tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77127576280819615852024-03-14T07:14:32.526-07:00Misadventures of an Art Student in ParisHanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-9003345378748575572008-06-28T07:02:00.001-07:002008-06-28T07:05:50.152-07:00EpilogueAlright, I got home yesterday. The flight was good and all that. I'm glad to be home, really. I've missed American food and language quite a bit in my absence from the country. I had an amazing time in Paris, of course. I know that I won't trade that experience for anything in the world. I might end up posting some more pictures every now and then, but unless there is some sort of revolt, I guess that this blog has served its purpose. I'm glad that I kept this sort of open diary. It helps me remember things that have happened and of course I don't have to tell all my friends everything that I did, they can just read it in excruciating detail.<br /><p><br />I think I'll have easy mac for lunch.Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-75940597948584420402008-06-26T13:14:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:19.199-08:00C'est fin<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3APHrMcGpdP51_fbhmvvDqpIBP2iJglZzCi2QaJu5UkRgjhjf53pvDcvx88xkLKIEEpOWV6UrgCfhQss3-ZV_viDgzA2l2NZCT_KsgfPSFYjsDOMtWElSYknHF2gom0d13rYt-Ql_U7I/s1600-h/SANY0752.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216287567580056306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3APHrMcGpdP51_fbhmvvDqpIBP2iJglZzCi2QaJu5UkRgjhjf53pvDcvx88xkLKIEEpOWV6UrgCfhQss3-ZV_viDgzA2l2NZCT_KsgfPSFYjsDOMtWElSYknHF2gom0d13rYt-Ql_U7I/s320/SANY0752.JPG" border="0" /></a> It's like a dream come true! At least for a bio-nerd.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Xdz708wBEqFL7yQmVEath0T-lIrVFaNiitL08San0kUpnSgn3i0jtcheEbqCpbyTbnihu4Kb0qgNEDp-eesakJ0sNQuEHFBrGad9MTGAye4sIcRV1r_ReVVCY0KsHLSnRDUn4T1FyTE/s1600-h/SANY0780.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216287572273204226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Xdz708wBEqFL7yQmVEath0T-lIrVFaNiitL08San0kUpnSgn3i0jtcheEbqCpbyTbnihu4Kb0qgNEDp-eesakJ0sNQuEHFBrGad9MTGAye4sIcRV1r_ReVVCY0KsHLSnRDUn4T1FyTE/s320/SANY0780.JPG" border="0" /></a> Baleeeeeeeeeeeeen<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgij4xY9Wie_u9EM5lrSrtUKR6hMaR-Q1CaUuPS3dGo4yr20kbPBHEKnrTfChmO7QFEs2rbYonLcDlUqEs27QT1PnSpsnP2iAS7uODNZG7LUwSmhAg-hP8qyHv5p__ZWbuzuth3x1Iugg/s1600-h/SANY0806.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216287577302578258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgij4xY9Wie_u9EM5lrSrtUKR6hMaR-Q1CaUuPS3dGo4yr20kbPBHEKnrTfChmO7QFEs2rbYonLcDlUqEs27QT1PnSpsnP2iAS7uODNZG7LUwSmhAg-hP8qyHv5p__ZWbuzuth3x1Iugg/s320/SANY0806.JPG" border="0" /></a> Looks like a frickin' Pokemon or something. Silly ancient form of armadillo.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MPtUWpOsL4GthYndusxXxiaE4yVt1mlQCtBOz-G7RB2BzFAaYmD5TtzAXOb8MJXYxGLiFJiIjXUQMItMZHlSRDosg-YMRu565mKjyhetcP1p2mkAja6lab-en0hYgPejH6FdDPjYnnQ/s1600-h/SANY0827.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216287588774342754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MPtUWpOsL4GthYndusxXxiaE4yVt1mlQCtBOz-G7RB2BzFAaYmD5TtzAXOb8MJXYxGLiFJiIjXUQMItMZHlSRDosg-YMRu565mKjyhetcP1p2mkAja6lab-en0hYgPejH6FdDPjYnnQ/s320/SANY0827.JPG" border="0" /></a> From the RER window. The RER is like the Metro, but on steroids.<br /><p><br /><div>Well, today was my last day here. We leave tommorow and I'm all packed and set to go. I have my passport and ticket and all that cool jazz. As much as I do want to go home now, I am going to miss it here. I had a great time living with the Ketrons for 6 weeks and I know that I'll miss them. They're pretty much like extended family. I mean, Marsh and Nathan are sort of like my other little brothers or something. Anyway, enough of the much, I'll tell you what I did today.</div><p><br /><div>We went to Jardin des Plantes, which has a ton of museums in it. Kristen and Marsh went to the newer natural history museum while Nathan and I went to the old one. The place looked like a storehouse for a university comparative anatomy department from the 1800's or something. Half the skeletons all had handwritten labels and there were so many specimens that there is no way anyone who works there knows where everything is. They had everything from frogs to whales and even a few malformed things in jars. Cyclops kittens and two headed pig babies, that sort of thing. The place was almost deserted too, which made it better. Creepier, I guess, but easier to see what I was looking at. I'm pretty sure I probably could have swiped something because the one guard wasn't paying attention at all. Getting it past customs would be another matter entirely, though...</div><div><p></div><div>They also had dinosaurs and other fossils upstairs! I think that the scariest part was going up those stairs. They really didn't look safe. I'm sure that they haven't been inspected for safety since the 1920's. I ended up taking about 70 pictures of bones and dead things in jars. Mr. Poster would be proud. </div><div><p></div><div>Let's see, we took the RER back, which was much better than the 3 buses it took to get us there in the first place. Had dinner in Periere. I had snails again. I would have had my staple of soup de poisson, but they were out. Then we went to the Monoprix nearby and did some last minute shopping. I got some nutella and sirop de menthe, and some sweets for friends and family. I'm really bad at buying souvenirs. Really bad. </div><div><p></div><div>At any rate, ta-ta! I might post something tommorow for an epilogue. We'll see how I do with the 8 hour plane ride and all that. </div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-55269405974686250402008-06-25T14:03:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:19.693-08:00Pizza night<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg869dhPp6ffKaUS8iUWanHInh7I8aQ4oluxwaRZYfoku_0Gl5Nwtym5RHygrUucjfCDD4QzBYU51GMzpvJziM8gnMxxgp3Lx6JzbFfGHZgSDhaQO1-4CbSrhlFJUM-sttk7Du54DI5eSU/s1600-h/SANY0746.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215928921784279954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg869dhPp6ffKaUS8iUWanHInh7I8aQ4oluxwaRZYfoku_0Gl5Nwtym5RHygrUucjfCDD4QzBYU51GMzpvJziM8gnMxxgp3Lx6JzbFfGHZgSDhaQO1-4CbSrhlFJUM-sttk7Du54DI5eSU/s320/SANY0746.JPG" border="0" /></a> Pretty day<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVUUeWorYnbeuhwBJefhf9jY3rHjFuicsywGbOjQDdRepL7WrqMExb2GjH-jZiKjoYUPZ_OTrKMsSQKHE3Rx27JdKvfwsEgS5k3Kx-Z_jtKXI1TYIb3ij_IGZzhd5rYr33caJkeumHsY/s1600-h/SANY0747.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215928932704655426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVUUeWorYnbeuhwBJefhf9jY3rHjFuicsywGbOjQDdRepL7WrqMExb2GjH-jZiKjoYUPZ_OTrKMsSQKHE3Rx27JdKvfwsEgS5k3Kx-Z_jtKXI1TYIb3ij_IGZzhd5rYr33caJkeumHsY/s320/SANY0747.JPG" border="0" /></a> It's a Kiwi!<br /><p><br /><div>Not too much happening today, though I probably should have started getting packed or something. Yeah, that probably would have been a good idea. Oh well. Marsh and Nathan finished school today and I went to pick up Marsh from the bus stop, which led to a bit of a freak out because I miscalculated where the bus stop was but everything was cool because the bus waited until I got there to pick him up. Hung out at the park for a little while and then came home. The toy store down the street changed its display again (the third time since I've been here) and they have a stuffed kiwi in the window. It's cute, I sort of want it. </div><div><p></div><div>I have a sunburn on my right arm from sitting in the sun. I also wore a shirt with short (as in no) sleeves so that contributed. I also wore a skirt all day, which doesn't happen often. It does seem to be a slightly more common occurance though, I admit. Maybe bimonthly at this point, up quite a bit from my old average of never. Not sure what the plans for tommorow are, but packing is certainly on my list. </div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-41527704760508628962008-06-25T01:10:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:20.155-08:00It's the final countdown!Do do dooo, dododododo, do do do dooo....<br />I hate that song.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplPPw99sbd2QsN4m_2hSiIxYahXfihFcjL0S7FZbfByM858e6OX71zXq38aheTvgYEqU4v2tgcLNBPKsxM-YLxHu2ekHABf4eTvDWgXvA2-UCsz_k-4bVZx_w0zgvpscv3aLHy9en4BY/s1600-h/SANY0740.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215729827054002306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplPPw99sbd2QsN4m_2hSiIxYahXfihFcjL0S7FZbfByM858e6OX71zXq38aheTvgYEqU4v2tgcLNBPKsxM-YLxHu2ekHABf4eTvDWgXvA2-UCsz_k-4bVZx_w0zgvpscv3aLHy9en4BY/s320/SANY0740.JPG" border="0" /></a> Crow, one of many.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsT2LZDbSiZc36Vyj5jxYEWGEyWIN8nMz1vhdYM3E58ma4d7nR0g912P5vqhk6zIESE0WoZYHhbW-IC5n0YAn_c8yh4IZQHEiGbMMxTUVv-xTRV_U_cqKRjiTpTw5PBj2jzCAtgiwkCxY/s1600-h/SANY0742.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215729828795725042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsT2LZDbSiZc36Vyj5jxYEWGEyWIN8nMz1vhdYM3E58ma4d7nR0g912P5vqhk6zIESE0WoZYHhbW-IC5n0YAn_c8yh4IZQHEiGbMMxTUVv-xTRV_U_cqKRjiTpTw5PBj2jzCAtgiwkCxY/s320/SANY0742.JPG" border="0" /></a> It's like Medieval Times, but with utensils and less jousting.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQpH9p6Y_MfTN7s4j3h1SBXMc_Sap-8TFF20Nzgj61_uikyM6_uZhX7uTUNDkCAUdwem5Znt4DBAL6we9Vkm6k9qXbdmWdh5451A7Y-7DgA9axUoPLJBSIt3HdLf_ZK25YE-a9eHUXAc/s1600-h/SANY0743.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215729832824113202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQpH9p6Y_MfTN7s4j3h1SBXMc_Sap-8TFF20Nzgj61_uikyM6_uZhX7uTUNDkCAUdwem5Znt4DBAL6we9Vkm6k9qXbdmWdh5451A7Y-7DgA9axUoPLJBSIt3HdLf_ZK25YE-a9eHUXAc/s320/SANY0743.JPG" border="0" /></a> I swear my Grandmother has this plate in her house.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vzVDUi_Hjc67ct_UCfaNbm7K7hofxnCqDTPgp7WY00JlsoSpZIaKAIv3Q_yCSC3PxA6B5AMWEi8zum-5VENkBAM7wqfKZPKa1Z2mnNweNXaNYdo0OGxPD_rWjGKmEZY38obM64f1g0w/s1600-h/SANY0745.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215729837136914114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vzVDUi_Hjc67ct_UCfaNbm7K7hofxnCqDTPgp7WY00JlsoSpZIaKAIv3Q_yCSC3PxA6B5AMWEi8zum-5VENkBAM7wqfKZPKa1Z2mnNweNXaNYdo0OGxPD_rWjGKmEZY38obM64f1g0w/s320/SANY0745.JPG" border="0" /></a> Sort of hard to see, but there is a giant ball of garlic in the background. Delicious garlic... mmm...<br /><br /><div><p></p></div><p><br /><div>Sorry for not posting last night, we got in a bit late and were very tired. Ok, so I picked up Marsh from school and we went to a different park, one that's pretty much right by the school because we had to stay around and wait for Nathan's 8th grade graduation. The park was interesting, they had this giant wall of rocks for climbing on. Not a rock wall but more like...uh, je ne sais qua. At any rate, there was a murder of crows living in the park. They seemed to act more like pigeons, they weren't all that afraid of people and they were just as likely to eat stale bread as the next bird.</div><div><p></div><div>We went back to the school after a little while for Nathan's graduation. One of the students wrote a speech and presented it in English, and Nathan gave the French version. The class was pretty small in size since it's a private school so the ceremony was short, but it was nice. </div><div><p></div><div>We then took the very hot and sweaty bus to the Ile St. Louis for dinner. For those of you unfamiliar with Parisian geography, Notre Dame is on an island (Ile de la Cite) in the middle of the Seine river. Right next to that island, is another island. We went to the other island. We had dinner at this awesome medieval themed place. Exposed wooden rafters and stone walls and all that. The cool thing though is that those were probably all actually medieval rafters and stone walls. Anyway, the appetizers were a basket of sausage and a basket of raw vegetables and a bowl of soup. They just give them to you like that and you get to pick and choose and slice for yourself. I had a Bourgandy beef stew for my main course, and I'm not entirely sure that they cooked off all the wine. It was delicious, though. Then there was a cheese course, which I found out is sort of like olde tyme Tums. The calcium makes you want to eat dessert, which most of us had in the form of the best chocolate mousse I've ever eaten. All in all, it took us about 3 hours to eat dinner. That's normal here. But we didn't get home until about 11:30. Then we started watching YouTube videos and I didn't get to bed til about 1am. It was a very fun day.