Day 5: Day at sea, and end of the voyage

This last day is another day at sea. It's been turbulent again, as we head back to Galveston. The boat swaying noticeably back and forth. This morning I had part 2 of the gym class, which was nice, esp as I only ate a pear prior instead of a whole breakfast (lesson learned). 

There's been a lot of dead time today. I passed some of it finishing up the day 4 log and sorting pictures. 

Had a sit-down lunch, which put me and my dad at a table with 3 other groups of people. That was nice. Got to meet new people, talk about what everyone does. Also had a good view of the water at the same time. 

I was supposed to go to a yoga class, but mis-remembered the time (was off by half an hour) and subsequently missed out. 

Post-dinner show. Due to the choppiness today, they'd had a pre-show meeting to discuss whether they wanted to shorten the show, remove some props, or such, in the interest of the dancers' safety. They opted to go ahead as planned, which is pretty incredible. 2/3 of the dancers are women, dancing on heels,  this ship is moving *and* the stage is moving as well. The theme was ''Big Easy'', which also included a Mardi Gras portion, which is a bit weird to have 2 days before christmas. Song snippets included '''I put a spell on you'', ''Superstition'', 'Use Me'' , ''Black Coffee'', ''At Last'', ''Knock on wood'', ''Basin Street'' and plenty others. The sets and costumes were really good. I wonder how many times they repeat each show. That is, I assume they clean up the ship when we dock and load it up again, and so on, so the question is how many cruise trips get the same acts. It also makes me think that guys who are dancers are (still) very much rarer than girls. The girls were all very young, 20's, and the 4-5 guys were in a broader range. So, people who plan on having kids: if you have a son, and he can dance, and wants to be a professional dancer, maybe you should encourage him to do that. :) It's more feasible than a girl wanting to be a ballerina, in terms of likelihood of success. 

General post-cruise commentary:

• It's probably good that they didn't have an option for unlimited drinks. Then there would not just be children underfoot, but stumbling drunks. (Remember, 1/3 of the ship is children) 

• Relatedly, I think I figured out the cheapest way one could get quite drunk on this ship. Not that I wanted to, but I noticed a weird price discrepancy. They had a sushi stand for 3 of the nights, open a bit before and after the early seating dinner.  The guy was just making little plates of the same 3 sushi rolls over and over. There was also a sign advertising sake for sale, which I think people rarely take advantage of, despite being ~the same price as an espresso for a cup (for comparison, the cheapest other drink I saw around was a $4.50 mimosa special this morning, and after that, the prices went $6.75, 7.50, 8.75), *and* they sell the bottles of sake as well, for what I would roughly expect to pay at a liquor store, $12. 

• If I had designed the ship, I would have put in some quiet places. I was clearly not the only person trying to find a quiet place on ship to hang out at various points in the day. The deck tends to be covered with dancing/eating/drinking/loud music, although the side decks can be a bit more muted. It was generally very windy, though, on the deck. Inside the ship, there really wasn't anything. They have something they call a ''library'' in its name, which has some seating and a wall of various board games, but was always closed for some private function. They have a cafe, but it's in a hallway between one of the rooms where the kids' camps were held and the bar/casino area. Even the ''internet cafe'' is a hallway, between  a bar and a dining room, and not cafe-like at all. 

• The food is overall quite nice. Good variety, well-cooked. And you can get espresso (for free :) ) with dessert, which is nice. 

• The shows and music were nice. Most of the live music was at times where I was eating or sleeping or otherwise occupied, but I caught snippets here and there, e.g. ''Moondance'' before dinner tonight.  One time I walked past karaoke and the guy singing sounded *exactly* like the guy who originally sang whatever the song was he was singing (quite impressive). Another karaoke hour was overrun with kids (I'm guessing this was a kids' camp activity?), and that was much less enjoyable.

• I don't understand the people who didn't do any excursions at all. They just stayed on ship the whole time. How did they not go stir crazy? (see: lots of dead time) I have trouble believing they spent the whole time eating and drinking (even though that *is* possible to do here). Our first night we had dinner companions, and they said they would stay on ship, that they were scared of Mexico, and would instead spend their money on spa treatments.

