Yup, Still Rocks

September 23rd

Today was a gift from the travel gods. Thanks to French trucking rules, we were not allowed to leave Paris until 10pm. Woe is me, right? Go here to see a ton of photos from this day and here to see photos I took last year on my trip to the Louvre.

I spent the morning alone shopping in and near the Centre Pompidou. They have an awesome gift shop, even if they are professionally a pain in my ass.

The outside of this building is so weird. I love it.

Paris is beautiful on any day, but coming from Moscow it felt like heaven. Unlike Russia, I was content to be alone for several hours soaking up the light, wide boulevards, vistas, and amazing architecture like the Hotel De Ville and the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Gorgeous.

Outside the Cathedral these dudes had parked themselves in the middle of a busy pigeon packed tourist area to play chess. Of all the serene beautiful places in Paris to contemplate a game of strategy, this would not be my first choice.

Anytime I see this church, I am reminded of my first trip to Europe with my grandparents. Paris was the last stop on a 14 day trip and my grandmother had picked up the cold being passed around our tour bus. During an architecture talk outside the church, a nice German guy on the trip gave her a packet of medicine and told her it was a miracle cure for the cold. My Gram thanked him and proceeded to put the pill in her mouth. Turns out it was an Alka-Seltzer and she started to foam at the mouth! I have never seen anything like it! An old white haired lady spitting all over the place and looking totally insane!

Anyway....

Paris is deceivingly big. The Musee d'Orsay seemed close on the map but I walked along the river for a long time. Stalls selling old porn magazines, used books, original art and trinkets line the sidewalk for miles.

I met Hans and PJ for a yummy French lunch at a fancy cafe (wish I could remember the name now). I especially enjoyed watching these two people watching other people.

After lunch we strolled through the museum. This place is flipping beautiful and the art ain't too shabby either.

PJ was really ticked because he had talked up this gallery of large scale Courbet paintings and of course, it was the only closed gallery. I don't really know why, but this photo cracks me up!

In general, PJ was cracking me up. I took this photo of the metro station while waiting for him to sort out his ticket mix up. Basically, when his ticket didn't work correctly, he tried to sneak in through the exit. THAT did not work out too well.

And then....when we wound up back in the dreaded blue light special minivan later that night, he decided that the floor was the best spot to pass the 14 hours from Paris to Bilbao.