</div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-58484446158468424382008-06-23T13:55:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:20.976-08:00Hummus<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7plXG78agpkZvuYz8oamoXe2ytrLpeW7JOpA6o0to9_KvNm2oANeS3Sren7siTSXRJ83oWrjGdC0dWNPxveOHUC7j5cbGap7cMy0zVfbHPMRNZHzsdt0PWfOX92_SgZsI7uM2vZtVcQk/s1600-h/SANY0733.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215185073218392386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7plXG78agpkZvuYz8oamoXe2ytrLpeW7JOpA6o0to9_KvNm2oANeS3Sren7siTSXRJ83oWrjGdC0dWNPxveOHUC7j5cbGap7cMy0zVfbHPMRNZHzsdt0PWfOX92_SgZsI7uM2vZtVcQk/s320/SANY0733.JPG" border="0" /></a> Luxembourg!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTSnjm9oSxOwltGDxnglXBlwI5JBujsFTHE3EVH_3vePC0wy7ATCF5vOkADS238pa591lps9X64YzTvyOaW3vOX58MhKE-q10lqQMuRFT5ctV0vYlGz5zOSm_LOLmKYxbyOcqjnqw4Yw/s1600-h/SANY0735.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215185088041312578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTSnjm9oSxOwltGDxnglXBlwI5JBujsFTHE3EVH_3vePC0wy7ATCF5vOkADS238pa591lps9X64YzTvyOaW3vOX58MhKE-q10lqQMuRFT5ctV0vYlGz5zOSm_LOLmKYxbyOcqjnqw4Yw/s320/SANY0735.JPG" border="0" /></a> EU flags!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3dl-iDSTtUsvGIUFK2pamoeeeXq0_azURnC1ilnbZHpn6trGTbtvarseCebp5c2zNKpoRtpo_vEDUyXxjUx_hCOOsEiXMIX8MlrOTtR1pWlMs8dTEvh3yizqFZKdhZ6IoX0i32Nd_YQ/s1600-h/SANY0736.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215185099855024002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3dl-iDSTtUsvGIUFK2pamoeeeXq0_azURnC1ilnbZHpn6trGTbtvarseCebp5c2zNKpoRtpo_vEDUyXxjUx_hCOOsEiXMIX8MlrOTtR1pWlMs8dTEvh3yizqFZKdhZ6IoX0i32Nd_YQ/s320/SANY0736.JPG" border="0" /></a> Bald Jokes and Lens Flare!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkYCA6r7vdNqLRr6cKoae1fa3gStyds8RAkDHzyySwboO44zNBlE_h7sObfv5XVjtVFc7c0GeCfJp5a8giTC4H9Q2i2G7ewh9-B8HKSzG6Gg32zL5nhLn7dTPChxXbDK3CkuK0fj5rPN4/s1600-h/SANY0734.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215185111456339346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkYCA6r7vdNqLRr6cKoae1fa3gStyds8RAkDHzyySwboO44zNBlE_h7sObfv5XVjtVFc7c0GeCfJp5a8giTC4H9Q2i2G7ewh9-B8HKSzG6Gg32zL5nhLn7dTPChxXbDK3CkuK0fj5rPN4/s320/SANY0734.JPG" border="0" /></a> I don't know what this is, but I'm guessing something to do with theatre!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm642kBDS5oC23znV7NVeoybrEAoF5LPHVaqxWH_vK_noYR8TFFi1o0RFxSdO9asgSdGTOePVfq_OpfaOoUMJO6EvM0tegf6JTU0Lq8297XoO94esz-h5spjS9ybNEIntXbybtZej9TFo/s1600-h/SANY0726.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215185125520450738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm642kBDS5oC23znV7NVeoybrEAoF5LPHVaqxWH_vK_noYR8TFFi1o0RFxSdO9asgSdGTOePVfq_OpfaOoUMJO6EvM0tegf6JTU0Lq8297XoO94esz-h5spjS9ybNEIntXbybtZej9TFo/s320/SANY0726.JPG" border="0" /></a> Pigeons!<br /><p><br /><br />Sorry for not posting a blog yesterday. We finished watching season 4 of Lost last night so it was about 2am before I got to sleep. I think I'm a Lost addict now. That show is so frustrating to watch because you always get about 4 times as many questions as answers every episode. And yet, it drags you in relentlessly.<br /><p><br />Other than the Lost marathon, all I did yesterday was go to the park. I looked it up on wiki and it turns out that Parc Monceau was used for a while during the time of the Paris Commune, and during the bloody week, they were all slaughtered on its grounds. That was sort of the reason I went to the park yesterday, really. I walked around and tried to imagine what it must have looked like as a battleground, but it's almost impossible. It's just too pretty and vibrant there. Then I ended up getting distracted and taking pictures of fish and pigeons for about half an hour. Yeaahh...<br /><p><br />Today I went to pick up Marsh from school. Neither of us really wanted to take the 10 minute walk back to the metro so we took the bus instead and ended up going to Jardin du Luxembourg. It's one of the biggest parks in the city and is crawling with statuary. Luckily the modern sculpture is kept to a minimum there. I took a picture of what's probably the most famous sculpture in the park which is of course the first one. For some reason the French find it fitting to charge you money to let your kid play on a swing set or a jungle gym. But the sandbox was free at least.<br /><p><br />We had Lebonese for dinner, which was quite awesome. And last night we went to San Remo again, an Italian restaurant in Paris run by Pakistani chefs. This is such a great city.Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-12943582484893070522008-06-21T15:45:00.000-07:002008-06-21T16:18:45.312-07:00shuffleI'm currently in the middle of trying to make some more space on my SD card because today was Fete de la Music. Every summer solstice (the longest day of the year) the city of Paris has a giant music festival. Basically that means that anyone from pop-stars to vagrants are welcome to pull up a street corner and start jamming for the entire day. In fact, as I write this, it's almost 1 am and I can still hear drums coming from Periere. Anyway, since it's hard to capture sounds with images, unless you have synaesthesia or something, I took films of quite a few of the acts that we saw during the day. That said, it's eaten up all the data on my SD card and I don't have much space on my flash drives because I've already stored a boatload of pictures on them already. Oy, at this rate I'll need a new hard drive to store all these pictures when I get home. Which is next week.<br /><p><br />On a side note, before the fete, we had lunch at KFC. We were going to go to Mumble Crepe, which has the best Philly Cheese Crepe you'll eat in your life, but it turns out they're Jewish. And it's Saturday. So that didn't work. The chicken at KFC here is... weird. It's much more lightly breaded and the sauce choices were BBQ, Curry, and Sweet and Sour. That was it. And the only side they had was french fries. Something you all should know right now, never get french fries in France. You WILL be disappointed. They just don't know how to fry things here, I guess. Too used to fresh and fancy gourmet food or something.<br /><p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwM2eTNrfc0XDMP8u_DednAS75n0BQzjQtANcYqJItK6UUQWGs6AJBzTIWPZc-eTiqOyDVMXYvSWPQf_v8Lhg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p>A clarinet player from one of the bands. He was entertaining, to say the least.</p>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-50228327502640550062008-06-20T12:30:00.000-07:002008-06-20T12:45:52.583-07:00Sake is pretty grossMarshall and Nathan both had end of the year school plays today. Marshall's group (all the primary students) went first, with an Olympics theme merged with animals. There isn't anything much cuter than a bunch of first graders dressed up like marsupials singing "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport". Then we went to a small going away party for one of Marshall's classmates, and I found that I would really like to have a gerbil for a pet. They're like rats, but have furry tails, thus boosting their cute quotient by quite a bit.<br /><p><br />Then it was time for the older students to give their plays. The first group performed and abbreviated version of Electra (the Greek tragedy, not the super hero). The second group did an amazing rendition of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Nathan playing the role of the Monster. The best part was when the Monster gave a heartfelt monologue and the background music was another student playing blues guitar (and very well, might I add.) The last play was a modern and comic version of Faust that was written by the students themselves. Each of the plays was very ambitious, and like all good shows didn't come together until the last minute, apparently. But they were all great, considering that it was performed by 7th, 8th, and 9th graders.<br /><p><br />After the plays we went to the Mandarin Courcelles for dinner. I had a duck, mushroom, and bamboo dish that was delicious. I've never had mushrooms like the ones that I had tonight and I have no idea where they came from, but I want more. We had complementary sake shots (Rob, Kristen, and I, that is) after the meal. I've never ingested something so disgusting. At least not to my knowledge, and not willingly. I've never tasted kerosene, but that does seem like the best description. I think I'll stick to the occasional glass of wine with dinner.Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-84887778161704472392008-06-19T15:30:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:22.071-08:00Oranges<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoobrC8038SR5MhpL1FWbJGYQvAZkXyd_hhAuaqtesZD3xKqD02UR2dly-pu5TzsnkaLw0aEmuTE9pMMk5p4ZEecz4lDxFnNVTeDu5enBFE3FCuEDnPpRenQCWwlDjtBkm122gc4DM2yU/s1600-h/SANY0580.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213728584516775538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoobrC8038SR5MhpL1FWbJGYQvAZkXyd_hhAuaqtesZD3xKqD02UR2dly-pu5TzsnkaLw0aEmuTE9pMMk5p4ZEecz4lDxFnNVTeDu5enBFE3FCuEDnPpRenQCWwlDjtBkm122gc4DM2yU/s320/SANY0580.JPG" border="0" /></a> Uh... it's Degas I'm pretty sure. I saw waaay too many impressionists today...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZyPngTCRcxCGv4q1pfB28iBlvM6IX_i07cDJ-g6bXVRZYXws6JGSHl2MUSGGiN0J_QAEZXVa06TuUchu4ZWJHADEtcSKG33e_Vc7BAmdW0ac3opL4eLfa16_7Xg1StogQ2d3ThXnzNs/s1600-h/SANY0588.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213728595745768402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZyPngTCRcxCGv4q1pfB28iBlvM6IX_i07cDJ-g6bXVRZYXws6JGSHl2MUSGGiN0J_QAEZXVa06TuUchu4ZWJHADEtcSKG33e_Vc7BAmdW0ac3opL4eLfa16_7Xg1StogQ2d3ThXnzNs/s320/SANY0588.JPG" border="0" /></a> Picasso used cubism to hide the fact that he failed at human anatomy. At least that's what I'd like to think.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDEcy1uLvf25FptD1jH3Ogw_nVhU94-vERN02uf2ka1J4CWENCKQ4LEH65DImXZcg7PEbNUR0eEIzSFujiR3NR10rDOYuj5FzUjPdf_I0FDq_dflr-cnmSsS3bX5rcpIzh4XrTqZFQvKI/s1600-h/SANY0592.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213728615978152882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDEcy1uLvf25FptD1jH3Ogw_nVhU94-vERN02uf2ka1J4CWENCKQ4LEH65DImXZcg7PEbNUR0eEIzSFujiR3NR10rDOYuj5FzUjPdf_I0FDq_dflr-cnmSsS3bX5rcpIzh4XrTqZFQvKI/s320/SANY0592.JPG" border="0" /></a> All the different patterns on this are just different types of marble.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRPJlduBqeTSvWLbUEUS3J3Upd6BdTEaroJTCJEx1rOXmWvUv8tYcFk1QGclDIvpG8B7w73ZyXg3shCj9muvVPNXN_Xc3IXYZziu5fvCOCm7ZlR3JQyzhb2Jva4h-aHKAJm2-mFXyGseo/s1600-h/SANY0602.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213728622397637602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRPJlduBqeTSvWLbUEUS3J3Upd6BdTEaroJTCJEx1rOXmWvUv8tYcFk1QGclDIvpG8B7w73ZyXg3shCj9muvVPNXN_Xc3IXYZziu5fvCOCm7ZlR3JQyzhb2Jva4h-aHKAJm2-mFXyGseo/s320/SANY0602.JPG" border="0" /></a> Vincent van something or other. Some no-name impressionist wannabe, I guess.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-34KfcJTpKxp2JsRdUN7z3oRcsQQsd0dY6dgWVIzSlKE7dco2BelaeRWGiVPRNmYR5N9KINykZ9q1HfMcrLDW7s7NTP5rSznvk_rOfv8FtanXlEqq1E7HNiMoRfJ_sw8e5hnmS03eUQ/s1600-h/SANY0608.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213728623423182882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-34KfcJTpKxp2JsRdUN7z3oRcsQQsd0dY6dgWVIzSlKE7dco2BelaeRWGiVPRNmYR5N9KINykZ9q1HfMcrLDW7s7NTP5rSznvk_rOfv8FtanXlEqq1E7HNiMoRfJ_sw8e5hnmS03eUQ/s320/SANY0608.JPG" border="0" /></a> Whistler's Mother. It's alot bigger than I thought it would be.