• I bet if they had something like a red box for movie rentals (and a dvd player in each room), that would go over well. Sometimes when I walked past rooms, I could see people watching movies on their laptops. Maybe the cost of putting in dvd players would cancel out the potential profits.  I guess they already offer a few pay-per-view movies. 

• The pools were really small. The only swimming I did was in Cozumel. Part of this was because the pools were thick with small children, and also because I tend not to just sit in water and chill out when I swim. The pools are surrounded by chairs that all face said pools, which is a bit weird, although I imagine it's designed with families in mind. Ma & Pa sit back and drink their drink served in a disco ball (I saw one) or a coconut or a tiki head and watch junior splash around with friends (when junior is not in kids' camp). 

• There are constant photo-ops. Starting shortly before dinner, in the area you have to walk through to get to one of the two main dining rooms, there is a row of maybe 5-7 photo stations with cheesy backdrops (no obligation to buy, they print them up at the end of every day, and you only pay for ones you are interested in). Similar thing when you walk off the boat. They have people dressed like pirates or natives or mexican dancers, and wave you over to take a photo. People walk around during dinner to take your photo. It's a bit much. Also, it wasn't until tonight that I saw any of the places with props/outfits to dress up in. I think they'd get a lot more activity if there was more of that. 

• The waiters and staff as a whole are nice and helpful. I think after 5 days that the trip is wearing on them a bit. I noticed one of the evening waiters flitting about when I was eating breakfast. If they all work all three shifts, man. I hope they get paid well, and buy good shoes. 

• Some things I think they should sell but they don't:
• ear plugs (snoring relatives, anyone?)
• Cough drops (travel and sick people go together)
• bobby pins/hair bands/hair clips/combs
• post cards of the ports we pulled in to (maybe they were just out. They had Key West and Belize, and then random pictures of Carnival ships) 

All right. That's all for now, folks. I'll turn in soon, and then start the delightful debarkation process tomorrow. The weather in Galveston is ~20ºF less than out here, which will be a bit of a shock, I'm sure. 

Day 4: Cozumel, Mexico.

<b>On the difference between Cozumel and Progreso:</b>

Progreso has a very small port area, with maybe 6 or so shops,including the duty free shop, and one open-air bar that has an associated cart selling beer, water and the like to people lounging around. The prices in Progreso were better, and the people seemed less strained. Also, the excursions were mostly either (1) go see awesome ruins or (2) Go to a beach. I forgot to mention that Merida (where our guide was from) has ~5,000 Americans living there, mainly retirees. 

Cozumel has everything that one thinks tourists want, making it a bit theme-park ish, even before you get to ''Discover Mexico''. This includes groups of people dressed up like Mariachis or like Mayans, calling to the tourists to have a photo-op. I climbed up some steps and looked behind the wall, for a view of lush tropical plants and several run-down, abandoned-looking buildings, maybe 20 feet behind the clean and bright port area. On our bus ride to Discover Mexico, we saw more run down and abandoned buildings. I am guessing that Cozumel has felt our economic slump as well.

First part of excursion -- Discover Mexico: an intro to Mexican art and history, complete with scale replicas of some of the more famous temples. There was a virgin of Guadalupe made entirely out of (loose!) sand (and protected very carefully by a glass case), some Dia de Los Muertos art , and even a rooster made entirely out of dried chile peppers. 

Miscellaneous stuff I learned about Mexico: 

Pre-Spanish: The Mayan culture was huge. We have something like 300 remaining temples of theirs. They Olmecs, who were adjacent and also built pyramids, were a much smaller civilization, and we have only 40 or so temples of theirs now.  The Aztecs originally lived up north, in the drier, mountainous dessert region, and after the dream one of their leaders had about the eagle holding a snake atop of a cactus, they walked south. For years. Until they found it, and settled in what is now Mexico City. 

The Spaniards kicked butt, in no small part due to their ''bio-warfare'' of European diseases,  except against the Aztecs. The Aztecs were known to be awesome warriors, stronger (and taller!) than the other tribes around. The Spaniards had to band with the other tribes to beat them, then (in classic conquerer style) conveniently forgot all promises made to said tribes and just enslaved everyone. For 300 years. 

Mexico city started off on a small island in the middle of a lake. The Aztecs built and built, slowly sort of covering up the lake, venice-style. The Spaniards who first saw it wrote back home about how it was like a dream, they couldn't believe this existed. Despite these reports, post-conquest they promptly knocked everything down and built their own stuff on top. In what is perhaps poetic justice, one of the first things they built is one of the buildings in Mexico city that is sinking (see: built atop a lake), and lopsided, tower-of-Pisa style. 

