Day 7 - Kenny's First Trip to the Opera and What He Learned There

Bonjour!

Well, it's my last full day in Paris, and since I saw just about all I wanted to, I chose to take the day and walk around and not do anything in particular.  To start things off, I decided to go the "pack your own lunch" technique for grub.  I went up and down the street I'm staying on, Rue Cler, and went to 4 different stores: A deli for meat, a boulangerie for bread, a fromagerie for cheese, and a market for some fruit.

Since all of these were right next to each other, I had a full on meal in about 10 minutes with 5 of that being attributed to the fact that I speak French about as well as I properly eat foi gras.  I took my food and walked to the Champs de Mars which basically leads up to the Eiffel Tower.  This is what I ate:  5 different meats (couple of hams, some sausage thing (not good), a salami, and some bacon looking stuff), 3 cheeses (brie (ok), goat cheese (never again), and something that reminded me of Swiss, (best of the bunch)), the best freakin' blackberries I've ever tasted, a huge baguette, and good ol' sink water.  Honestly, I couldn't finish it.  Too rich, but most of it was good, and hanging out in the shade underneath the Eiffel Tower was a great experience.

Here's what I ate. . .

. . .and here was my view.












After that I decided to try and go see the Catacombs I was talking about earlier.  I had missed them because they were closed last time, and by the time I finished relaxing in the grass I had only 30 minutes to get to the ticket office.  I hustled to the Metro and hopped the train.  I made it 3 minutes before the box office was supposed to close only to find the whole thing was shut down due to vandalism.  That's twice this had happened.

The following is a brief overview of what was going through my head in the final 5 minutes before getting to the ticket booth and then the next 60 seconds after finding out it was closed again.

"Shouldn't have cut it so close. . .OK where can I get tickets. . . Only a couple of minutes left. . .There it is!. . .Wait What?!. . .Closed?. . .Dang (different word here), that's twice this has happened. . .Seriously!?. . .I've wasted money and more importantly a lot of time getting down here trying to do this stupid tour. . . I'm ticked off and irritated, and I've lost another hour, and now . . . . .  Hey look, a crepes stand. . .

So anyway, after that I went back to the hotel and then decided to just start walking.  I started toward Invalides and then headed to the Champs Elysees again.  Instead of heading to the Arc de Triomph though, I went the opposite direction toward the Louvre where I crossed another beautiful garden called Tuileries.  Here's some shots of my walk to this point.

This is a shot of the Army Museum and Invalides again.

This is the Alexander III bridge that was built as a sign of friendship between the French and the Russians around 1900 or so.  Like they always say, nothing says sorry we decimated you in the cold Russian winter a hundred years or so ago like a new, fancy bridge.

This is the Tuileries Garden.  You can see the Louvre there on the middle left.

And this is a bad shot of what I was doing for a decent portion of the day.  I don't have to tell all of you how difficult it's been on me this week, especially compared to what you probably have been up to.  In fact, to give you an idea of the hardships I'm enduring, I've contracted a brand spankin' new syndrome:  You've heard of tennis elbow?  Allow me to introduce you to Spiral Staircase Hip.  Nasty stuff.  No, no.  No tears for me.  I'll manage somehow.

After that, the walk took an unexpected turn:  I turned left in front of the Louvre and came across this building, which caught my eye because it looked rather important:

Turns out it's the National Institute of Music.  They hold concerts and operas and stuff like that there.  By coincidence I showed up right at the start of one of these operas.  I've never been to an opera so since I was there I decided to see if I could scalp a ticket.  It worked out, so I slipped into the hall and grabbed my seat on the left balcony with an obstructed view.

This is a shot of the inside of the theater.











As you probably know, they are not singing in English so I had to figure out what was going on via context clues (thank you TAAS test).  Here is the rundown of what I was able to discern about this particular work:

1) The name of it was Mireille.
2) It is a French Opera (a lot of operas are in Italian).
3) It takes place in a field somewhere in France.
4) There's a blond chick, Mireille, who talks (or rather sings) way more than a person should at one time without someone else interjecting a comment.
5) I apparently am only able to listen to what she has to say for about 45 minutes before I have to leave.

