Paris - Day 3

     Metro = If I don't lose weight on this trip I'm going to be pissed. There are a ton of stairs in those stations and the tunnels from one line to another feel as if they're a mile long. Let us hope for some shedding of pounds.


     I was going to say that I was lazy today and only went to 3 museums but I was up and at 'em at 7am, at a museum at 9:15 and not back to the room until after 7pm. There was nothing lazy about today except me telling myself that I didn't need to look at the map because I KNOW this street is the street I need to be on. Six blocks and too many clusters of university students later I took a seat near a fountain and pulled out the map. Thankfully I only had a block down, turn to the left and go another block before getting to the street I for certain thought I had started on. Then after really looking I saw that oh yeah, I started on that street to walk to that one place but that one place isn't actually on that street but four blocks away. If you're counting - I only walked 2 blocks out of my way, but at least I got to see the funky fashions of the University of Paris students. So glad I had two boys and no girls. I'll never ever tire of saying that. 


     I got to the Cluny Museum 15 minutes before opening and sat in the park across the street to wait. I took pictures and realized the next building over is the Sorbonne. I took a picture and felt smarter. I watched the staff for the museum wander in to work. I was amazed to see so many people showing up and to see them show up at 9:10, 9:11, 9:12, etc. Seems to me that if the place opens at 9:15 the staff should be at the door ready to go, but when I finally got in I didn't see anyone scurrying to their place so those late folks must have been seat warmers - guards for the rooms. You know, those people who get paid squat to sit there and watch you walk through the room and hope you don't try to touch anything.


     Have you seen the movie The Maiden Heist with Morgan Freeman and Christopher Walken? I just saw it recently and I kept thinking back to it today. It's about museum guards who work at a museum that has a new curator and he's changing the theme of the museum and has sold all the stuff to a museum in Belgium. The guards have their favorite pieces and after actually contemplating moving to Belgium to stay with the pieces they decide to steal them instead. I played a game with myself wondering what piece in the room might be the guard's favorite and then there were some rooms I wondered if maybe the guard had come in to work at 9:16 and got stuck with the shittiest room in the building.


     I'm convinced that the employee of the month got the room with the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries at The Cluny. That guy probably kissed some major ass. I'd so be the guy in that room if I were a museum guard. I'd be at work by 8:59 every single day. Oh yes I would.


     The Cluny Museum: Famous for the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and no wonder. They are fantastic. I bought a book on the whole meaning of them. Can't wait to read it. I think that had I lived back then I would have been one of the tapestry artists. Hard work, but the attention to detail is awesome.

 Who's a good unicorn? You're a good unicorn. Yes, you are.

                                                    The golden rose

                                                         This is the scarf I love so much.


     The Pantheon: Ugh, another church, but at least this time it's not one that's actively used as a church. It's pretty though and it wasn't until I went to the restroom and ended up in total darkness that it occurred to me that the whole reason for this building to exist now is to hold all the dead people. I knew other forces were making it so there was no electricity in that area but what else was there to think about while I'm waiting for the service guy to come down and fix it?  The guy comes and flips a switch and all seems well so I head to the door cuz I had to go and I had to go now and the guy puts up his hand and says, "No, Madame". G'dammit, did he just call me Madame? Well, the dead people were out of my head and so were the daggers out of my eyes and the service guy flinched. For real. He flinched. Then he waved me on. 


     Msr and Mdme Curie are in the crypt at the Pantheon. It was nice to meet them.

                                          The passage to the restrooms.

Mrs. Curie is on the second level pushed back and the Mr. is on the bottom. Those arrangements are on top of his crypt.


     Louvre: I spent 3 hours there and mainly covered 1 floor. I hope to go back and see other things. Today I concentrated on the paintings. I also got to be in the moat area. That was interesting. I did see some sculptures and really want to see more. I got a picture of that Venus de Milo chick but pretty much only because I thought I might be trampled by the hundreds of other people gawking at her if I didn't follow along with the crowd. Talk about having to drink the kool-aid. It's really not a big deal to see her in person. Hate mail need not be sent. Also please note: I have no desire what so ever to so see the Mona Lisa. I just don't get it. Sunflowers or Starry Night I get, but Mona Lisa? Ick.

