Like all good trips, this one begins with spending a lot of time, energy, and money on preparation. The first step, of course, was acquiring a new look via a new haircut and a bit of shopping. You can see the results.
Naturally, I also had to acquire the latest in technology for this trip. Having decided early on to go all digital this summer, I invested in a number of new toys; photos are courtesy of my new Fuji FinePix 1400.
Ahh, but now I need a soundtrack. Since I've also acquired a CD MP3 player, this should be no problem. But that'll have to wait until I get back to the Bay, since that's where my CD-R resides.
25 Jun
Vacating is going quite nicely, and the digital camera is working well. For those who are not fortunate to live or visit the Northwest very often, I've got a few shots from my visit to the Japanese Gardens on the 21st, some pictures from Rockaway Beach, where my dad has a beach house (thanks dad!) and a few pictures from a hike along the Columbia Gorge with Jenny.
OK, this really isn't part of my trips per se, seeing as I am back in Menlo Park for a few days. But I did find the time to take a couple of snapshots of animals with their people.
Momentarily, there will be silly photos of Jake and I having a pre-trip toast, but at the moment I have yet to find a computer with a USB port AND a net connection, so you'll all just have to wait.
OK, the aforementioned silly photos of Jake and I and Sharon are now available.
While I was there, they took me to the Eno River Festival, my first exposure to Southern culture. But contrary to my original expectations, it was quite civilized, including a vegetarian food stand that served rather tasty barbecued tofu. Not bad! Heck, they even had Flamenco dancing.
They also threw a nice housewarming party complete with fireworks and a performance by Will, who bravely played on as the fireworks exploded around him.
But alas, I had to leave (but not without getting an Alex and Amy photo, so we could demonstrate that the visit occured.
All in all, my first visit to the South was quite good and went off without a hitch, although this sign at the airport was a bit unnerving. Hopefully the pilots don't agree.
Additional evidence for my theory that all universities must have a phallic tower was provided by the University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning.
I went to the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh with my Aunt Katherine, pictured in the "cloud room," which provided many fun photo opportunities. I also thought that the black light paintings were fun.
Alas, I hadn't much time in town, and soon I was off to...
Lest one think that all I'm doing is wandering around here basking in the sun: I am here for a three-week workshop on military operations. A picture of the fine folks participating is available(and yes, I know, I look rather peeved...)
Along with discussing body counts and other such upbeat things, we've found time for other activities, such as Ultimate Frisbee, appreciation of the finer things in life, and, of course, musical instruments.
An integral part of the SWAMOS experience was the trip to Fort Leonard Wood (link forthcoming...); while there, we had the opportunity to experience some basic training first-hand, including chemical warfare, practice with the Mark 19 automatic grenade launcher (you read that right: an automatic grenade launcher: 60 grenades a minute...), and various parts of the confidence course, including the roll-over (you just roll over a log. not too bad, really...) and the weaver (much harder: first you go over one, then under the next...). We also got our photo taken with lots of happy recruits with M-16s.
For the most part, I'll be avoiding obvious pictures from Paris, like this one. Instead, I'll focus on pictures which are particularly well framed, or reflect the general spirit of this trip.
Despite the crushing workload that we both have to do while in Paris, we're managing to get out and around quite nicely. But while we're working, we have quite a nice apartment to do it in, with a lovely courtyard, and all the modern amenities required to work with (yes, we know, it looks like an IKEA or iBook ad...)
We've ventured out to Ile de la Cite, where we were glad to know French, in order to translate important signs just outside Notre-Dame, which turned out to have a lovely interior atmosphere and brilliant stained glass windows. Even better, though, were the windows of Sainte-Chappelle, of which this photos is but a poor representation.
I know, it's been a while since the last update... but I've been on the road! Or, rather, on the rails, since that's the better way to get around here as long as you're going between major cities.
First, I caught a train to Strasbourg, where I met up with Mark and Marianne. (They're both doing well, BTW.) I also got to take a look at the rather large medieval cathedral (made out of sandstone... now there's a great building material...) which quite dominates the center of town.
