Randomness

[Aquarius]

Well, the train trip is only about 2 hours - I thought it was longer because I looked at a non express and forgot about the hour difference - so I was pleasantly surprised to find the train so short.

Today the weather in Paris is perfect, which is good and bad. There's some kind of eco-event on the Champs-Elysees - which is great except it was so crowded as to be unpleasant.

But I haven't been to Paris since I was a child - and my memories are few. I definitely enjoyed the Lourve and Notre Dame. Just did a whole big walk of the major tourist spots.

It all sounds awesome, Honeybee! I hope you'll post pictures when you get back.

[honeybee]

I haven't been taking pictures, except for one of the Mona Lisa - who looks as though she about to step out of the painting and talking to her visitors. But I did send you a post card of one of the gargoyles of Notre Dame - such charming fellows. Next time I'm in Paris I will have to climb to the top of the towers and visit them instead of admiring them from the ground.

By coincidence, a family friend (my mother's boyfriend's son) is also in Paris. He's an investment banker and has waaaaaay more $$$ than me. He took me out to a fancy restaurant on the left bank and ordered great Burgundy and the chef made up series of amazing vegetarian course for me. Tres Bien!

Tomorrow, back to the grind in Philly.

But I did enjoy walking around today. Loved the Lourve and the Pyramid. Loved Notre Dame. So - it's all good. I'm not big on heights - so I saved myself time and money not climbing to the top of stuff - and didn't go to the top of the Eiffel Tower (three hour line, that). I did that in high school - that was enough.

I went to the Sainte Chappel and the Palace of Justice - and saw the cell where they held poor Marie Antoinette. There is a memorial to the 2750 people who were killed there during the reign of terror. It's very sad.

But luckily - it was a good day.

I wish I had reason to come here more often! It's beyond the means of a college professor mostly - but my conference subsidized it.

[crystalswolf]

I miss Paris soooo much. I even miss the thick mineral water. Daughter was actually sick in Paris. The cab driver didn't understand why we wanted to pull over and he refused to... it was an interesting time trying to explain that it would be better for his car.

Honeybee, it sounds like you had the best of both worlds. Viewing the city as the average visitor would and an awesome dinner as well. I wish I'd checked the forum earlier, I would have suggested the street market (don't know if you knew about it and can't remember the name).

[Asso]

Paris is Paris. Here, we say like this.

[honeybee]

I had only been to Paris once before on a school trip, and I have to say I liked it better as an adult.

Even on such a short visit, I got a sense of how stuff just happens in Paris - connecting with my defacto stepbrother and his expense account for one. I think I was a safe "date" for a lonely man away from his wife and kids and I was happy to have a dinner companion myself. I also stumbled on this overpass covered in graffiti and realized it was over the tunnel where Diana died. I didn't stick to any plan - just wandered around and saw things I hadn't planned on seeing like the Sainte Chapelle and the prison where they kept Marie Antoinette before her execution. Sad, that place.

Anyway. . .now I am home and jet lagged within an inch of my life.

[Alelou]

Welcome home, weary travelers.

I'm glad to be home from driving my parents over to see my brothers -- separately -- complete with a vicious if short marital spat in the car. It was quite disconcerting.

[honeybee]

Oh my, Alelou, that sounds stressful! But at least you are home and the spat is over - or at least not in the enclosed space of the car.

[crystalswolf]

Crud, Alelou. Trapped like that, I'm so sorry. You said it was short... at least there's that. Right?

[Alelou]

Yeah, it was short. But it's something I'd definitely think about before inviting my mother to live with us at any point... she's got a real angry streak in her. Not to say I might not be angry either, in her position, but it was still bizarre. I just hope it's not a sign of incipient senility or something.

Sigh. They're both getting quite elderly.

[justTripn]

Oh good. Between your parents, not between you and your husband. Still, poor you, Alelou.

I skimmed the thread and wondered for a brief second why you would all be talking about my son, Paris. Wow! I have to keep more current with the Happy News. That's wonderful Honeybee. I've never been to Paris. I will be glad to see the picture.

[honeybee]

So, I'm not sure if I posted it here or on Twitter - but in Paris there was a McDonald's near my hotel. It was always packed - and I poked my nose in to check out the menu and assumed it would be all American tourists in there. Not at all. It was all French people. The cafes near my hotel, on the other hand, were packed with Brits and Americans. I think we yanks have at least figured out that going to McDonald's while in Paris is ridiculous.

I was also vaguely surprised to see a McDonald's in the mall beneath the Lourve.

Well, I just found this story on NPR a few years ago:

Mona Lisa and McDonald's


I'm not terribly worried about the French losing their good taste in food - but it is interesting that they have taken to McDonald's so much.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

^ I made it a point not to go to McDonald's when I was in the U.S.

[Alelou]

So what did you think? Was Epcot fun or creepy? (Although I personally enjoy it, Disney can begin to feel a little like a clean, chirpy corporate version of 1984.) Did you get some decent meals? Were you charmed by Florida, or nonplussed by it? (Most northerners I know profess to despise it, though somehow they've all been there.) Was O'Hare as miserable as advertised?

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

I actually think I didn't experience much of the real Florida. The Orlando area was just one huge artificial vacation spot, with a bajillion theme parks. And I spent most of the time at Kennedy Space Center, so much in fact that I should've booked a hotel in Titusville instead. The climate was bordering on too hot (and too humid), so I wouldn't want to spend the summer there. But maybe it's different in the coastal areas.

I liked Epcot. It had a much more "grown up" feeling that a guy like me with no family and kids appreciated. It did feel a bit "clean" as you put it, but that's nothing different from how Star Trek feels. I loved the water part with the huge aquarium they had at Epcot.

As for meals, well, I didn't go to Florida for the meals, and I had to make do with my time constrains and what was available whenever I was hungry. And my limited budget (I wanted to keep a buffer in case I got stranded by some ash cloud). So I went to some all-you-can-eat buffets... But no McD or Pizza Hut. We have those here at home.

I wouldn't say O'Hare was miserable, but I have been to much better airports, and spending six hours there was a chore. Dulles on the way back wasn't much better, but at least the stopover there was shorter.

[Alelou]

Yes, not true Florida, though it's a very diverse and fast-growing state so that recently-built Orlando quality is a very real part of it.

When we went out in my youth it was often to an all-you-can-eat cafeteria in Tampa, so that feels pretty Floridian to me.

I don't remember any aquarium type thing at Epcot -- I'll look forward to seeing it in July. And I find it hard to believe it can really be much hotter there than it is today right here.