The set-up.

Let's face it. I'm running a tad low in the "catchy title" department. Had to happen sooner than later. So what? Is that it? We're done?
I suppose though before I completely give up, I could pass along a couple snippits. If you happen to be reading this in the afternoon and are in need of some nap material, do read on.
Got back late on Thursday night from Paris. Somewhat bushed from a few hours at the wheel, so Friday is a bit of a blur I'm afraid. I do seem to recall sleeping in just a tad, and that the weather sucked.

Which...makes it all that much easier to sleep in I find.

The weather continued to suck on into Saturday and I was glad to have use of the car in the morning to first take Gabe to a hair appointment, and then to pick up a couple things, grocery wise.

Left for Herkenbosch after 11:30 which meant that we were going to be late, even before we got into the car. We said we'd be there around 1:00.
Herkenbosch is down in Limburg, about 25 kilometers this side of Maastricht.

No, we did not get any cheese.

Nor did we sign any treaties.

In terms of the big picture, we were on our way to visit with some total strangers.
Let me attempt an explanation. The lady whom we were gong to visit, is the daughter of Gabe's older sister Anna's God Mother (now deceased). Got that?
In other words, a Slovenian connection (and I just now thought of what the label for this post will be...)
It probably didn't matter too much, but stupid GPS took us down through Germany. I watched the speed limits this time, no worries. However, there are places where the Autobahn is simply a spiders web of choices, so we chose to come home by way of Nijmegen when we returned, sticking to the much better highways on the Netherlands side of the border.
It rained all the way there, and down around Oberhausen it came down in buckets. Not fun.
So you have to understand that, in spite of being "total strangers", the "Slovenian connection" can be quite the phenomenon.
Here's what I mean:
Using one's Canadian sensibilities, one would not expect anything more than perhaps a cup of coffee and a biscuit or two. But NO! Deep in the recesses of my now much more learned psyche, I had a sneaking suspicion that there would be more. Let's just say that the items I bought for our supper on Saturday had to be left for the next day, since here we are, having a full meal in the middle of the afternoon.


You cannot leave without being fed! That's all there is to it!
(simply remember this, if asked "are you hungry?", answer: "yes, you are".)

This was of course after there had been a great deal of picture perusing, both in digital format, as well as the old fashioned kind.


We should really have been taking notes, since I'm now kind of sketchy on a couple (a "couple" he sez!) details.
Marti, the lady on the right looking at the photo, was a little more astute, and was making little notations from time to time.

Suffice to say, we had a wonderful visit.

So now, if your kids ever complain about learning another language, just kick 'em in the pants and tell them to get over it. Here's why: Marti and I spoke mostly in German, with a smattering of Dutch. Harry (her husband) spoke English quite well, but Marti spoke Dutch to him, and Slovenian to Gabe.
Hope you can sort that out, since I can't very well do any sort of drawing, schematic or otherwise.
Since I have a certain amount of Russian under my belt, I could pretty much follow the Slovenian, (and so could Harry btw) but every so often there would be a word or two that didn't register, so then I'd get the explanation in German.

A regular flippin' United Nations.

Let's move right along to the title of this entry shall we?

A while back I mentioned the additon of a wireless keyboard and mouse. Monday (forget Sunday...another lazy day) I decided to pedal my arse to Media Markt and pick up a video cable, since the new TV that Jenn brought a week ago has a few more bells and whistles than the old CRT that we had been using.
So here you go....I can now use the TV as a computer monitor.
So big deal, right? Well, some of our videos are not dvd, but are divx, and can only be played on a divx player. We have a divx player at home, but the player that I shipped does not happen to have that particular feature.
D'oh!
Matter of fact, neither did the computer, but thanks to the internet, I was able to simply download the program.
So now we can watch movies in what ever format they happen to be in, which is good, since we have a few that we have yet to see.
Thanks Rob!
As good as this set-up is for movie watching however, for typing it can be a tad onerous, since I need to be no farther away than about two metres, or I can't really see what the heck I'm doing.

I'll just have to suffer.

Paris, part deux

Need to go back.

