Shannon's Travel Blog

Where I live is awesome...

2010-07-30T18:03:00.003+03:00

Copy of an Email I sent to my fam...

As I drove home tonight, I had the strongest urge to share with you all the beauty and quite frankly the magic that is Chiang Mai. There is no way to properly describe the feeling of driving home on your bike, weaving seamlessly in and out of traffic, a warm summer breeze on your face. As you leave the traffic and chaos of the vibrant Sunday Market, passing the massive ancient eastern gates, the noise dies and you can hear the birds singing their evening song as you drive along the moat. The bars along the moat road all put Christmas lights around their entrances and it is by this soft light you drive with the old city on your left and the fountains in the moat on your right. Coming to the corner of the old city, you lean into the turn, feeling the centrifugal force on your bike as you tip the bike to its side to make the sharp corner in the shadow of the old wall. Quickly straitening from your turn, you prepare to move to the right of the road and go through the brightly lit western gate that marks the beginning of Suthep Road. Because the traffic is light, you easily glide across the lanes, cross the moat, and turn onto Suthep. As you drive past Wat Suan Dok (The Buddhist University) and the Chiang Mai Neurological Center, you look up into the dark sky to see it lit by Wat Doi Suthep. This famous temple sits atop the mountains that overlook Chiang Mai and features a giant gold stupa (Buddhist spire). The stupa is so bright, you can see it clearly, as well as the surrounding buildings lit by the reflection of golden light off the stupa. And because of the darkness, it seems as if the temple is suspended in the air, looking down at you from heaven.

Nearing the university, the traffic increases and you are surrounded at the stop light by students in casual dress instead of the familiar university uniform (it is a Sunday after all). Driving along the road outside the university, you must be careful of all the motorbikes zooming about, as well as the cars and hundreds of bikes that line the road as students get dinner and coffee at one of the dozens of food stands and make-shift restaurants that line the road. It is already 8:30 at night, but business is just starting, and the four-lane road will be busy until 11 pm. Finally, you see the main gate of the university on your right, and you turn left into the single lane that leads to your apartment. As you drive slowly along, you notice students studying in the donut shop that offers free wi-fi (midterms are this week) and a tall, skinny student carrying his laundry back to his apartment across the street. As you slow to let a car pass, you see a freshman paying the very stylish barber for his new haircut before zooming up the hill, passing the outdoor coffee shop and Christmas-light-adorned bar filled with students getting their drink on before Buddhist Lent begins in the morning. Slowly, you turn into your apartment complex, smiling at the Policemen statues lining the wall and waving at the tiny guard that makes it a point to ask where you’re going every morning, despite the fact that it never changes: Bpai Nai Wan-nii (where are you going today)? Chan Bpai Rian Moto-sai (I go to study the motorcycles). Parking your bike in a space that is much too small but is mercifully underneath the awning, promising a dry seat in the morning, you wiggle out of the space between bikes and head up to your apartment for a blessed shower and bed, utterly grateful that you get to live in such an awesome place.

Mommy, Wow! I'm a Thai Girl Now!

2010-06-29T12:16:00.000+03:00

There are four things that are required for Thai citizenship: 1. Driving a motorcycle with a bag the size of you strapped to the back 2. Making a U-turn on a super highway with said motorcycle 3. Surviving said U-turn and 4. Repeating the above steps with various sundry items hanging from your arms and wedged between your legs. I am very proud to say that, having spent two years studying motorcycle use in Thailand, I have finally done all four. Yesterday I moved into my new apartment. I had been renting a motorcycle for my first few days while I got settled, and because I didn’t know how to tell a Rot Dang (taxi) how to get to my new place, I just took multiple trips on the bike, with the help of a Thai friend to strap things down. Surprisingly, it really wasn’t that hard. I’ll admit I didn’t love the super highway, but they are designed for U-turns and crazy traffic and what-not so that was fine. And having things strapped to the back is about the same as having a person on the back. It’s actually easier because it doesn’t move around, although the limited space makes shifting interesting. So there you go, I can finally empathize with all these crazy people putting ridiculous amounts of stuff on their bikes. They’re dead useful, cheap, and unbelievably convenient.

Other than that craziness, things are going well here. I’m living in off-campus student housing by Chiang Mai University and really look forward to making Thai friends my age. I also stayed at a really cool hostel for my first few days here while I was looking for an apartment. The Thai guy that runs it (Nung) is awesome and I really like all the people living there right now so it’s been fun to hang out with them. The only downside to my trip so far (besides leaving part of my luggage at home and having my taxi driver from the airport attempt a lengthy discussion with me about the size of my breasts) is that the camera I use for my research is broken and I may have to buy a new one. So that’s a little stressful, but other than that it’s GREAT here. The food is amazing. I’ve had all my favorites but two so far (that’s on the to-do list today). Plus it’s flat-out gorgeous here. Hotter than Hades, but beautiful. I really wish you were all here so I could show you around and share the awesomeness that is Chiang Mai. For now though, this blog will have to do. TTYL!

PS. For those family members that are freaking out about my use of the motorcycle, I’m turning it back in today and going back to taxi’s so you can relax. That’s it, breath, breath, there you go….

In case you didn't already have a reason to vote, take some of mine...

2008-11-04T09:09:00.006+02:00

A lot of people have been telling us to vote this year: celebrities, candidates, teachers, friends, strangers. But I still find many people that tell me they probably won't vote this election. A lot of people cite the fact that they don't really like any of the candidates and that they are sick of choosing the lesser of two evils. They say that one vote doesn't really count, and that they aren't really educated on the issues.

While I wish the above wasn't true, I have to concede that those are all valid reasons for not voting. One vote really doesn't count. It doesn't. Not in an national election anyway. Even in Florida, where it was so close, that was still 587 votes, not one. But I suppose that it could count in a city council election, or maybe in a state race. And after all, isn't that why we vote? I mean how much power does the president have over your daily life? Does he decide how much your speeding ticket is gonna cost you? Or where you can park your car? Does he decide how your school is going to be run, or how clean your city park is going to be, or how good public transportation is, or when hunting season ends? Probably not. But your local leaders do, and in those races, I'd like to venture that your vote really does count. So that's one reason...