I tried to like it, I really did, but in the end, I realized that Mireille and I were not going to work out, so it was better to cut the cord before we got too attached and comfortable with each other.

I think a Broadway show might be the most singing I can handle in any given hour.  This was like the Lion King without the cool costumes, or the action sequences, or anything else that would be considered better than walking on broken glass barefooted.

This is as good a picture as I could get without risking being thrown out.  It was quite a beautiful theater.  Not big on using the AC for some reason, but after the first round of sweating subsided, I felt much more comfortable.

Other note, this is an old building apparently.  I swear if you even think of adjusting your big toe, something creaks.  Believe it or not, people go to this thing on purpose and they just love it when you're right behind them fidgeting during the performance.  Needless to say I made a lot of friends.

I left long before the first intermission and headed back to Rue Cler, where I had one final dessert (something like an apple pie) at the same place I started, Cafe du Marche, before going to bed.  All in all, a wonderful day of just enjoying the city.

Tomorrow is a travel day to Bruges, Belgium.  I should be getting there around 3 PM Belgium time so maybe I'll have some cool pictures for you, plus I'll do a Paris wrapup.

Bruges is also going to be my first hostel (me in a room with a lot of people).  I'm looking forward to the experience and more importantly, I'm looking forward to meeting some folks doing the same thing as me.  I don't know about WiFi at this place, but if I can't post tomorrow, I'll put something up as soon as I can.
Till next time. . .

Day 6 - Kenny and the Duck (and a couple of other things)

Hey Everyone!

Welcome back for the Day 6 recap.  Had a little more low key day today as far as time goes, but still knocked out everything I wanted to.  Still adjusting to the time change, which is causing me to go to bed later and get up late as a consequence, but hoping to fix that tonight.  Started off the day heading to the National Army Museum right down from where I am staying.  It is the largest military museum in the world.  Looked around for a bit, and saw some cool armor and and guns and stuff, but moved on quickly.  Here are a couple of the highlights though:

Thought this was pretty cool.  I have no idea who is supposed to be manning the small suits there in the front, and honestly, I don't think I want to know.

Oh, our friends the French.  This is a cannon looking from the back end to the front.  You're eyes are not playing tricks on you.  Those are a set of  two people there on top.  As far as I'm concerned, nothing says war, death, and destruction like staring at two couples macking down right as you're lighting the fuse.

Can we all agree that perhaps the normal armor head piece would have been a better choice here?  This had to be a Christmas present from this guy's Mom or something. That's the only explanation.









After leaving the Museum, I went to Invalides, which is the golden dome I pointed out yesterday.  This was a church built during the reign of Louis XIV and it also houses Napolean's Sarcophagus.  It is a beautiful building.

Here is the view from the outside.

This is the altar piece.  It is not the original but was rebuilt.  It is modeled after St. Peter's.  I'll hopefully get the chance to compare it.

Here is a detailed shot of the altar.  Notice the twisting marble pillars.

Here is a shot of Napolean's Tomb.  It is below the altar we just looked at.  This thing is huge.  Something  like 4x3x2 meters or something close to that.


Those two museums were nice, but I was done with them in less than 2 hours.  I headed down the street at that point to go check out the Rodin Museum.  Auguste Rodin, a turn of the 20th century artist,  is arguably the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo.  His works are more raw in my opinion and while he has many pieces using marble as his canvas of choice (white stone), most of his more famous ones are cast in bronze (Bluish-Black).  His work is known for giving the appearance of movement and restlessness. I've always been a big fan and one of the art things I wanted to do on this trip was see which of the two artists, Michelangel or Rodin, I liked better. Here are some of Rodin's pieces.

Rodin's most famous work, Le Penseur (The Thinker)).  Also known as Le Gars sur la Toillette (The Guy on the Toilet).

This depicts a great moment in human history:  The First Fist Pound. As you can see, the technique has been improved over the last century.  The simultaneous "head pound" that was originally employed was also discontinued, for obvious reasons.

This is my favorite piece, and it is not even a Rodin, but his student/lover Camille Claudel.  This is called The Age of Maturity.  In real life Rodin would not leave his wife for Claudel.  I guess you can interpret how you want but the guy might be Rodin and the girl in the back might be Claudel.  Sad but very powerful I think.

