So, we were off like a herd of turtles. It would have been nice to take a nap upon arriving, but Cousin Jim assured us that was not a good idea and sent us out to walk around and possibly take the Metro. Barbara and I chose to walk a bit, but our brains were not ready for the Metro. So we killed the afternoon walking the neighborhood which included seeing the Eiffel Tower, but not going up, yet. Then we sat around visiting with the cousins and getting to know each other again. I had a beer while Barbara went for the wine. Cousin Jim taught me to say beer (bee air) rather using my Italian (bira). Buongiorno and bonjour were confusing, too. Of course I mixed my si with my oui and my merci with my grazi, but not my gracais. Sometimes I resorted to sign language, which actually worked fairly well.
Saturday was my 55th birthday and our first big day. Jesse arrived around 11:30 AM, and we set out walking.
We walked by the Eiffel Tower for this pic, which Jesse took with her phone and doctored with her app and
Jim's War College for this pic. Then we caught the Metro to the Centre Pompidou for a Salvador Dali exhibit. It was fascinating! Dali had great talent and a weird imagination. Some of his art was awesome and some quite shocking and maybe even disgusting, but definitely emotion provoking. What an excellent choice of things to to in Paris on my birthday! Upon leaving the exhibit, we had gelato - the day was warm and sunny for ice cream before doing further exploring. 
We walked by Notre Dame. I took lots of pics of Paris streets and cafes. Jesse and I went off on our own to explore the Latin Quarters of Paris while the cousins went on home. We took the Metro home - like pros. Later the cousins served us an excellent dinner complete with dessert delicacies from a local bakery. They sang to me in French! Puhfect!
5 comments:
"Jim's War College?" There must be a back-story there... DO tell.
There's two schools o' thought about arrival naps, and I've done both. My experience is jet lag will hit ya, no matter what you do or don't do. Me? I NEVER pass up a nap opportunity.
The Metro is quite nice, innit? It's MUCH quieter than other subways and very easy to get around on.
Great pics. Did you get up to Montmarte?
Cousin Jim has been part of a two year program to learn French. He started in Monterey, CA for six months and then to Paris for 18 months at what I understood was called the War College. It may have another name - I'm bad about not getting the whole military story. Apparently there are soldiers from other nationalities that do this program. Cousin Jim is soon to be Lt. Col. Jim and will be at Camp Lejeune starting in June.
I did go to Montemarte and it was one of my favorite days. I will tell and show pictures soon.
Neat, welcome back! Love the pics, look forward to more stories. . .
It is good to be back. Thanks for dropping by.
Ah... I had a lot o' linguist buddies when I was in the USAFSS - that's "spook service" - who graduated from Russian linguist school in Monterey. So, I get it.
It also looks like you got to Paris in the nick o' time. ;-)
Post a Comment