For those of you who've been to Mexico City, feel free to add your commentary about the place. I've never been, but it sounds interesting. They of course did not mention the smog, but did mention the 30 million residents, and how it is the largest city in the world. 

Post- independence, the States came in and went to take the capital. The first big palace-like building they saw they set out to take. However, it was just a (military) school for teens. One of the kids, when they could see that they were losing, wrapped himself in their flag and threw himself off the wall (seeking to save/protect/guard it).  Polk was the president, and he said, look. I'll give you 10 million dollars, and you'll give me a ton of land. So, we acquired California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, without relocating the then-residents, which is how we have such old settlements in the southwest. 

After us, the French tried to take over Mexico too, but were beaten off. This is what Cinco de Mayo celebrates.

After our extended history lesson, we headed to Chankanaab Park. We went snorkeling, which was a great way to cool down. The weather felt perfect after that (and prior it had felt a bit too warm and humid. There was a whole page of dolphin-themed excursions in our packet, and this was the location for those. So, we could see people riding with dolphins and feeding dolphins, slightly offshore. There was also a really nice sea lion show. They explained the difference between sea lions and seals: Seals use their back end for propulsion, whereas sea lions can ''walk'' on all fours. Also, sea lions have external ears, while seals do not. I can sea why you'd train a sea lion instead of a seal. The sea lions clapped and ''walked'' on their front flippers with their tails/rear in the air (looked kind of like a person walking on their hands), and some jumping through hoops. 

We had quesadillas and margaritas for lunch and headed back to port, where I nosed around and my dad went back to his room. I ended up getting a beaded necklace at Los Cinco Soles. 

Dinner brought another waiter dance-number. I am including a pic to prove that they did in fact dance on the tables :). 

I skipped out on the after-dinner show, so that's about it for my fourth day. Day 5 is at sea, so I'll probably make one more log after this for this trip. 

Day 3: Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico.

day2-day 3

Fancy dinner on day 2 was quite good. I give them an A+ for the lobster tail. About an hour in, the Maître d' had our waiters all line up and (try) to sing ''That's Amore!" At 8:30pm there was a nice after-dinner show in a theater-type room. It included people singing and dancing routines to ''One night in Bangkok" and one of the songs from Merry Poppins, and lasted a bit over an hour. 

I'd left the door to the balcony open last night, which let in the sounds of the ocean. Also, the eventual sounds of seagulls and of us pulling in to port, which was at about 5:30 am. We officially got up at 6:15am, to get to the 6:30 breakfast so that we'd have plenty of time to get down to the 0th floor and off the boat to our excursion. Ended up finishing eating at 7am, so I've learned my lesson with respect to timing. 

So, Progreso. First, Progreso is in the Yucatan. The source of the name ''Yucatan'', our guide told us, is that the Spaniards asked the Maya what the name of this place was, and they said ''I don't understand you'', but in Maya, which sounds like ''Yucatan''. 

We took a nice bus ride to the ruins at Dzibilchaltun, which means the place with the flat, written-on stones. All of the signs are tri-lingual, reflecting the general bi-lingualness of the Yucatan: 50% of the people speak both Maya and Spanish. The English is, of course, for the tourists. The going entrance rates are pretty atrocious. For ~$20 less than the listed entrance cost, I saw the ruins and then had a nice buffet later followed by a horse/charro show interspersed with dancers. 

Anyway, ruins. Apparently used to be stuccoed and then painted bright red. Time (and post-conquest neglect) wore these away and all we have left is limestone. This is an archaeological site, part of which was dug up in 1950 and the rest in the 90's. Part of why the buildings are large is that they are built on earlier settlements. The archaeologists left kind of a  cut-out of one part to show this. Also, the height and sheer amount of rock helps to cool the interiors. The base rock in the region is limestone, which acts like a sponge and soaks up all the water. So, they have no rivers, but they do have underground rivers and sinkholes (a sinkhole is a ''cenote''); the Maya settlements were all built by such things, so that they would have a fresh source of water. Underneath one of the buildings/steps a burial was found. They knew it was someone of an upper caste because of the shape of his skull --- the higher-class would take two planks and bind them to their children's heads from 2-3 days after birth for the next several years. This gave them a distinctly different appearance, like a cone-head. 