<br /><p><br /><div>Went to the Orangerie today. It used to be used as a greenhouse for growing oranges (which were very hard to come by, otherwise) and has been turned into an Art Museum. The French, what can I say? They recycle everything. It only took me about 30 minutes to go through the Orangerie, and I took my time. It's noted for having Monet's ginourmous water lily paintings, and I saw those first, of course. They are big, and fairly sloppy, but you can't really blame the guy, he was going blind at the time he painted those. I was really surprised at how quickly I went through the place. Even though the building is obviously not that large from the outside, I still didn't expect to go through it as fast as I did. I even took my time. </div><div><p></div><div>After my experience in the old Orange place, I went back to d'Orsay. I'm so happy that I did. I went to the top floor and worked my way down, which really is the best way to go. Don't be lured by the pretty statues when you first walk in! Take the stairs hidden in the corners! The impressionist stuff was all upstairs and that means only one thing... it was crowded. I saw some cool paintings, Lautrec, Van Gogh, Degas, and all those guys. I took about 100 pictures today so you get a small taste. A very small taste. A nibble, a crumb, even. </div><div><p></div><div>I got in a few sketches and saw some great early photography. Like, 150 year old pictures and they have a huge section of daguerreotypes, or however you spell that. They're on metal and they look really neat. Olde tyme type photographs, if you know what I mean. I went to pick up Marsh from school, getting there a good 10 minutes early, as I hoped to be. That just proves that I really can successfully use public transportation and estimate time in doing so. At least when there isn't a protest going on. And here, there is almost always a protest of some sort happening.</div><div><p></div><div>I think that's all I have to say for tonight. I just got done watching 4 episodes of Lost with Rob and Kristen and it's 1 am, much to my surprise. I'll post some more pictures or something tommorow, perhaps.</div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-20685067663848199102008-06-18T13:51:00.001-07:002008-12-10T08:31:25.256-08:00Ou est la gare?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI02RLgFaLtA1Mz3Wfq3BgoalR4a4GwbKt_j-GDQI-tUTamYWY9r964y3u2P0qrMLTz6-qIJc0EFnuK3jrfTtOAXqGc3eBIEsjRZwwg_eh-ds3pNyMOyfv5sdlEHQptMRabk7NGdHXJLY/s1600-h/SANY0575.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213328118629666498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI02RLgFaLtA1Mz3Wfq3BgoalR4a4GwbKt_j-GDQI-tUTamYWY9r964y3u2P0qrMLTz6-qIJc0EFnuK3jrfTtOAXqGc3eBIEsjRZwwg_eh-ds3pNyMOyfv5sdlEHQptMRabk7NGdHXJLY/s320/SANY0575.JPG" border="0" /></a> Manet's oh so controversial Dejuner sur l'Herbe. SHOCKING!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTDuRYMK1CS167hm-wh3ML0VcDUCjds9RsbGnMdab-agzHIsl2ZRF79jo7W63JZtPs5pDUmhYCTCMXDdR_1LkMh3Mm2JkZBfdtRKk6ke0cEyTI0Rq_m-x4LLd0GMbKt1CuUlCtCMta2o/s1600-h/SANY0572.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213328133172762322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTDuRYMK1CS167hm-wh3ML0VcDUCjds9RsbGnMdab-agzHIsl2ZRF79jo7W63JZtPs5pDUmhYCTCMXDdR_1LkMh3Mm2JkZBfdtRKk6ke0cEyTI0Rq_m-x4LLd0GMbKt1CuUlCtCMta2o/s320/SANY0572.JPG" border="0" /></a> Manet's oh so controversial Olympia. INAPPROPRIATE!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfvfBMPuNIEnaRqjnwkn3ZIXSzo1SQhjS-Bb4YvPJnefCJQK435ykgJ5Q5iIrAmkDaUcAx-njdP5sviV_JBy700282NSzRwg5w8dDDfPJq5tnyHBBrMf_GJF6ySu5ZjXXXnADIyskp9Q/s1600-h/SANY0559.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213328146007067010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfvfBMPuNIEnaRqjnwkn3ZIXSzo1SQhjS-Bb4YvPJnefCJQK435ykgJ5Q5iIrAmkDaUcAx-njdP5sviV_JBy700282NSzRwg5w8dDDfPJq5tnyHBBrMf_GJF6ySu5ZjXXXnADIyskp9Q/s320/SANY0559.JPG" border="0" /></a> I think it's called Le Dance, or something to that effect.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9blJqFpV4GP46uK4PTz7AEIARUKUDdhcChdcBuFXQW7UWD5Aqm0niEG8EHOLXtuyIgy4ixvgkpxXRPdoRAvN6l0V7uwFOGfdeIJHD-u5u9yBH_OTcOojDAErjWuw1OJ0uaDnKH6jplc/s1600-h/SANY0560.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213328159671226082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9blJqFpV4GP46uK4PTz7AEIARUKUDdhcChdcBuFXQW7UWD5Aqm0niEG8EHOLXtuyIgy4ixvgkpxXRPdoRAvN6l0V7uwFOGfdeIJHD-u5u9yBH_OTcOojDAErjWuw1OJ0uaDnKH6jplc/s320/SANY0560.JPG" border="0" /></a> Lolar bear!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyT9sblSCzmdG_8iAT0vs6hUmEjP7Fsd0U6W_xIXRv84HXTcjxHo_xNKoiDluh0SY4IMps1_3qCzOX9gkn9eHnbtM4B1jgGhPGVFpDzmTZdtbEmRRQw8HIk-YPtHRdqRc-McP6dvBEpg/s1600-h/SANY0554.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213328163818188962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyT9sblSCzmdG_8iAT0vs6hUmEjP7Fsd0U6W_xIXRv84HXTcjxHo_xNKoiDluh0SY4IMps1_3qCzOX9gkn9eHnbtM4B1jgGhPGVFpDzmTZdtbEmRRQw8HIk-YPtHRdqRc-McP6dvBEpg/s320/SANY0554.JPG" border="0" /></a> Tick tock, huge train clock.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRb8d5LPUg48uZ2itMxijYQM-qehbnpATr1n3eE87hIZrCwCpkGDhcEMdyd4c22ueWbOz2ZPRwDNQm1Fn4Rg35csTmTL1Av3JeQQq5VmfSGrbqiJi9aZHPqsezbhHiVxF4kgZDAwf0mNE/s1600-h/SANY0546.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213326983653428850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRb8d5LPUg48uZ2itMxijYQM-qehbnpATr1n3eE87hIZrCwCpkGDhcEMdyd4c22ueWbOz2ZPRwDNQm1Fn4Rg35csTmTL1Av3JeQQq5VmfSGrbqiJi9aZHPqsezbhHiVxF4kgZDAwf0mNE/s320/SANY0546.JPG" border="0" /></a> This painting is probably about 20X30 feet. It's HUGE.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJsN2UYks8FA5xnZonu4swS4CAvuMN0hM094A3E0BE2kCvnFSyiIQEWAax2f3rILELcQyPuFNuJ3xnnnkwZvDkBuGyTZ8LAx6BOIgeTfqZUlS9qEubYNklxEXZhovaV75pEu0OKkIFDw/s1600-h/SANY0557.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213326994613619986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJsN2UYks8FA5xnZonu4swS4CAvuMN0hM094A3E0BE2kCvnFSyiIQEWAax2f3rILELcQyPuFNuJ3xnnnkwZvDkBuGyTZ8LAx6BOIgeTfqZUlS9qEubYNklxEXZhovaV75pEu0OKkIFDw/s320/SANY0557.JPG" border="0" /></a> This is what the Paris Opera looks like on the inside. Yes, the same opera that that little musical about a phantom is based on.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQdCc54cntH38lNtQQ8l2zgkJIlkphgKsW5AkWIswG0epcJDIpQXfg2gfIiw2iJwuSNpX6RxKvtkkCPsZOZhH0fOI_ujgDnVG3I8P4Bo2hcsy1TS9o7wwogI5ecf-bMGj-CC8AKA2Xl-I/s1600-h/SANY0544.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213327023941133810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQdCc54cntH38lNtQQ8l2zgkJIlkphgKsW5AkWIswG0epcJDIpQXfg2gfIiw2iJwuSNpX6RxKvtkkCPsZOZhH0fOI_ujgDnVG3I8P4Bo2hcsy1TS9o7wwogI5ecf-bMGj-CC8AKA2Xl-I/s320/SANY0544.JPG" border="0" /></a> Right in the ear!</div><p><br /><div>Let me just say that this mouse isn't quite my favorite. Twice now I've been almost done with writing my blog and accidently hit this weird little side button that makes it go back, which wipes my entry. Ah, well, c'est la vie. </div><p><br /><div>Went to the Musee d'Orsay, the train station turned art gallery (quite a French thing to do, really) and it was like walking through a living Art History text book. Almost every time I turned around I spotted something that I had seen before, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin, or Harper Collins, I'm sure. And I just made a joke that probably only teachers will get. Not that I'm pandering to my audience or anything like that. Hehe...<br /><p></div><div>We only got to stay for about an hour or so because the museum closes at the ungodly early hour of 18. Or 6, for those of you on a 12 hour clock. At any rate, we did manage to get quite a bit in. We went through the main statue gallery, with plently of sketching and picture taking, and managed to squeak in a few paintings along the way before we got le boot. I didn't get a chance to see Whistler's Mother, unfortunately. Another art class favorite, that. At any rate, I'm planning on going back tommorow morning for a solo trip (speaking of which, I still need to make a solo expedition to the Louvre as well, time seems to be running out.) </div><div><p></div><div>Oh, and lest I come off as some sort of Manet superfan, they really just happened to have some of his better known works present and I couldn't help taking pictures of them when I spotted them. There were a few Monets and Renoirs (and probably pretty much every other impressionist) I skipped over though. There's always tommorow!</div><br /><div></div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-11294603208546511182008-06-17T12:34:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:26.812-08:00Maybe not so Lazy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNSvHKc7qoaba1XI0ApvW1l2OyHZ-kMECtRB9jSREFqXPwxKMCsBGkD3GdznC7e9iIoKX9jH46XBdR-wMSgqxAJYy9qP5cXst-tHLwensFEC6G_0uODISMNUx2-F0vKYFQNrsoOIMTf4/s1600-h/SANY0539.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212937112484808818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNSvHKc7qoaba1XI0ApvW1l2OyHZ-kMECtRB9jSREFqXPwxKMCsBGkD3GdznC7e9iIoKX9jH46XBdR-wMSgqxAJYy9qP5cXst-tHLwensFEC6G_0uODISMNUx2-F0vKYFQNrsoOIMTf4/s320/SANY0539.JPG" border="0" /></a> Arc Arc Arc was almost an elephant. Wiki it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmcjKtcN-qH9R7OeHwvfHy4_P3C78cLJqdd6rTQkWPceOX-taDndyiEm3eyVJY6WSPQgG9fAJJ8mY3zZeVx8pa-Xcwyb-EwO5y3-EF5KpqotdR5ZY-9MGL0GfuK_csNEDU549S2x3sfI/s1600-h/SANY0541.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212937129760401378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmcjKtcN-qH9R7OeHwvfHy4_P3C78cLJqdd6rTQkWPceOX-taDndyiEm3eyVJY6WSPQgG9fAJJ8mY3zZeVx8pa-Xcwyb-EwO5y3-EF5KpqotdR5ZY-9MGL0GfuK_csNEDU549S2x3sfI/s320/SANY0541.JPG" border="0" /></a> It glows...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uCsCZFsyfYjc0fUF01VDUzRU_7yQY3jQuk3pua06kdxjjsCK6SdhRvkQOWpnF6ma2xUp5w0-2MoEJyJH26AQimEiGCjk1RqpLiXdNY0AWqY1YfrT7vijcmyeJuPm4zkUhnC_9uSPQC4/s1600-h/SANY0543.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212937138010904114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uCsCZFsyfYjc0fUF01VDUzRU_7yQY3jQuk3pua06kdxjjsCK6SdhRvkQOWpnF6ma2xUp5w0-2MoEJyJH26AQimEiGCjk1RqpLiXdNY0AWqY1YfrT7vijcmyeJuPm4zkUhnC_9uSPQC4/s320/SANY0543.JPG" border="0" /></a> Doesn't it?<br /><p><br /><div>I went to pick Marshall up from school today so I could take him to the park. His school is, quite literally, on the other side of town, so it took about 45 minutes worth of Metro sitting to get there, but it all went smoothly. Kristen gave me directions and I had gone there twice with her before, so I remembered the way easily enough. </div><div><p></div><div>We went to the park for a nice amount of time. I sat on a bench in the shade and tried to figure out how clock gears are able to keep time whilst Marshy played with some of his friends from his old school. It was nice. I got some good pictures in as well. I'm quickly falling in love with black and white photography, I have to say. </div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-35267063109736318162008-06-16T12:33:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:27.552-08:00So VERY lazy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqii7gzHQMeTVytMScunkY9Vcwa4lVU3n-coXM8ItWJq_-8DwvsAqU0DbihBylUGJ7DzPTyNXdAhkDTYq7XL_wWKxahlYXdP8mxUWCkwqsCT-n7ut2cn5vF-oM4KnuBwivGSbfhETOAQ/s1600-h/SANY0464.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212567151938974738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqii7gzHQMeTVytMScunkY9Vcwa4lVU3n-coXM8ItWJq_-8DwvsAqU0DbihBylUGJ7DzPTyNXdAhkDTYq7XL_wWKxahlYXdP8mxUWCkwqsCT-n7ut2cn5vF-oM4KnuBwivGSbfhETOAQ/s320/SANY0464.JPG" border="0" /></a> Good day, Peacock, and how are you, sir?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rSmeEGphvPGXJq-zoIAS9-PHfT6FdJBrOLCAhUcsCVJNgpTSALmjNLSBuiW5bFXryntSoHq-2sr1W3e3lpQCUKJtwdi_kw63DNktnj_Aosh94o6BFZPPNbXI0WKJmkwGgI9vWGb0AWs/s1600-h/SANY0475.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212567163927856514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rSmeEGphvPGXJq-zoIAS9-PHfT6FdJBrOLCAhUcsCVJNgpTSALmjNLSBuiW5bFXryntSoHq-2sr1W3e3lpQCUKJtwdi_kw63DNktnj_Aosh94o6BFZPPNbXI0WKJmkwGgI9vWGb0AWs/s320/SANY0475.JPG" border="0" /></a> Contrasting colors!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFcBYTZmOm6X00BbCsubVlFj4eQj7VWLe5um9_tHU7FkhEtnY__0sn1x9VD1XhDO5YQ6OkUTCbqtfzvP3Vo3HXnlKV-J2rDY4GpaTllzW21uvWe9oPMnsBkvW54a51esiAze2T2WyWJY/s1600-h/SANY0477.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212567173618656162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFcBYTZmOm6X00BbCsubVlFj4eQj7VWLe5um9_tHU7FkhEtnY__0sn1x9VD1XhDO5YQ6OkUTCbqtfzvP3Vo3HXnlKV-J2rDY4GpaTllzW21uvWe9oPMnsBkvW54a51esiAze2T2WyWJY/s320/SANY0477.