Here's a shot of the museum from the garden in the back.  Many of his statues including his unfinished masterpiece, The Gates of Hell are out here.



After this I went home for a break.  I just realized I never showed you a picture of the street I'm on, Rue Cler.  Here is a good representation of what it looks like:

Seriously, this is what the whole street is about.  You could eat like a king and never walk more than 200 feet from my hotel.












After the break, it was time to go see the famous Arc de Triomph.  To get there I hopped the Metro and went to the Champs Elysees which is probably the most famous street in Paris.  Quite a change of pace from the Paris I've been experiencing.  Everything to this point has been so laid back, but down here, there's traffic jams and cars honking and a whole bunch of very in a hurry French folks trying to get home.  This is where a lot of shopping takes place as well.  I was reminded more of Times Square here than anything else.

The Champs Elysees.  You can see the base of the Arc in the middle right.  Here are your tree lined boulevards and impatient Frenchmen

Me at the Arc.  The Arc was built to honor the armies of France, specifically those of the Napoleonic Wars.  Every conquering army (even non French types like the Nazi's) usually makes it's way through the Arc.  For you biking enthusiasts, this is also where the Tour de France winds up.

The other main thing to get from this shot is that I have finally decided to put on a different shirt for the first time in a couple of days.  My Mom is so proud.

LEDERHOSEN ALERT!!!

My first one of the trip.  I'm not making any bold proclamations here, but remember that Oktoberfest is on the horizon for Herr Homann and I've been itching to get in touch with my German roots.  I'm not promising it's going to happen, but lets just say there have been some requests.

This was from on top of the Arc.  Honestly, I could not have asked for a better night.  This one would be awesome on the wall.

Here is the topside view of the Champs Elysees looking East.

My best shot of the night.  Notice the colors of the sky match the flag and in the same order (OK I thought it was cool).

Classic Kenny moment to end the evening.  So I decided to grab some food around the Arc, and went to this cafe called George V.  I've been trying some different stuff, but hadn't really taken a serious plunge, so I chose tonight to do it.  I asked the waiter what he'd recommend and he pointed at the appetizer, foi gras.  For those of you who don't know (and I was one of these people. . .shocker I know), this is the product of a duck liver that has been specially fattened.  It's considered a delicacy.  I'd had liver before so I said bring it on.  I got this.

Panic time arises  here as I quickly realize the only thing on the plate I could confidently identify was the bread (I saw nothing I thought was a liver). That wasn't even my main problem.  I had no idea what to do.  Do you spread this stuff, eat it separately, lick it. . . no clue.  Nothing better than staring helplessly at my food for five minutes while every French speaking person in the immediate area watches intently to see not if I screw up, but if I do so enough that it warrants finger pointing and sad slow head shakes.

Anyway, I decided to do the spreading thing.  I'm going to tell you what I thought all the stuff was and then we'll see how I did.  Feel free to play along.

So the liquid  in the little cup on the right I thought was the foi gras, the big yellow blocks on either side of that I thought was cheese (I thought that was an awful lot of cheese), and the little lighter colored stuff in between the bread and cheese stuff I thought was some kind of a honey product.  So how did I do?

First the good: I finally snagged the waiter and told him I had no idea what to do or what I was eating and he said spreading was fine (Kenny 1, Looking like an idiot 0).  I exulted in my performance with a self high five at that point but things went downhill quickly from there.

Turns out what I thought was the foi gras was fig jam, the honey stuff was "meat jelly" (I really don't want to know), and the "cheese" was the foi gras.  So after pulling out to an early lead, the far superior opponent (Kenny's lack of refined living) pulls away in the second half and dominates to take the game.

All in all it was a good day (and the foi gras wasn't terrible).  Tomorrow's post will be a bit lighter, as I have nothing planned other than to just hang out in a park and enjoy the Parisian Day, but I'll definitely write something up.  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  Holler.