I climbed atop the pyramid we had access to. It was maybe 2-3 stories tall. The building that was first to be excavated turned out to be an astrological observation center, which they didn't realize for ~20 years -- until someone in '69 was around on the equinox and noticed that the sun rose exactly behind the thing, shining through the doorway. The closest (temporally) full moon will do the same thing as well. Pretty cool. 

There's also a church, built by the Spaniards. They liked to settle in already-established population centers, and forcibly convert the populace. They would use stones from the existing structures to build things, so the structures we saw are very-rebuilt by the archaeologists. 

After Dzibilchaltun, we went to ''Tierra Bonita'' Ranch, for a delicious buffet. In this region, food is served with a salsa like pico de gallo as well as a sauce that's ~100% habañero. I braved the heat and made myself little corn-tortilla, chicken tacos and put some sauce on as well. We also got a margarita with lunch, which was potent and delicious. 

As part of the dancing and horse/charro-show, I learned that Vera Cruz was (the?) first Spanish settlement, so their ''traditional'' garb is basically old Spanish dress, done in native colors.  We were shown a traditional dance from there as well as Jalisco, which is the source of Tequila and some other standardly Mexican things. The Charros(Mexican cowboys) were good, and generally markedly short. They could lean over (in the saddle) and pick their dropped ropes off the ground. 

Dinner was nice. Perhaps the smallest turkey dinner plate I've ever seen, but very nice. I appreciate portions designed around the format of the meal, which is starter-main-dessert here. Dessert was a very nice tiramisu and some espresso. All of this was followed by our waiters getting up on the wait stands and dancing to 'Low' by Flo-rida.  Despite the espresso, I am still exhausted. 

Day 2 of Carnival Cruise (to Progresso and Cozumel)

Today started off with a triple wake-up call at 7am. Apparently my three attempts to request a wake-up call all worked. Well, better safe than sorry. We stumbled upstairs to have an early breakfast buffet. I had scrambled eggs, potatoes, some fruit and some yogurt. My dad went for the made-to-order omelet station, which I may try in the future, although not tomorrow (because we have to leave ship by 8am). I wanted to eat so early to be able to both eat and work out in the morning. At 9 I had the class I signed up for. Body Sculpt Bootcamp, or something like that. It was a pretty intense hour. 4 exercises with 5 sets, of 16,14,10,8 and 6 repetitions. Anything would seem hard at that rate, probably, and I was glad I hadn't grabbed anything higher than a 12lb hand weight. I also was amused that the guys leading the class told the ladies with the 5lb weights to go grab 8lb weights (Well, we were supposed to have one light one and one heavier one). The rapid lifting was punctuated by running laps around the ship's track. It had rained briefly that morning on our way back from breakfast, and the track was a little slick. 

It was quite turbulent yesterday; one of my classmates said that a veteran cruise-goer had said it was the most turbulent he'd ever felt on any cruise. I'm guessing this is related to the winds blowing out of the Gulf to turn the snow in the southwest to rain by the time it hits the east coast -- we have a giant TV on the outdoor deck (I really do mean giant. Projector sized. They should have perhaps considered using a projector instead, as their TV has seen better days -- there are some dead pixels). Anyway, the TV told me that the interstate from Albuquerque, NM to the Texas border had been closed due to crazy snow. Made me enjoy my 77ºF/25ºC.

This class I took got me a $30 credit towards a massage, so I'd booked one to follow the workout. I have actually had a fair share of massages in my life, and this was the best I'd ever had, hands down. Given by a 4ft tall Philippine woman named ''Rio Joy'', which was perhaps the perfect name for a cruise ship masseuse. She used bamboo dowels and applied a ton of pressure, which was awesome. The dowels were bizarre, but I appreciate that people look for things to massage with besides just their hands to save themselves from early carpal tunnel syndrome.  She then tried to sell me on some bogus healthcare products supposed to melt away cellulite, the spiel for which I endured with my skeptical look, nodding politely. The claim that one needs a massage every 2-4 days earned her a higher eyebrow.  