That's pretty much the entire summation of the trip. The hotel was fine, and provided a reasonable view of the city, although the Montparnassus tower was blocking the view of the Eiffel tower. That was unfortunate.

We could at least see Notre Dame.



Of course, while peering out over the city, there's the rare occasion when you do see something a little bit out of the ordinary...



Pretty sure I don't need to explain.
I wonder if it's easy to keep the weeds down at that elevation? How high do dandelion seeds go?


I guess I had never really done any research on the Louve, since I had been there often enough that I felt that I didn't have to. Turns out a few things have changed. They've sorted out the whole problem of getting into the place with the entranceway now in the middle of the courtyard.
I mean, I just figured you went in the way you always did, at one of the many doorways, like here at the south end.


So....maybe I didn't want to come off as the "know it all" when it came to getting around and such?
You believe that, right?
That's my story anyway.

Turns out you go down through the goofy pyramid, get your ticket and then you go underneath to which ever wing you'd like to visit.

Surprisingly well organised considering that it's well.... Paris. This shouldn't be a repository for too many personal opinions or political diatribes. That's the theory anyway. We best not go down that road. Funny how one's point of view can change?

I was told that most of the impressionist stuff had been moved over to the Musée D'Orsay.
Dang.

Again....need to go back.

My hope was that the large pieces hadn't gone anywhere, and sure enough they were all hanging right where I had seen them last. Some of these things are the size of the side of a barn, so I'm not sure just where they'd get moved to.

Because of the sheer size of the larger paintings, I really wanted Gabe to see them. Also, you really have to be aware of your surroundings, since the building itself is pretty danged spectacular.So no, that's not our living room ceiling.


You'll no doubt notice that the place is pretty much mobbed all the time. This was a Wednesday fer heaven's sake, and it's not even tourist season. I did notice a number of school groups and such.
So it's rare to be able to take a shot without having some twit in your way.

There were those visitors who were taking pictures of everything. I guess I just don't see the point. If you're willing to do a little searching, there's enough stuff online these days that you can refresh your memory without too much trouble.

Of course, if you're into a possible bathroom reno, they had a couple ideas to explore...



So here's the underlying problem of being a tourist. It was easier say, thirty years ago to wander around all day long and then, perhaps without so much as taking a rest, wander around for half the night as well.
To quote inspector Clouseau...."not anymore".
(clue: wait until 3:45 in the video)

I can sort of get by for a while with an adequate supply of say, advil.
My travelling companion doesn't do quite so well however.

No amount of pain killer was going to help the situation, since her knees were on fire from about half way through the second day.
So it was time to tour around a little by car, and that would have to do.





One thing to consider for our next visit is taking a supper cruise on the Seine, since you then get to see stuff from your seat....


On a final note, there was truly only one souvenir that we brought back. Can't seem to find these aluminum pans around here, so I was quite excited to find them in a dollar type store in Paris.

Thrilling, huh?

There will be more.....

Live from Paris.

Not too sure I should try uploading any pictures, since this is coming from Wifi hotspot in the hotel lobby.
We're just about to head out again to hit the Louvre, only this time I figure I might just as well take the car, since when we were wandering around there last night, there seemed to be plenty of parking, and the parking garage next to the hotel here is charging us an arm and a leg, so I may as well give up those appendages closer to where we want to be. Trick is, we sat in a restaurant on the Quai du Louvre last night and the traffic was nuts right up until about 8:30. So, as long as we time it right, I don't see a problem. Hey, if I can do Brussels, Paris ain't that much worse. I don't necessarily recommend it for everyone though. See, I've driven the motorhome right through the heart of Montreal, so I'm pretty fearless. (or nuts...you chose)

Anyhoo, we're presently at the Montparnasse Meridien, not far from the Mont Parnassus tower. Of course, stupid GPS couldn't find the place. We got ourselves to the 14th arrondissement and figured out the rest with a good ole fashioned map.
Street signs are a challenge though, since they're stuck up on the side of the buildings. Typical, but annoying if you're behind the wheel.
One does need a certain hightened sense of awareness.

Alrighty, seems all is in order and we're about to head out.

I'll add more to this later.