Here's another: Voting is a fundamental part of this country's founding and identity. You honestly can't call yourself American if you don't vote because voting and having a voice was what it was all about back in 1776. The colonies weren't protesting taxes. That's not why they dumped a bunch of tea into a harbor. When you think about it, they had some of the lightest taxes in the British Kingdom, certainly less than what people that lived in England were paying. No, the reason they dumped the tea, the reason they started a war, and the reason they founded a country was because they didn't get to be apart of the decision to have taxes. No taxation without representation. That's what started this whole thing. That's what the founding fathers risked everything for. That's what our ancestors died for. That's what this country is founded upon. Voting. Representation. Having a voice. So there's another reason...

And now I'd like to add one more, that is a little more personal to me. I am personally asking you to vote today because you can. Because you know that no matter who or what you vote for, you can be assured that it will be counted and recorded and if you are with the majority, it will be enacted. As many of you know, I work in International Development. I spend my time learning about impoverished, oppressed nations that have little in the way of comfort, human rights, or even basic dignity. This summer, I went to Southeast Asia and visited Burma. Many people heard about Burma because of the Tsunami. In one day entire villages were swept away, thousands of people died, and fields full of rice were destroyed. People were starving. In the midst of all this, the military dictatorship forced people to stop scavenging for food and shelter (I say scavenging because the government was certainly not providing them with any help) and made them go vote for a bogus constitution that would "legitimize" the illegal and brutal regime there. And if you didn't vote in favor of the constitutional referendum, there was a good chance you would be beaten, or even killed. Oh, and the reason they need a constitutional referendum to "legitimize" their dictatorship is because some years ago, the country held a democratic election and elected Aung San Suu Kyi, a nobel peace prize winner. But of course the military dicatorship didn't like this result very much so she's been under house arrest for 15 years while her supporters have been beaten to death in prison.

Then there was the elections in Zimbabwe this summer. The dictator there has effectively destroyed the country, but fortunately there was a man smart enough and brave enough to challenge President Mugabe in a democratic election. Unfortunately, this man (who had already won a majority in a general election) was in so much danger that he had to flee the country while his supporters were beaten in the street by government-supported goons. President Mugabe won a second general election shortly thereafter.

Now I know that it's annoying to have everyone yelling at you to vote, and even more annoying to have someone guilt you into voting but I want to leave you all with this thought. When I was in Thailand I passed by a humble political rally one day. I asked one of the volunteers what the rally was about and she explained that it was a rally encouraging the Thai people to protect their constitution. The volunteer then asked where I was from. When I told her I was from America, she spent the next ten minutes explaining to me how wonderful my constitution was, that it's been around for two hundred years and that I was so lucky because my leaders had to follow what the constitution said no matter what. She just kept saying over and over how wonderful my constitution was and how lucky I was to have it and how lucky I was that I could vote because of it and that I could hold my leaders accountable because of it. She said I was lucky because I had so much power, so many rights...

I can't make the elections in Zimbabwe free and fair. I can't overthrow the brutal dictatorship in Burma. I can't even stop the recent coup that is destroying the Thai constitution. But I can respect all the people that suffer through these scenarios by exercising the gift and the right that I have been blessed to receive. Please, don't insult their hardships by tossing away the privilege you have like it was some kind of annoyance or burden. Vote. Vote because it counts. Vote because it's American. Vote because you know it will be counted, recorded, and adhered to. Vote simply because you can, and that is a rare and beautiful thing.

2007-05-16T01:23:00.000+03:00

This is Andre. Isn't he cute! Seriously, this kid stole my heart. It was hard for me to leave him. I spent every day with him the hospital and he was always so glad to see me. If I could have taken home one kid from the hospital, he would have been the one. I just loved this kid so much and I really knew that he needed me. There is something very special about spending a lot of time holding a young baby that is completely dependent on you for food, warmth, love. The children in that hospital are so pure, so precious. Even with the hopelessness and pain that you experience with them, there is a healing power that comes from letting your heart be touched by these little spirits. Serving them truly changes you in ways that are near impossible here in the states. When you leave Romania, you will carry with you a capacity to love that you never thought possible before.

2007-05-16T00:59:00.000+03:00

This is Constica. Many of you heard about the story where I had to go all mission impossible in order to get to him in the hospital. For those of you who haven't heard the story, let's just say it entailed hiding under beds, sneaking around a hospital floor, diving in and out of rooms, fighting with very powerful doctors, and potentially getting kicked out of the hospital for good. But it was worth it. If we hadn't come, he and another kid from the orphanage would have spent their days and nights lying in their own urine, starving, and scared to death. That's what Romania does to you. It makes you realize that you would do absolutely anything, ANYTHING, to help a child. It makes you imagine what Heavenly Father must be feel for us ya know? And besides, do you really think I could have resisted that angel of a face. I mean come on!

2007-05-16T00:58:00.000+03:00

This beautiful girl is my Iuliana. My angel, my sweetheart, my princess. I got closer to her than any other child in Romania and I would have adopted her in a heartbeat. She has cerebral palsy and autism and is a very difficult child, but when you take the time to get to know her, you come to realize that she possesses the most precious of souls. She really loves sound and music and it is such a gift when you make her happy. She isn't happy often because the workers neglect and abuse her, but when you are able to understand her, and make her happy, well... there are few things in the world as beautiful as that. She has so much love to give, and so much she can teach you about love and sacrifice. I seriously would go to the ends of the earth to protect this girl, as I would with any of my children, but especially her. I can honestly tell you that getting a child that has been hurt so badly, that has so many tears and so much pain, that is practically incapable of trusting anyone or anything, getting a child like that to trust you is a remarkable experience. One that will change you forever.

2007-05-16T00:40:00.000+03:00

Mmk. This is Mihai. Talk about a punk. I worked with him for three hours every day. This kid is a CHARMER! If you even looked at him he would just smile and smile and laugh. Of course it was all a ruse for attention, and it worked pretty dang well! Mihai has cerebral palsy, doesn't talk, can't move much, is as smart as a whip and will do anything to get his way. This may include learning how to breath through a narrow slit between his lips when we would plug his nose to get him to open his mouth so we could feed him his disgusting food, or it might entail learning how to wiggle off the couch and make a break for the door in the short time we turn our backs to watch the other children. Seriously though, I love this kid. He truly is such a charmer and has an incredible desire to learn that is truly rare in an orphanage. With the proper love and guidance, he could go very far and have a pretty happy life.

