Spazztic Weather

It's rather funny, the weather here reminds me a lot of the weather we have in the Shenandoah Valley in March and October. It's completely random. In France though there does seem to be a pattern so to speak. It's one thing for an entire week. For example this week has been rainy, partly cloudy with a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Last week was Sunny all the time with mild temperatures. The week before it was partly cloudy and colder. The first several weeks I was here it was rainy and cold. So next week who knows? Hopefully though it will be sunny with warm temperatures.

This weekend is my trip to Rouen. I leave bright and early Saturday morning. The train leaves at 7:50 am so I have to be there an hour or so early. The station is literally on the other side of town so I have to budget 45 minutes for that. I'm excited. Rouen wasn't my first choice but the train for Easter weekend was really cheap. So I thought "what the heck, why not." I'm spending three days and two nights there and I'm staying at a hotel not a hostel. The hostel was just built and I was having trouble booking it, not to mention it's 2km outside of town, where as the hotel is right beside the Cathedral. So even thought the hotel is a little more expensive I think I'll make up for it with not having to worry about transportation. Besides, since I am in the middle of town I can walk everywhere. Speaking of transportation, Rouen actually has a metro system that connects with some other towns outside of the city so I think that I will look in that and explore the outlying area.

As far as things to visit and see, Rouen has an abundance of Museums, Religious sites, monuments, and parks and gardens. It's also the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. There are several museums for her, a church, a bridge and an avenue named after her. I also want to see if I can go to some other places outside of Rouen. There are a lot of chateaux and abbeys outside of Rouen in the country side. They're not far. I think the farthest is only 10minutes via bus and the bus only goes 40mph in the country. I just hope the weather holds out. It looks like right now that Saturday could be rainy, Sunday is suppose to be Sunny, Monday might be rainy again. We'll see. Like I was saying earlier the weather here is spastic.

As for the rest of the week, I am working on a paper for ROTC back at school and I am reading the second book for that class as well. I am just glad though that I have what amounts to a weekend in the middle of the week. Meaning I can work on a lot of things. I've also done a little shopping for spring clothes. The interesting thing about Paris is that a lot of these clothing stores only have maybe a few stores in Paris, and that's it. So prices can be really expensive. However, there are of course the very popular worldwide names here also that make French style clothes for cheaper prices, which is nice. There are clothing stores everywhere too. You may think I'm kidding but I'm not. It's part of their culture and always will be.

Well that's about it. I apologize that I haven't been able to post pictures of the Louvre. I will try perhaps Friday night before I leave, but no promises. I will post a page then for Rouen of course and then the Loire valley, which is with ISA the next weekend. Take care and Bonne Journee!

"Fly me to the Moon"

Well I think that spring has finally arrived in Paris. When I went running yesterday I noticed that there were a lot of new flowers, bushes, and trees in bloom. The weather here has been rainy the last couple of days. It's cloudy right now actually and it was sprinkling when I went to get a baguette this morning. Rain seems to have a calming effect on the city. I don't mind it so much. I've got a waterproof jacket and pack back and that's all I need. There aren't as many people around when it rains, so hopefully it'll keep the tourists indoors today so I can enjoy the outdoors.

I've taken up sitting on the banks of the Seine and watching the sun set. Some spots are more crowded than others. If I can get there by 4:30 I can get a good seat. I generally read, do homework, or write in my journal, all the while taking pictures. Thursday night in particular was really pretty. We had an honest to goodness thunderstorm around 5:10pm complete with thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. It only lasted for maybe 30 minutes. Anyway when it was over the sun came out. I was on my way home at that point so I turned around and head towards the river. I began walking on the North Bank or the Right Bank heading towards the Louvre. There was actually a rain bow too. It hung over Ile de la Cite for a while making for a really pretty Parisienne cityscape. I finally called it quits when I ran out of memory space on my camera. So I sat across from the Musee d'Orsay writing in my journal until it got chilly and dark. For me that's Paris. Along the River.