Next it was on to Bonn to visit Marion and Christian (who was only passing by on his way to mountaineering classes, lucky guy), and to take a nice stroll through the woods on the way to Burg Eltz, one of the few castles in this region which was not destroyed by the French (I'm sensing some hostility here...). On the other hand, I later got to take a (distant) look at Germania, a statue made of melted down French cannons from the Franco-Prussian war. The frequency of invasion around this area was indicated by the fact that they seem to have speed signs for tanks. How about a bumper sticker: "If you can read this, you're invading too quickly..."
That photo, of course, was taken during my tour of the Rhine (er, Rhein) river, courtesy of Marion, who gave me an offer for a guided tour of the Rhine for my birthday five years ago. (Good thing I kept the coupon...) Along the tour, we saw lots of castles, a number of which have been restored or kept up due to good ol' capitalism (note the sign on the castle. It was a beautiful tour, with rolling hills, vineyards, and old castles. And, of course, a huge statue of Wilhelm I, which apparently was destroyed in WWII by American artillery (oops) and was recently rebuilt.
Marion and I also headed up to Utrecht to visit Karin, so we decided to go to Amsterdam for the day, where I uncharacteristically took few photos. Well, I did take a few. For example, a shot of this very useful sign. Anyone been to Wall, South Dakota recently? And, of course, one of Marion and Karin on the Museumplein.
On the way back the next day, I took the Thalys (an extended TGV service) back from Cologne. Three hours to Brussels from Cologne over regular track; one to Paris over high-speed track. Wow. Plus I had a nice sunset.
So what have I been doing while in Paris? Exploring the neighborhood quite a bit for the most part; the Medici Fountain in the Jardin du Luxembourg is a lovely place to sit and read or write. The Pantheon is quite an imposing site here in the Latin Quarter. We've gone to the Louvre, of course, where I made my usual study of the backsides of famous statues. For those from Berkeley, you'll be happy to know that Le Bateau Ivre also exists here in Paris.
A few more cheeky pictures (I just can't resist...) While at the Centre Georges Pompidou, I noticed that in their Modern Art section, they'd placed a very familiar object. While wandering around the Jardin des Plantes after visiting the very beautiful Paris Mosque, I noticed another, much older, but still very familiar character from an old video game. Hmm. Perhaps I should subdivide this section - it's getting a little long. Given bandwidth costs of downloading, dividing, and reuploading... I'll do it later.
I took a day trip to the west end of Paris - the Bois de Boulogne, the Musee de Monet, and the Parc de Bagatelle. Did I take any photos? Of course I did! What else do I do while wondering around Paris? (Any good ideas for getting all of these great photos back off of Stacie's HD are very welcome...)
I finally remembered to take a photo of my new favorite car: the Smart car. Yes, it is short enough to be allowed to park nose-in (although it's not in this photo). Not available in the US, of course. Why? Because of all of you people with SUVs who would kill anyone if you hit them in one of these cars, that's why! OK, rant over. On to more poking fun...
I really like the street signs around Paris. Many of them are named after famous or not-so-famous (but French) people, and for some, descriptions are quite necessary: like this one. I mean, you might have thought mistakenly thought he was a garbage collector, right? Then there's the interestingly-named squares. I was half-expecting to see scowling poets shaking their pens at each other.
Enough! On to beautiful things. All of my photos from within the Bois are actually within the Parc de Bagatelle. There's some wonderful pathways leading around and spiralling up and down for scenic views. (Not quite scenic enough for me to include a photo here, tho...) I've also noticed that the French are very anal, I mean organized, in the layout of their fountains and flowers. Perhaps this is why I like France so much...
Oh, in case you've been thinking that I'm just getting these photos off the web and not actually going anywhere, here's a token picture that includes me in the Parc.
On the way home, I passed near to La Defense, which includes a gigantic cube. Which I think looks pretty cool. Note that it's actually a little off-axis with respect to the street.
Enough nature! on to the macabre. Yep, that's right, the Catacombes. If you're ever coming to Paris and feeling a little morbid, this is an excellent place to come. Take, for example, the sign leading to the catacombes. Not quite "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," but not too shabby, either.