2007-05-16T00:35:00.000+03:00

Ok, I have to be honest. I didn't really care for this kid the first time I met him. He was tired and cranky and the most unresponsive child I had ever met (which is saying something in my line of work). Luckily, one of the girls convinced me to go back, and then he stole my heart. This kid, Mihai is his name, is the cutest dang thing on the planet. True he is a gypsy and had so much lice in his hair you could see it crawling, but the kid is the most joyous creature on the planet! He absolutely loves balloons. I mean LOVES them. He would pass it back and forth with you for hours if you let him, and the whole time he would have this huge grin on his face with an occasional burst of laughter. he was always happy and was so chubby and adorable. It was always hard to leave him at the end of the day. I could have played with that kid for forever!

2007-05-15T22:08:00.000+03:00

This is Ionuti and he is just a barrel of laughs! I LOVE this kid! He's a gypsy and he spent three months in the hospital because of kidney problems. We all loved going to see Ionuti. He had the most infectious laugh and he just loved to play with anything and everything! He loved to tease you and rough house and joke. He was a great pick-me-up when you were drained from holding babies. And he had the funniest run the world. He looked like a duck or something as he waddled down the hall. And he was always trying to steal your stuff, just to see if you would notice (don't worry, he always gave it back before you left). The look on his face when he realized that he got you was priceless. It was just pure joy that only a child can have. Pretty much all this kid's faces were priceless. He was pretty much the greatest kid every.

2007-05-15T22:01:00.000+03:00

This is Iulia, my sweetheart. Most days she was the only reason that I went to the hospital. She was there the whole four months and she had no family. Since she was in constant pain, it was sometimes hard to spend time with her, but man did that girl teach me! She had the sweetest spirit and she absolutely refused to give up. Her courage and perseverance would inspire even the most hardened hearts. She ended up not making it in the end, but her spirit will always be with all of us. Romania teaches you a lot about God's love, about people, but most of all it teaches you about life and death, about the reality and joy that is the plan of salvation, and about the wonderful peace that comes with knowing that death is not the end, that there is a spiritual paradise, and that this veil of tears is nothing but a test that we must pass through on our way to eternal life.

2007-05-15T21:57:00.000+03:00

This is Ionella. When we got to the hospital, she was very sick and very very pale. It was always touch and go with her, but after a few surgeries and a lot of love, she pulled through and was a whole new baby! It's really amazing to be able to see all of these kids go from deaths door to happy and healthy and amazing! It will really change your world. And the best part about Ionella is that she actually had a family! They just lived too far away to stay at the hospital with her. So once she got better she got to go home with her family and live a normal life! She truly was one of our happy endings.

2007-05-15T21:50:00.000+03:00

This is Petrica. He has downs syndrom and is pretty much a ball of joy. He smiles all the time, is so ticklish and loves to just roll around on the floor and play. The second you see him, you know that he needs you. There is so much joy in his face and love in his eyes. He loves to chew on just about anything and he loves to hear his own voice and just about any other noise. At any given moment you can hear him gabbering in the corner or banging a toy against something. And he has the cutest little army crawl! He looks like an inch worm as he scrunches his way from one side of the room to the other. He's great and is ALWAYS there to make you smile.

2007-05-15T21:01:00.000+03:00

And last but not least is little Octavian. Isn't he adorable?! When he came to the hospital, he was premature and so little. He was always sick and had to have numerous surgery. There were so many days that we would go to the hospital expecting him to have passed away during the night, but he was always there. What a fighter this guy is. We never really knew if was going to make it or not, but about two weeks before we left, he had a miraculous turn around! He gained about 10 lbs, and he started smiling and laughing and responding. He would play and look at you, all the things he never did before! It was a miricle! And we all know that it would never have happened if someone handn't been there to love him and take care of him. Someone to show him that there was a reason to live and that there were people that loved him. And at the end of the daying, knowing that you helped give a little baby a reason to go on, is really all that matters.

PICTURES

2006-11-11T18:19:00.000+02:00

Pictures of the Sacre Couer and the Notre Dame at night. Pretty huh?

2006-11-11T17:29:00.000+02:00

Hokay, the first is Sheri eating the world's yummiest Pastry in the world. The second is actually a funny story. We had just gotten a bunch of bread and that pastry for food for the day and then we went down to the metro to wait for our train. Well we're sitting down there and this guy on the opposite platform starts asking us where we got our bread and then he just stops and says, "holy crap, what are you guys doing here?!" It was Chris, our friend from the Eiffle Tower!!!! Of all the metro stops, in all of Paris! It was crazy! So he ran over and we talked some more, told him a lot of stuff was closed today but certain things weren't, and then took a picture because come on, who'd of thought we would run into him! So yeah, that's Chris. And then the last is us hanging out at the Touleries at the fountain. Good times!

2006-11-11T16:36:00.000+02:00

Ok, so I am having trouble putting pictures up, so the written word will have to suffice, sorry. So what are we up to now…, oh right, Monday. Well on Monday we had planned to go to Versailles, but the funny thing about France is that most things are closed on Monday (don’t ask me why). Well we realize this at like 11 o’clock on Sunday night. So I was designated to get up at 7am and walk to the internet café to see if it’s closed. So I get up at 7:30, stumble over to my suitcase, and decide that jeans aren’t worth it and that PJs will suffice. So I stumble downstairs and out onto the street. Picture this: me, shuffling along a side-street, in the rain, in the middle of Paris, at 7:30 in the morning, in my PJs. Pretty funny isn’t it? I would have thought so too except that I was really freaking tired and the Indian bar next door smelled bad. Well, I found a café and it turned out that Versailles was closed. Suck. Times ten. Seeing as there was nothing I could do about it though, I stumbled back to the hotel, back to the room, announced that it was closed, got back in bed, and slept till one.

Well around one we decided that since we are in fact in Paris for one more day, we might as well enjoy it, and we spent the day kind of tooling around Paris and seeing things that we had managed to miss, or that we wanted to see again. We started out at the Louvre. That was fun to just kind of wander. We saw a lot of random pieces like a larger-than life painting of Louis the XIIII and a bunch by this guy Turner that I really really like. It was fun. We left at five and walked down the Touleries or the Royal Garden. It was sooo beautiful and there were people everywhere and the sun came out. There was this huge fountain right in the middle where a whole bunch of people were just relaxing and we decided to just stop for a bit and relax too. It was great. We did a lot of people watching and talking about random things and just generally enjoying the atmosphere. There were a bunch of kids running around playing with boats, and people reading in chairs by the fountain, and the sun was shining with a gentle breeze that blew a cool mist from the fountain and we were just sitting on the edge of the fountain taking it all in. It was one of the coolest experiences in Paris for me.