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjfGz_XhIBPX8M24wFDXg2bb5NcqlDWfxymuT1nDU6_MIQyGG5pyC_Ejrs269q9PH_P5cfn5mlG1KGUCjPmT_lph2FavD1Tv_fJjUHWdCTCsCK_0gu8_10C7LozviuR9dua-Bdo3J34s/s1600-h/SANY0510.JPG"></a>Poppies will make them sleepy... or whatever these things are. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSO6zMv6R0TgJ8_HY5f6GreBh8f6E2WwnUsbzvPCN5y6PPu9quHwgl0cxdkvrMrbuqA6prO3ALPmzKMRtfT290qiTIqKP4qFV_5Q_WP07VxIv65WmcqFvDD4vaVoVqd5v93ID1t7WsjKU/s1600-h/SANY0307.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212567194259904274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSO6zMv6R0TgJ8_HY5f6GreBh8f6E2WwnUsbzvPCN5y6PPu9quHwgl0cxdkvrMrbuqA6prO3ALPmzKMRtfT290qiTIqKP4qFV_5Q_WP07VxIv65WmcqFvDD4vaVoVqd5v93ID1t7WsjKU/s320/SANY0307.JPG" border="0" /></a> Rawr-gurgle-splash<br /><p><br /><div>Hey! Look! Be distracted by all the new pictures I haven't posted yet and rejoice! Ignore the fact that well... I did nothing today. Nothing at all. Well, I did draw and read quite a bit of Kafka on the Shore, which is an amazing book, I have to say. I'll need to go to Barnes and Noble when I get home and purchase more books, I seem to have gotten my bookworm streak back. I'm going to pick up Marshall from school tomorrow, so wish me luck with that. I should have some nice park pictures, I hope. </div><p><br /><div>I have quite a few books on my reading list for when I go back to work after I get home. Speaking of work, I guess I should start saving up for a Macbook Pro. I might have enough by next summer to buy it for VCU, if I can still afford to buy gas, that is. I just hope I can figure out how to use the Operating System before I head down. If I'm unable to do basic maintenance on my own machine, I shall be rather vexed. </div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-46071015053257893682008-06-15T11:52:00.000-07:002008-06-15T12:08:22.736-07:00I went to church with the President<p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx7pktl6Z58MsL5htWzd_gcn6-A-9JMXeT3deJhsVDC6SPKb64IKcsA6_L6DUdw8KYbB0btnt5jMBGZPbeEkA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p> </p><p>I was in the pew across from him. The security was crazy tight and they had a couple of blocks surrounding the church barricaded to traffic so the only way to get through was by walking. It was eerie just how silent the city was with no traffic and little to no other pedestrians, but certainly swarming with police and guards of various types. </p><p><p></p><p>Don't get me wrong, I'm really not a fan of the President, but famous people are famous people. We all had the mutual thought that if it was a President we actually liked we'd have been even more excited than we admittedly were. The Secret Service was EVERYWHERE, as would be expected. And on a side note, the President wears reading glasses. He had them on the whole time except when he knew people were taking pictures of him. </p><p><p></p><p>The Bishop and the Archbishop of Congo were there too, but their thunder sort of got stolen, as you can well imagine. In other news, my English skills have greatly suffered as of late. I have to keep double checking my blogs and when I talk I tend to muddle things. My words get all jumbled and such. It's sort of funny, actually.</p>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-78357331324993346802008-06-14T14:23:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:28.273-08:00Artsy B&W<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaGQ_ORuPzqkeJzpDEfWpiRkie_ArWa_KuJ5IRaxtSpY3vCB509PxS9iaZVyXfdlfx-OF9j69_c9NFti6GwZNGUEdm_VevD4d3noB7IjsJQxA89tfkhCiLw_b4f0F_Vi3UDHInNzmgds/s1600-h/SANY0523.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211852908510176738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaGQ_ORuPzqkeJzpDEfWpiRkie_ArWa_KuJ5IRaxtSpY3vCB509PxS9iaZVyXfdlfx-OF9j69_c9NFti6GwZNGUEdm_VevD4d3noB7IjsJQxA89tfkhCiLw_b4f0F_Vi3UDHInNzmgds/s320/SANY0523.JPG" border="0" /></a> Ka-shing!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQt26yi6qSQQZX9Vx5PQoXkyhDXb-5uZtxX-vgATdJFsWPcfiB8BpHUppAwHm7-ia3vDzhbhBzkiUWXnBFexf-u5jIiFqC013iiPfV4MzFuB49Wblw8eW4yzAw1VNbm0NhUI-14s9zNM/s1600-h/SANY0524.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211852944831317122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQt26yi6qSQQZX9Vx5PQoXkyhDXb-5uZtxX-vgATdJFsWPcfiB8BpHUppAwHm7-ia3vDzhbhBzkiUWXnBFexf-u5jIiFqC013iiPfV4MzFuB49Wblw8eW4yzAw1VNbm0NhUI-14s9zNM/s320/SANY0524.JPG" border="0" /></a> Color just doesn't do as good a job sometimes. You can almost see the blue anyway, somehow.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLjkREjvmQf4PSAzLkadtJ4QvS4CL8Xx9zb0z8GHsXTU8nOWNrJtBqji_tfQC59u7ZsLA-lYXNcSewBFUMA0PvMQFlfIjE8OLeNxWDTZOLqlJUyiBFXWbj3wQgCKJ5nYYHUdI3F7FdG4/s1600-h/SANY0527.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211852977482408482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLjkREjvmQf4PSAzLkadtJ4QvS4CL8Xx9zb0z8GHsXTU8nOWNrJtBqji_tfQC59u7ZsLA-lYXNcSewBFUMA0PvMQFlfIjE8OLeNxWDTZOLqlJUyiBFXWbj3wQgCKJ5nYYHUdI3F7FdG4/s320/SANY0527.JPG" border="0" /></a> Such a pretty courtyard.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhJs7JfppdhpDmwRWi386Y806rGjino9m5wf53fSuAIapnaH23XxAF5gAV8WOHrKG77DNO82rf4FZClGU-iUaLt74RmetJ5ioXE2QXhmWy0-EI6hTxAY4A68w7NpILMCAGgBGbBjG9lU/s1600-h/SANY0528.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211853008410292690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxhJs7JfppdhpDmwRWi386Y806rGjino9m5wf53fSuAIapnaH23XxAF5gAV8WOHrKG77DNO82rf4FZClGU-iUaLt74RmetJ5ioXE2QXhmWy0-EI6hTxAY4A68w7NpILMCAGgBGbBjG9lU/s320/SANY0528.JPG" border="0" /></a> Only Anglophones find this a funny name for a Chinese restaurant. There are no real curse words in French anyway, so it would be nigh impossible to explain to a Parisian. Perfect timing on this from a moving bus, though.<br /><p><br /><div>I went to the Ketron's church (or Cathedral, if you like) today. They were having a rehersal and BBQ for the Rite 13, which is sort of like a coming of age thing for the 13-or-so-year-olds at the church. During tommorow's service they're going to have a little thing where they recognize the kids and all that. </div><p><br /><div>I had a hamburger at the BBQ, which I am pretty sure I haven't eaten in a very very long time. Kristen has promised me fried chicken which is impossible to get here unless you go to KFC. Um. Yeah. I actually saw a Starbucks here the other day which made me do a double take and then wonder if I had stumbled into the Twilight Zone accidently. </div><div><p></div><div>Well, church tomorrow so I should get some sleep. There might be an interesting guest at the church tommorow anyway, so I certainly plan on attending. </div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-51850605399989532372008-06-13T11:27:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:29.099-08:00Cloud Drama<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbnJJMLsSYcttESkCpy88bH1is2dF8sX24qF2skRu7LVLbSm_SlwF7kpdCJcJTOdps-nuNh0SBqW0-lmIcrvZXjxSLliRnHASp0xjKFvlze8E_RYmqmPW4yHjMCqanTq6BhfI8UJOEEwU/s1600-h/SANY0512.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211436099588453074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbnJJMLsSYcttESkCpy88bH1is2dF8sX24qF2skRu7LVLbSm_SlwF7kpdCJcJTOdps-nuNh0SBqW0-lmIcrvZXjxSLliRnHASp0xjKFvlze8E_RYmqmPW4yHjMCqanTq6BhfI8UJOEEwU/s320/SANY0512.JPG" border="0" /></a> In the back is me and Richard, with Cathy (left) and Doreen (right) in the foreground. Kristen's Aunts and Uncle.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJPB06O_PaR3EVluUEQFzTZuBkLHKCE8KPbzcRI4pCu2YxJ8AWHpzVR9kNhWmPDsW2u-oO6-doPld6Y7tclq8Vbrf0fKpBacfI4lVG_-piAG1i6WtJDP_gItCJF-ynF4dWAsDJdkwP04/s1600-h/SANY0513.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211436110167189874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJPB06O_PaR3EVluUEQFzTZuBkLHKCE8KPbzcRI4pCu2YxJ8AWHpzVR9kNhWmPDsW2u-oO6-doPld6Y7tclq8Vbrf0fKpBacfI4lVG_-piAG1i6WtJDP_gItCJF-ynF4dWAsDJdkwP04/s320/SANY0513.JPG" border="0" /></a> SNAILS NOM NOM NOM<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwhy5ZYegscpy5kyR3RQpdw3w3VXNzr9L4J9dAq9QiDi7YxHUs8bT6EbEd3EHQrtnkFJ6rM4o3eHYoWfcSU_f27f8qToPxinBLre7Zr9N5Hl3JQ7gowWSzYRmSGqC73lNimfcu8edpcA/s1600-h/SANY0515.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211436114477946274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwhy5ZYegscpy5kyR3RQpdw3w3VXNzr9L4J9dAq9QiDi7YxHUs8bT6EbEd3EHQrtnkFJ6rM4o3eHYoWfcSU_f27f8qToPxinBLre7Zr9N5Hl3JQ7gowWSzYRmSGqC73lNimfcu8edpcA/s320/SANY0515.JPG" border="0" /></a> The clouds were perfect for statue pictures today.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGlashmpZSHb9zCVzFBAN14TLYkf-yEaMLFAt-wfLenHfJkwmFSfBd2Vkw1KuxcDSrgOdGfmJxEOFuvrMGbIfCMuCeG_FCGOWGJfRRHAfYEgGpEJ5sJeVdlxeRS8MujDheWD5x2egWBI/s1600-h/SANY0519.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211436117252106674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGlashmpZSHb9zCVzFBAN14TLYkf-yEaMLFAt-wfLenHfJkwmFSfBd2Vkw1KuxcDSrgOdGfmJxEOFuvrMGbIfCMuCeG_FCGOWGJfRRHAfYEgGpEJ5sJeVdlxeRS8MujDheWD5x2egWBI/s320/SANY0519.JPG" border="0" /></a> Fly horsie!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbojgGW5LwpiBLRnCiWCi3hjI6pyG_JBFLFMF0WrX8xjiFed3zwZwkOilCl5PwFBUBEifwYJ9UmhuvzGMIHJG3j0UMQ0cDW-SmaYyOpEmYOApUw7SxZd9p-u72fsDzUYJHjSMaIAKnNrk/s1600-h/SANY0521.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211436126138937218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbojgGW5LwpiBLRnCiWCi3hjI6pyG_JBFLFMF0WrX8xjiFed3zwZwkOilCl5PwFBUBEifwYJ9UmhuvzGMIHJG3j0UMQ0cDW-SmaYyOpEmYOApUw7SxZd9p-u72fsDzUYJHjSMaIAKnNrk/s320/SANY0521.JPG" border="0" /></a> This... is Cloud Drama<br /><p><br /><div>Today was fun. Cathy, Richard and Doreen are going back home tommorow so I hung out with them. We went to the center of the city, which was a bit hectic because Dubya is arriving today and our bus stop was right by the hotel where either he's staying or some of his people might be. Security everywhere, you know. We got lunch at this nice place near the Louvre and I had escargot and onion soup. The escargot was superbe and the soup was good too, I was able to finish most of it, which is impressive for me because I'm not really a fan of onion soup (which is strange because I love onions in any other preperation.)</div><div><p></div><div>After lunch we went to the antique mall attached to the Louvre, which is filled with some amazing stuff. There were so many old pocket watches that looked like they were in mint condition and I wanted one so bad, but I think that a 700 Euro Louis XVI era silver pocket watch is a little bit out of my price range. Just a little. I think I'll have to go back and just window shop. It's sort of like the Louvre, except free and with things for sale at insane prices. (20,000Euro rings were not uncommon)</div><div><p> </div><div>Apres la, we walked back to the bus through the Tuleries where I snapped some more pictures. The clouds were just amazing and perfect for dramatic statue backgrounds. I took a picture of the Eiffel tower, a proper picture I suppose. We ran into another Gypsy in the Tuleries. They're really easy to spot for me now, actually. I can spot 'em comin' from a mile away. I think I might be qualified to write a travel book now. Hmmm.... yes... that could pay for my college tuition, couldn't it? At least for a semester of VCU.</div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-8247464035917718912008-06-12T12:47:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:29.789-08:00Meander<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFYumBa5IqJIbayj0pxwZEodLofu7DYmoqTTzL1t8y5OPDS9MOJiTXGk5MCnnLlmiv0OoRvmfzF4RT7pL3Jl__Vthg2UK-43zKTbN2FZy2iPi3S-fDdkbSLP-Kzq42t0tSQezV2DuHW4/s1600-h/SANY0510.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211085018293866450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFYumBa5IqJIbayj0pxwZEodLofu7DYmoqTTzL1t8y5OPDS9MOJiTXGk5MCnnLlmiv0OoRvmfzF4RT7pL3Jl__Vthg2UK-43zKTbN2FZy2iPi3S-fDdkbSLP-Kzq42t0tSQezV2DuHW4/s320/SANY0510.JPG" border="0" /></a> It's not by Picasso, but it's still weird.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzD2Bm_XRlElb-k3T3XmpdM4UO-mZfVwFyWFVNPUe8imJaeu6wpPb8ClOfcIPjDPPz5jXP6NKQjrUnvQcpZ_8KJr4LZKoW9MP49eP_tEJ2KKlNLv-gkYcyBU6Bo3FXABGAbjNch1YDfkk/s1600-h/SANY0504.