Friday I spent the afternoon relaxing at the apartment. Then I headed out at about 6:00 pm to take more pictures of the sun set. However, it was cloudy except for a small gap in the clouds. I ended up walking along river and taking pictures of Les Invalides, bridges, and the Eiffel Tower. The thing with the Eiffel Tower is that whenever you see you can't help but take a picture with it in the background. Also the other funny thing is that if you can see from where you're at then the area you are in is probably very touristy. No joke. You can be 2km or 3km away, see it, and discover that you're in a touristy area. It's quite an interesting phenomenon. I ended up going to the Louvre again. Friday night's are great for the Louvre. I get in free, there's hardly anyone around (comparatively speaking), and it's open until 10:00pm. It's a great deal so I go Friday night's. It's the same on Wednesdays also but I haven't been yet on Wednesdays. It kind of goes without saying now, but I'll say it anyway...it took pictures. I spent time in the Renaissance, Napoleons apartments, and the Italian Paintings sections. I got some better pictures of the Mona Lisa this time because there were only 30 people there instead of 200. The thing about the Louvre is that there is so much stuff there that you can go 100 times and literally see something different every time. Oh yeah and it's free, I think I said already though. I ran into a friend from ISA. We tend to all have the same idea Friday nights. We made plans to go see the Musee de L'Orangerie.

Saturday began with me lounging around. You know how it is, some days you just don't want to get up. I met up my friend around 2:30pm at the Musee de L'Orangerie. It's really a cool museum. Once again I get in free because I am a student studying in Paris. The Musee de L'Orangerie holds eight very large Monet paintings. There are some other paintings but the Monet paintings are the main attraction. They are amazing! It's just so hard to describe so I won't. I'll just say you're going to have to find a way to see it for yourself. I did take some pictures but I was basically pointless. A picture in this case can't even say a single word. We went to the Marais to get some food. Inevitably we ended up at a Bakery buying sweets...it just can't be helped. Then we got some actual food at the Super Market. We walked around just looking around and talking. Sometimes in Paris it’s best just to walk and see what you can see. It got cold and was getting a little late and so we parted ways. I went and continued my exploration of the river banks. My only objective is to wonder and see things there's no real feeling of I have to see this thing or that. I ended up at Hotel des Invalides by the time it was really dark. I got some food at a Monoprix and went back to the apartment.

Today is going to be dedicated to working on a paper, homework, and reading. I'm going to try to find someplace to campout for the afternoon. Like a cafe or something. I will try to get some pictures up of the Louvre soon. I've got enough now that I think I can do it justice with its own picture page. Most of the pictures I had for a while were just from the outside. Oh and France is now on Day Light Savings Time, so we are now six hours ahead of the East Coast again. Anyway hope everyone is has a good week!

Everyday Spring comes one step closer to Paris. I started out today with a run in the park I always run at and noticed that there a lot of flowers blooming and there are buds on the trees. Some trees especially the willow trees already have leaves on them. The temperature here gets to about 60 degrees in the afternoon but still is in the low 40s when the sun goes down. Many people, including myself, have taken up sitting in the parks reading, writing, doing homework, or just lounging around. There are several parks along the Seine that I like to go to. One is in front of the Hotel de Ville which is the city hall. It's a little noisy but that is where I took the pictures that I currently have for my header. The other one is on the point of Ile de la Cite, on the opposite side from Notre Dame. Both are very nice and can be very crowded, it's not exactly hard to figure out that a park is a sweet place to go in the spring in Paris.

Sunday I went to Les Arenes de Lutece first, just a little after lunchtime. I had a late breakfast but I stopped at this bakery that was close by. It was relatively cheap so I got a sandwich and a chocolate cover cookie for maybe 4eur which is really cheap. I took it to Les Arenes de Lutece and ate there. Les Arenes de Lutece is an old Gallo-Roman arena. I held 17,000 people back in the day but now I think it could only hold the VMI Corps of Cadets, with some standing. I think at one point there probably several tiers which have gone to building all the apartments around it. Yes the gladiators fought there but there was other less morbidly violent entertainment there also. However, now it hosts little kids kicking soccer balls back and forth, a play ground just outside, and a there are always the old guys playing an intense game of petanque. It's pretty cool though since it’s the only remain Gallo-Roman structure in Paris.

Next I walked over to the Jardin Des Plantes which is just a block east of the amphitheater. It's quite large but it’s not very pretty yet. There is a lot a work being done right in preparation for spring. Jardins Des Plantes was founded in 1626 to be the royal garden of medicinal plants but was later opened up to the public in 1650. Guy de la Brosse, the physician of Louis XIII, designed and planted it. It's the most popular botanical garden in France covering 69 acres complete with a large boulevard about 1km long with trees bordering the entire length of the boulevard. There is a hill in the rear of the garden with a gazebo on top offering a nice view of the surrounding area.