Then, lunch! I have decided that the people who do the mains are not the same as the people who do the appetizers and desserts, as both sit-down meals I've eaten so far have had good start & finish and kind of 'eh, ok' mains. 

I sat outside a bit in the shade, which took some work to find.  I was pretty tired, so I broke down and bought a double espresso. Sadly, both places selling such are adjacent to large swaths of people, one by the kids-camp area, which is where I was. The included picture is of where I sat and drank my espresso, ''Vienna Cafe''. For the Illinois/Midwesterners, this region of the ship reminds me a bit of ''City Museum'' in St. Louis, complete with an ''arcade cave'' and something like the circus school. 

Then, a chill few more hours until Fancy Dinner. Tonight there's a dress code for dining, so no jeans and sandals for me. 

Tomorrow -- shore! Land! Horses! (We're going to some ruins, a horse show and a buffet as our excursion). Pictures will probably be limited right now due to wireless cost and shrinking space on my laptop. 

On a boat; Carnival Cruise (to Progresso and Cozumel) day 1

We drove 4 hours this morning to get from Austin to Galveston. It does bug me a bit to rent a car and promptly drive it somewhere and park it. Eh. Turns out it was the most economical way.

However, economy and cruises certainly do not go hand in hand. Dear me. Everything is astonishingly expensive and very little feels included. Sure, we have a bed in a room that by Cabinn Scandinavia's standards feels like a presidential suite (read: a bit cramped with the two twins, couch, and walk of shelves/cabinets). Using said hotel as a reference, the ship's bathroom is probably at least 3x the size of the bathroom at Cabinn.  I wonder what Scandinavian Cruise Ships are like. 

Getting on the ship is somewhat similar to getting onto a plane, except both more and less annoying. You can bring non-water and non-alcohol on (i.e. shampoo), there don't seem to be size limits on luggage. But there is a similar rigamarole in checking in and going through security. 

Once on board, the sheer size and population of this floating hotel-boat was a bit much. It felt very crowded, and my patience was thin. We ate lunch one deck below our room, and I discovered that the watered-down drip (''normal'') coffee is free, but the real stuff goes for semi-standard prices ($2 for an espresso). Waiters flit around, trying to get you to buy overpriced drinks. A woman near us asked them if they sold bracelets (i.e. for unlimited alcohol). Nope. 

Our timing was awkward and we ended up sitting in the room and waiting for the announcement for our safety briefing. Think: ship-is-sinking drill. After this exciting exercise----really: we had to walk down the 6 flights of stairs, and decided to walk back up as well, which really winded my dad---well, after this I ran some errands, mainly finding the gym (sweet location, lots of windows, includes a dry sauna). We had a sit-down dinner which was well enough. I had escargot as my starter. As others have said before me, anything drowned in butter and garlic is delicious. There was a pork steak for the main and a nice gateau for dessert, which included both cherries and ``kirschwasser'' (is this a type of alcohol? If not, it's amusing since it just means ''cherry water'' in German). Over dinner, we learned that the boat has ~3000 guests, and 1000 of those are children. Our dinner companions (we were seated at a 4-seater table with another group of 2 people) were complaining about the sheer number of kids on the boat and said there weren't as many kids on Royal Caribbean. 

Post-dinner involved some discussion of excursions -- so, the boat will pull into two ports. Progresso and Cozumel. Which gives 2 chances for us to spend large amounts of cash. Cozumel is clearly the more touristy of the two. Progresso has a lot of crazy old Mayan ruins and Cozumel has (wait for it--) Discover Mexico! A Mexico ``theme park'', including some informational videos and ''amazing replicas of some of Mexico's most important landmarks, buildings and archeological sites''. I read this as ``We acknowledge that (real) Mexico is dangerous, and are giving you a disney-fied version''.  We decided on an outing for Progresso, but couldn't make a definitive choice about Cozumel, so I bought tickets for Progresso. We (technically) have two days to stew over it. 