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211085046570821794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzD2Bm_XRlElb-k3T3XmpdM4UO-mZfVwFyWFVNPUe8imJaeu6wpPb8ClOfcIPjDPPz5jXP6NKQjrUnvQcpZ_8KJr4LZKoW9MP49eP_tEJ2KKlNLv-gkYcyBU6Bo3FXABGAbjNch1YDfkk/s320/SANY0504.JPG" border="0" /></a> Blurry...**<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcTd0Sn_K7z2KDbIL_q3Vu2ekGo012Z6m5yrtfVmeChe8gNaccD_HNIu4lU9qVb-Aw9RCx9_ZIoTfyrPvFvuSybU-WhMelBrYt0qVx-SyLMQ7_zMp4ROeAvaNPYlv35JGH8YHJSoCSRE/s1600-h/SANY0474.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211085067588438290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcTd0Sn_K7z2KDbIL_q3Vu2ekGo012Z6m5yrtfVmeChe8gNaccD_HNIu4lU9qVb-Aw9RCx9_ZIoTfyrPvFvuSybU-WhMelBrYt0qVx-SyLMQ7_zMp4ROeAvaNPYlv35JGH8YHJSoCSRE/s320/SANY0474.JPG" border="0" /></a> And technically upside down...**<br /><br /><div>I didn't do too much today, mostly just hung out and then went with Kristen to pick up Marshall. I'm going to be picking him up from school sometime in the next few weeks and we'll go Jardin Hopping together. I have my sights set on Jardin de Luxembourg, which is on the same bus route we use to get home alot. The 84 bus is my favorite. I finally made a list of all the things I want to do in the next few weeks and it's rather long. Quite a few of the things written I would consider optional, however. </div><div><p></div><div>I got to check out some cool shops and by check out I mean I walked by them because I'm not going to spend 50 Euros on a Summer dress. I checked out that statue that I thought was by Picasso and it's actually part of a State cultural commision for the National arts fund or something like that. It's a pretty weird sculpture. </div><div><p></div><div>I found that the best way to watch people without them knowing is glass reflections. It looks like you're looking out the window, but really you're looking at a person. Yes, that does sound creepy, but people watching is entertaining. Especially when you're people watching an extremely attractive boy on the Metro that keeps flipping his hair. Just saying... </div><div><p></div><div>** These two pictures are from yesterday. On the train to Giverny, I found that the luggage rack had a reflective surface on it, I thought it looked cool, and so I took a picture. Low and behold, on the train back, the same brownhaired boy (or at least his long lost twin) was in the same car on the same side as before, leading to another, unfourtunaly, blurry picture. They are out of order, the bottom one was taken first. I flipped the pictures so that it's easier to see what's going on, the normal orientation would be upside down. </div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-5453593848043548992008-06-11T13:30:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:31.923-08:00Picture Dump<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-F1TEvhhZZ0b9aKeBqiXwXiu3YBvcyrsrq-fgH_kOQojXIsGul77YtML7JUbnO2zodYEEmhXLu5yoN7CZPUTb9VoyGmXo5AWZNMh5fYZABWS5UXGOZgfm_GZXTS_8d5A-M9Sj7mhQAU/s1600-h/SANY0420.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210728289456987730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-F1TEvhhZZ0b9aKeBqiXwXiu3YBvcyrsrq-fgH_kOQojXIsGul77YtML7JUbnO2zodYEEmhXLu5yoN7CZPUTb9VoyGmXo5AWZNMh5fYZABWS5UXGOZgfm_GZXTS_8d5A-M9Sj7mhQAU/s320/SANY0420.JPG" border="0" /></a> This is the ceiling in the Louvre. JUST THE CEILING.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYocLjhgnuBrPg_AdDLxu-YfWN82fhPoedLa2Y69KXVIw1nMH8ARwjSN8wpwYXgKK4AFvOg9KCsk80J4eEDFhR8mSxhQO7viJ_V0u87CwKqlHtIDoRjIik3hLASuUhAwJ0Qcfl8DY6bQo/s1600-h/SANY0453.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210728293258296978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYocLjhgnuBrPg_AdDLxu-YfWN82fhPoedLa2Y69KXVIw1nMH8ARwjSN8wpwYXgKK4AFvOg9KCsk80J4eEDFhR8mSxhQO7viJ_V0u87CwKqlHtIDoRjIik3hLASuUhAwJ0Qcfl8DY6bQo/s320/SANY0453.JPG" border="0" /></a> Michaelangelo's 'Dying Slave'... that's all I have to say about that.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrpzqI_-OU_erte6zXkg9RDIsStPA1evnXkpwpnmsYPFme7UDwyDxCnRagiVO7Q5pndk21BCe3uw8EDgkgTClVG4lHFkXMQomT1Tz2fHbrwDCjFVFbZIX1AeIOZzXG8EG0vgDkEBA1j4/s1600-h/SANY0458.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210728296524255666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrpzqI_-OU_erte6zXkg9RDIsStPA1evnXkpwpnmsYPFme7UDwyDxCnRagiVO7Q5pndk21BCe3uw8EDgkgTClVG4lHFkXMQomT1Tz2fHbrwDCjFVFbZIX1AeIOZzXG8EG0vgDkEBA1j4/s320/SANY0458.JPG" border="0" /></a> That's not a carpet, that's a stone mosaic.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnEcWGpRvLYcSmyNfGJ1xdLzhTSMmYloXt-2Gue3Yrk76EQ1his6wfXY8pz8VYOoLCOKDO6qfgho256jLPqKiGEefB0smAdeGpONfktMm664Ye8jB-QaZYtVs9R4wfHa8v6vjz3nLhAk/s1600-h/SANY0447.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210728304713643426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnEcWGpRvLYcSmyNfGJ1xdLzhTSMmYloXt-2Gue3Yrk76EQ1his6wfXY8pz8VYOoLCOKDO6qfgho256jLPqKiGEefB0smAdeGpONfktMm664Ye8jB-QaZYtVs9R4wfHa8v6vjz3nLhAk/s320/SANY0447.JPG" border="0" /></a> RIDE THE HIPPOCAMPUS YEEHAW!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn1aM6bphZFHEdIZigcnoq6ZlQBhLEANdrk-ERysKuY7rIQ2At_wTagvYE70UT3vq7SlY1ALCTeW96Wr0d-7LmLv7l2GlDS1XgsLH17UvM09qBhBplIAnXbYHKWkFTI54GOU1E-WJT6E/s1600-h/SANY0445.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210728315908620754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn1aM6bphZFHEdIZigcnoq6ZlQBhLEANdrk-ERysKuY7rIQ2At_wTagvYE70UT3vq7SlY1ALCTeW96Wr0d-7LmLv7l2GlDS1XgsLH17UvM09qBhBplIAnXbYHKWkFTI54GOU1E-WJT6E/s320/SANY0445.JPG" border="0" /></a> Port des Lions, the secret entrance.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLdUP8finssIewFcg9bg1c6vc0T8l5zGzkGWclxpJGABA1ge5-y_MmNjNSCZZ7rHwL1HN_6Ixp2-2alX49dNZ0AEwBpe4wDSuDYHnUzUeJYCy60Qq3JVSsirLx3_3tlb2llsWHOuMVaU/s1600-h/SANY0452.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210725955858309538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLdUP8finssIewFcg9bg1c6vc0T8l5zGzkGWclxpJGABA1ge5-y_MmNjNSCZZ7rHwL1HN_6Ixp2-2alX49dNZ0AEwBpe4wDSuDYHnUzUeJYCy60Qq3JVSsirLx3_3tlb2llsWHOuMVaU/s320/SANY0452.JPG" border="0" /></a> There's a casting of this same statue in the National Gallery of Art in D.C. It's on top of a water fountain.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZP8SV6y5sDWr9S8qmt-BHxEiJPFwaicDRFGCIjbsgT0Qd2v-r0oRvj90hntc7UHknPSRIQr74WoCsy590dG-Rg7GdTqh6fKjQpOyeQk4qMXoOvKTzeyhiXaOQFKGtOfLQLwInaQ0bb2g/s1600-h/SANY0426.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210725976969183746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZP8SV6y5sDWr9S8qmt-BHxEiJPFwaicDRFGCIjbsgT0Qd2v-r0oRvj90hntc7UHknPSRIQr74WoCsy590dG-Rg7GdTqh6fKjQpOyeQk4qMXoOvKTzeyhiXaOQFKGtOfLQLwInaQ0bb2g/s320/SANY0426.JPG" border="0" /></a> Da Vinci. The glass makes it look a little weird. It's either St. Sebastian (in which case I have 5) or Bacchus, or Bacchus as St. Sebastion or something. The placard/name tag thing was in French so I'm not too sure.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvzNGw5S8WeidtDYcz4LLdghU53E1NIJOeEekgBDUwspvlPhsww4mHJkEVZjspWqRtuSfebHWMud3d5KhW1FFNIUITeenE3oesVBtedH6aHWI5LzRVaA2Z9NrZ_Sh39dUnUiL7A5LKVE/s1600-h/SANY0330.JPG"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWAygVdtYwPvG7_-bCkpFkIU2V12jLPXB4L5qZA_hOOKB97AwLMdoFh1fqENie14lqiBCG1QfzaXo9THr0cxZVKNrHb5ETzRpeLtysDp5rI00xXSZIGfzXlGfFyXf3W__aNvXZg5thC4/s1600-h/SANY0440.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210726012915105442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWAygVdtYwPvG7_-bCkpFkIU2V12jLPXB4L5qZA_hOOKB97AwLMdoFh1fqENie14lqiBCG1QfzaXo9THr0cxZVKNrHb5ETzRpeLtysDp5rI00xXSZIGfzXlGfFyXf3W__aNvXZg5thC4/s320/SANY0440.JPG" border="0" /></a> Mayan somethingerother.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZeDLhn4aHESaHFUWUIzq6OC4gWVTCorqMCz19wlnYSvxCVnPSpOiDsCt8qM7qe_XdJl6a4WY7EIYcmC0c1VnqN8Bh2YfEWsXX5oZSdXN8Pl6KxMMjqPGpsyh4Z-drYynYUhitq2Z4smo/s1600-h/SANY0436.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210726029992808850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZeDLhn4aHESaHFUWUIzq6OC4gWVTCorqMCz19wlnYSvxCVnPSpOiDsCt8qM7qe_XdJl6a4WY7EIYcmC0c1VnqN8Bh2YfEWsXX5oZSdXN8Pl6KxMMjqPGpsyh4Z-drYynYUhitq2Z4smo/s320/SANY0436.JPG" border="0" /></a> Egyptian Somethingerother. Stupid reflective/protective glass...</div><br /><div><p><br /><br /><div>For Jenny, because she wants more Louvre. And because I was transferring pictures to my flash drive since my SD card is almost full (turns out 1gb=apx. 400 pictures) and found out that my Beirut album was still on there so listening to that has put me in a great mood, combined with the awesome of the rest of the day. </div><br /><br /><div></div></div><br />OMG IT WORKED, I CAN UPLOAD MORE THAN 5 PICTURES. WINDFALL!Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-42676789204733066332008-06-11T12:50:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:32.633-08:00Monet, Anyone?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRy01D2zKA_KBrs4DbevWGXTrLktt1JcBI2tJuMLkMLOusI8dGz2sLUd4K74Gg2dSZD_WFQYxxHy4lxFRljDp5Q-2tEY9pjh5IX0bN2TIaVUbtJYyloD769bGWBaCZNaaFn3Fzef2UFk/s1600-h/SANY0475.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210715355746954546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRy01D2zKA_KBrs4DbevWGXTrLktt1JcBI2tJuMLkMLOusI8dGz2sLUd4K74Gg2dSZD_WFQYxxHy4lxFRljDp5Q-2tEY9pjh5IX0bN2TIaVUbtJYyloD769bGWBaCZNaaFn3Fzef2UFk/s320/SANY0475.JPG" border="0" /></a> Colors!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzGKlBj973oYEGMX4XiKPgTdFS-7kG6Cb1ZIypekM9H9g7y-SRc59vI-Wfzmt6-anpqGMAXujGa_VhJlDwKLod97tS-p-UTzYLZGVswM1S2BiVCxLPYyfBxegYlAG9nDDRNlr3D8u6C0/s1600-h/SANY0479.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210715365847798546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzGKlBj973oYEGMX4XiKPgTdFS-7kG6Cb1ZIypekM9H9g7y-SRc59vI-Wfzmt6-anpqGMAXujGa_VhJlDwKLod97tS-p-UTzYLZGVswM1S2BiVCxLPYyfBxegYlAG9nDDRNlr3D8u6C0/s320/SANY0479.JPG" border="0" /></a> Heheh, I took a picture in the house which was forbidden. The pictures, not the house.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Ff7gy0b24-NgZLmbwSIc2hFcz7y9CZjCLtjNw29_9q-dEWbD8hRjSQ-Jm82XIu54GmoauF82fS9L-K6b5adRlVfU17BseFFU6h5pS-5ohOsBFqWVfga_qK6JuZ3k-rxUoJ0_5oosfNw/s1600-h/SANY0487.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210715376361263122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Ff7gy0b24-NgZLmbwSIc2hFcz7y9CZjCLtjNw29_9q-dEWbD8hRjSQ-Jm82XIu54GmoauF82fS9L-K6b5adRlVfU17BseFFU6h5pS-5ohOsBFqWVfga_qK6JuZ3k-rxUoJ0_5oosfNw/s320/SANY0487.JPG" border="0" /></a> If this doesn't look slightly familiar, you didn't pay attention in art class.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl7ACHKIkV16x9CNCpT3wSh9fhZLT_HBn4kEBW6gJXmFg-_3qCSN8epDkKOAPfGJcEsiUOKA5w_sPjWysMUd7VMKMRVPqI8oDOyX0NFmk7k1tzWq6kukcZYlu7q7Zepjrm6W2ADAqSxlI/s1600-h/SANY0496.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210715378438663170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl7ACHKIkV16x9CNCpT3wSh9fhZLT_HBn4kEBW6gJXmFg-_3qCSN8epDkKOAPfGJcEsiUOKA5w_sPjWysMUd7VMKMRVPqI8oDOyX0NFmk7k1tzWq6kukcZYlu7q7Zepjrm6W2ADAqSxlI/s320/SANY0496.JPG" border="0" /></a> That woman sort of looks like my high school principle from a distance.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlYcLB9WECUMY8B7vJxareS3eEGP5HBExWqRjNObbN3E0Uo82OpRG2EsQlTMKVEZJ6gLY7OokPtaEGOLRgslkcd1FviTe2MAnSF2zkIW8nNEI_9OvTjgj-P0DhMCa3Tt1oS0FL8beMc8/s1600-h/SANY0497.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210715387495081090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlYcLB9WECUMY8B7vJxareS3eEGP5HBExWqRjNObbN3E0Uo82OpRG2EsQlTMKVEZJ6gLY7OokPtaEGOLRgslkcd1FviTe2MAnSF2zkIW8nNEI_9OvTjgj-P0DhMCa3Tt1oS0FL8beMc8/s320/SANY0497.JPG" border="0" /></a> Polly wanna baguette?<br /><p><br /><div>We went to Monet's Garden at Giverny today. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL, ETC. After taking a train out of Paris* we took a bus to the village of Giverny which was adorable and we had some slightly overpriced, but still delicious food. We got to walk through his house and the gardens and saw the famous lily pond. The house was interesting because, I kid you not, ALL of the walls were covered with Japanese prints, with the exception of the bedroom and the kitchen. That one picture I took inside the house? Imagine those prints except about 20 more all on the same wall, that was the house. </div><div><p></div><div>The gardens were really pretty and had tons of different flowers in them, of course. I'm not really a flower person so I didn't get that many pictures of it, but I did take quite a few of the water lily pond. The pond was actually across a road so we had to walk underground to get to it from the main garden. Like most things, the pond was a bit smaller than you expect it to be, but it was still pretty healthy in size. It took us about half an hour to meander around the pathways, but then again, we were stopping to take pictures and had to weave through Swedish girls and prostitots (yes, I spelled that term correctly; Google is your friend if you need a definition, but the portmanteau should be enough to give you a good idea) the whole time. Oy vey. </div><div><p> </div><div>Overall the place was great, though. I saw a pair of parrots, or pairrot, if you will. The weather was perfect today which was amazing. I got a book about Japanese woodblock prints that was in the Atelier turned Giftshop and managed to get Cathy, Richard, Doreen and I back to the apartment smoothly. I even spoke some French, which I'm getting better at. At least simple but important things are easy enough for me to convey and understand. On a totally unrelated note, I need to fix my posture. It's rather atrocious. </div><br /><div></div><p><br /><div>* After getting to the station, we found out that there was a workers strike for the train systems, so none of them were running quite normally, even the Metro was messed up. The ticket machine wasn't giving us what we wanted so we had to wait in line for an hour to talk to a human being to get the right tickets. If it had taken 10 minutes longer we would have missed the train. Why do the French have to protest everything?</div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-56345005645985042802008-06-10T13:45:00.001-07:002008-12-10T08:31:33.735-08:00Louvre!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEOQuouVfkKW9uBfzl3t86B1hWxF7IUun_HCndd3L6rlHSrc8shYRnOAZ8LqFS2J05hyphenhyphenEXAQQJUlfwb3LNQxQANFFEZoABE_k2P2VhATAC8bmF3KQUqiSc0QKHi3H5TfQW3EqyU4QT18/s1600-h/SANY0413.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210358142353254770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEOQuouVfkKW9uBfzl3t86B1hWxF7IUun_HCndd3L6rlHSrc8shYRnOAZ8LqFS2J05hyphenhyphenEXAQQJUlfwb3LNQxQANFFEZoABE_k2P2VhATAC8bmF3KQUqiSc0QKHi3H5TfQW3EqyU4QT18/s320/SANY0413.JPG" border="0" /></a> Don't bite your fingernails, kids.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZCs0GzWgZivIXPy-ubv8ujkYtclEDCs92qJVRiP5AadvU5tzHB4NlX303sGSEbygn5KEIrQ7ySqtlvjINi_mbVZN9T6FGD8lamwRZUTh9h_Y01qFdPoEs9T3sjHJ70OIHRBJ6qdf4Tfo/s1600-h/SANY0419.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210358149009843314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZCs0GzWgZivIXPy-ubv8ujkYtclEDCs92qJVRiP5AadvU5tzHB4NlX303sGSEbygn5KEIrQ7ySqtlvjINi_mbVZN9T6FGD8lamwRZUTh9h_Y01qFdPoEs9T3sjHJ70OIHRBJ6qdf4Tfo/s320/SANY0419.JPG" border="0" /></a> Victory of Samothrace.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLqidet0F16WkEJIXibvqLLXr5YwE9aATYXDfhcrVCNP-qvOVP7IZlPcnVtSLJd4x6Ee7Ev0OAknKx4Y3rUm4RA2eoFcCZHJGoOX26NV615gw9Xfxxw0sppvBmlrE8iaOOqZXoGlmt2I/s1600-h/SANY0427.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210358155363261698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLqidet0F16WkEJIXibvqLLXr5YwE9aATYXDfhcrVCNP-qvOVP7IZlPcnVtSLJd4x6Ee7Ev0OAknKx4Y3rUm4RA2eoFcCZHJGoOX26NV615gw9Xfxxw0sppvBmlrE8iaOOqZXoGlmt2I/s320/SANY0427.JPG" border="0" /></a> It's alot smaller than you think it would be.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZIb6r-AWkoEs8xCiqrTC2KgFK7L7docVElOoCzHMs_lam7y9BAm3JZkccFFBh_wsBjxcuWNPVAdTUSZaDZu5OXt7Q2qSXFISxWZHGKMLgOnKX1755r6q9N0XPLWw5R0ba54jIcdl9Hg/s1600-h/SANY0455.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210358161396349618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZIb6r-AWkoEs8xCiqrTC2KgFK7L7docVElOoCzHMs_lam7y9BAm3JZkccFFBh_wsBjxcuWNPVAdTUSZaDZu5OXt7Q2qSXFISxWZHGKMLgOnKX1755r6q9N0XPLWw5R0ba54jIcdl9Hg/s320/SANY0455.JPG" border="0" /></a> D'awww, Eros and Psyche.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gKQpVEuELDo43a6kV2Xe4FlxwdTPTHzbOzLM0pP6KNsFfFoJZjzneI94y2B7_eXpg5Ggbf92JIwnPpGy9jolEysH1jUCQgVgS06qGk_QFPkzmvo7QIb1nc7oMcK6TRFtIRC6c3CEUCo/s1600-h/SANY0456.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210358170421260418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gKQpVEuELDo43a6kV2Xe4FlxwdTPTHzbOzLM0pP6KNsFfFoJZjzneI94y2B7_eXpg5Ggbf92JIwnPpGy9jolEysH1jUCQgVgS06qGk_QFPkzmvo7QIb1nc7oMcK6TRFtIRC6c3CEUCo/s320/SANY0456.JPG" border="0" /></a> Just to prove how much of a nerd I am, I took a picture of this Krater because I noticed that all the males had those stick things that kind of look like asparagus. Anyway, I know that in the tradition of the cults of Dionysus, only the female worshippers usually had those sticks (I can't remember what they're called, but they were from a specific plant with some significance to Dionysus) when they went out to the woods to drink and party. So I was intrigued to see a Dionysian cult ceremony depicting only males holding the asperigus things and none of the women. NERD.<br /><p><br /><div>Oh lord, I want to live in the Louvre. It has everything I could ever ask for, both as an Artist and a Greco-Roman Amature Mythology Buff. I went yesterday with Richard and Cathy, we left pretty early in the morning so getting through security and getting tickets wasn't all that bad. We went and saw the landmark things first of course, Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and then we found out there was a section of Oceanic, African, and other Primitive art, so we trekked down to the basement and checked out all that stuff. It was pretty interesting, to get to the primitive section, we had to go through all of the Italian paintings (where the Mona Lisa happens to</div><br /><p> be) and we went from CROWDS of people, to having almost the entire place to ourselves. Then we went out for lunch after I checked to make sure my ticket was good for the whole day and I walked them up to Notre Dame. After seeing Our Lady again, we parted ways and I mosied on down to the Louvre for some more picturegazing. Yes, I went alone, taking a nice long walk down the river Seine and it was sooo hot. It just suddenly warmed up here the past few days and I was sweating. </p><p><p></p><p>Ok, so I got back to the Louvre, taking the secret speedy entrance that NO ONE uses. Porte des Lions. It's right by the Oceanic exhibit so that's how I found it. Everyone always goes to the Pyramid to get in... SUCKERS HAHA! Anyway, I got back in and had to go through Italian Paintings AGAIN, which was just as crowded, but then I somehow got down to Italian Sculpture and saw some stuff by Michaelangelo and other things that were pretty nifty. Then I went through Greek/Roman/Etruscan art. You wouldn't believe how intricate the sarcophogi the Greeks made are. They're gorgeous. I didn't get too many pictures in after I went through Italian sculpture though, because I saw that my battery was getting low. </p><p><p></p><p>After Greek etc. I went through Egyptian Antiquities, which takes up 3 floors I found out. I thought I would never get out of there, and I got lost a few times in Egypt, I'll admit. Pretty much the entire space of Egypt and even Greek/Rome was almost empty. It was like I had the place to myself. I gues that everyone goes to see the Mona Lisa and just overlooks the vast amount of other things that the Louvre has. Pretty much the only time I ran into other people was school tour groups and occasionally another dedicated museum goer like myself (they seemed to all be German, by the way.) After I finally got out of Egypt, I was in Mesopotamia. I can't even tell you how big everything in that exhibit is. I'm talking 10 foot high mosaic lions and 30 tall winged bulls. MASSIVE. </p><p><p></p><p>Apres la, I finally got to something that I had been looking for for a while (sadly, Islamic Arts is closed until 2011, which is a shame because I wanted to see that) and that was the French Sculpture section. They have 2 or 3 courtyards in the middle of French Sculpture that are basically just huge sculpture rooms. At this point I was kicking myself for not having charged my camera battery before I went to the Louvre because my battery had pretty much run out halfway through Egypt. I only managed to squeeze in one more picture while I was in FS of a Hyacinth. I have to go back there so I can get in more pictures. Pretty much all of the FS pieces were from Greek/Roman mythology which I drool over (Prometheus, Eros, Hermes, Athena, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Heracles, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, ETC., ETC., ETC.) There were also a couple of St. Sebastians that I didn't get to take pictures of. I did manage to get in 4 different St. Sebastions before my battery died, but I saw at least 6 more after that. </p><p><p></p><p>In the FS area, I saw more people drawing there than anywhere else in the Louvre. I would say that about 1/10 statues had someone sitting there drawing it. And there were quite a few statues in the courtyards. I wish I was one of those people, just sitting in the Louvre, drawing or painting whatever I wanted... oh what a nice dream. I would have stayed longer, but alas, the Louvre does close so I had to go home. My metro maps mislead me so I had to try 2 stations before I got the right one, but they were close by and it wasn't much of an issue. </p><p><p></p><p>I think this is the longest blog I've written so far. Hahha... if this thing let me post more than 5 pictures at a time it would be MUCH longer. Hehehe... ow... my legs are still sore from all the walking yesterday. I'm used to walking alot now, too. </p>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-76639859851939478172008-06-10T13:26:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:35.069-08:00Tea Time<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgpefLln42Tr8bkRFdIFKrqYAVW-ZVoj6c8HnqiHIelbrYJxFoJmZ0sgYrpG-z4OfhBKV1TJQygZ0XudEeW8LKdU2KtQQNxuB3WgTJf4oA_zIeuAF2CRu9YFuKf378ShgPEIoPb-dsR4/s1600-h/SANY0463.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210353506297869362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgpefLln42Tr8bkRFdIFKrqYAVW-ZVoj6c8HnqiHIelbrYJxFoJmZ0sgYrpG-z4OfhBKV1TJQygZ0XudEeW8LKdU2KtQQNxuB3WgTJf4oA_zIeuAF2CRu9YFuKf378ShgPEIoPb-dsR4/s320/SANY0463.JPG" border="0" /></a> I have t-shirt tan...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvt36JC4be8f6PnvyIcjIGFcC_KxYq0TVDocDRsZF82ayD9XCn_yMsSr8PcxZCCCK5BdXcLSIYZtq-MyjWl20ASX1YasAHdx7tdcPh7tTrMi3Kxqic1Y68AF-xrhLFc63fnRllUS60-xc/s1600-h/SANY0465.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210353539979343826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvt36JC4be8f6PnvyIcjIGFcC_KxYq0TVDocDRsZF82ayD9XCn_yMsSr8PcxZCCCK5BdXcLSIYZtq-MyjWl20ASX1YasAHdx7tdcPh7tTrMi3Kxqic1Y68AF-xrhLFc63fnRllUS60-xc/s320/SANY0465.JPG" border="0" /></a> The terrace at the back of the Ambassador's place.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyh2_BOzAx3loIU7QrlBgKj_AItgE_vD89x6zsGcMetuKW5aSJwO3PHpB7rMne6V_idxaDRp6AE3NE5Jao1uQvb4Nxh43nS5RcSpgHljmPb6FlFKKG9EJzTD07eFJskM-qCegpdSVWHO0/s1600-h/SANY0467.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210353552300474146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyh2_BOzAx3loIU7QrlBgKj_AItgE_vD89x6zsGcMetuKW5aSJwO3PHpB7rMne6V_idxaDRp6AE3NE5Jao1uQvb4Nxh43nS5RcSpgHljmPb6FlFKKG9EJzTD07eFJskM-qCegpdSVWHO0/s320/SANY0467.JPG" border="0" /></a> And the Garden<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOc350AsUJ7bnpJ6oNSVj-n5CyI1G0UHUUdcMZTQ-35jNK0zr4xZkgSmvD8rbWn7SQKTW8NT52mxE1mO6GVgv7jQgC4xxxXJ_GJnLgvbU9LyLUFD0okLm-K4rZ_J_MSrWyfEe8-Zstdoc/s1600-h/SANY0469.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210353562164540738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOc350AsUJ7bnpJ6oNSVj-n5CyI1G0UHUUdcMZTQ-35jNK0zr4xZkgSmvD8rbWn7SQKTW8NT52mxE1mO6GVgv7jQgC4xxxXJ_GJnLgvbU9LyLUFD0okLm-K4rZ_J_MSrWyfEe8-Zstdoc/s320/SANY0469.JPG" border="0" /></a> Blub<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTW9kAwhe38BIgRlyXXYWUpDjXvRH7WUqicwxE6BJciusej9bYxUZr59VGlknd9fj-87Dtfd5tomZbXtsM6SYF5IjfwUOwiiCR8TS_x70FLwbosrKqINjUotSOCRqJH8xXv1W7skBavs/s1600-h/SANY0471.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210353571624923186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTW9kAwhe38BIgRlyXXYWUpDjXvRH7WUqicwxE6BJciusej9bYxUZr59VGlknd9fj-87Dtfd5tomZbXtsM6SYF5IjfwUOwiiCR8TS_x70FLwbosrKqINjUotSOCRqJH8xXv1W7skBavs/s320/SANY0471.JPG" border="0" /></a> It's sort of opulent, don't you think?