I crossed the Seine over to the Right Bank and began walking toward l'Eglise de Saint Eustache located by the Forum Des Halles and sits on top of the world's largest subway station, Chatelet. Five Metro and three RER lines meet at Chatelet making it very crowded place to be. I personally try to avoid it as best I can. It takes forever to switch trains because the station is roughly the size of a city block underground. Anyway l'Eglise de Saint Eusache is very beautiful. It looks like it is made from the same kind of stone as Notre Dame giving it that almost white appearance. When the sun hits it in the evening it is a sight to behold. Many people just go and sit out in front of it and chill out while the sun sets. There is a fairly large garden/park in front of it which of course makes it a very popular place to be since any form of green grass naturally attracts people in the city. I joined everyone else until the sun set.

Monday was a routine day sort of. It was a fun day though. I actually enjoyed both classes instead of just the first one. I went to ISA afterward and took care of some miscellaneous stuff and then bought some stuff at the Monoprix, and went home for the evening. Not much happens on Monday's as far as sightseeing goes just because I have class literally all day, just like high school again....

Tuesday I class in the morning. I was a little tired but so was everyone else. There was a strike on the transportation system also. That meant that two RER lines were shut down, the Tram was running at half strength, and half the Metro lines were running at half strength also. I didn't have a problem with the Metro but the Tram took a lot longer. On top of that there weren't any police at Porte d'Orleans (a large cross roads in the 14e Arrondissement). Therefore all the cars were gaggling in the middle of the Tram tracks like a bunch of cows waiting for the day to pass. There are now traffic lines here; it's basically everyman for himself. There are stoplights, but cars have the right away all the time so pedestrians are just SOL (sorry out of luck). The Police have to constantly direct traffic which makes them very disgruntled since they are over trained, under worked, and under paid.

The Police force in Paris is interesting to begin with. There are first the regular Police who would be equivalent to a SWAT in the US. There are roughly 30,200 police officers of whom, as of 2004, just about 3,000 were Gendarmerie. The "Gendarmes" are basically the equivalent of a US Army Light Infantry Brigade and outfitted as such complete with light armored vehicles, machine guns, assault rifles, and body armor. They like to travel in large convoys, patrolling the streets of Bagdad, oh...um...I mean Paris. I see them a lot in the Algerian sections of town...because they riot once every five years...

I got a haircut on Tuesday. It's shorter than what I would have liked but that's okay, VMI would be proud.

Today I have a test and some other work to do so it looks like I am off to the parks again today. No complaint here. Take care and have a great week!

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.

P.S. The Notre Dame picture page is up.

These past several days have gone by rather well. It's getting warmer here every day. Today and yesterday I was actually able to take my jacket off for the majority of the day.

Sunday a friend and I walked basically the length of the Champs-Elysees. We stopped and saw the l'Arc de Triomphe. We didn't go up because it was cloudy and we didn't want to spend the money on a claudy day. Then we headed towards La Defense with the Grand Arch and the skyscrapers, the new business section of Paris. It's outside of Paris proper becasue the French didn't want anything destroying their city's view. It took just about an hour including the stop at the bakery on the way there. It was kind of erie because the place was shut down since it was Sunday and there were hardly any people about and on top of that the trees are still bare. We saw the Grand Arch but once again we didn't go up because we didn't want to spend the money. We took the metro home and called it a day.

I haven't done any sight-seeing since Sunday. However yesterday another friend and I took advantage the wonderful weather and went for a run at Parc Monsouris. It has a really nice atmosphere. There were hundreds of people there running, jogging, playing tennis, kids in the play ground, and there were a lot just sitting, soaking up the first warm day of the year. It was the same story this afternoon too. The same friend and I had lunch in the Jardin du Luxembourg where we met up with some more friends. We sat and passed the afternoon away in the grass along with almost half the city, at least it seemed like it. Everyone was just lounging in the grass or on the chairs by the pond while the kids played with the sail boats. It was a nice day. Now I along with everyone else in ISA are trying to plan for Easter Break coming up the first weekend in April. It's not a long break but it's long enough. A couple of us are think of going to Rouen because it's only 26.00 euros for the round-trip.

