This weekend I've decided to try to see some new things off the beaten path so to speak. I started out pretty good of Friday afternoon. After class I decided to head up north to a park I hadn't been to yet that looked rather large on the map. It's called Parc Des Buttes Chaumont located in the 19e Arrondissement. It's quite a large park, much larger than what I expected. Possibly two miles around. There are large steep hills some covered with trees and some are open so people can lounge in the sun. However, it wasn't very sunny Friday afternoon but that didn't really stop anyone since the temperature was nice. There is also a large pond in the middle of the park with a very large mountain of rock on a peninsula that sticks out into the middle of the pond. On the top of the mountain there is a stone gazebo which provides a very nice view of Le Sacre Coeur, part of the northern half of the city, and the suburbs outside Paris. I took some pictures but they didn't turn out very well since it was a cloudy day. I plan to go back when the there are leaves on the trees and flowers in the flowerbeds.

Friday night I went to the Palais du Louvre about an hour after it closed to take some pictures of the Palais with all of its lights on. It was raining but I don't mind the rain. I like the way the rain changes the appearance of the buildings and lights especially at night. I got there just before 11:00 pm, it was perfect, the place was literally deserted. There was a steady rain and invariably rains drops landed on the lens of my camera so all the pictures have a blurry glow to them. It's very interesting. I walked down to Place de la Concorde and took some more pictures. At that point it was almost 11:45 pm and so I wanted to get on the metro before it closed at 12:00am so I called it a night and headed for home.

Yesterday I went for a run at Parc Monsouris again. It was a really nice morning; just a little cloudy since we've had rain the last several days. But there wasn't any rain on this morning. It was a hard run I covered eight miles which is eight laps. One lap around the park is mile. I'm slowly getting back into shape. It's more like two steps forward and one back between running and eating all the pastries I want. But hey I don't when I'm coming back here again.

Afterbreakfast I went to Place Saint-Michel and walked several kilometers to Hotel National Des Invalides and visit the Musee de l'Armee. It was a nice walk, the mercury was at about 60 degrees with a light wind, and it was mostly sunny. The building itself was originally built between 1670-1706 by Louis XIV under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart for the accommodation and care of disabled ex-soldiers. There was a Hospice, barracks, a convent, hospital, a factory of sorts which included led cobbling, tapestry, and an illumination works -- and a Church which was split up into the Eglise des Soldats (Soldier’s Church) and the Eglise du Dome (Dome Church). Under Napoleon Bonaparte, the patron of the Hotel, it was restructured and transformed "the Saint Louis church into a national military pantheon." Napoleon himself is actually buried under the dome of the Eglise du Dome. Today the Hotel des Invalides still holds its original vocation, that of military hospital, to some degree. It appears also to be a large center for military ceremonies and seems quite active with military operations. However I don't think that it houses many if any troops, except perhaps those who guard it.

When entering from the river side. One must walk down a giant boulevard directly across the river from the Le Grand Palais and Le Petit Palais. There are some gardens in the front but before getting into the gardens one must pass through the main gate and cross a moat of sorts (without water). The North Entrance opens immediately into the Cour d'Honneur which house quite a collection of Classic French Canons. The Musee de l'Armee consists of all the buildings surrounding this courtyard and is actually quite large. It encompasses the Four departments; the Antique Arms and Armour Department -- 13th-17th centuries; the Modern Department--Louis XIV-Napoleon III; The World Wars Department (including the Franco-Prussian War also) 1871-1945; and the History of Charles de Gualle.

 I only went into the World War Department because I wanted to that but I didn't realize how big the Museum was. I did see the tomb of Napoleon, his son, his two brothers, Generals Bertand and Duroc, and two Marshals; Foch and Lyautey are buried there as well. It's really a cool place to visit. It has an atmosphere of that of a WWI movie or back in the Glory Days of the French Army under Napoleon. It is really quite easy to picture a regiment of soldiers forming up in the giant courtyard or marching in full dress uniform down the expansive boulevard across the river and onto the Champs-Elysee. I definitely plan to visit a couple of times. Oh and perhaps the best part is that it's free for students studying here. I bought a CD of French marching songs and a pin. It was a very moving experience for me.

I went to the Marais district for a mid-afternoon snack which I took to a park on the Seine just in front of the Hotel de Ville and across from the islands of Ile de la Cite and Ile Saint Louis. It was a very nice afternoon/evening. I read a little. I have to read Band of Brothers for my ROTC class back at VMI. I sat there and tried to picture Paris in late 1944 and early 1945, it wasn't that hard. I think that I am going to try to see some of the battlefields that Easy fought at, Holland, Bastogne, Haguenau, and Berchtesgaden. Unfortunately I think that Normandy is slight out of the picture because it is actually a little difficult to see if you don't have a car and it is near impossible to rent a car here under 25 let alone 21. We'll see.

Today I am going to try to see the Eglise de Saint Eustache which is said to be quite beautiful. Then I think I will go to the Arenes de Lutece which is an ancient Roman arena and one of the very few remains of the Roman era. It's cloudy again today and a little colder than yesterday. I think their calling for some rain too but that's okay. It's should make for some good pictures.