Day 5 - The Louvre, Luxembourg, Lasagna, and a Laid Back Boat Ride

Alright, Day 5 has come and gone, and for how it started, I think it may have been my most productive yet.  Before we get going, a little correction to the Day 1 post.  The shot of me at the Eiffel Tower where I say you can see Notre Dame was incorrect.  If we were in South Bend, Indiana I would have been right on the money, but since no one here plays the football that requires shoulder pads, the building is actually Invalides, which is home to the interred remains of Napolean.  I'll blame it on the jet lag.  


Also, I have no idea why this post looks so screwy.  If any of you wily veterans of blogging have some advice, I'd appreciate the help.  Thanks.  Moving on. . .

I think the time difference effect has kicked in, albeit a couple of days later than I figured it would.  I didn't go to sleep here until 4:30 AM local time (hence why my post from yesterday was up so early).  Anyway, because I went to bed so late, I slept in and didn't leave until close to 11 AM.

Weather was a little sketchy so I adjusted my schedule and did the Louvre in the morning instead of going to the Luxembourg Garden.  I was obviously a little tired so I was concerned about going to one of the biggest museums in the world a little fatigued but it turns out all went great.  I stayed 5 hours and saw a ton.

The Louvre is huge (I mean stupid huge).  It's longest dimension is over 700 meters long.  For all you track folks out there you know that's close to half a mile.  Imagine having to fill 700 meters with a bunch of urns and pictures of apples and statues that are missing an arm or something.  You could seriously walk through here for a month and I bet you could still see stuff you hadn't already run across.  Here are the highlights for me.

Ah, the lovely Venus de Milo (or more appropriately Aphrodite of Milos since she's a Greek chick).  There was mutual interest, but in the end we decided it was best to just stay friends.

Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss.  No witty shenanigans attempted here.  This was my favorite sculpture of the day though.

Just included this to show you what the Louvres' rooms looked like.  Honestly, they could just leave the whole thing empty and it would still be worth looking around just to see the structure.  Every room was different and every one was beautifully and intricately designed.

Me here with Winged Victory of Samothrace, or an easier way to remember, Nike of Samothrace.  This is one of the big dogs at the Louvre and the goddess of victory is where the shoe company derived it's name.

This is the Apollo Gallery.  I thought it surpassed anything I saw at Versailles.

Obligatory shot of the Mona Lisa.  Never been enthralled with her like some other folks but this is the first work of Da Vinci I've seen, so that was cool.

"NO, I'M SPARTACUS!!!" (No, seriously, this guy really is)

Me wearing the dunce cap supreme at the Louvre.  That whole thing behind me is half of the museum.  And the pyramid (I.M. Pei was the architect of the 1988 addition) is maybe a little out of place (depending on who you ask), but definitely adds another dimension.

So before it was this great museum, this used to be someone's house.  The following is Napolean III's apartment.  This room, The Grand Salon, is basically where he would host his Texas Hold 'Em tournaments. I was shocked at how close this resembled my living room.  However, we can obviously see how this one falls a little short relative to mine, due to it's lack of a ceiling fan.

This is for Meathead (who is actually a lawyer folks - 1-800-LAWYERS - He will save you money!).  This just goes to show that even 3000 years ago, "Chaising" was considered the pinnacle of fine living.

Last shot of the Louvre.  So I'm walking around and I get a glimpse of the junior varsity team here practicing in this auxiliary gym.  Turns out there are hundreds of these priceless statues just waiting for their chance to make it to the Big Show. I see an HBO documentary on the horizon. . .

After the Louvre, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful day. . . I mean perfect.  I've been exceptionally fortunate with the weather.  It has been 70-75 everyday I've been here during the day.  I decided to go see Paris' Catacombs exhibit which is basically a crypt that hold tens of thousands of former Parisians when the city had to dig up the old cemeteries to expand the city.  I failed to check out the times, however, and when I got there it had been closed for 30 minutes.  

All was not lost though, as I saw a Creperie, and proceeded to eat my first genuine French Crepe.  Tip of the day:  When ordering a crepe and selecting your ingredients to put in said pastry, "Coco" is not some chocolate substance, but rather, the French word for "coconut".  I ordered nutella and coco thinking I was getting some chocolate as well and got this white sprinkly stuff instead, which I took for powdered sugar.  I was two bites in before I realized what happened but I'm happy to report that it might have been the best mistake I've made on the trip so far.

