost of neon signs tell of what kind of place it is after dark. sex sex sex sex. I didn't see any prostitutes, but they are around. There is even a museum of erotic art there. But after some guy was trying to sell me some "cocain, cocain, cocain," I decided to walk faster to the metro station. On the way home at a stop I saw a sign of the Vagina Monologues and thought Whitney would like that so I took a picture.
 |
| Second Day |
6.11.2007
First Day
Today we had our orientation session with the ACCENT staff. It was concerning classroom and Paris logistics. The staff member was a stereotype of a Brit--quite amusing. After that Nadége talked with us a bit about our schedule and assignments for tomrrow. On friday we have our excursion to Chartres to see a nearby town, and one of the best cathedrals in Europe.
After class the whole 9 of us went across town to see the Eiffel Tower and to have some dejeuner. We at a t a really good restaurant. Our waiter was incredibly nice to us, and looked like the perfect image of a french waiter. The limonade is different here. It is not yellow, but more like a sprite (of course without the lime, just lemon). Our bill came to over 165 € for the 9 of us. And with one bill we had a slow time to count up who owed what. We went across the street afterwards and bought international calling cards and exchanged some american dollars at the Tabac. We went back to the Eiffel Tower to take closer pictures. After that the group split up, half being touristy and took a double-decker bus (les rouge cars) to sight see. The other half of us wanted to walk around and see Paris. First stop was to La Poste to buy some stamps. Then we walked to the Seine and down to the Assemblée Nationale, which was quite impressive, and the Grand Palis. We saw a statue of Lafayette given to Paris by the "school children of the U.S." I said you're welcome. We walked over to la Place de la Concorde where there is an oblisque, from ancient Egypt, where King Louis xvi was publicly beheaded in 1793, confirming the new French Republic. We then took a rest in a park for a bit, while I enjoyed a crêpe with chocolat. Très bien. We headed backto meet up with the others for dinner. The plan was to meet at l'Arc de Triomphe at 18h. So about 20 minutes til the hour we started walking down Champs Elysees. (Of course the song from french class was playing in my head.) There are shops galore for the second half of the street. Tres Chic et tres expensive.. Of course the random McDonalds and GAP were thrown in therem too, but but few French were in them. Once we got to the Arc de Triomphe, there were a lot of people there and police directing traffic. (A weird thing in Parisean driving...they are crazy drivers. No lanes and a while dashed line down the middle of roads. Horns are everywhere.) We saw a military band and the colorguard with some people with wreaths. We attempted a conversation witha french woman and asked what was going on. We only kind-of understood something abouit a french holiday or WWII something...America is great..we weren't sure. But she said President Sarkozy would be there next monday morning (she was a big fan of his). Maybe we can convince Nadege to let us skip class to come see him. ;) The woman was very happy with the new president. That he is young, smart, and ambitious. After waiting around and without seeing the other half of the class we decided to go eat dinner by the Place de Bastille across town, so we would know how to easily get back home on the metros. we at at the cafe called the Bar de Bieres. We got pizzas (each, thinking they were slices) and they were huge. I got one with cheese, onions, potatoes, and some kind of melted swiss cheese. not too bad. I had to get the beer Kilkenny, which was good. We wanted to go see a film, but realized it would be quite late after it got over, so we just visited la Place de la Republique. There was a big statue with a lady and a huge lion in front with the french motto (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) written around it. We went back home, dodging a few rain drops. I met Madame's family: 2 sons, and 1 daughter with husband and 5 month old. We had some basic (bad french-english) small talk and they left. I talked with Madame for a while, realized my french is horrible, and finished off the day with homework.
