Once upon a time...

Note: I had decided not to try and catch up before posting recent ramblings...  And I had this post all written when some gremlin didn't save it.  I'll try to redo it, but it's a week later as I type this and I may not remember all the witty things I wrote before.

I have seen how the other half lived, and let's just say it's good to be king.  Until an unruly mob drags you from your bed...

Yesterday, I took a bus trip to the Loire Valley with Paris Vision. Well, a minivan trip: it turns out only six people registered.  Four of us were in the van when the guide said "We are just waiting for two more."  We looked at each other in some dismay; it would be kind of squishy with two more people in the van.  I said: "I hate to seem uncharitable, but I hope they don't show up on time."  Fortunately, they didn't and we were very comfortable.  So comfortable, in fact, that about 15 minutes after we left, almost everyone was asleep.  It was very early.

I don't think it translates to "boîte pour les nuls..."

I watch far too much TV, as a rule, but here I look at it as cultural research. Anthropology, if you will.  What I've noticed:

I'm getting there...

I'm posting my write-ups under the dates they happened, so you may not have noticed that I've put up two posts about my first day in Amsterdam, which are here and here.  The next day is coming, I swear.  There is a very amusing story involving clogs.  I bet you can't wait.

Edited: I have been making sure my photos are up-to-date as of yesterday.  I've been adding to my various albums.  Unfortunately, Picasa won't let me start an album in the middle, so here is what you have to do:  Click on the album title under the picture, then find that photo again in the album (you may have to scroll down a bit), click on the photo again.  Then you can navigate forward and backward through the album from the new point.  (Or you could just click on the first picture to go through all the pictures in the album.)  Either way, it's a pain.

You've already seen my first day walk, but I've been walking around a lot since I got here.  I explored Ile de la Cité a bit more:

From Paris 2010: Cityscapes and Walking Tours

the Latin Quarter:

From Paris 2010: Cityscapes and Walking Tours

and Montmartre:

From Paris 2010: Cityscapes and Walking Tours

  I've also been on a great bike tour:

From Paris 2010: Cityscapes and Walking Tours

  (These are all in the same album, so you could just click once to see the whole thing.)

I've also experienced some culture: I went to the Musée National du Moyen Age (dit Cluny):

Paris 2010: Look Ma, Culture!

and to Chartres Cathedral:

Chartres 2010

This coming week is museum week.  I've got me a pass and I'm gonna use it.  I have a feeling I'll be a little museumed out by next Sunday.

It says "breakfast" so it must be healthy...

The French don't really do cereal.  It's a North American import, I think, and what is in the cereal aisle heavily favours chocolate-flavoured sugar bombs.  Calvin would be pleased.

They also have these:


Cookies for breakfast.  Awesome.

(I do keep turning the packages around to see the English side.  Which isn't there. It's as bizarre as being in the States.)

It's just my size...

It's a bit ironic that a girl who isn't big on wine finds herself in grape country.  I usually can't drink a whole bottle before it turns from oxidation, so I was thinking I'd have to do all my wine-drinking in restaurants.  Never fear: French practicality to the rescue!

Ahem

As I expected, it's taking me a while to write up some of my rambles, but I've put up photos with pithy commentary for you to enjoy.

My Amsterdam pictures are here:

Amsterdam 2010

Pictures of my Paris apartment and other daily life are here:

Paris 2010: La Vie en Rose

I took a walk down to the Seine and to get chocolate the afternoon of my first full day in Paris:

Paris 2010: Cityscapes and Walking Tours

Some pix of funny things are here:

Paris 2010: Ça m'amuse beaucoup!

I'll be adding to these albums as the month goes on.

RIP Crazy

We interrupt the regular blog for a sad announcement.

I got to Paris this evening and checked my email.  There was one waiting from my cat-sitter saying that my pretty, sweet, furry, six-toed, elderly kitty Crazy had died.  She was 17, which is a very good age, and after the big scare last September, the vet said she probably only had two or three months left.  She managed a few more than that, and I hope they were good ones. 

It was not entirely unexpected, although I hoped it wouldn't happen while I was away. To tell the truth, it doesn't really feel real yet. It will be a bit of a sad homecoming in June.

I hope my other girl, Lucy, will be okay. She and Crazy never really hit it off, but I hope she won't be too lonely when the cat-sitter isn't there. And that she comes out of hiding to get some cuddles. Well, I doubt she'll allow cuddles. Quick pets on the head, then.

She was a fine cat, a very fine cat indeed. I hope her kitty-cat soul finds lots of tea to drink.