Not sure what this weekend entails yet but it seems as if it is going to be nice so I think some sight-seeing is definitely on the menu. I haven't taken many pictures lately so I think that I will do some of that also. Spring's coming and Paris iwill be in bloom soon. I am definitely going to spend more time outside. All for now, take care!

The last several days have gone rather well. It seems to be getting warmer here bit by bit which is nice. I went for a run this morning at Parc Monsouris. It was a good day for run since it was warmer and everyone else seemed to have the same idea for there were a lot of people out for their morning run. Parc Monsouris is really a nice place to run because it is big so it doesn't get too monotonous too quickly, like running around a track for example. There is a pond which is always filled with ducks, geese, or seagulls. There is also a rather large open area in the middle and a play ground complete with carousel. The park though fits in with the city, especially since the area I live in is a nice residential area. It is a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Last night I met up with a friend at the Louvre at 7:00 pm at the Pyramid because on Friday nights the Louvre is open an extra hour and we can in for free with our Louvre cards and we're under 26 (everyone under 26 can get in if they present a valid ID). It was pretty cool. First because the fountains were on and it was dusk so the lights were on. It's very pretty. I would recommend to anyone visiting the Louvre for the first time to go at night because 1) there aren't as many people or tour groups there and 2) it is prettier at night than during the day. We had dinner at the restaurant/food court. I don't recommend doing that because because a $5 or $7 plate of food cost $20. Then we went to see The Dying Slave by Michelangelo in the Sculptures room, which is an amazing room just because there are so many great works there with no barrier at all. The thought struck me that if I wanted I could just reach out and touch one without any obstruction at all. Not that I would, but having all of the sculptures displayed without a barrier gives it a feeling that it is more than a museum. After that we moved to the French paintings section and we saw some neat things on the way there. Like paintins on the ceilling and rooms that are decoration with gold. We ran into some others from ISA so I guess we weren't the only ones with a good idea. Our party grew to three and the three of us left right at closing and started walking around trying to find a cafe were we could get some somewhat cheap hot chocolate or coffee. The area from the Louvre to the Opera , the are we covered, isn't the place to go searching for cheap anything because that is the rich section of town where all of the expensive shops, hotels, and restaurants are. After a metro ride and some more walking around we ended up at a cafe across from Notre Dame, a very nice view, and we enjoyed our coffee and hot chocolate. At that point though it was 11:00pm and we head to our respective homes. All in all a very good night that I think we'll repeat in the future.

Yesterday afternoon I met up with some friends after class and we had lunch at Le Crous. We then went to Gare de Lyon to meet up with a friend of one my friends who was coming to Paris from Lyon to visit. We took him to the Eiffel Tower and got him a crepe with Nutella (it's the best thing ever!) and then we went across the river to Palais de Chaillot directly across from the Eiffel Tower. We took some pictures and then called it a day and went home. I had to go home anyway and drop my stuff off before going to the Louvre.

Jumping back to today I went to do some laundry after lunch. It really isn't that much different from the US in terms of the process. However, here in Paris hardly anyone has a dryer so most people hang their clothes up in their homes or go to the Laverie (in French). There's a Laundromat on almost every corner. Theiy're almost as numerous as the pharmacies which are literally on every street corner. It's a pretty easy process to wash clothes but it's expensive. My host mother does do the laundry but I had some pants and shirts that I wanted to do and her washer I know couldn't handle it. Their washers here are small too. It's funny because here in Paris everything is small from the apartments to the cars to the washers, while in the US everything is big from the house to the pickup trucks and SUVs to the washers and dryers.

After that I started walking to the tram station only to discover that it wasn't running. I soon discovered that there was a huge moto rally that was coming through the area. It included mopeds, dirt bikes, racing bikes, vespas, touring bikes, high performance bikes, and yes there were Harleys including some choppers. Everyone was beeping their horns and revving their engines. But the european motor bikes couldn't compare in noise to the Harleys whose owners let everyone know that their bike had the most power there. I'm a little prejudice I guess but it really was a noticeable difference. There had to have been several thousand who all lined up to participate. It was more like a parade than anything else. But it was pretty cool though.

Not much on the table for tomorrow. I think some friends and I are going to get together and go see some stuff we haven't seen yet. Maybe a museum or something.

The Normandy section is finished and I am working on getting the Le Sacre Coeur page up. Enjoy!