After that we went to the Place De Le Concord which is where everyone was executed by the guillotine during the French Revolution. It’s in the center of a giant round-about right in front of the palace and Touleries and it’s pretty cool. The best part though, was when we were walking along the outside of the square and I stop in front of a random building to fix my ponytail that was falling out. Well as I was doing this, a soldier comes up to me and starts speaking to me very sternly in French. I told him I was sorry, but I didn’t speak French. So he says in English “You can’t stop here, that building is an embassy, Etats-Unis” Well my eyes must have gotten really big because as I said, “oh I didn’t know, I’m really really sorry! We’re going now.” He just kind of smiles at me and winks as he turns and goes back to his post. Did I forget to mention that he was cute? And he was guarding the United States Embassy? And he was in uniform? Yeah, it was a nice moment.

Well after that we head up to the Sacra Coeur because I hadn’t seen it yet. That was really cool. We took the metro up to Monmartre (neighborhood Moulin Rouge is set in) and walk through all these crooked, cobble-stoned streets lined with bars and cafes and random shops, used book stores, art stores all clinging to the side of this hill. All of it was so cramped and random and it just had the coolest feel. And when I say cramped, I mean cramped. We had to stop for a minute for something and while I was waiting for the other two girls, I watched this guy get his car, which literally had 6 inches between his rear bumper and a van, and about 3 inches between his front bumper and another car, out of the parking spot and onto a road that was about one car width wide. The whole time I sat there thinking, this guy is never gonna be able to do this. But as I watched him push one car forward with his bumper, and the other car backwards with his other bumper, low and behold, right before my very eyes, the guy actually manages to get his car out after about a dozen maneuvers! And the best part is that when he was done he looks over at me with this look of triumph and puts his hands in the air and whadya know, I actually clapped for the guy. It was pretty impressive and all I got to say is Provo drivers got nothin on Parisians when it comes to parallel parking.

Aaaaaanyway, we finally get to this neat little trolly thing that takes you up the side of the hill to the top where the Sacra Coeur is and up we go. We step out of the tram into the soft summer twilight and our ears are filled with the gentle sound of the breeze in the trees and people talking quietly as they sat on the steps, and someone playing John Lennon on a guitar. It was so serene and so beautiful. That’s the thing about Paris though, you can get all these really different feelings, all these really different atmospheres in one city, but no matter what, they are all beautiful. Not a single one wasn’t. Anyway, we walk a few steps toward the guitar player, look up, and there’s the white Sacra Coeur rising up above a beautiful hill-side of grass with a grand, white-stone stairway leading up to it. And as we turned around, we saw the entire city laid out before us in the setting sun. It was stunning. So we just sat there in the twilight and talked about things as the Chinese guitarist sang “Imagine.” It was so so peaceful and chill and sooo cool. Anyway, we eventually go up to the Sacra Coeur and go inside. It’s really beautiful in there and I just love the glass. I think it’s much prettier than the Notre Dame and it actually feels more like a church than the Notre Dame. It was quite, and there really weren’t that many people in there. It was really beautiful. I liked it a lot.

Well around this time the other two were getting hungry so we set off on a quest for food. Much to my chagrin we end up at the McDonalds by the Pantheon, so dumb. Oh well though, what can you do. Our server was actually really really cool though so I can’t complain too much. He got on to Sheri for not knowing what she wanted since we were from America and he was genuinely shocked when we told him that we didn’t eat McD’s in the states because it was shack-nasty. Oh yeah, that’s how we found out that they serve beer at McD’s too, we asked and he couldn’t understand why it was weird to have beer served at McDonalds. Gotta love Europe. After that we went back to the Notre Dame. It was dark by now and most of the tourists were gone, so we just hung out in the big square in front of it and listened to the musician that was sitting near us. It was getting late, but we decided that we wanted to do one more thing before we went home, so Sheri decided that we should try and find the Ritz because it was in an Audrey Hepburn movie and she loves Audrey. The only problem was that we had NO IDEA where the Ritz was. But that of course was a tiny insignificant detail and we head off in search for the Ritz.

First we stopped at the crepe stand at the corner of the Notre Dame to get a crepe and ask if the guy knew where the Ritz was. His response was priceless. We go up and ask if he knows English. He says he does (he was pretty young, blonde, our age, maybe a couple years younger) Anyway, so we ask him if he knew where the Ritz was and he looked at us for a couple of seconds and says “No, but if you take me with you I will find it!” Hysterical. So we get our crepes, talk with this scared thirteen-year-old from Michigan that was getting a crepe as well, say our goodbyes and continue along the Seine. (The crepes were fabulous by the way, heaven in my mouth.) So we’re walking along looking for someone to ask our question to, but we can’t find anyone and we didn’t want to just go up and ask random people. So Sheri starts singing this song, which goes something like this, “Somebody talk to me, somebody talk to me, I want somebody to come up and talk to me.” Well we decide to stop at a bridge real quick and take a pic and within thirty seconds of her finishing this song (backed up of course by Marina’s and I’s amazing vocals), this drunk man comes up to us and starts kissing Marina on the cheek. Imagine our surprise! He starts asking what we were doing and where we were going in French as he’s like hanging on Sheri and Marina and I look over at Sheri and her face lights up and she yells, “The Ritz!!!! Where’s the Ritz?” The drunk points down the Seine in the general direction of the Place De La Concord and tells us it’s over there. We say thanks and he proceeds to tell us how beautiful we were, kiss us each on the cheeks, and walks away.