                                          Cuz we all know I like me a naked man.

 Naked girl to even it out, but she is called Hermaphrodite so that makes her a man, Man.

Part of the moat area. Truly the best part of my time at the Louvre today.

Paris - Day 2

     Two churches and two museums today and a whole lot of walking and metro riding. I really can't emphasize enough how much I love my ipod and the fact the "I have an app for that". I bought a 99 cent app for the Paris Metro and just love it! Even though I have my big grand plan of a schedule and the metro stops outlined for the sightseeing I am also open to just walking and checking things out  - this happens especially before I actually find the correct entrance to a place and I note that I want to go down that wrong street again later.

     So, I go to the sight seeing thing, then I go back down that wrong street and end up at a different metro than I would have otherwise to get to the next thing on my list. No problem. I just plug the "from" metro in and then the "to" metro and I have a new route outlined. It only takes a few seconds and I don't have to think about it. Those of you familiar with the metro in Montreal or the T in Boston may ask what the big deal is and I will tell you -- there are 14 lines here. FOURTEEN! Plus it seems as if every other station has more than 1 line in it. My app is helping me not to have to think about it too much. 

                                           They are all pretty like this!

     Another thing that's great to have bought before hand was the metro pass. My pass covers 6 zones so I can go to Versailles and can be used as much as possible over 5 days. I paid 51.20 euros for it and it really pays for itself with just the peace of mind in not having to figure if you need to buy another block of tickets, an individual ticket or to suddenly not have enough money on a ticket and not have the correct change to add more, etc. Plus there are no limits to where I go. I can get out of the metro planning to go somewhere, find that it's closed another 2 days and turn back around to go somewhere else and not think about the fare that just got wasted. 

     I didn't waste a fare today but the Conciergerie is closed until the 17th and, dammit, I knew it and forgot to write it down, but it's all good. I was able to spend time at Sainte-Chappelle. A really pretty place with stained glass windows.

    

     Notre-Dame was next and as chilly as it was I was bummed to see that metro St-Michel is closer to it than metro Cite which I had to pass to get to Notre-Dame. Of course my poor, tired feet would have argued that the rest of me could deal with the cold because they weren't going to have an extra walk up and down metro stairs just to avoid some bit of chill in the air. Either way, I got there and it's definitely a beautiful building. I won't even comment on the extravagance of churches in general.

           I lit a candle for the grand mere at the Joan of Arc statue.

An early acceptance of gay rights? Yes, yes, I'm going to hell. I've already come to terms with that.

     Musee des Arts Decoratives - or Museum of Gosh, those people sure knew opulance. So much detail. Not even simple detail - it was difficult, over the top detail in furniture decorations, knick knacks, lights. And the armoires...oh, sigh, just sigh. I've had it for armoires since I was a kid. My grandparents had one in the room us kids used at their house and I loved that thing. My Aunt Nelda has it now and I sure as heck better get it when she passes. Nelda had it redone and it's really something now. 

     I didn't like some (most) of the stuff from the 1950's to now - especially compared to the pieces from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It was tacky, the new stuff. Made me embarrassed to be living among people who have created such shit. There was once piece I really liked. My favorite is from the 1950's. 

                      This armoire is simply gorgeous and I really like....

 ....the open shells on either side. I would use them for jewelry at the end of the day and the change from my pocket.

 Oh, I lied. This one from the 50's or 60's I really liked. The lines all meet in one box for plugging in. If I had the wall for it and if they'd had a replica in the gift shop I would be the owner of this beaut. I'm dead serious.

Doesn't this make you want to become a writer and go on safari? I must have seen something similar in an old time movie because I can see Hemingway sitting here writing about a great hunt. It folds up for easy carrying. I WANT THIS. GET IT FOR ME NOW!!!! Whine, whine, whine.