After class the whole 9 of us went across town to see the Eiffel Tower and to have some dejeuner. We at a t a really good restaurant. Our waiter was incredibly nice to us, and looked like the perfect image of a french waiter. The limonade is different here. It is not yellow, but more like a sprite (of course without the lime, just lemon). Our bill came to over 165 € for the 9 of us. And with one bill we had a slow time to count up who owed what. We went across the street afterwards and bought international calling cards and exchanged some american dollars at the Tabac. We went back to the Eiffel Tower to take closer pictures. After that the group split up, half being touristy and took a double-decker bus (les rouge cars) to sight see. The other half of us wanted to walk around and see Paris. First stop was to La Poste to buy some stamps. Then we walked to the Seine and down to the Assemblée Nationale, which was quite impressive, and the Grand Palis. We saw a statue of Lafayette given to Paris by the "school children of the U.S." I said you're welcome. We walked over to la Place de la Concorde where there is an oblisque, from ancient Egypt, where King Louis xvi was publicly beheaded in 1793, confirming the new French Republic. We then took a rest in a park for a bit, while I enjoyed a crêpe with chocolat. Très bien. We headed backto meet up with the others for dinner. The plan was to meet at l'Arc de Triomphe at 18h. So about 20 minutes til the hour we started walking down Champs Elysees. (Of course the song from french class was playing in my head.) There are shops galore for the second half of the street. Tres Chic et tres expensive.. Of course the random McDonalds and GAP were thrown in therem too, but but few French were in them. Once we got to the Arc de Triomphe, there were a lot of people there and police directing traffic. (A weird thing in Parisean driving...they are crazy drivers. No lanes and a while dashed line down the middle of roads. Horns are everywhere.) We saw a military band and the colorguard with some people with wreaths. We attempted a conversation witha french woman and asked what was going on. We only kind-of understood something abouit a french holiday or WWII something...America is great..we weren't sure. But she said President Sarkozy would be there next monday morning (she was a big fan of his). Maybe we can convince Nadege to let us skip class to come see him. ;) The woman was very happy with the new president. That he is young, smart, and ambitious. After waiting around and without seeing the other half of the class we decided to go eat dinner by the Place de Bastille across town, so we would know how to easily get back home on the metros. we at at the cafe called the Bar de Bieres. We got pizzas (each, thinking they were slices) and they were huge. I got one with cheese, onions, potatoes, and some kind of melted swiss cheese. not too bad. I had to get the beer Kilkenny, which was good. We wanted to go see a film, but realized it would be quite late after it got over, so we just visited la Place de la Republique. There was a big statue with a lady and a huge lion in front with the french motto (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) written around it. We went back home, dodging a few rain drops. I met Madame's family: 2 sons, and 1 daughter with husband and 5 month old. We had some basic (bad french-english) small talk and they left. I talked with Madame for a while, realized my french is horrible, and finished off the day with homework.
 |
| First Day |
6.10.2007
Paris - my new home
I awoke on the plane with Greece playing (believe it or not) on the TVs and 99% of the plane asleep. I saw the flight attendants preparing breakfast (french croissants, beurre, et confiturre). So I pulled up my blanket to get warm and wait. A while later I saw this automated map again on the TVs tracing our exact route vs. the great circle path. We were in the English Channel, about 2 hours still to go. (If you do the math you'll notic ethat was only about 4 hours of sleep..."plane" sleep.) As people started to open the window blinds I peaked out to be met by really really bright white clouds below. A bit later it cleared up -- right before crossing the tip of Basse Normandy. The landscape was clearly not American. There were no straight line rodes or rectangular fields. The houses and buidlings (even at ~3100 feet) looked different. Awhile later we crossed over Haute Normandy right at the town of Honfleur, at the mouth of the Seine River. From there a bit inland it was cloudy until landing. Charles de Gaul airport is about 20 miles NW of downtown Paris. So when we landed, I could have mistaken the surroundings to be just about anywhere. The plane pulled up to stairs and we had to ride a bus to the terminal because we were late and they had no room. After finding my bag I was greeted by a smiling face yelling "KENNY!" It was Nadege, who then explained it was going to be a long trip until I get to my home. Everyone (8 + Nadege and Gladys) had been waiting on me because of the flight delay. we headed down to get our RER billets and Carte d'Orange for the Metro. After about half an hour ride on the RER we would need to ride the metro to ACCENT (the classroom). On the RER about 5 of us were sitting there and this guy walks trough the train and hands us a oriental-style fan and a card written in french. Gladys raced up to tell us not to take them and just leave them The guy wanted money. She explained there are lots of these people everywhere--and are usually scamming you. A short while later this boy of about 10 walks into the car witha mic and an amp and sings (horribly) a french song. We couldn't help but laugh, while the locals simply ignored him. He too wanted money.
