The most moving monument in Paris...

The memorial to the 200,000 French citizens deported and killed by the Nazis is not designed to make you comfortable. It's hard, it's hidden, it's claustrophobic.

Come here first, then head to the other end of the Ile de la Cité to see Sainte Chappelle. You'll feel better.











Forgive, don't forget.

Emilie a Paris

In front of the Palais de Justice. Merci to the Italian guys who took the picture.





La Tour Eiffel and the Pont d'Iena.



Notre Dame de Paris

Paris- pictures at last

These are three ladies I met on the Gray Line tour I took. Dinner at Altitude 95 on the Tour Eiffel followed by a cruise on the Seine. It was beautiful and we had loads of fun, spiced up by the two extra bottles of wine we snagged because there was not a full group for dinner. :-) The two ladies on my right are Dubliners, the lady to my left is from Connecticut. Her friend took the picture.

A delightful first evening in Paris and highly recommended!

They all went to bed after the cruise, yours truly hooked up with the Scots Contingent and didn't make it to bed until 0740h.

:-)

Last couscous in Paris

Tomorrow I fly home and I'm ready, mostly. I miss Kevin - painfully- and I'm craving enchiladas. Of course on my last night I'm feeling very comfortable and know my way around this quartier better than I do in Dallas. Two French people have asked me for directions and I have made a friend. I friend I'm really going to miss.

Only one person has mentioned Bush to me, and that's a guy I have met twice now- the owner of the Cafe Montebello. He asked where I am from and then replied "oh, Texas. Zat is ze state of your president." I just shrugged and smiled and thought all sorts of clever things to say about the "state of my president" in English, but criticizing one's own country abroad just isn't done.

Tonight I dine at a Moroccan restaurant with a Swiss lady I met on the Hemingway tour today. It's my first departure from French food.

I love Paris and I'll miss the people here, their facile politesse and savoir vivre but to quote ma chere stupide Sabrina: I'll have it in my pocket when I get home.

Food poisoning in Paris 18 janvier 2006

To say that the sky is grey today is like saying that the sky is up. This sky is so grey as to have no real color at all. It vaguely resembles grey and white linoleum that hasn't been mopped in months. This Parisian sky looks like my bathroom floor.

Yesterday I went out to Montmartre, sat in Sacre Coeur for a while because it was too cloudy for there to be a view, then back in the Latin Quarter I had the worst lunch I've ever had anywhere. They touted it as steak-frites, but if that grey leather came off a cow, I'm Laura Bush. Four or five hours after eating about three bites of it, I started freezing, then burning up, then freezing again, and by 8pm was hurling my guts out. That went on till 4am, when I was supposed to get up to catch my train to sunny Provence. Needless to say that didn't happen.

All I really wanted, besides my mommy, was a good cup of tea. I walked to La Mosquee de Paris, where I sipped some delicious mint tea in tiny, intricately designed glasse- for €2.00 a pop. There were little birds hopping from chandelier to chandalier and two Orthodox Jews at the table next to me.

I walked over to the Cluny Museum after that to see the Lady with the Unicorn and the partially excavated Roman baths. The place was full of small school children- fastidiously taking notes; no running, no screaming. Quite impressive.

My mood lifted once I left the musee and wandered in to Le Brasserie Balzar, sometime favorite of James Thurber and later, Adam Gopnik. From the terrace I enjoyed a student demonstration across the street from the Sorbonne, as well as the flattering trousers of the riot police, while sipping a kir royale.

A day that started awfully turned out to be pretty good after all.

Ah, Paris.

First night in Paris 14-15 janvier 2006

First things first: French keyboards are different- just different enough to make you feel drunk. They have switched the q and the a and the z and the w. They moved the m and you have to shift for a period but not for a colon. Bizarre.

I am sorry I haven't posted any pictures, but the computers here at this cafe aren't equipped for pics, so they'll have to wait. The street I am on right now (Rue de la Harpe) used to be the main north/south route through Paris when the Romans were here- now it has a 24 hr internet cafe. This fascinates me. Continuity is something we just don't have in the U.S. I didn't realize that I was so hooked on email and Sleepytime tea. I miss them- and my bathtub.

I am having a blast, though. The first night I was here I met up with some Scots and we ended up in a piano bar called Les Trois Maillets (The Three Mallets) singing 'Delta Dawn' at 4am. That bar was where the men who built Notre Dame de Paris went for happy hour. This city is amazing. I wonder if the Flying Tomato will be a pizza joint 900 years from now.

Last night I turned down an offer of hashish and a foot massage, and my feet really hurt. I can't eat a meal without some sort of offer. I'm starting a sexy waiter scrapbook. One guy looked JUST like Philippe, too, but then a lot of guys here do. It's because of the two wars wiping out all the men, I'm thinking.

What else? I bought a pair of jeans and a jacket yesterday and guess what- I wear a large here. D@mn skinny minnies.

Today I went to Sacre Coeur and did some more shopping. I have to agree with Alene, though: there really is no reason to go the the rive droite. I like it so much more over here in the Q.L. The Ile de la Cite is really about as far north as you need to go. :-)


Ah, yes, the Ile de la Cite: I visited Sainte Chapelle yesterday. I can't call it a pilgrimage because the Chappelle is no longer consecrated, but it took my breath away this time, too. I also visited the Memorial aux Deportes yesterday. First heaven, then hell.








A bientot,
Emilie

Say it ain't so...

You Are a Sarariiman!

Or "salaryman." Whatever. Treadmill off, treadmill on. Most of the sleep you get is on Tokyo's extensive subway system, since you are putting in 14 hour days. You're a workaholic who works hard for no overtime. And vacations? Forget about it. You spend most of your trip hunting around for gifts to bring back all of your coworkers.

What's Your Japanese Subculture?

Slow day today...

Your Personality Profile

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant. Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle. You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs. For you, comfort and calm are very important. You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection. You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Appellez-moi Fifi, s'il vous plait...

...because I'm off to gay Paree!
I can hardly believe I'll be landing at Charles de Gaulle approximately 240 hours from this moment. I'm going home!
My ticket was bought with AA miles, so I'm splurging on a hotel with a view of Notre Dame de Paris- it's about a five minute walk away.
I'm also splurging on a shuttle from the airport instead of taking le Metro. I hope to have some good pics to post on my poor little blog when I get back.

a bientot!