This is my crepe (or what's left of it anyway).  Totally worth the extra insulin shot.

After that, I ended up heading to Luxembourg Garden which is this pristinely manicured spot in town where Parisians just go to hang out.

I don't know if these people have jobs or what, but there were literally hundreds of people in this place (which is good size, but not exactly Central Park) at five o'clock just sitting and staring at the grass and having a great time.  I don't know what they do for money, but I'm going to ask the next one I see.  Honestly, their lifestyle in general seems much more laid back than ours.  I'm sure there are pluses and minuses to both but I can see the appeal.  Here's a couple of shots.

Part of the Luxembourg Garden.  As you can see there are no fig trees or tomato plants to be found.  Just lots and lots of pretty.

After that I went to the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank, which is kinda like Greenwich Village in NYC.  Lots of food, lots of college kids, and lots of bohemian living in general.  This is where Hemingway and Sartre and all the intellectuals of the early 20th century would hang out and argue about the meaning of it all and what not.

The Latin Quarter.  Notice the narrow streets.  Most people think of Paris as big wide tree lined boulevards, but in Medieval times this is what it looked like.  The Cluny Museum, which displays Medieval works, is nearby.  No kidding, there was a different food stand or cafe or bakery every four feet on some streets.

I grabbed a bite to eat at a cafe in the area where I got a 3 course meal of Parisian Onion Soup (the only truly Parisian dish I'm told), Lasagna, and Creme Brule.  Not bad and the Onion Soup was really good.  For someone who typically doesn't like onions period, I was pleasantly surprised.

When that was done I decided to go on a little cruise down the Seine.  I hopped on a boat and for about an hour, I got to see all the sites of Paris from the river's perspective.  Great way to end the night.

The Pont Neuf Bridge which is the oldest in Paris. BTW, Pont Neuf translated to English mean "New Bridge"

So this is what Parisians do at night.  They grab a bottle of wine and they go sit by the Seine.  Reminded me of college when I'd go buy a Cherry Limeade Sonic Flurry and sit on the Cane River, which cut through Natchitoches.  Basically the same thing.

Unless plans change, I've decided to leave Paris Sunday instead of Monday, which I had previously planned on doing.  Don't know what I'll do with the extra day, but I'm working on it.

Tune in tomorrow: Same bat time, Same bat channel. . .

Day 4 - Hanging with the Hunchback and the Guy Without an Ear

Hey Team,

Wanted to take a second and tell everyone thanks so much for checking in and leaving your comments.  It'd be worth it even if I was the only one reading it, but it's kinda cool knowing yall are experiencing this with me as a go.  I appreciate the support.

Busy day today, especially for one that got off to kind of a late start (left the hotel around 10) due to a technical issue concerning an audio tour I was trying to download for the day.  I actually got up around 6 (woke up and couldn't go back to sleep is a better description) and did the blog for yesterday.

While I was waiting I did my first traditional backpacker ritual, "The washing of dirty clothes in the sink."  Since I only have one bag, I either do this, or test whether nudity is allowed only on the beaches here in France.  After giving it some serious consideration, I went with the former.

After leaving, I hit the metro and went to the world famous Notre Dame Cathedral on Ile de la Cite, which is in the center of Paris. Essentially, this is where Paris started.  The Cathedral location used to be a Roman Temple to Jupiter before being razed and built as the Pinnacle of Christendom in France, among other things.  It is probably the most famous Gothic structure in the world.

I made my way in, and was blown away by what I saw.  Before I got there, I thought, "Great, a really nice church", but once I got in, no exaggeration, I think it is the most powerful and beautiful building I've ever been in.  Maybe I'll say that 10 more times on this trip, but it was awesome.  I just kind of stood there open jawed for a few minutes.  Really cool moment for me.

These pictures don't do it justice, but I'll post them anyway.  The sheer size of this thing is unlike any church I've ever seen.  The architects did a good job of making you feel small compared to God, which was the point, of course.

First creative picture of the trip.  I thought this silhouette of the statues was cool against the stained glass.