After switching trains a few times and many stairs with all of our luggage (thankfully *I* only packed 1 bag) we found the place de la Bastille stop and came up to ground level to be met with the HUGE monument. It's much larger than I imagined from pictures. We made it to the ACCENT center met by the guy in charge, Jim, from Chicago and Adrian from 2 hours away (and travels it every day) by Versailles. They had water (YES) and cookies waiting for us--and a nice ceiling fan to cool us down. After a short overview of do's and don't of living with a host family, we had time to relax and check our email etc. Jim met with us individually and described our families and where they are in Paris. Mine is a widow Mme. de Richemont who has 4 grown (but still young : 22-30) kids. She lives on Ave de la Motte-Piquet in the 15th district--right beside the Tour Eiffel and the Ecole de Defense.
However, I couldn't go straight "home" because today was the second round of voting for parlament, and she wouldn't be back until 6:30. Two other girls (Bridget and Jen) had the same situation so we decided to east some dinner at a local cafe. I had a croque monsier--tres bon. The guy there made fun of us for the way we said yes (oui). We asked Adriean when we got back and he told us the difference is slang, like yes vs. yeah (weee vs whay). Awhile later Adrien called for a taxi for us and I rode in a tiny Renault down pass practically every monument to go to my new home. mme de Richmont buzzed me p and an awkward two sided franglish conversatin took place as we introduced one another and she showed me my room. It's a really nice apt. on the 1st etage (2nd floor) with my window overlooking the courtyard in the back. It's just she who lives here, none of her kids.
After unpacking and giving Mme her wine present from Chateau Thomas (which she loved, and complimented my tastes in the selection) I told her I wanted to get aquainted with the neighborhood, metro station, and the very near Eiffel Tower. It's huge. Much bigger than the King's Island one. Walking around mesmorized me and while taking lots of pictures, I was asked to take a couple of American girls' picture in front of it. That opened the flood gates for a couple handfuls of people asking me to take their picture. They said I should just charge money all day to do it. Walking up closeto it I realized there are names of engineers, scientists, and mathematicians across the bottom of the first level. Also there are many national guards with fully automatic guns walking around. A bit scary. I made my way across the Port D'Iena (bridge across the Seine behind the tower) walking down the Seine to find the Place de Resistance to see the flame from the Statue of Liberty. If I had a map with me I would have realized I could have walked two blocks around the bend and would have seen l'Arc de Triomphe. I walked around the neighborhood and found many interesting things...there is even a McDonalds on the corner.
After switching trains a few times and many stairs with all of our luggage (thankfully *I* only packed 1 bag) we found the place de la Bastille stop and came up to ground level to be met with the HUGE monument. It's much larger than I imagined from pictures. We made it to the ACCENT center met by the guy in charge, Jim, from Chicago and Adrian from 2 hours away (and travels it every day) by Versailles. They had water (YES) and cookies waiting for us--and a nice ceiling fan to cool us down. After a short overview of do's and don't of living with a host family, we had time to relax and check our email etc. Jim met with us individually and described our families and where they are in Paris. Mine is a widow Mme. de Richemont who has 4 grown (but still young : 22-30) kids. She lives on Ave de la Motte-Piquet in the 15th district--right beside the Tour Eiffel and the Ecole de Defense.
However, I couldn't go straight "home" because today was the second round of voting for parlament, and she wouldn't be back until 6:30. Two other girls (Bridget and Jen) had the same situation so we decided to east some dinner at a local cafe. I had a croque monsier--tres bon. The guy there made fun of us for the way we said yes (oui). We asked Adriean when we got back and he told us the difference is slang, like yes vs. yeah (weee vs whay). Awhile later Adrien called for a taxi for us and I rode in a tiny Renault down pass practically every monument to go to my new home. mme de Richmont buzzed me p and an awkward two sided franglish conversatin took place as we introduced one another and she showed me my room. It's a really nice apt. on the 1st etage (2nd floor) with my window overlooking the courtyard in the back. It's just she who lives here, none of her kids.
