Sunday, August 26, 2012
August 26 (Day 320) Part 3
August 26 (Day 320) Part 2
While Dad and I were wandering the Champs-Elysees, we
decided to grab some food. We stopped at a place called Quick Hamburger. I know
I had noticed one of these joints in our earlier misadventures in Paris, and it
seemed well-visited. Given all the “fine” dining we had experienced thus far in
Europe, and the fact that I had not had a real hamburger since deploying, this
was a treat. The line wasn’t too long, so getting our orders in didn’t take
much time; although the language barrier came into play. I am not a fan of your
garden variety lettuce that usually comes on a hamburger or sandwich. I prefer
the more potent varieties like spinach or romaine. So, I asked for no lettuce
on my hamburger, and the employee didn’t understand what I meant, although she
spoke English fairly well. To make this short, once we figured out they call
lettuce, “salad”, we were good. There was a seating area down some stairs, which
was convenient because that is also where the restrooms were located. Remember
the whole paying for the privilege to use the restroom? Well, as a customer, you
could use theirs for free, so we took advantage.
After eating, we caught the metro to the Notre Dame
Cathedral. What a wonderful building and church; the architecture, reliefs, and
stained glass! As with most things we saw, the scale was enormous. There must
have been some sort of “keeping up with the Jones’” mentality back then
(although we still have it today!). Of course, there was a line to get inside,
which we originally thought might be a paid event, or would take too long to
get through, but we decided on checking it out. Good call! It was free of
course, but the line didn’t take long at all. Additionally, the interior was
amazing. I think this was the only church I went in, but did not make to the
top portion. When I was outside, I saw people along the upper reaches on some
sort of long balcony, but I didn’t find the entrance. Evidently, it may have
been on the side of the church, rather from inside like all the others. I will
be sure to rectify this next time.
Afterwards, Dad and I just took a rest outside in the square
facing the church. While we were there, we heard, and then saw, planes going
overhead. There were several varieties of aircraft over the next 15-20 minutes
or so. We managed to get some stills and even a couple of videos. Evidently,
this was in preparation for the French National Day (what some call Bastille
Day due to the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, which eventually led to
the celebration) on the 14th of July. I am sure that would have been
a party had we stuck around!
That was the end of July 9, and our time in France. Next
comes Luxembourg and Germany!
Until next time…
Saturday, August 25, 2012
August 26 (Day 320)
What can I say? I am a slacker. It has been way too long
since I have put anything on my blog. I think I am just preoccupied by my time
in Afghanistan winding down. There are a lot of “last-minute” items to take
care of. I am still working on getting everything I can (equipment, supplies, etc…)
for the upcoming post office move before my replacement gets here in a few
weeks. The actual move likely won’t happen until January, but I would like for
the new LT to just be able to move, rather than having to plan.
With the holiday season fast approaching, I am also planning
the holiday mail movement plan. Since there will be a lot more mail to process,
the current procedures will be inadequate, as are the supplies. I am working on
getting more mail pallets to accommodate the increased volume, as well as have
a flight schedule in place to move the additional mail. I also need to bring
several 20’ containers from one of my other locations back to Shindand. That
will likely be the toughest piece, since there are fewer convoys nowadays.
My Battalion Commander came through on a visit this week.
This was his first time in my area of operations (AO). Since my team, as well
as finance, fall directly under him, tours (actually more of a rundown of
duties) of both areas were conducted. We (the finance detachment Commander and
I) also took him by a couple of the units we work with here in our daily operations,
especially as it pertains to mail movement. We also splurged on lunch and went
to the Italian compound and had pizza. I hadn’t been there since last November
if that is any indication of how long since I have had any break from the food
norm! The compound is on the same side as my ID card section, so we stopped
there for a few minutes as well, and then it was off to the new post office
site, just as a point of interest. The Commander was planning on heading to my
other two APOs, and I assume he made it, since I have not heard otherwise.
Three of my Soldiers were also provided with the Commander’s challenge coin.
We only have about 3 weeks until our replacements get here!
I have attempted to fill in the new LT with all the training they can get done
stateside, which will save them a lot of time and hassle doing it here. Of
course, they are busy with their pre-deployment agendas, but hopefully they
will be able to get some of it done. From the looks of it, they are bringing more
people than I did! This is overkill from my perspective, as I don’t know what
they are going to do with all those personnel.