     Musee du Luxembourg - they don't allow cameras so you are out of luck picturewise. They have a fantastic display of the works by Cezanne though and I did buy postcards of some of the ones I liked. He's not a favorite, but I do like his work.

     Dinner at Hard Rock. If you are in Paris and feeling a bit like you need to go home but your return plane ticket isn't until next week, pop into the Hard Rock. The menu is the same as the one in the US and the servers to the Americans speak great English. Not that I need to go home. I'm finding it difficult not to be able to have a conversation with anyone. It's ok, though because now I have Greta at the Hard Rock when I need a fix.

Paris - Day 1

     Man, I am tired. Obviously planes are not the best place to try to get some sleep - especially if you are in the aisle seat and the flight attendants have a game between themselves to see how many times they can hit that lady from Vermont with a beverage cart before she pitches a fit. So with tiredness and and having wasted time waiting for a train at the bus stop I changed my plans for today. I was going to go to the Louvre first but I would have been too tired to enjoy myself so I'll do it another day. Also, it is not my fault about the train/bus thing. I asked a car rental guy where to get the RER B and he said Gate 34 and when I got there I stayed with the crowd instead of turning a slight left. Well, now I know the train to the train is as easy as turning left at a sign that is clearly marked on the OTHER side, taking an elevator to level 2 then taking a train to level 3 then going into the Metro train area where you sure as heck better already have a pass because there was no one around to offer any help. Thank you high school French that I pretty much failed anyway. 
     
     I checked into the hotel that I had read the reviews about it so I was prepared for the tiny room. 8' x 10' - I kid you not, but it's great. I only need a bed and a shower anyhow.

                                          My very own 8x10


     I think in the future I will plan a nap or just an afternoon detoxing from the traveling and not make any plans what so ever. Or plan to get to know the neighborhood. That's what I did tonight. I walked up Rue des Abbesses and followed the signs to the Funiculaire. It's the train that takes people up the hill to Sacre-Couer. I took the Funiculaire up and saw some great views of the city.

                                            Sacre-Coeur

                                          Shadowy me, but me and Paris 
(special thanks to the American who took the picture and didn't laugh too hard at my self portrait attempts).


     I went into the church to look around. Pictures not allowed and sluttily dressed girls will be escorted out. Really, there's a sign that says so, sort of. As you can see I was dressed as a Parisian from my stereo typical brain - black pants and a black turtleneck. And some people who know me might be amazed I didn't ignite into flames stepping in to a church, but I'm pretty sure if there is a god he's ok with me not being on his side.


     I will say, however, that I lit a candle for my grandmother because I think if she were still alive she would have wanted me to do that for her or someone else. Every time I go in a church I light a candle for my grandmother. It's weird because I never understood that as a kid - still don't really, but I look at it as me bringing her back for a little bit. Wow, I miss that old lady.


     I checked out the crypt under the church and you can take pictures there - or at least I didn't see a sign telling me not to and I was the only one down there with the dead people and they weren't about to tell me to stop. As I was walking down the steps to get there I wondered if the walk back up was going to be worth the sights of the crypt and said so to the lady walking back up. She said it was but the 300 steps to the Dome probably weren't considering it's pretty much the same scenery there is out front of the church. I thanked her and bought a ticket for the crypt only. For being a place full of dead people I wasn't at all creeped out. 

                                           Probably ashes to ashes

                                            The guy is holding his own head. Badass but weird.

                                                    One of the door knockers for the church.


     As I was coming back into the hotel a Frenchman stopped me and introduced himself as my "neighbor". He lives next door to the hotel and wanted to take me to the cafe on the corner for some wine and to "learn about each other". If I weren't so tired I would have appreciated that even though he's a dawg he thought I'd be a nice choice for him to go howling with. Sleep! I need sleep!

Packed and Ready to Go

     Some people forget important things when they go on vacation.  Some people take too much with them. Some take very little and have the thought they will pick up whatever they need along the way. No matter what kind of traveler you are, in my opinion, at least you are a traveler and open to the experience. 