After unpacking and giving Mme her wine present from Chateau Thomas (which she loved, and complimented my tastes in the selection) I told her I wanted to get aquainted with the neighborhood, metro station, and the very near Eiffel Tower. It's huge. Much bigger than the King's Island one. Walking around mesmorized me and while taking lots of pictures, I was asked to take a couple of American girls' picture in front of it. That opened the flood gates for a couple handfuls of people asking me to take their picture. They said I should just charge money all day to do it. Walking up closeto it I realized there are names of engineers, scientists, and mathematicians across the bottom of the first level. Also there are many national guards with fully automatic guns walking around. A bit scary. I made my way across the Port D'Iena (bridge across the Seine behind the tower) walking down the Seine to find the Place de Resistance to see the flame from the Statue of Liberty. If I had a map with me I would have realized I could have walked two blocks around the bend and would have seen l'Arc de Triomphe. I walked around the neighborhood and found many interesting things...there is even a McDonalds on the corner.
 |
| Arrival in Paris |
6.09.2007
NYC - the 6 hour layover
Having about a six-hour layover, I decided to make the best of my time in the Big Apple. After traversing my way through the rail shuttle system with the help of a local or two I found my way to the NYC subway. Where to go? My first thoughts were to retrace my steps from when I was here several years ago. I wanted to see the WTC ground zero. On the flight in, it was rather cloudy and I only saw a vague outline of the city. So I traveled down the sub trying to find my way to Manhattan. I found the people very nice here, opposite of common misconception that they are rude. Finding myself on the map in the railcar I saw that this trainline passes by 42nd, Broadway, and Times Square. Having never seen this part of the city, it was an obvious stop to pass my 6 hours. I climbed the stairs from the underground, coming up to see myself surrounded by mammouth buldings of bustling NY life, what looked like from the air but tiny toys. It was cool to see where thousands of people gather to watch a ball drop, all of the signs and lights, and the theaters. The majestic, Shubert, Netherlander, etc., etc., etc. Rent and NASDAQ-quite the last minute stop. I know I had limited time so I got back on the subway, feeling like a pro this time...
Turns out I got on the wrong line--so a quick fix and a switch, I jumped back on to the E line to lower Manhattan. Coming up directly in from of Ground Zero and St. Paul's Cathedral wa just mixed emotions. Looking through the temporary memorial of pictuers and all of the names of those who died left me numb. Seeing the sign for the Freedom Tower to open in 2010 left me with a good feeling. I saw on the surrounding buldings, especially in the World Financial Center to the west, many chips and burns in the stone and marble.
Making my way back to JFK was a bit tricky because the transit authority had a temporary weekend schedule, which directly affected my train route, causing me to go from station to station and back until I found the right one. I checked into security aobut an hour before my flight (oops). It wa a good flight, after an hour delay because of "mechanical issues," which I watched the mechanics fix right outside my window. I sat with about 8 attractive latinos from Porta Rico, a french guy behind me, and a french lady in front--so needless to say, my conversation was zilch. With a nice meal of lazagna about an hour or two in, and only a glimpse at Providence's lights, I was asleep for the ride across the North Atlantic.
Pictures:
Turns out I got on the wrong line--so a quick fix and a switch, I jumped back on to the E line to lower Manhattan. Coming up directly in from of Ground Zero and St. Paul's Cathedral wa just mixed emotions. Looking through the temporary memorial of pictuers and all of the names of those who died left me numb. Seeing the sign for the Freedom Tower to open in 2010 left me with a good feeling. I saw on the surrounding buldings, especially in the World Financial Center to the west, many chips and burns in the stone and marble.
Making my way back to JFK was a bit tricky because the transit authority had a temporary weekend schedule, which directly affected my train route, causing me to go from station to station and back until I found the right one. I checked into security aobut an hour before my flight (oops). It wa a good flight, after an hour delay because of "mechanical issues," which I watched the mechanics fix right outside my window. I sat with about 8 attractive latinos from Porta Rico, a french guy behind me, and a french lady in front--so needless to say, my conversation was zilch. With a nice meal of lazagna about an hour or two in, and only a glimpse at Providence's lights, I was asleep for the ride across the North Atlantic.
Pictures:
 |
| NYC |
take off
sorry i haven't been able to blog. i've been understandibly busy!
