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…
No comments:
Post a Comment