     I am an organizer. I'm good at my day job because I organize well. I'm comfortable in my home because everything has a place, is in that place and goes right back in that place when I'm done with it. Organizing is part of my travel. I hardly ever forget something and when I do it's not really that I forgot it, it's more like I thought of it then dismissed it as not being something to bring with me. When the thought of it pops up again is when I think to myself I forgot it, but only until I remember why I dismissed it in the first place. If I can't remember why then I rationalize with myself that oh well, you don't have it so deal and don't let it bring you down.

     I'm cheap and lazy when it comes to travel and suitcases (and other stuff, but I'm talking about travel right now). On my second time flying I flew to Louisiana with my brother and sister. I was 18 and they were 17. Because it was the second time I had flown and because I was the big, mature sister in college I was in charge of making sure they got to my grandmother's place in one piece. We checked our bags when we got on the plane in Burlington, VT and when we retrieved the bags in Houston, TX before being put on a rubber band plane to Alexandria, LA, we found that the bags had been opened, rifled through and some things missing. We were never given a good reason but my brother's electric razor was missing and we were told that possibly it had started making some noises and that was the reason for breaking the locks and stealing things. When you are 18 and your connecting flight is leaving any minute now you hold back the tears of frustration and shuffle your brother and sister to the gate.

     Since then I don't check bags unless I'm on the stairs to the plane, they tell me there is no room left in the overheads, I don't have to pay for it, I see them put the pack in the belly and I know I'm going to see them pull it out and be able to retrieve the bag as soon as I land. My laziness goes along with it, too because I only have my carry on and back pack. It's all hanging on me and I don't have to hold anything. Even my jacket will be draped over the carry on along with my trusty scarf.

                      You can't see it well, but the umbrella is in the back of the pack.

                                                  Back pack ~ Carry on ~ Jacket ~ Scarf  

  My scarf does not match my jacket at all, but I love it and it goes everywhere I go. It's my rescue scarf. One day when the kids were little we went to the Mickey D's in Stowe (rip Mickey D's in Stowe) and in one of the booths was this big, beautiful plaid red and blue scarf. I truly panicked for whoever had left it there. At that time the three of us were the only customers in the place. I picked up the scarf to take it to the counter in case the owner came back for it when I saw that it was full of burrs. There's fringe on both ends and they were matted and burred and it was just so sad. You have to realize at that time I was a low income mother of two and to see something so expensive and beautiful tossed away because the owner didn't want to take care of it really hurt. I took that scarf home, cleaned it up and have loved it ever since. 

     Another favorite of mine is my 36" umbrella that opens up to about a 40" diameter. Yes, it may be long and bulky and gives flight attendants fits when they see it popping out of my back pack but I need this umbrella. 

1. It could rain at any moment. 

2. I wait in lines at ticket counters and toward the end of the day it's nice to have something to lean on. 

3. It's a good cane for the two hundred some odd steps to some really cool thing I insist I need a picture of. 

4. I'm a pleasantly plump person and my big fat umbrella keeps my big fat butt dry when I actually use it in the rain.

     When I went to Las Vegas, NV three years ago I didn't take any toiletries with me - shampoo, stuff like that. I went with a friend and we decided to buy that stuff in Vegas, split the cost and leave the left over for housekeeping. It made sense for that trip because I researched and found there's a pharmacy a block or two from where we were staying. Not taking stuff and having a plan to get it works but you must have a thought out plan.

     Most trips I've been good at not bringing too much or too little, though I do tend to bring too many books thinking I'll read during the down time. What I end up doing is sleeping or watching tv. I don't have cable at home so it's like I dun gone to the big city and found 'lectricity. This time around I'm bringing one book and have down loaded a bunch of crap novels on my laptop in case I actually finish the real book. I'm hoping to actually read any books I buy at museums while on the trip and not wait until I get home because if I find something in the book that interests me I may want to take the opportunity to go back to the museum to see the whatever. 