More shots of the knave of the church.  This is a real estate agent's dream.  High ceilings and an open floor plan.  As soon as you get past the electric bills, you're golden.

Here is the shot from outside. Quick little word of advice for all you future travelers:  Even with a Texas drawl, Parisians do not think it's cute when you walk up and call one of their most enduring national symbols No-ter Dame.  The Fighting Irish would not be pleased.

This a shot of one of the doors into Notre Dame.  The dude holding his head is St. Denis, the patron saint of Paris.  In 250 AD while trying to convert the locals to Christianity, he ticked off the ruling Romans and they had him put to death.  According to legend, after the beheading, Denis got up, picked up his newly detached noggin', and walked away, finding a different place to die instead. This accomplished two important things:  It aided in converting the Paris region and subsequently France to Christianity, and it also made for a cool new costume to wear at Halloween.

Took the tour to the bell tower.  No Hunchback, but I did find this guy here just hanging out.  Someone said he is the most photographed Gargoyle in the world.  As I assume is the case with most snooty French model types, he totally blew me off when I tried to get his autograph.

Here's me atop the Bell Tower with my new bud.  We instantly hit it off, because as you can see, he too is freakishly double jointed.

This is a shot from the top of the Bell Tower.  You can see the Eiffel Tower on the left and of course the River Seine below as well.  In my opinion, these were way better views of Paris than from the Eiffel Tower the other day.

Here is the back of the church.  If you look at the structures right below the dome you will see the famous Flying Buttresses which supported the building.  This allowed the architects to do away with completely solid walls to support the weight and instead include the beautiful stained glass, which helped create an ethereal effect provided by the light that now illuminated the inside of the church.



From here I continued walking around the city center.  A little farther down the river I came to the next really famous Gothic Church, Sainte-Chapelle.  Whereas Notre Dame took over 200 years to be completed, this one was knocked out in 6 years.  This church was finished in 1248 and housed the supposed Crown of Thorns from Christ's crucification.  This will mean more after the pictures, but the King of France paid over twice as much for the Crown than he did for this entire church.  Crazy! I could describe the church but I'll let the pictures do the talking. . ..

There are 15 of these and they cover 6,500 square feet, almost 4 times the size of my townhome!  Each little square has a different scene from the Bible.  There are 1,100 different panes in all.

My guess is the Holy Fathers had a strict "No ball playing in the house" policy.  Bummer.

This is the back end of the church.  It has the same Rose shaped stained glass that Notre Dame has.









From here I went to Musee d'Orsay, which houses the greatest collection of Impressionist painting in the world.  I do not claim to be an art connoisseur, but Impressionism has always been my favorite.  I've been to Chicago a few times and I always go to the Art Institute there to look at their displays.  I was as excited to go to this museum as I will be the Louvre (which is a lot by the way).

Not the most symmetric picture but this was the inside of the museum.  I thought it was great and I really saw the connection between the paintings it housed and the building itself.  For me Impressionist painting is about lighter colors that kinda pop off the canvas and I thought the building did the same.








Auguste Renoir has always been my favorite painter, but below is my favorite painting of the day.  It's by Vincent van Gogh, who actually is probably more a post Impressionist, but either way, I went by this one and it really caught my eye.  Art and girls:  You can't always explain what it is about them that you like, but regardless, you know you do.



Headed home after that.  My feet are killing me, and every muscle in both my legs is sore from the walking.  I was pretty tired and ended up crashing for about an hour and a half at the hotel.  Afterwards, I went to get some food at a little cafe near where I'm staying.  I had lamb with broccoli, minty tasting herbs, green beans, and carrots.  Good stuff.

For dessert, I saw this item which was cheese (yogurt looking) and honey essentially.  I was sitting next to these two ladies who were traveling together and they recommended it.  Peggy was from Vancouver, Washington and Beth was my first fellow Texan from Dallas. Lovely ladies both.

As I learned upon eating it, the cheese they use there is a little different than the fat free Kraft original I've been putting down at home for a while.  Nice way to end the evening.  Tomorrow, provided good weather is the Luxembourg Gardens and the Champs Elysees.