At least they have more NCOs, which will definitely come in handy.
So, on July 8, it was father and son time. Unfortunately,
Mom was not feeling well, so she missed out on the second day in Paris. Our
first stop was again, the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the line was even longer
than the previous day, so no ride to the top. That meant settling for walking
the stairs, and leaving us two options, the lower level or…the other lower
level! Either way, it was a good walk and fairly high off the ground. The first
level was around 320 steps up, and the second was an additional 360. Even from
the higher level, one was quite a distance from the top. I think maybe a 1/3 of
the way up or so? Let me tell you, even then it was still quite a ways up. I
had to look at the stairs as I was climbing or I would get this vertigo-ish
feeling. Once I made it up, I was fine; it’s just the going up part that gets
me. I still look forward to going to the top the next time, though. The views
were awesome, even from the lower reaches, from where I got some pictures,
including the “other” Statue of Liberty. You will have to look closely at this
picture, as the statue is quite a ways from the tower.
We next went to the Arc de Triomphe. We walked up the Avenue
d’Ilena after crossing the Seine. It wasn’t too far, just 7-8 blocks. We did
see a couple of nice rides on the way, a Ferrari and a Bentley. Some pics in
part 3 (when I get them posted, as I still have to label the pictures!). Once
at the roundabout with the Arc in the center, we had to find how people actually
got to it. No way were we going to brave the unpredictable driving on 6+ lanes
of traffic (as I alluded to in an earlier post, this place was nuts). We found
the tunnel leading to the Arc. There were two places to go, one being the base
of the Arc at ground level, where you could walk underneath it for one. This
was free and no line. The other option was to stand in line, pay a small fee,
but that allowed you to go to the top of the Arc. Of course, we did both! The
architecture of the Arc is beautiful, and it is larger than I had anticipated. The eternal flame for the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier is also very nice.
Our final stop was Notre Dame Cathedral on the Ile de la
Cite. This was too far to walk the entire way, but we did walk a little of the
Champs-Elysees. As one might imagine, the avenue is lined with upscale shops
that most could hardly afford to shop in. I was tempted to stop by Swarovski
and buy something nice, but realized I am a mere mortal, and probably would not
have been allowed in the store! We did stop inside a Peugeot dealership, and
saw a few neat cars (pics in part 3).
To be continued…
Monday, August 13, 2012
August 13 (Day 307) Part 2
August 13 (Day 307)
Yes, it has been a minute since I posted. Although work hasn’t
been overwhelming, there were still some items to concentrate on. It is getting
down to the wire, so to speak, of heading home. There are some housecleaning
activities to take care of. I had to update my evaluation support form (used by
my rater to write up my evaluation), track some equipment, work on a mail
movement plan for the holidays (it will definitely increase!), among others.
So, my time seemed to fly by and my attention was focused elsewhere. Anyways…
My Soldiers and I are decidedly looking forward to returning
home; to the extent that is what we think about most days. We talk about what
we will do first, or the first restaurant we’ll go to, who we will see, etc… I
am not sure what will happen when I first get back, as my house is being
rented. I may not be able to move right in, but rather lounge at a hotel and be
forced to eat out every day. You probably think that sounds good to me right
now, since I have been stuck with the dining hall for almost a year. Honestly,
though, I’d prefer to just cook at the house.
I have been checking out the Lexus homepage, keeping tabs on
the new ES 350 I plan on purchasing after getting home. It sure is a nice
looking car. I figure it is time to trade up to something nicer (and a bit
bigger!) than my current Accent. I do like my current car, don’t get me wrong. Well,
how about an entry on my Europe trip?
We dropped Nicole at the airport in the morning of July 8.
She had to get back home and prepare to move across the country. I know she was
disappointed to leave without being able to spend more time in Paris. I am sure
she will return there soon to correct that discrepancy. We actually returned to
our B&B right after. There was a metro station about a block away,
providing a much more relaxing way to get downtown. We got downtown to
experience our first “real” excursion to Paris. As usual, the weather kept
threatening, a bit cool, but mostly it stayed overcast, with the rain held at
bay.
Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. It is definitely a
sight! One doesn’t get a full grasp of its size from pictures. When we got to
the base, we found a very long line. It turned out that only one of the
elevators was operating, versus four that are possible. Each “leg” has its own
elevator, labeled for the four cardinal directions to which they faced. We
stayed in line for about an hour, and only made it about half-way to the ticket
counter. We would then have to get in line for the actual elevator. The
decision was made to call it quits and try again the next day. It was something
of a disappointment, since Mom and I had planned on going all the way to the
top (Mom ended up not feeling well the next day).
Not to be swayed by the failure, we took a leisurely stroll
to the Louvre. Talk about another eye-popping experience. Again, pictures and
words fail to truly describe this landmark. Getting in didn’t take much time,
so that was nice. After getting maps of the museum, I made my short list of
items to see (since there was no way to see even a miniscule percentage in the
time we planned on staying). My first stop was the Code of Hammurabi. Since I
majored in Criminal Justice for my Bachelor’s, it seemed very appropriate,
being one of the earliest written law codes in existence. Also, since Babylon
is significant in the Bible, it made it that much more interesting. Of course,
I had to find it first! There are three main wings, with several floors each,
and I found out it was more complicated than just going room to room in some
areas. I actually thought I might not find it, when I literally stumbled upon
it. This version is on a stele as
opposed to a clay tablet for example. It is an impressive specimen, standing over
seven feet tall. You can see some pics in part 2 for today.
My second visit was, of course, to the Mona Lisa. Not
surprisingly, it is housed in a different wing of the Louvre than the Code, so
I had to backtrack quite a bit to the central area of the museum, then on to my
second adventure. On my first trip through this area, I bypassed many paintings,
not taking too much time to look. After locating the Mona Lisa (and walking
through the Egyptian section), I took more time. The paintings are quite nice,
and some are huge! I can’t imagine the kind of talent it takes to “see” what
you want to paint in its entirety, yet only working on a small section, and
having it come out, all in scale. The Mona Lisa itself is quite small. One
imagines it as a larger than life depiction from what we see in movies and the
like. The room housing the painting is fairly small with only a couple of other
paintings. I think it used to be by itself. Anyway, the room was packed, and
there was an actual line to get in to get close. I bypassed that option, and
took a picture on zoom.
My third excursion was through the Egyptian Antiquities section.
This was mostly a visual trip, since all the notations were in French. This
aspect was quite disappointing. I would have liked to get more information on
the objects, but since I am not fluent in the language… There was still a lot
to see, just not as big an impact without more knowledge.
I met up with Mom and Dad after my carousing, as they had a
different agenda. By this point it was time to eat. There was what looked to be
a nice, albeit, highly priced restaurant in the central “mall,” but we opted
for a sandwich shop (remember, subs are highly portable and seem to be a
favorite of the French). This was also the first time I had an Orangina. It was
pretty good. I don’t have sodas much anymore, but this was a nice treat. I
blame Mom!
I found it interesting that there is not only a metro
station under the Louvre, but a full-blown shopping center. This was in addition
to the requisite souvenir shops. Of course, you have to walk through the
shopping area to get to the metro; coincidence? We did spend a few minutes
looking around, but I knew I wasn’t buying anything!
Since I was in Paris, I decided to try to determine where
the Hard Rock Café was. I collect their guitar pins, so wanted to add to my
collection. I asked the information center at the Louvre, but the best the person
could tell me was a metro stop. Once I got to the metro, I found out it wasn’t
the name of the stop, but rather the name of the street where the metro stopped.
It took some work to figure that out. Since Mom and Dad had no reason to go to
the HRC, they went back to the B&B, while I went on a solo adventure. As it
turns out, the metro in Paris is a lot like the one in D.C. I managed to get to
the correct spot without too much hassle, but locating the actual HRC was a
trite more difficult. I was told one could see the shop from the station, but
that wasn’t exactly true. That meant a 50/50 chance of direction, and I didn’t
know how far I might have to go. I went the wrong way (of course!) first, and
walked several blocks. Once I got to a certain point, which happened to be the
Indiana Café (in Paris?), I turned around to try the other direction. I went
several blocks past my start point in the opposite direction and still ended up
peering to see the small guitar sign signifying the entrance. I had thought it
would have been easier to see; most of the other downtown locations I have been
had. At least I got my guitar pins, able to catch the metro back to the
B&B, which was a lot easier since I was simply backtracking.
More next time…
Saturday, August 4, 2012
August 5 (Day 299) Part 2
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