Last day in Paris-- Panthéon, Hôtel des Invalides, Fête de la Musique

Album of pics during the day:

Paris 2

1. The Panthéon:
   Having learned my lesson, I planned to leave a bit later in the day and start with the Panthéon, which is a short walk from where I was staying. I packed my three smallish water bottles and took my backpack. Unlike the day before, I was not stopped and asked (in French) for directions or what time it was, so I suppose I looked significantly more touristy.
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   The Panthéon has an interesting history. King Louis the 15th (in 1744) was quite sick and vowed to build a big cathedral to the patron saint of Paris, St. Genevieve, if he survived. He did survive, and commissioned the cathedral to be built. Construction started in 1757, and it was basically done by 1790 (economy sucked, so construction was slow), which was the early stages of the French Revolution. Then it was ordered to become a resting place of the great minds of France. This went back and forth for a while, so the inside contains murals about the life of St. Genevieve, Joan of Arc, and the angel of death, as well as statuary glorifying the revolution. It's an interesting mix.
   
   Revolution-themed statuary:
   

   From Paris 2

   
   A model of Foucault's pendulum was set up and going, so I took a little vid:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   Apparently, they don't always have it installed. Foucault used his setup in 1851 to show that the earth rotated. Here are more details about the experiment.
   
   Included among those buried are Antoine de Saint Exupery:
   

   From Paris 2

   
   The Curies:
   

   From Paris 2

   
   As well as Lagrange, Condorcet (he has a voting method :)), Voltaire, Rousseau and others.
   
   I walked in right after the hourly group had gone up to the colonnade/exterior of the building, so I killed an hour wandering around. This was our first view when we went up:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   and then this:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   Pardon the weird angle. I was trying to take pictures quickly, and there was a very short woman kind of jostling me.
   
   The Panthéon exterior, from its roof:
   

   From Paris 2

   
   The Eiffel tower and the skyscrapers off in the distance, sharing a skyline:
   

   From Paris 2

   
   I was actually very pleased to see the skyscrapers. I'm glad that they were kept away from the historical neighborhoods, and I also had this satisfaction that they existed.
   
   I have heard of certain tapestry-makers (historically?) that purposefully added defects to their work, so as not to anger the gods (something like -- making 'perfect' things would make the gods jealous). The skyscrapers were for me akin to this.
   
   I liked that the entire group of people I was with looked out at the skyline, saw what I saw, and turned away to take cheesy pictures of the Eiffel tower. I like that this was not Disneyland-Paris (there is, by the way, a Disneyland Paris, somewhere in the outskirts).
   
   
2. Walking around, mainly St. Germain:
   Once that was over, I walked around the area of St Germain. Lots of neat little stores. Saw this, which amused me:
   

   From Paris 2

   
   Also, meringues. I saw some as big as my head. The ones I took a picture of where only the size of a fist or two:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   I walked a bit too much, but I did consider trying to take the metro. I was just unclear on which to take and where to take them.
   
   
3. Hôtel des Invalides:
   By around 17:00/17:30, I ran into the Hôtel Invalides, and figured, hey, I'm here. I should probably look around.
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   Turns out, the gold dome is the building built to house Napoleon's remains. Behind it is the 'hospital' proper, which is now the museum of the army. I paid the extra 2 euros to see the special exhibit, which was a lot of cool armor from various European countries. The best pieces were from Sweden, including full armoring for a horse and its rider (former King of Sweden, Eirik the something). This was a helmet nearby:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   There was a mini tank (one of the earliest tanks) on display in the corridor:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   Done with that, I went to see the inside of Napoleon's tomb. There's a large floor and as you walk in, you see that there's a circular hole in the middle of it, containing a very large container and some creepy angels:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   Above the hole is the dome itself:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   
   Behind this hole in the floor is a gaudy and impressive altar, flanked by two orange-yellow stained glass windows which suit the gold quite well:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   There were rooms to the side containing various statuary or remains, with blue glass windows which gave awesome lighting:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   You take the stairs on either side of the alter down behind it to enter the downstairs/crypt proper. Above the entrance is the following inscription:
   
   

   From Paris 2

   
   I love this. I love that he asked to have his ashes spread along the banks of the Seine "to intermingle with the French people I have loved so much", and then, not only do they not follow his wishes, they flaunt it by putting the quote above where they stuffed his bones.
   