ORD to JFK
After a short night, an early morning, and a long drive to Chicago O'Hare, Carrie and I got to the airport without any troubles. After checking in it was time to say goodbye and be x-rayed. I found my gate and began long wait until my flight. A few hours later and we boarded the small Embraer RJ145. Coming down the ramp and literally stepping down in to the plane, I was met with a short ceiling--about 5'5". We taxided for a while then it was our turn. I could see Chicago's skyline far away on the horizon out of my window. With the enginees thrusting foward we took a steep turn to head east, directly over downtown Chicago. I waved and said 'hi' to Carrie, but she probably wasn't looking. A few minutes later we were alerady over Lake Michigan. It wasn't too much longer and I was alread over the big hand state. About the time we were crossing over into the pensulia of ONtario, the captain announced we had reached our crusing altitude of 3700 feet. It was nothing but blue skies ahead and an 80 degree F New York.
ORD to JFK
After a short night, an early morning, and a long drive to Chicago O'Hare, Carrie and I got to the airport without any troubles. After checking in it was time to say goodbye and be x-rayed. I found my gate and began long wait until my flight. A few hours later and we boarded the small Embraer RJ145. Coming down the ramp and literally stepping down in to the plane, I was met with a short ceiling--about 5'5". We taxided for a while then it was our turn. I could see Chicago's skyline far away on the horizon out of my window. With the enginees thrusting foward we took a steep turn to head east, directly over downtown Chicago. I waved and said 'hi' to Carrie, but she probably wasn't looking. A few minutes later we were alerady over Lake Michigan. It wasn't too much longer and I was alread over the big hand state. About the time we were crossing over into the pensulia of ONtario, the captain announced we had reached our crusing altitude of 3700 feet. It was nothing but blue skies ahead and an 80 degree F New York.
I've arrived
I'm in Paris! Just a quick note now, more later.
My 6 hour layover in NYC was great. I only got lost on the subway a few times, thankfully making it back to JFK in time for my flight. I did have an hour delay on my flight for "mechanical issues," which I could look out of my window and watch them fix something under the plane...not quite reassuring. I arrived last of the group, because of the delay I did't make it in until about noon. Then we made our way down by the RER and the metro, up and down stairs with 7 girls (& another guy) and their *lots* of luggage. Thankfully it's a sunny day, and not rainy as it has been the past few days here. Now I get to find out my family and meet them. I have to be back in class at 10am tomorrow (5am EST). Here's to getting lost on the metro!
a bientot
My 6 hour layover in NYC was great. I only got lost on the subway a few times, thankfully making it back to JFK in time for my flight. I did have an hour delay on my flight for "mechanical issues," which I could look out of my window and watch them fix something under the plane...not quite reassuring. I arrived last of the group, because of the delay I did't make it in until about noon. Then we made our way down by the RER and the metro, up and down stairs with 7 girls (& another guy) and their *lots* of luggage. Thankfully it's a sunny day, and not rainy as it has been the past few days here. Now I get to find out my family and meet them. I have to be back in class at 10am tomorrow (5am EST). Here's to getting lost on the metro!
a bientot
6.08.2007
Ready to leave
I'm set to leave for study abroad this Saturday! Ok, well, I still have to pack. I'll be updating this as often as I can. Remember, if you want a postcard and I haven't yet received your address & requiest, let me know and I'll try to send you one.
Next Stop, Paris! A bientot!
Flight info
There
American Airlines #3999
9 June 2007 at 1055 from Chicago ORD to New York JFK
arriving on 9 June 2007 at 1410
American Airlines #120
9 June 2007 at 2135 from New York JFK to Paris CDG, FR
arriving on 10 June 2007 at 1055
Return
American Airlines #147
16 July 2007 at 1330 from Paris CDG, FR to Boston BOS
arriving 16 July 2007 at 1525
American Airlines #611
leaving 16 July 2007 at 1750 from Boston BOS to Chicago ORD
arriving on 16 July 2007 at 1940
Next Stop, Paris! A bientot!
Flight info
There
9 June 2007 at 1055 from Chicago ORD to New York JFK
arriving on 9 June 2007 at 1410
9 June 2007 at 2135 from New York JFK to Paris CDG, FR
arriving on 10 June 2007 at 1055
Return
16 July 2007 at 1330 from Paris CDG, FR to Boston BOS
arriving 16 July 2007 at 1525
leaving 16 July 2007 at 1750 from Boston BOS to Chicago ORD
arriving on 16 July 2007 at 1940
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)