As you could imagine, Sheri, Marina, and I were all pretty shocked, but before we could even catch our breath, a group of about 5 French guys that were passing by completely surround us and start talking to us! So here I am maneuvering my backpack on the ground between me and the bridge railing with this guy leaning on the bridge next to me and another one right behind me. I look over and there’s another guy in between Sheri and Marina, and a couple more off to the side just watching their friends. Well after about 30 seconds we realize that they slightly inebriated. You know the kind, not really that drunk, just drunk enough where everything is slightly funnier and your inhibitions are slightly decreased. Well we talk to them for a few minutes and realize that they were harmless and after that, we had a blast! Seriously, these guys were hysterical. It was four friends and one of the guys younger bother. Two of them spoke really good English and the little brother was a sweetheart. We talked about how American’s were prudes (when they found out that we didn’t smoke or drink, one was like “Wait wait wait. You don’t drink, you don’t smoke… Sex is your vice!” Imagine his astonishment when we said, nope, no sex either.) We talked about how Jason spoke really good English when he was drunk, about how we dress like Americans and how we were leaving for London in the morning. That one was funny. They asked us how much longer we were in Paris and we said not much longer, we’re going to London in the morning. Well Jason looks at me and says “London! Why are you going to London?! It’s so American there! They dress like Americans they, speak English. Why would you want to go there?!” Well I shoot back “So you don’t like Americans?” You guys, you should have seen the look on his face. Of course he was slightly intoxicated so he didn’t pick up on his mistake right away, but when he did his eyes got as big as saucers and he’s like “No no no noooo! I LOVE Americans!!!!! I like American girls!” It was hysterical! They really were cool though, they only tried for maybe five minutes to get us to go out with them (that’s really good for a French guy) and they were really funny and talked to us for a good 30 minutes. Well after a while, they knew it was time for our little shin-dig by the Seine to end, so they gave us all kisses on our cheeks, Jason gave me his email, and we parted ways and went home! Shortly thereafter we decided that Sheri wasn't allowed to sing anymore songs about people talking to her. Seriously, it truly was the best night we had had in Paris and the perfect way to end the journey. At least in Paris anyway, next stop, LONDON….

2006-10-22T20:09:00.000+03:00

Yay for Pictures!!!!!! The first one is the fountain by the Pompidue, NOT as cool as it looks in the movies. The second is the very random Tibetan monks singing outside the Pompidue. Then the rest are obviously the Eiffel Tower. The last one is a very dark picture of our friend Chris. Fun times.

2006-10-22T19:20:00.000+03:00

Views from the Eiffel Tower as we were waiting on the second level. Like I said. It wasn't a burden waiting in line...

And Last but definately not Least...

2006-10-22T18:20:00.000+03:00

Alrighty, the first one is a picture of me Marina and Sheri sticking our heads through the barrier and looking straight down. Yeah, the fencing is big enough for you to do that, pretty Schweet huh? So much cooler than the Empire State Building. And the best part is that Sheri got her head stuck when she was pulling her head back through, and we definately took a picture before we decided to help her. It was great. The second one is a view straight down, and the rest are views from. Hope you liked them!

2006-10-11T23:08:00.000+03:00

Oooookay. Do you guys think I’ve left you in suspense for long enough? Sorry about that. It is my goal to get my beforehand travel finished this week so that I can start on actual Romania blogs next week. Of course, that’s just a goal so keep your fingers crossed. Hokay So. Paris. The missing wallet. Well we wake up in the morning to find an internet place for me to buy a phone card to call and cancel my credit cards. Lucky me though, everything was closed because it was a Sunday. The one time I wish people didn’t keep the Sabbath day holy. Grrr. Luckily, the old man at the front desk had kind of become our friend and when I told him in broken French that my wallet had been stolen, he let me use the office computer to find a local number to call and he let me use the phone. He was so much help and I totally loved this guy. So much so that I even pretended to like his cat, and you guys know how much I am NOT a cat person. So I called the companies and put a hold on my cards until I could find out more info and we head off to church.

Well we of course are late and get to church about a half hour after it started, but we were just so excited to be there that we didn’t care. So we find the street, find the number and go to open the door... and it was locked. Yup, it was locked and all the lights were off and the curtains closed. So here I was, in a foreign city, my wallet had been stolen, and I couldn’t get into church! Let me tell you, I can definitely relate now to the five foolish virgins in the Bible that couldn’t get in because they were late! I just couldn’t believe I was locked out of church! And we were so close! I was so upset I almost started crying. I just wanted to go to church! There was a later service though so we just decided to hang around until church ended and we would see if we could catch anyone on their way out. So we were literally across the street from the Pompidue which is a modern art museum (kind of funny that the church is right across the street from it because the art in it is pretty much mostly porn.) Anyway, we decide to go hang out in the courtyard of the Pompidue and eat the world’s most yummy pastries. It was pretty fun and we got to see some random Tibetans chanting. So we go back to the church and we are waiting in the street talking when this guy comes up to the church door, punches in a code and walks through. We just stare in awe until Sheri LUNGES at the door and catches it before it closes. Let me tell you we were excited. Well the door opened into a courtyard and on one side of this was the church! We were SO HAPPY! So we walk in there and see a sign for relief society and a picture of Christ and we were just so freaking relieved to be there! Well we find an English speaking missionary and tell him that we needed some help because I had lost my wallet and I knew no one in the city and he hooked me up with an American couple that were living there. You guys, one of the best parts of this church is that it is the exact same everywhere and no matter what city you are in you in, if you can find a Latter-day Saint you will be ok. I seriously felt like Paul in the New Testament when he talked about being brothers and sisters in Christ and how no matter what sity you are in, if you found the Christians in that city you would be taken care of because that’s the way the early church was, they just looked out for each other. It was pretty cool. So the couple (the Williamsens) take us back to their place and feed us dinner and let us make as many phone calls as we needed and they were just so great. Not only did we get to eat spaghetti, but we got to spend the afternoon in an actual home with little kids running around and playing and it just felt so nice after traveling so much and spending all this time in hostels and dirty hotels and what-not. And these kids were so cute too. They were French and one of the girls who was maybe 5 or 6 came up to me and started speaking to me and I told her I was sorry I didn’t know French. Well she just looked at me for a second like “you’ve got to be kidding me” then she just rolls her eyes, sighs and runs and tells her brother how retarded we were because we couldn’t speak French. Let me tell you, there aren’t many things more humbling than that. She was really cute though and her frustration with us was actually really funny. Anyway, we got the credit card stuff worked out eventually and we start to feel much better. We decide to not let the fiasco spoil the rest of our day so we say thank you to the Williamsens and head off to the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower, was AMAZING! First of all there really isn’t a metro stop right there so we have to kind of walk to get there. Well it just so happens that the walk there is along this gorgeous park with beautiful flowers and trees and couples walking… just picture this, on the left you have the Seine sparkling in the sunshine, on your right you have flowers and birds and benches and grass, and in front of you to your right you have the Eiffel Tower rising up to the heavens. It was definitely one of those surreal, “Is this really my life?!” moments. Around this time we stopped at a souvenir stand and of course the vender was young and started hitting on us. It was really funny though because he asked what our names were and I told him Vicky, Sheri told him Courtney or something, and Marina just laughs. It was really fun. Until Marina and Sheri decide to go to a different stand and leave me with the guy! He proceeded to ask me to meet him later or tomorrow for breakfast and told me how beautiful I was yadda yadda yadda yuck! We made a new rule after that. No leaving Shannon alone with the horny vender guy! Aaaanyway, we finally made it to the Eiffle tower and it was incredible. The thing is huge and standing under the base and looking up was so cool. It was a lot of fun with people all over selling stuff and doing tricks and Albanian Gypsies running begging scams. It was quite the atmosphere. We decided that we wanted to take pictures in front of the tower first so we walk down this long grassy lawn to get a good view and then proceeded to take a billion pictures! It was a lot of fun. And the best part was that while we were goofing off and taking pics there was this guy kind of lingering around and at one point openly staring at us. Well we ignored him because we figured he was just another Parisian looking for a dumb American girl, but then he came up and talked to us and it turned out he was Californian! He had gotten this amazing bonus from his summer job so he booked a flight to Europe for two weeks before school started. He had literally started planning his trip about a week before he came. He had spent last night on a park bench, he hadn’t showered in four days and he couldn’t speak a lick of French. So when he was walking by and heard English he was like, “Americans! Glory Hallelujah!” So we spent like an hour talking to this way cool guy from SoCal in front of the Eiffel Tower! He was really interesting and funny and way into music and so obviously from Southern California that it was almost comical. It was a blast trading travel stories and talking about music and where we were headed and where we had been. Way good times.