For those who have not had the pleasure of visiting or reading about this place, it consists essentially of a lot of dimly lit passageways with piles of bones and skulls on both sides. Not that the people who exhumed most of the bones from the city's cemeteries in the 18th and 19th centuries were content with just stacking them up. Oh, no, they had to stack them in cute patterns. Do you suppose it was Valentine's Day?
There are also many signs around the place, often poems or sayings from famous (or not-so-famous but French ) people. My favorite, of course, was from Homer.
One warning, though: if you've been playing any FPS (that's First Person Shooter) games recently, you're bound to feel a little uncomfortable. For example, when I reached this room, my first urge was "grab the bowl, then check the crawlspace for goodies." The constant dripping and low light doesn't help, either.
OK, now for something a bit lighter: I took a trip to Rouen and Giverny. Rouen has a lovely medieval clock named, imaginitively enough, Le Gros Horloge (the Big Clock). As you can see if you squint a lot, it only has an hour hand. Clearly, minutes had not yet been invented...
I also spent a good deal of time in or around Rouen's cathedral, which was an inspiration for some of Monet's most famous paintings. Unfortunately, it's under a lot of construction at the moment, so I took only a few selective photos from the outside, such as this side shot. It was bombed heavily in 1944 (hmm, doesn't mention exactly by whom...), so much of the stained glass on one side has been replaced, but a few of the original pieces from the 13th century still exist.
Rouen is also the location of a nice Gothic cathedral, the abbey church of Saint-Ouen. (Nice framing, eh? Well, I thought so, anyway. It has a magnificent interior - you'll note that it's mostly bare, which was quite striking, and has a beautiful blue rose window at the end.
What else about Rouen? It's the place where Joan of Arc was tried and burned at the stake, and practically everything in town is named after her: the Rue Jeanne D'Arc, the Church Jeanne D'Arc, the Museum Jeanne D'Arc, the Brothel, er, never mind. In any case, the church was finished in 1979, and it shows. Fortunately, the stained glass windows from the interior are from a much earlier age, and are quite nice.
Anything else about Rouen? It has a very nice central square, with a waterfall with swans and all.
On to Giverny, where taking pictures was made difficult by the profusion of tourists (I haven't heard this much English spoken since I left the States...) But I still managed a few shots with a minimal number, such as ones of the Japanese Bridge and weeping willow, as well as a more artistic shot of the Bridge, and even a slightly tricky one underneath it. I also got a chance to see Monet's rather chaotic garden, for which an excellent comparison was provided in the form of the gardens around the the American Impressionist museum, which has a nice small collection of American Impressionist works - and also had a free 1 1/2 hour jazz and modern dance performance. Alas, no photos of that (I usually feel hesitant about photographing artists without their prior permission), but it was quite impressive.
In the last few days in Paris, I had a chance to visit the Jardin Atlantique on the roof (?) of the Gare Montparnasse, where they have various hi-tech waterfalls and other delights. I also stopped by the Rodin museum, which has a very aesthetically pleasing garden in back. Various famous sculptures are inside; the oddest one was a sculpture of Athena with the Parthenon on her head. (I like this photo partially because of the vaguely beatific look the halo of the chandelier gives me...)
I also visited the Bois de Vincennes; well, really just the Parc Floral de Paris, which gets my award for largest sign. Inside the Parc, I happened upon a free classical music performance because I happened to duck under an enclosure to get out of the rain...
As a parting token, I leave Paris with a couple of images of Notre Dame and the Seine at night.
Well, it does have some nice touches. Fareen and I went to Central Park and visited the John Lennon memorial at Strawberry Fields. And New York definitely gets points for signs. For example (this may not be legible), a sign indicating that this body of water is the lake. I also liked attitudes towards parking in this city.
As a final night out before returning home? Why, we went to the Bat Cave, a Gothic club in Manhattan. Naturally, we had to look appropriate (obviously, this comes more naturally to Fareen than me...)
That's all, folks! Comments very welcome, just drop me an email. Until my next trip...