   
4. Dinner! For my last day, I decided to have a nice dinner. My friend's boyfriend asked the price, and referred to it as 'gastronomy' (fancy food). I walked around for a while, looking at menus, deliberating. I started reading a menu at one place and realized it was in English(with a French version adjacent)! Also, the food sounded tasty, so I was sold. The place was called "Le Doucet". I had the 'brick salmon', which was a nice salmon fillet cooked wrapped in a sheet of super thin pastry, over thin green beans and with a white sauce that tasted very faintly like tartar sauce. I also had a glass of rosé with dinner as well as dessert. In ordering the dessert, I had a little trouble with language. The waitress was trying to tell me in English what their desserts were. The first thing sounded like "Beurre" tart. I asked several times, and still didn't understand. She drew a picture on my placemat. "Ah! Pear!" There was also the choice of tiramisu, and I stopped her at creme brûlée. The custard part was very light, a shade heavier than whipped cream. Total cost of the meal was 28.5 euros. Hey, I'd had several meals of cheese and bread (a whopping total of maybe 5 euros), so I wasn't breaking the bank :).
   
   
5. Fête de la Musique:
   Turns out, for summer solstice, Paris/France throws a huge party. Bands all over the city, in some regions as common as on every street corner. Here's more on the history. Apparently, it's been going on since 1982.
   
   The banks of the Seine, filled with music-makers and people enjoying the Fête:
   

   From Paris-Fete-Musique

   
   Notre Dame was open and free to the public, so we went in. They had a projector running lyrics to some chant music being played. Think new age music:
   

   From Paris-Fete-Musique

   
   
   The metro was free that night, but heavily re-routed, so it took some work to get on a train to go back to the apartment. I don't think I could've figured it out on my own.
   
   
6. On getting back in to the states:
   I got up the next day and went to the Charles de Gaulle airport to fly home. I was there early (somewhere between 8:30 and 9), and our flight was 3 hrs late, with a very long and slow line to check baggage (since they had to re-book everyone with a connection).
   
   There were a lot of beautiful people in Paris, although I found this marred by the sheer number of them who were chain smokers. The worst dressed non-homeless non-tourist was still better dressed than all of my students, who are the main example of American 'fashion' I have as a reference point these days. Taking the El from O'Hare to Union Station, I noticed how most people had ill-fitting clothes, big and baggy, even the guy in a suit. A man got on the train who was, at his widest, at least 4x my size. This trend was even more pronounced at the Amtrak station. Last time coming back, I noticed the poor. This time, the morbidly obese.
   

A (parting) word on photography. People have commented on my photos, so I thought I'd say something about how I take them:

1. Camera: This is the camera I am using.
   
   Here are its main advantages:
   (1) it is very small (about the size of a deck of cards)
   (2) because it is small, I find it easy to take everywhere (just stuff it in a pocket), which encourages me to take pictures
   
   I went from rarely taking pictures to taking lots of pictures, and experience really makes all the difference in taking decent pictures.
   
   
2. Flash/lighting: I almost never use flash. I still take nighttime photos by holding very very still, and I try to make the best use of what natural lighting is around during the day. This has the added benefit of meaning I rarely have to charge my camera battery.
   
   
3. Post-processing: When I started using Picasa (Gmail's photo interface), I noticed that they had a few options of stuff you could do to photos, and I started playing around with the settings. When I got my laptop, I saw that iPhoto has a similar setup. A few small touches go a long way. For the photos of Norway, I mainly darkened them because the light was so severe. I have done some tinting, especially this trip---the photo I took of the lake in the fog was step 1 of the tinting process in Picasa, which wipes the color to some degree, but is not quite conversion to black and white. Etc.
   

Paris - Day 2 - Louvre

For the impatient, the whole album of days 0-2:

Paris 1

1. The Louvre:
   
   Taking some advice, I got up and got going early enough to make it to the Louvre at opening (9am). I was, as a result, one of the first 100-200 people in the museum, which was nice.
   
   Morning at the Louvre:
   

   From Paris 1

   From Paris 1

   
   Only other person in the sculpture hall was the security guard/person:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   I saw something recently, some arts rant/ mini-movie that talked about the backsides of statues, so I was inspired to take this picture (which I think turned out quite well):
   
   

   From Paris 1

   
   Also, this dude has a great eyebrow:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   Psyche and Cupid:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   

   From Paris 1

   
   Famous stuff I got to see:
   
   1. A quick glance at the Mona Lisa (sheesh. That room was *packed*!)
      
   2. The Nike of Samothrace
      
   3. Cupid & Psyche
      
   4. Probably other stuff that I had no idea was famous.
      
   I concentrated mainly on Greek/Roman/Etruscan statuary to maintain my sanity. I also gave up after about 2 hours, being parched, and a bit overwhelmed. The din didn't help. Everything is marble, so the noise of hordes of tourists became deafening.
2. Walking to Place de la Concorde
   My first view of the Eiffel tower:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   After leaving the Louvre and discovering that it had basically stopped attempting to drizzle, I decided to walk around, to the Eiffel tower, Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Trioumphe, which was about 3.5 mi total at that point, and then I kept walking.
   