     Ok, bags are packed, dishes are washed and put away, all the recycling is on the porch, all the garbage bags are empty and I'm off to down town to catch a bus to the airport. Cheap trumps lazy in this case because I'd rather walk the quarter mile with all my gear and pay $1.25 to get to the airport than wait at home for the cab to take me and charge $14 and the driver to expect a tip. 

As time winds down...

     Let's first of all state for the record that I love, love, love my co-workers down at the "salt mines". This week dragged and then all of a sudden today there were all kinds of minutes ticking by, running by, disappearing...
     Usually when a person is excited or anxious for something to happen the time seems to slow to a deadly trickle, but that last day at the office before vacation always seems to wiz right by for me because I'm the worker bee who is silly enough to announce at the staff meeting on Tuesday morning, "I will not leave this building Thursday evening until my desk is cleared". In years past that has been the ultimate challenge to co-workers to see just how much work and how late in the day they can give me a task without getting stabbed with the envelope opener. I am very pleased to say that today was not one of those days. Everyone was so excited about my adventure that they were talking to me all day and handing me work in a nice, timely manner and I actually left the office right on time. 
     The best part was that at 4pm a customer came in to drop off information so he can get a $1,000 rebate. I told him the earliest he could get his check would be December 1st because the Auditor was gone for the day and I won't be back until the 28th. We then talked about France and this customer sincerely said that had I been giving him the check today he'd sign it over to me to go have some extra fun in Paris - that's how excited I am - I can get a complete stranger to want to give me a thousand bucks....he didn't have  a wedding ring on so I may want to hand deliver that check and see what happens....but I digress....
     I'm ready. The plane doesn't leave until Sunday night, but I'm ready now. I double checked the airline liquids requirement, measured my back pack, emailed the hotel and asked for a room as high up as possible, counted my euros, photocopied my airline, hotel and daily schedule to leave with Quintyn so he'll feel better about my going alone and I checked the bus schedule for Sunday because I've parked the car in the driveway and refuse to pay a cab to take me to the airport. I'm ready. Thumbs. Twiddling.

     See how ready I am? Euros. Converter. Top 10 Paris. English to French thingy. Museum Pass. Metro Pass. International cell phone that's actually much cooler than my regular phone.

Good evening and welcome to my little corner

I have one week to go before my plane leaves for Paris...well, before my plane leaves Burlington, VT for Washington DC where I get to sit and wait for another 5 hours 45 minutes before getting on a plane for Paris. It's all good, though because I'm aware I have to wait that long and I brought it all on myself so it's ok. I can deal with it because I did it on purpose.
First of all the flight is just a tad bit cheaper this way but that's not even the reason so I guess that's not a first of all. It's more of a spillover effect to my paranoia about planes not getting to where they need to be on time. I would hate to expect to fly right in to DC to meet my next plane only to find that the plane from VT is late and I've missed my flight and need to go through the rigmarole of finding another flight. I'd rather sit and be bored for 5 hours 45 minutes than to stress about getting another flight. I've waited standby before and it sucks. I'm almost always prepared for plan A to not work and plan B to be iffy but doable.
Knowing I'd have such a long layover I started looking for ideas of what can keep me occupied while I set up house in the airport. There were all kinds of websites covering all manor of things to help me with my trip to Paris - packing, places to visit, places to stay, eat and photograph. I lost track of what I was looking for in the first place. Somewhere between September and the end of October I bought an app for places the movie Midnight In Paris had filmed. I've seen the movie 4 times now and am wanting to hit up a few of the places in the movie.
Anyway, I'm not really up on all that is regarding apps so when I realized I needed an iphone or ipod to use the app I was somewhat lost. Then I thought to myself, "when am I even going to take time to listen to this thing?" and the answer came to me - this trip is taking every single penny you have right now so let's spend $200 and get an ipod. You can listen to the app (everyone now) AT THE AIRPORT. So, yep, I got the ipod plus $40 or so in accessories to save my pride in having spent $1.06 on an app I couldn't use. But stop laughing because now I have plenty of free apps to listen to at the airport. So there.