Well around this time the sun was starting to set and we wanted to be up on the tower for that, so we said good-bye and headed up. And by headed up I mean wait in a series of very long lines. It was ok though because the security guards were very cute (all the Eiffel Tower personnel wear very sharp suits) and friendly and it was a lot of fun to talk to them. They entertained themselves by seeing where everyone was from and would sing songs if you were from some place famous. (Like they sang some random rap song when they found out I was from New York). They really were funny though and quite cute. Eventually we got in the elevator to go up and let me tell you it is HIGH! And all the elevators are glass so you can see out of them. Good times. Well, it takes us about an hour to get to the top (kinda like the Empire State Building with elevators, lines, elevators, lines) but it was ok (and SO much cooler than the Empire state Building) because the line goes along the outside of the second level which is pretty freakin high and we got AWESOME views of the city at sunset. Plus there were Americans everywhere so you got to know the people around you and it was actually really fun. There really are no words for the time we spent in that line. I took lots of pics though so you can see. Well at long last we come to the top and all I can say is wow. It really was magic. It was dark by this time and the city was just laid out before you, lit up and glittering like a thousand diamonds. Sheri, Marina and I just had to keep looking at each other and saying, “We’re in Paris, on top of the Eiffel Tower!” Really, I don’t have words for this one. But it was at this point that I really did fall in Love with Paris. You would think being at the top of the Eiffel would actually be really cliché and somewhat of a let-down since there are all these expectations, but it was everything you possibly could imagine. So so beautiful and really, there is just this aura of exoticism and magic and beauty and romance there as you look out and see the Seine and all these landmarks like the Notra Dame and the Arc de Triomphe and the Sacra Coeur all lit up and you just can’t help but be giddy. And as if it wasn’t perfect enough, I was taking some pictures when I could have sworn I heard the word ‘dreapta’ which is a Romanian word. But I was like, “naaahh, my head’s just messing with me.” But then I hear the word ‘biserica’ which is the word for church and I realize that there is this girl standing next to me pointing out the Notre Dame to this little boy. So I hit Sheri and tell her that the girl next to me is Romanian and we just look at each other like “no way.” We ended up talking to her and her mother and little brother that was there with her. They were so cool and so friendly and we exchanged emails and the mother invited us to stay with her if we ever were in Sibiu! And she was serious! It was so crazy to just be talking to Romanians on the top of the Eiffel Tower and it just made our experience that much cooler. By this time though it was freezing so we go into the bathroom, sign our names on the door of the stalls (I know I know, I’m generally not a vandal but come on, it was the top of the Eiffel Tower!), and then we head down. Of course we couldn’t find the right elevator so we ended up walking the last part of it. Talk about vertigo. Our calves were killing us by the end but it was actually pretty neat to be climbing down all these catwalks that were lit by a bagillion lights. Good times.

After that we make our way home through this kind of street festival by the tower and there was a guy that hit on us that wasn’t disgusting. He was actually nice. We were standing across the street from the tower and Sheri was taking some video and I was kind of tired (it was around 9:30, 10:00 and it had been a long day). So I yawned and this guy passing me kind of makes fun of me by fake yawning at me and I just smile and hit him as he walks by, nothing more. Well we end up catching up to his group about 5 minutes later (we walk fast) and he just looks at me and says, “Hey are you following me?” I say “But of course!” We ended up teasing and talking for a bit while we walked along the bridge and he was actually pretty cool. It was fun. And on the way home we stopped at the McDonalds on the Champs D’Elysse (only food place still open) and met some really nice guys (nice in a nerdy kind of way, not nice I want to pick up on you kinda way) in line and sat with them and talked to them for a while. I was even able to talk with them in French! It was fun. And I seriously love the Champs D’Elysse at night. It’s just so alive and there were these French break-dancers having a party over by the metro entrance and they were putting on a show and laughing and joking and there were people and lights everywhere. Awesome. So yeah. That was Sunday. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry it’s so freaking long. I wish I could convey this day to you better, but seriously, no words. Enjoy the pics!

To The Gates Of Hell

2006-09-19T14:22:00.000+03:00

Well guys, I’ve been to the gates of hell and back, figuratively (because my wallet got stolen) and literally. On our second day in Paris, we went to the Rodin Museum and one of Rodin’s most famous pieces is called The Gates of Hell. It’s based on Dante’s Inferno and it was pretty amazing. But before that we went to the catacombs! Dun dun dun. So it was just an all around dark day. Haha.