<br /><p><br /><div>Arrrrrgh, I wrote up my blog for yesterday just now but did something stupid and it got wiped, anyway...</div><p><br /><div>TODAY:<br />We went to have tea at the Ambassador's residence which was sponsered by St. Anne's Guild in Association with the American Cathedral of Paris or something like that. There were alot of people there, and security took a while to go through. My name was on a guest list, which made me feel rather fancy. There were two women that spoke, a journalist and a writer. The journalist was American and she talked about some of the war zones that she had been in and stuff like that. The other woman was just awarded the Legion of Honor by France for her work freeing slaves in Africa and other countries. Apparently there are more slaves in the world now than there were 200 years ago, makes you think, doesn't it? </div><p><br /><div>After the speakers, there was tea (but more people went for the champagne, I noticed) and it was delicious. They also had little sandwiches and cookies which served as a sort of afternoon snack. The Ambassador and his wife weren't in town, they're probably getting ready for Dubya's visit this weekend. It was still really neat to see the place though, I don't know when the next time I'll get to be in an Ambassador's residence will be, soooo yeah. That was today. </div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-69443093925272388462008-06-08T11:51:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:37.629-08:00Montmarte at last<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVb0sWL_HX0CvBKqVyvUAjV-m1LeKXK1L0JLbNyPOjWlP9LJaTbfhy-64kkSbT4P7aCDqoAt4DwXQu26qhrjskvfDzqODzoGgaxif9ZJYropNR3t0k75Fe_gYCEDBIpDOhqHx5bH0yTjU/s1600-h/SANY0400.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209586603534696466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVb0sWL_HX0CvBKqVyvUAjV-m1LeKXK1L0JLbNyPOjWlP9LJaTbfhy-64kkSbT4P7aCDqoAt4DwXQu26qhrjskvfDzqODzoGgaxif9ZJYropNR3t0k75Fe_gYCEDBIpDOhqHx5bH0yTjU/s320/SANY0400.JPG" border="0" /></a> It was sunny today!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkQZU81ccp_lnG2AAvvGR0RGNIH_D9lj5IgzCOpfzGnD7_9Edf1g7Y2mFT4aD4FVvUtaSstQaR1y5oBThHznpx2HyFU2VtLdS5vZCvp7iQbRu7dmel1FuYwFZCFFH0r_AVmsAJ8HHv24/s1600-h/SANY0403.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209586614627087506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkQZU81ccp_lnG2AAvvGR0RGNIH_D9lj5IgzCOpfzGnD7_9Edf1g7Y2mFT4aD4FVvUtaSstQaR1y5oBThHznpx2HyFU2VtLdS5vZCvp7iQbRu7dmel1FuYwFZCFFH0r_AVmsAJ8HHv24/s320/SANY0403.JPG" border="0" /></a> It's called a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Diablo</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Menthe</span>. I need to buy mint <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">sirop</span> now.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGY4j3A_UL10oB1qRx-BqZPNipbhkjsTX8Q8g-qtIlZB7iKwVcS5RMMIFzF6fRcegQ8Q3Z3lOiH626cUwy01OYElqiukUUdoQM0__i6D7UE1Ia1vF3k9rLIF7dc5ZSv3u2lHw9gT7nYM/s1600-h/SANY0405.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209586622328681394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGY4j3A_UL10oB1qRx-BqZPNipbhkjsTX8Q8g-qtIlZB7iKwVcS5RMMIFzF6fRcegQ8Q3Z3lOiH626cUwy01OYElqiukUUdoQM0__i6D7UE1Ia1vF3k9rLIF7dc5ZSv3u2lHw9gT7nYM/s320/SANY0405.JPG" border="0" /></a> HIPPO!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejxqANHdzwT1Ie7ifIr_PCaUiY-NsQa684f1XfhLrHCZkqb-W7oZO-nZXro6a5XjPVSDrqYQMpczTz_BLQmVPRGCHyFFMJ1A8n8EnkvJIj4EStKa1AQ6Yx6FQpVos-x2xPSCZgcA1zYA/s1600-h/SANY0411.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209586633560898834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejxqANHdzwT1Ie7ifIr_PCaUiY-NsQa684f1XfhLrHCZkqb-W7oZO-nZXro6a5XjPVSDrqYQMpczTz_BLQmVPRGCHyFFMJ1A8n8EnkvJIj4EStKa1AQ6Yx6FQpVos-x2xPSCZgcA1zYA/s320/SANY0411.JPG" border="0" /></a> Who doesn't love a flamenco guitarist?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTZrA7t66a9ep7fBs1AMSkdcNaorXNt3isE6XiiyjB5crs0KwoBOUb2axLfMBd1xa8iok81sxsfDZxdqeZZgChyphenhypheniMqdIjsLG4vDBuuZnVvTSz4ZPdB7ImbRtDsRfB3XGAZ5fhVU5US_g/s1600-h/SANY0412.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209586646432474834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTZrA7t66a9ep7fBs1AMSkdcNaorXNt3isE6XiiyjB5crs0KwoBOUb2axLfMBd1xa8iok81sxsfDZxdqeZZgChyphenhypheniMqdIjsLG4vDBuuZnVvTSz4ZPdB7ImbRtDsRfB3XGAZ5fhVU5US_g/s320/SANY0412.JPG" border="0" /></a> I don't need to tell you what that is.<br /><p><br /><div>Finally! We got to go to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Montmarte</span>. We took the metro to the bottom of the hill and climbed up the many many many staircases to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Sacre</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Coeur</span> at the summit of Paris. The view is amazing, as it always has been. I only have pictures of the outside of the church because you're not supposed to take pictures on the inside. It was hard to obey that rule, the inside of the church is really something to see. Mom, I was thinking maybe I'd get your Saint Medallion blessed at a cathedral here, but had no idea how to go about that, so I dipped it in some holy water at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Sacre</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Coeur</span>, I figured it would count for something. </div><div><p></div><div>After that, we got some lunch and we all had crepes and I got a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Diablo</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Menthe</span>, or a Mint Devil/Devil Mint. It's basically just mint syrup in fizzy water but it was so good. I'm going to be smuggling <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">sirop</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">de</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">menthe</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">nutella</span> back home it seems... We went through the artist's square and there was art there, go figure. I got a scarf and some art <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">nouveau</span> prints, and I also petted a chat <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">noir</span>! The only cat that I've seen in the whole city, Parisians seem to all be dog lovers. We went by a Dali exhibition that I might just have to check out, and by might just I mean will. </div><div><p></div><div>We went down and saw the wall of love that has "I love you" written on it in every single language, even sign language and cuneiform were present. I stopped to listen to some Flamenco Guitar, that was played by that rather attractive gentleman I took a picture of above. There was quite a crowd around him too, it's been a long time since I've heard a guitar played that well. We stood across the street from the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Moulin</span> Rouge, which is really nothing but a tourist destination at this point. I think I heard more English today than I have in a very long time. </div><div><p></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Tomorrow</span>, the Louvre!</div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-23244028711004570182008-06-07T12:22:00.001-07:002008-12-10T08:31:38.797-08:00Another wedding<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDafSzb_67U-RDZdHIYdzd1LSMEXA78zC5Ujg88tU3o52oZL1WfrEsoo1AXjedTNaUUN2BZCGDRNaGTt-OZ5KlIPCdaaB4L6Ldz4wl9LYKCd-prJIfn-la0HIHjKmPGO1YxGNO8kogXU/s1600-h/SANY0396.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209223499141503106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDafSzb_67U-RDZdHIYdzd1LSMEXA78zC5Ujg88tU3o52oZL1WfrEsoo1AXjedTNaUUN2BZCGDRNaGTt-OZ5KlIPCdaaB4L6Ldz4wl9LYKCd-prJIfn-la0HIHjKmPGO1YxGNO8kogXU/s320/SANY0396.JPG" border="0" /></a> I've finished inking this, but I think it needs more background.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguipbkPW1Ft96kwBAYnPsD3p_PNJo5nW2p_ll4_w9CsAMQtXCXd3n9my0ZybdjBUVSL5KgV2kXVsP5zox56SFoer-kZqnH5uZ6FwrScn2-kmrj7anevPmoD83fk4Uk2MWT9juPHUZ2CK4/s1600-h/SANY0360.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209223518726813602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguipbkPW1Ft96kwBAYnPsD3p_PNJo5nW2p_ll4_w9CsAMQtXCXd3n9my0ZybdjBUVSL5KgV2kXVsP5zox56SFoer-kZqnH5uZ6FwrScn2-kmrj7anevPmoD83fk4Uk2MWT9juPHUZ2CK4/s320/SANY0360.JPG" border="0" /></a> You know that statue called 'The Thinker'? These are by the same guy, Rodin.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikd71fY_A9swySoR4ccTagpYrgzE6dbRT4SpSRo2JFHA-H0CFCVmU5w2moQZeuI96ZReHeO5GBaE2XJde8mY-wuyyaANI2I0tRuQfATETQvACg1aezci2CCTbOZk6tZ29gKtZFNTyzO4w/s1600-h/SANY0364.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209223524334349330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikd71fY_A9swySoR4ccTagpYrgzE6dbRT4SpSRo2JFHA-H0CFCVmU5w2moQZeuI96ZReHeO5GBaE2XJde8mY-wuyyaANI2I0tRuQfATETQvACg1aezci2CCTbOZk6tZ29gKtZFNTyzO4w/s320/SANY0364.JPG" border="0" /></a> Obelisk, you silly thing, you.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz0drQvhvs-Fx3sTAfgFltXEu3h7l7qymsZPEJDjX51RpfPDg3wnzr5Wsk5gpjp9-lC3blKFK5nzgykURlxSRVYylntHOjKCzXWYVvz0uE6E4CpC7NQJQa-ETm1Y_SADvjo32fN9DBEUc/s1600-h/SANY0330.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209223543737390162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz0drQvhvs-Fx3sTAfgFltXEu3h7l7qymsZPEJDjX51RpfPDg3wnzr5Wsk5gpjp9-lC3blKFK5nzgykURlxSRVYylntHOjKCzXWYVvz0uE6E4CpC7NQJQa-ETm1Y_SADvjo32fN9DBEUc/s320/SANY0330.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bonjour</span> Roi Henry IV!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yvaWRn3FvCzw3QX40xYLm55hU7_lySl_y7jWRlDDap6RlQJfVtGt1-HFIK4bkD46J9QPY6qHlJYadX8zgAA6GFgAK5tdqKaSU621T-rK8M09zHIszPTtRrzV3M7KH3hCFSL-xYzG9FM/s1600-h/SANY0384.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209223552816056594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yvaWRn3FvCzw3QX40xYLm55hU7_lySl_y7jWRlDDap6RlQJfVtGt1-HFIK4bkD46J9QPY6qHlJYadX8zgAA6GFgAK5tdqKaSU621T-rK8M09zHIszPTtRrzV3M7KH3hCFSL-xYzG9FM/s320/SANY0384.JPG" border="0" /></a> Waterfall with little to no falling water. Wait, what?<br /><p><br /><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">AAAH</span>, I'm so <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ditzy</span> sometimes! Today was Sibylle's wedding and I took pictures, but I forgot to put my SD card back in the camera so those pictures are saved to the camera's memory. Anyway, I didn't really do anything yesterday except for a 5 hour <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Laundrothon</span>. For some reason it takes 3 hours to wash clothes in the machines here. It was cool though, I drew and listened to my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">iPod</span> and all sorts of stuff like that. I really wish I had remembered to put Beirut on my 'Pod, though, I keep getting it stuck in my head and want to listen to it. </div><div><p></div><div>The pictures are just a mash up of some stuff from the past week mostly, of course. We are definitely going to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Montmarte</span> tomorrow though, so I should have some fresh material for you. I know I haven't been too consistent with blogging the past few days, but bear with me, the scheduling for stuff is getting <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">unpredictable</span> occasionally. </div><div><p></div><div>Anyway, the wedding. Yes. It was another civil ceremony so it was short and sweet. It was in the town hall of St. Cloud which is a cute little village just outside of Paris. For the reception all the appetizers were served on little Chinese soup spoons and they were all so good. My favorite was this thing that was like a beet mousse or something. It was amazingly <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">tasty</span>. Then we had this great sausage soup thing and I can't even describe how good that was, but then the desserts... why does EVERYTHING in this country have to taste so good? It's just not fair. </div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-77476106506873632372008-06-05T13:00:00.000-07:002008-06-05T13:03:40.631-07:00LazyThe SD slot is being a frustrating little curmudgeon again, and I don't want to restart the computer right now. I was just going to post some older pictures since I... didn't really do anything today. I read a lot of National Geographics and got bread and lemon tarts with Rob, but other than that... nada. I'm sort of glad I took the day off from running around, actually. It was nice to rest and relax and learn.Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-10226744994749889782008-06-05T02:37:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:39.621-08:00Oops<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExa2jEOSUmYmfjkhyphenhyphenqMl6BLZ-XsETt_b96xDPgYBERW6CLFi7Su6PZAgYwTIuYe9LwDOnzV620HOmCS-T2DATFi0TP33LHk1M38a1mpIvxFxd320sNYHbd-JCzJAkXZcV45YCaOnFKFM/s1600-h/SANY0380.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208330669947128258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExa2jEOSUmYmfjkhyphenhyphenqMl6BLZ-XsETt_b96xDPgYBERW6CLFi7Su6PZAgYwTIuYe9LwDOnzV620HOmCS-T2DATFi0TP33LHk1M38a1mpIvxFxd320sNYHbd-JCzJAkXZcV45YCaOnFKFM/s320/SANY0380.JPG" border="0" /></a> The top!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OVbjwWlXNQrSgvqvQb1F6VoMZHsaNyQiw80SoalpFHEOpaYcXAk_eqVlcrwwb_1MgiNj0tgEH6PGm766A9Wh5-wuoxoCjMZpgCZ40-Vb2n7P3yqXIuENUMHiqEJm4PyirrhXFgwzwDI/s1600-h/SANY0383.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208330682507167986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OVbjwWlXNQrSgvqvQb1F6VoMZHsaNyQiw80SoalpFHEOpaYcXAk_eqVlcrwwb_1MgiNj0tgEH6PGm766A9Wh5-wuoxoCjMZpgCZ40-Vb2n7P3yqXIuENUMHiqEJm4PyirrhXFgwzwDI/s320/SANY0383.JPG" border="0" /></a> Pan<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7o4CZCox91y0GhocmZEH434HhkzmT9GR8pXW1dkNoLKrFps3TuVlVwMLdU8tpP70mu-BaP3oPyLOK5HF0JTBdb41-IvF4Uk3lvuVO1cx59jN7A4wRgSs-zzMJe0swFJpM0I4UPtMYmE/s1600-h/SANY0386.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208330692445368578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7o4CZCox91y0GhocmZEH434HhkzmT9GR8pXW1dkNoLKrFps3TuVlVwMLdU8tpP70mu-BaP3oPyLOK5HF0JTBdb41-IvF4Uk3lvuVO1cx59jN7A4wRgSs-zzMJe0swFJpM0I4UPtMYmE/s320/SANY0386.JPG" border="0" /></a> View from the top<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64A_yMMN0au_GyFGzlQ4W5la4Q9v3BjPYmtM-uuRJjIhxbaDP8OMCRLTiau-_jodSKcvfC_kNQ7-SysftjwjtqEwNYNXoxL5mO7mU1GEtZRfVaWfi9mmplEblD7Af26vnXwwbBOidC7U/s1600-h/SANY0387.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208330699297088514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64A_yMMN0au_GyFGzlQ4W5la4Q9v3BjPYmtM-uuRJjIhxbaDP8OMCRLTiau-_jodSKcvfC_kNQ7-SysftjwjtqEwNYNXoxL5mO7mU1GEtZRfVaWfi9mmplEblD7Af26vnXwwbBOidC7U/s320/SANY0387.JPG" border="0" /></a> A close up<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMbpuhV4lwPyGEyV8At_RaEt5djsNkZnBii6jqKMpV_r8pE0VXgojd65WO_2oXaqpd1cpZcgsWnSYwacB9ILBOxmm6x-GaG41GKnMJKnIwPbnhLTDBuSFslXhBs557z5adBpUdhHOYSjU/s1600-h/SANY0389.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208330706792037778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMbpuhV4lwPyGEyV8At_RaEt5djsNkZnBii6jqKMpV_r8pE0VXgojd65WO_2oXaqpd1cpZcgsWnSYwacB9ILBOxmm6x-GaG41GKnMJKnIwPbnhLTDBuSFslXhBs557z5adBpUdhHOYSjU/s320/SANY0389.JPG" border="0" /></a> More vistas of the city<br /><p><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ok</span>, so we didn't go on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Montmarte</span> tour... yesterday. Sorry about the delay in this blog, we got home really late last night. Kristen and some of her friends and a bunch their friends went to see the Sex and the City movie so I tagged along. It was pretty good and easy enough to follow even though I never watched the series really. Anyway, instead of the tour (I slept in... again) I went with Kristen and Marshall to do some stuff and then we went to this park in the 19<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span>. It's called the Buttes of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">somethingerother</span>, but I've seen the park in a couple movies and was excited when I figured out where we were. The place is huge and hilly, which is a rarity for Paris. It was built in the 1800's during the renovation of Paris and it used to be an old quarry/garbage dump. Then they took it and turned it around into a magnificent park. Those <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">wiley</span> French.<br /><p><br />Had some delicious crepes yesterday too. I'll have to start importing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Nutella</span> when I get home...<br /><p><br />I'll post another blog today, about today, hopefully. Cheers!Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-28483112900692114152008-06-03T12:56:00.000-07:002008-12-10T08:31:40.437-08:00DID YOU KNOW THAT...About 90% of all computer problems can be solved by simply restarting the machine?<br /><p><br />...NOW YOU KNOW<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Tx88yGFPtOoi6rfYOud4BNnY7yyjQ8KBOHunzbGzJj2GtVvPleaaNb0OsJ01EqKqcjuv-KhaXcqkI4G1I7HQ6WIzdiSGQWM3JmTSEmjd9I_I-XuDgn6FWJFcjmFNTRNAitv9xub5cFA/s1600-h/SANY0305.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207748387544401058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Tx88yGFPtOoi6rfYOud4BNnY7yyjQ8KBOHunzbGzJj2GtVvPleaaNb0OsJ01EqKqcjuv-KhaXcqkI4G1I7HQ6WIzdiSGQWM3JmTSEmjd9I_I-XuDgn6FWJFcjmFNTRNAitv9xub5cFA/s320/SANY0305.JPG" border="0" /></a> Lol, take that Satan.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JF8SK9OMkkmQVr1I6oRdMVreGJXHwJNhm_eG7Awo6RQaIp32dlUVwKHo3DgYRQ8ygp3iQKAZ_WgYuQPepPjcNZ3WS3V1xrhUyaqY695DCkC56de_InG7v1FH6BfQCTaMjWD-PvW0VrA/s1600-h/SANY0358.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207748405802978770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JF8SK9OMkkmQVr1I6oRdMVreGJXHwJNhm_eG7Awo6RQaIp32dlUVwKHo3DgYRQ8ygp3iQKAZ_WgYuQPepPjcNZ3WS3V1xrhUyaqY695DCkC56de_InG7v1FH6BfQCTaMjWD-PvW0VrA/s320/SANY0358.JPG" border="0" /></a> It's easy to take pictures of statues, they hold still for you so nicely.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCpSJrqX3X32wPK5F6WpxFOw6UYWAII_ttiUeCheq3cJMq7lV4yYe9jCpJcv1W3pttt0oNuogQte_DZC_kqGbWykYqdqU2CeZIRAfRCgixQm4ukQBT1inGScCZ3lRurxzMwdT-OB9M6Q/s1600-h/SANY0312.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207748414988865842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCpSJrqX3X32wPK5F6WpxFOw6UYWAII_ttiUeCheq3cJMq7lV4yYe9jCpJcv1W3pttt0oNuogQte_DZC_kqGbWykYqdqU2CeZIRAfRCgixQm4ukQBT1inGScCZ3lRurxzMwdT-OB9M6Q/s320/SANY0312.JPG" border="0" /></a>Oh, hi there, It's Our Lady of Paris!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaVmW_box3b__zG8_PsRK5j7CbE9vaivOw7AQDMm4K9O1tu9UmPEmlRIU_trqjIs6EQoVx61k7DCx-W8yB3xXTuNB96gnGa2JxW3MvdM5xbjqMyNWJ5YerZPknZitOOxSO5aQxiE9xpI/s1600-h/SANY0341.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207748422132166402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaVmW_box3b__zG8_PsRK5j7CbE9vaivOw7AQDMm4K9O1tu9UmPEmlRIU_trqjIs6EQoVx61k7DCx-W8yB3xXTuNB96gnGa2JxW3MvdM5xbjqMyNWJ5YerZPknZitOOxSO5aQxiE9xpI/s320/SANY0341.JPG" border="0" /></a> A taste of the Louvre for you. The blurry glass is a bummer though.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvnRRBHvLtpyfvyOg1k69zYrhFLWvTfsa_0E25EmLSgvbDKUhc7tb0nDcZ0865fDR4spnVL8oPcuoc4GImbfx4FJzaKNd3sUlJzhTcarbXp-HUJkBpiZZfRD1etZYn8W4-l2m1-rb3Hk/s1600-h/SANY0366.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207748429747968962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvnRRBHvLtpyfvyOg1k69zYrhFLWvTfsa_0E25EmLSgvbDKUhc7tb0nDcZ0865fDR4spnVL8oPcuoc4GImbfx4FJzaKNd3sUlJzhTcarbXp-HUJkBpiZZfRD1etZYn8W4-l2m1-rb3Hk/s320/SANY0366.JPG" border="0" /></a> Place de la Concord? More like Place de la Gilded Tourist Attractions.<br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>Alright, I'm silly. The tour of Montmarte is tommorow, but I do intend to go on that one as well. Today was a 4 hour tour of the center of the city with lots of nice little history lessons in between. I managed to get Doreen and myself successfully through the subway both going to the hostel and coming home, which was good. I'm not getting lost which makes me much more confident in my navigational skills. Anyway, we started out at Place St. Micheal, then meandered over to Notre Dame, all the time aware of gypsies and hagglers along the way. If a woman walks up to you in a tourist spot and asks if the speak English, keep walking. It's a gypsy, and not the nice type, the type that takes your wallet with wiley gypsy magic. Or it might be a lost Anglophone, but rather safe than sorry, I guess. </div><div><p></div><div>After Notre Dame, we hiked over the Seine and saw the oldest bridge in Paris while getting some history lessons, then went through the courtyards of the Louvre (which is closed on Tuesdays, so it was pretty empty and that was cool.) And just so you all know, I took about 80 pictures today but blogger only lets me post 5 at a time, maximum, so you get the better of the best or something like that. Moving on, we went walked around the Louvre (the outside, that is) and got lunch at a nice little sandwich shop. Then we went to the Tuleries and walked around some, I plan on going back soon and just checking out the statuary, you have but a small taste of it in my pictures and I require more. I was identifing various mythological figures along the way and quite a few escaped my knowledge, much to my consternation. </div><div><p></div><div>After the Tuleries, we went to Place de la Concord, where they beheaded people during the Revolution, fun! Saw the Eiffel Tower, but I didn't take any more pictures of it there. I'll get around to that steel thing eventually. After the Place, we went to see the Grand and Petite Palais..es... Palaises... er... anyway. They were built for one of the World's Fairs and were pretty flippin' awesome. The Petit Palais is having a Goya exhibit which I might just have to check out. And the Orangerie... and the Musee d'Orsay... and the Louvre.. and the... oh I need to make a list I guess at this point. Aaaand then the tour was over and we came home. I'm planning on going on the Montmarte tour tommorow and checking out the haunts of the Impressionists and some of Those Other Artist Guys From The Early 1900's. Busy busy busy...</div><div><p></div><div>A CARTE ORANGE IS A MULTIPASS AND IT IS AMAZING AND SOON TO NO LONGER EXIST BUY A NAVIGO TODAY!</div>Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712757628081961585.post-78283210142471819192008-06-02T12:36:00.000-07:002008-06-02T12:58:12.818-07:00Loo<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ok</span>, so for some reason the SD drive isn't working at the moment so pictures will have to wait. Sorry! I got some good pictures today too which is a real shame. I'll see if I can't get them up <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">tomorrow</span>, I'm going on a tour of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Montmarte</span> with Karen and Doreen anyway so I'll have even more by then. I went with Richard and Cathy today by the Louvre (not in it yet, I'll have to keep waiting, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">haha</span>), and not to brag, but I think I did fairly well as a navigator and when necessary a translator of culture. Richard is an anthropology <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">professor</span> so he found a ton of neat primitive art galleries that we went to and looked at. Quite by accident we found the building/hotel that Oscar Wilde died in and I took pictures of that, of course. We had lunch in a nice little bistro and mostly stayed in a bunch of backstreets surrounding the area of the Louvre. That area has to be the Mecca of teeny tiny art galleries. There were, I'm not even <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">exaggerating</span>, at least 6 on every street in some places, probably more, one after the other. It rained a little, but it was alright because we remembered umbrellas today. Should probably take some tommorow anyway...<br /><br /><p><br /><br />I really wish it would stop raining here, that's the only complaint I have really. I'm feeling pretty good about using the public transportation system and my Carte Orange makes me feel unstoppable. I can also operate ticket machines in another language! Joy!Hanacondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06856440315282307446noreply@blogger.com3