   Views while walking:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   Cleopatra's needle and the Eiffel tower:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   The base of Cleopatra's needly bears a drawing/schematic filled in with gold that shows something of how they transported the thing to Paris.
   
   I enjoy that the Place de la Concorde also holds this gem:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Arc de Triomph, "eh, it's not that far..."
   

   From Paris 1

   
   When I arrived, I discovered that entrance to the underbelly wasn't free. Psh. So, I took a few pictures and kept walking.
   
   

   From Paris 1

   
   At that point, I could see the Eiffel tower, and figured 'Hey, why not?'
   
   
4. Eiffel Tower
   Voila:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   I decided that I did not feel like putting up with a 1-2hr wait in line to get up the tower and see possibly not much, and in poor lighting (see: it had been raining). So, I had an espresso and sat and looked at the tower for a while.
   
   
5. Etc
   Walking along, I stumbled into this in a random alleyway:
   

   From Paris 1

   
   
   

Some notes:

1. I really should have brought a bag to carry water in. I was parched.
   
2. I was kind of nervous about stopping at a cafe. I knew there were three different price schemes (at the bar (cheapest), inside, outside (most expensive)) and I also had experienced that despite everyone's claims, plenty of people in Paris spoke no English. And, as proven before, my ability to speak even miniscule amounts of French was laughable. So, I just didn't stop. Turns out, this was a bad idea.
   
3. Sunscreen. Wear sunscreen. Even if it's supposed to rain, and you have the (sorely mistaken) notion that you'll be spending 5 hrs in the Louvre/inside, out of the 12 or so hours you have to be out and about. I didn't, and was lobster-ish by the end of the day. This also didn't help my mood.
   

There's this quote about Paris being a moveable feast.
I'll comment on this.
Imagine a corridor heading off to the horizon, full of table after table of delicious-looking food, ready to be shoveled or tong-ed or slid onto your plate. The near-infinitude of this room should inspire you to reconsider the common buffet technique of sampling a bit of everything. That way lies madness. Your plate is of limited size, in contrast to the room. This is my feel both on the Louvre and Paris as a whole. There are a lot of beautiful, interesting things. Resign yourself to not seeing them all. Prioritize. Enjoy thoroughly what you decide to go see. Don't forget to stop and smell the roses, drink the wine, have a coffee, enjoy the breeze.

Paris - Day 1, with math people

Day 1:

The day got a late start, with me walking 40 minutes to the Bastille metro stop to meet two other people who are situdents at UIUC, but in Paris for a math school/program through next month.

Where the Bastille once was:

From Paris 1

We walked over to "the best felafel in town", which also happens to be endorsed by Lenny Kravitz for some reason. It *was* the best felafel I'd ever had. They have a good system. You walk up, confused. Guy walks up and asks if you want take away or eat in. We said take away, and got shuffled to Guy #2 who asks for our order "Felafel?" yes, 3. Ok, 5 euros. lhen we are handed our ticket and number, and told to wait in a line by the side. The line advances as people hand in their tickets and it doesn't take long at all before we're walking off with delicious food. We manage to find the one park in Paris where you can't drink, so we finish up lunch and head to the banks of the Seine to have some wine, look at the Notre Dame, and watch barges and tours go by.

The Seine:

From Paris 1

Notre Dame:

From Paris 1

We wandered over to Jardin de Luxembourg (Jardin = Garden) and enjoyed the grass that was for looking at instead of sitting on, for a while.

Garden for looking at:

From Paris 1

From Paris 1

The wine was putting us all to sleep, as was the mild sun.

Cute octopus logo we saw when walking around:

From Paris 1

Returning to my friend's apt, saw this micro gas station:

From Paris 1

After we parted ways,I bought some camembert cheese and italian lunchmeat and made a little meal of that.