Ok, so we get up early in the morning and head on over to the catacombs. Let me explain. Most people don’t know this but Paris is actually built on a series of tunnels and quarries. Most of these tunnels have been converted into sewer lines, subways, and other various infrastructural things, but a large portion of them serve as catacombs. In the 1700’s, Parisian cemeteries were overflowing and the city faced a serious threat of disease that was being spread by the huge mass graves and insufficient burial grounds. So they decide to put the tunnels underneath the city to good use. They carefully exhumed the remains of the current occupants of the city and stored them in the tunnels, or catacombs and continued to do so until the early 1900’s. Now, for a small entrance fee you can walk through the tunnels and look at the remains of Parisians from days gone by. Creepy? Ya. But pretty cool none-the-less. It was actually pretty neat seeing all the remains and to think that we were about 6 stories underground. Sometimes we got a little creeped out, but all in all it was neat. There were a lot of cool crypts down there with a lot of really cool quotes by French poets that I could actually read!

After that we decided to head on over to the Rodin Museum. At this point in the trip, this was definitely my favorite thing we had done in Paris, right after the courtyard of the Louvre. Now the Louvre and it are tied right after the Eiffel Tower. Anyway, it was SO AMAZING! I got to see my absolute, very favorite sculpture and it as everything I could have imagined. It’s called The Kiss and it’s just about the most romantic and beautiful thing I’ve seen. Take note ya’ll: a miniature of that sculpture is what my future husband should get me for a wedding gift. Feel free to drop hints. There were a lot of other Rodins there that I loved as well and some that I had never seen before that were amazing. There was this one called the stairway to heaven. It was just a plaster mold, a plan never realized by Rodin and it made me sad. It was very beautiful and I would have loved to have seen it completed. But I did see Cathedral and Secret, as well as the creation of man and all of them were amazing. And the Gates of Hell were incredible. It was a totally different piece up close. You could change angles and view points, and each time you moved, you saw a whole new window into the piece. I must have stood there looking at it for a half hour. Poor Sheri and Marina didn’t know what to do with me. In fact, when I caught up with them in the main lobby after we had seen the first floor, they were debating whether or not to tell me that there was a second floor. After all, I spent close to a half hour with The Kiss and there isn’t a whole lot to that sculpture! Haha. But I did compromise and we sat in the Lobby for a whole talking about philosophy and art and such till their heads started to hurt. It was actually a lot of fun. We decided that I should go ahead and get a start on the second floor while they recharged their visual batteries. Yeah, I got through a whole two sculptures on the second floor when they caught up to me. So much for the early start. Haha.

After that we grabbed a baggette for lunch and headed on over to the Pantheon. This is a replica of the Pantheon in Greece, but it is also where Voltaire and Rousseau are buried, as well as Marie Curie and her husband. It was a really impressive building and it was really really cool to see Voltaire’s tomb. Thanks to Mr. Ojeda for teaching me all about him and Rousseau so I could really appreciate being there. I mean if you think about it, America might not be here if it weren’t for their ideas. Anyway, it was cool and we had a lot of fun taking pictures and speaking to random French security guards. And there were a lot of really really cool murals on the walls of Joan of Arc and other cool legends.

Next we had planned on going to the Eiffle Tower, but that didn’t work out. We found a café with free internet down the hill from the Pantheon, so we ran home, grabbed our computers and came back (we hadn’t had any decent internet in about five days at this point and it was free, a big plus when 15 minutes costs you a Euro in most shops.) It was rather hysterical though because here we were, three girls in the middle of Paris, sitting in a dirty street corner with our laptops, stealing internet from the café. I have a pic, you will love it. Well that ended up taking a long time, and we were all pretty touchy (I was suspicious that my wallet had just been stolen, Sheri’s computer didn’t work, and Marina’s parents still hadn’t deposited the money they owed) so we decided to just grab a burger at the McDonalds around the corner and call it a day. And we were glad we did because the guy that took our order was really cool and got a kick out of talking to three American girls. Plus the food was MUCH better than it was in the states, especially the fries. Actually, it was pretty much better all the way around. We were not used to designer chairs and techno music in McDonalds. It was fun.

So we go home, find out that yes, indeed my wallet had been stolen, I hadn’t left it on my bed as I had thought, and I proceeded to cry. But Sheri and Marina were really supportive and helped me figure out what I was going to do, and in the end everything turned out to be ok, so no worries. We were able to have a few laughs and go to bed ok. Well that’s it for the second day. Tomorrow, DEALING WITH THE STOLEN WALLET.

PICTURES!

2006-09-19T14:10:00.000+03:00

These are from the Catacombs. Creepy huh? Sheri has her hood up to protect her from the dripping liquid of unknown origin that comes down from the ceiling. It definately makes her look like a Blair Witch Project Refugee though!

2006-09-19T14:02:00.000+03:00

These are pics from the Gated of Hell. The Thinker, which most people recognize actually come from the Gates of Hell. Pretty cool huh?

More Pictures...

2006-09-19T13:45:00.000+03:00

Hokay, the top two are Rodin's Cathedral and Secret. Pretty aren't they. And then the next one is my favorite angle of The Kiss, although it's only a so so picture, and it's really a piece that needs to be seen 360. But it's still my favorite piece. Then there is Sheri eating a baggette in the rain, and Marina and I in front of the Pantheon.

And to round things off..

2006-09-19T13:00:00.000+03:00

These are pictures from the Pantheon and our little internet adventure. Who knows what that dark spot on the pavement was... haha. The top one is me in front of Voltaire's Tomb, then a pic of us reading up on the Pantheon. We got into the habit of grabbing the English pamphlet when we walked into a museum or monument and sitting and reading before we actually look around. We learned a lot that way and appreciate things more, plus it's fun to just chill on the steps and just be at these places. The ones after that are fun pics from inside... French Patriotism is quite contageous!

And to wrap things up

2006-09-16T22:23:00.000+03:00

This was the last thing we did on the first day. The Arc de Triomphe was really cool. The other one is Marina and I on the metro on the way home. LOVE the Paris metro system.

2006-09-16T22:16:00.000+03:00

These are Louvre pics from the first day in Paris. The statue is one of my favorite Michelangelo's and the other ones are the front courtyard of the Louvre. The last pic is me and my traveling companions Sheri (left) and Marina (center)

Pictures!

2006-09-16T21:33:00.000+03:00

Welp, here are some pictures. The first is obviously Van Gogh. I took that pic myself! The second is the Moulin Rouge, and then different views of the Notre Dame and the Seine. Love the Seine by the way, it's always beautiful.

Hey, I made it!

2006-09-16T21:29:00.000+03:00

Hey Guys! Well I made it to Romania relatively safe and sound. I lost my wallet in Paris, so that has made things a little stressful, but other than that things have been great! It’s been insanely busy though so I’m glad that I finally have a chance to sit down and write the blog that I promised everyone. So lets see, where to start?! I guess at the beginning. I left the states on August 23, 2006. After a very long flight, a nerve-racking bus ride through London, another flight, and an even more nerve-racking train-ride into Paris, I arrived at my hotel in the Montmartre region of Paris. Seriously, I’m not really sure how I got to my hotel, because half the time I had no clue what I was doing. Thank heaven for a good sense of direction. Anyway, I make it to my station on the metro and come out on this street that in my mind totally embodies Paris. I wish I had taken a picture of it. But there was a tiny cobbled street and cream-colored buildings with wrought-iron balconies covered in flowers with cafes on the corners and little patisseries and shops all over. It was great! So anyway, I get to my hotel (this being a very interesting 2 star hotel with communal bathrooms, ghetto elevator and a charming lady at the front desk that had a cat that always followed her around) and checked in. My window on the second floor opened up to the street and I basically just sat and listened to a couple of guys shoot the breeze in French while smoking a cigarette. Eventually Sheri and Marina show up and we head off to the Musee D’Orsay where I saw my first ever Van Goghs Renoirs, Monets… I was so happy I could have cried. I saw a self portrait of Van Gogh and it was just so moving. And the Renoirs; I’ve written papers about Renoir and how he painted light, but until I was standing there looking at it in person, I had no idea that the paintings glowed. That light was actually coming out of the canvas. It was amazing.

The next day we headed to Moulin Rouge to take a picture (there really isn’t a whole lot there… besides a lot of breasts…) Anyway, after that we went to Victor Hugo’s House. That was pretty fun to be there and there were a lot of really cool artwork. The best part was talking to the people at the front desk. They were really nice and asked us where we were from and what we were doing. They told us to learn French for when we came back and we said “weeell, we actually have taken French, we just suck at it” It was funny and they got a kick out of talking to us. The French really aren’t that bad.

Next we went to the Conciergerie. This is where all the prisoners from the French Revolution were held and it is also connected to the Palace of Justice. Marie Antoinette (the one who reportedly said “let them eat cake”) and Robspierre (the one that started the Reign of Terror) were both held here before they were taken to the guillotine. It was pretty impressive and there was a lot to learn and to look at. After that we went to the Notre Dame which is a block away from the Conciergerie. Paris is kinda funny like that. All these huge amazing buildings just unassumingly hanging out around each other. We came out of the subway to go to the Conciergerie and Sheri says “oh look, there’s the Notre Dame” and you look to your left and its just there, chillin on the banks of the Seine. Crazy.

So yeah, the Notre Dame was impressive. You walk in and at first you can’t see much because it’s so dark, but then your eyes adjust, you look up and you see this amazing space covered by the vaulted ceiling leading down to an a magnificent gold alter lit up by a hundred candles. It was beautiful. It was really loud inside though which was kinda sad. It didn’t feel like a church at all. There were so many people shuffling through and taking pictures. But it was very beautiful none-the-less.

After the Notre dame, we went to the Louvre… Hoh my gosh. That’s all I got to say about that. Seriousely though, words really aren’t adequate for that place. And it was so cool how we came into it. You see, we got off at a station that isn’t next to the main entrance so we walk in through this court yard that’s very beautiful and whatnot. (The Louvre used to be a royal palace and still looks like it could house Louis the XVI and his family.) So we walk through the courtyard and look for an entrance and we decide to go through a pair of arches at the end of the courtyard. Well we head over to the arches and there is a glance of the glass pyramids on the other side so we know we’re headed in the right direction. So we walk through these rather magnificent stone archways and then we just freeze. Before us is one of the most incredible sights I’ve seen. The two glass pyramids loomed before us, backlit by the setting sun. Behind the pyramids was the Touleries (royal gardens) stretching down to the Place de la Condord. A cool mist from the fountains added an extra shimmer to the air and everything was enclosed by the magnificent front entrance of the Royal Palace. We just stood there and stared; jaws dropped and hearts full. Finally Marina finally turns to Sheri and I and says “This is Paris” And it was it really was.

So we spent a while taking some pictures and just enjoying the atmosphere, and then we decided to go into the actual museum. Once again, wow. We decided to hit all the major stuff first, so we go see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo which were very impressive. It was really fun to see them in real life. We also saw the crown jewels which were incredible, not to mention the actual architecture that it was all housed in and the glimpses of the grounds as you walked past all the windows. And there were quite a few remarkable paintings that were literally as tall as a one story house. They were beautiful. But the definite highlight for me was seeing my first ever Michelangelo. It was a piece called the dying slave and I have about a half dozen pictures of it in my art journal back home. It’s seriously one of my favorite Michelangelo’s and I was so unbelievable psyched to see it. And it was so beautiful. It was really cool because in pictures it looks so agonizing and tragic, but in real life its so peaceful and graceful. It was beautiful. And there were a lot of really beautiful sculptures in the room that I’d never seen before but immediately fell in love with. It was awesome.

Well we stayed at the museum till close and when we left there were a whole bunch of people out in the courtyard talking and hanging out and I decided that if I lived in Paris, I would TOTALLY hang out in the courtyard of the Louvre because it was a really pretty, really cool, really laid-back environment. We also decided that it would be really cool to be proposed to there (it was actually pretty romantic and there were a lot of couples all over) and that if a guy proposed to you at the Louvre you weren’t allowed to say no, I mean how could you?!

Well, after THAT, we hop on the metro and head to the Arc de Triomphe. Once again, come out of the subway and there’s the Arc, just chillin, all lit up in the night sky with the city whizzing by. At this point I was so happy I couldn’t stop smiling. I mean most of you know what an urban junky I am, and I had just had this great day in Paris and I’m standing on the Champs D’Elysse with lights and cars everywhere and the Arc de Triomphe right in front of me. It was SO COOL! So we head over to the Arc and climb up it(no elevator, lots of stairs, quite a trip) and look out on the city at night. It was really cool. And the best part was that there was this AMAZING traffic jam at one of the entrances of the circle that goes around the Arc that we seriously watched for about a half an hour. It was amazing. I saw cars squeeze through openings that defied the laws of physics. And then there were the buses and vans that were trying to get through, and the random moped that would almost get run over. It was great. Anyway, after taking some pics, we head back home and I drop to sleep exhausted, pretty satisfied with my first full day in Paris.