Pics of Aix-Les-Bains are up

A couple pics of the town and the hotel are up in two of the Aix-Les-Bains posts, see here:

http://jarrodeurope.blogspot.com/2008/01/made-it-to-aix-les-bains.html

and here:

http://jarrodeurope.blogspot.com/2008/01/its-little-eerie-here.html

I'm Home

Well, the trip has come to a close. It was pretty cool. Definitely the kind of trip that could be better with some friends or something, but it was such an experience to be there by myself just wandering around seeing what each place had to offer. It was great to see family in Germany, too. I'm taking today off from work to give me a three day weekend so I can re-adjust to the time zone and do some laundry.

Thanks everyone for reading this blog. I hope it was entertaining for you. I can remember entering my first post way back when I started taking french lessons. I guess I might make a few more posts as things wrap up and I have any reflections, etc. or maybe some general travel advice that I might remember. But I guess this about does it for "Somewhere in Europe '08". I'm sure there will be another blog someday about somewhere else '09 or '10, so stay tuned.

It is nice to be home.

Heading Home

Sitting on a 747 at Frankfurt right now, waiting to depart for home. It's been quite a trip and I can't wait to upload all the pics. Okay, getting ready for takeoff. Later.

Notre Dame

I can't even begin to describe how cool this thing is. By far the best sight I've seen in Paris. I will put pics up as soon as I can. And the surrounding area of the city is exactly the "Paris" that I had hoped for. Got some good pics of the cathederal and then headed west to some parks, but didn't find much. So now I'm back near the cathederal just waiting for the sun to go down so I can see Paris at night, and then have some wicked dinner and go back to the hotel and pass out.

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It finally hit me today, Paris did. And it was pretty cool. I had just arrived at Notre Dame and taken my first few pictures when it began to rain. So I ducked into a cafe across the street and had some hot wine. The bells rang a few times as I drank. After the rain had stopped I went back outside to see the cathederal again and it was just beautiful. I walked along the Seine as the sun broke through the clouds, wandered over a bridge and back along the river next to the cathederal. The bells sounded off again and I went and bought a sandwich nearby and ate it outside in the front courtyard. I went back across the river to a nice restaurant and the bartender mixed me up a nice potion which I drank cheerfully before heading west to see what else was around.

Now, I find myself back at Notre Dame, waiting patiently for the sun to set so I can see the "City of Lights" before scaring up some dinner and heading back to the hotel.

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Will try to put some pics up back at Joels. Damn I have a bunch of Paris postcards to send out, too. Hope all is well back in the States. Be back in a couple days.

Eiffel Tower, l'Arc de Triumph, le Louvre

So after I conquered the Eiffel Tower, I headed down the street to the Arc of Triumph. It's really big. Then I went to the Louvre and saw some of the most amazing works of art... some of the most impressive creations... that I've ever seen. Dammit, this french keyboard is killing me!!

I'm at an internet café and the keyboards are a little different over here. Here's what it would look like if I typed the first paragraph normally:

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So forgive me for leaving out some detail. I'll try and make another post soon about what I saw at the Louvre.

Just walked up the Eiffel Tower

Could only go up half way. The top deck was closed.

Ate lunch just now and I'm heading off to find le Louvre.

Main page is too big for my phone

I tried changing the number of posts visible on the main page of this blog but it's still too big for my phone now, so I'll go to an internet cafe soon to make sure all the latest posts are going up okay.

Sorry I haven't been putting up any pics of France, but until I have access to a computer to which I can interface my compact flash usb reader I can't post any of the new pics. I doubt I'll be able to at a cafe (I have to resize them anyway) so I'll just make sure I put a bunch up when I get back to Joel's in Germany.

Ate at an "american" restaurant for my first night in Paris. It wasn't bad, either.

Bought a 'Paris Visite' metro pass, too. It's good for 5 days and I can go anywhere within about 5 miles of the center of the city so that should be perfect for seeing all the main attractions. I'm thinking about getting an early start tomorrow so I have plenty of time to get the hang of the metro system and to see a few things before lunch. It will just be nice to get away from this part of the city anyway.

In Paris

The TGV ride was pretty cool. One of the crew told me that we were going around 275 kph (170 mph). It was really neat to see the landscape rush by that quickly.

So after the train got to the station, I hopped off and walked to my hotel a couple miles away, which is next to my departing train station for Wednesday. Unfortunatey, it's in a less-than-nice area of the city as far as I can tell. The hotel itself is okay, but the one in Dijon was much nicer.

Heading out now to get some water for the room and try and figure out how to get a metro pass in order to see some sites tomorrow. I think I'll hit the obvious places and get some food and just walk around a bunch before leaving on Wednesday.

On a TGV from Dijon to Paris

I think we should get up to about 180 mph or more on this route. I'll keep an eye out for Tom Cruise and helicopters as we approach Paris. I'm going to time how long it takes to pass ten of the utility poles along the track and then figure out later just how fast we were going.

Pretty psyched now about seeing Paris and what it has to offer. I think I'm a little worn out from all the walking and hiking, so I'll probably take it easy today.

A few good hikes done

Well, I actually got to walk around a good bit here in Dijon and the surrounding area. I traveled to Saulon and Barges yesterday for a hike in the country. It was sort of what I hoped for. The towns were tiny and consisted of barely more than a church and a few houses. But there were plenty of dogs, and they all made it perfectly clear that I was not to set up permanent residence there. Come to think of it, I don't think I saw any people. I just wandered through the empty streets and between the giant green fields until I had my fill of it, and then waited for my train back to Dijon.

This morning I decided to follow one of the marked routes that are set up for people wishing to see the city on foot. They have little brass triangles stamped into the sidewalk every ten feet showing the way. They led me from the tourist center near my hotel on a route that I had walked many times already. But it was nice, because I got to see a few little nooks and cranies that I had missed. This city really is beautiful. I have plenty of pictures but I can't really upload anything until I get back to Joel's on Wednesday.

So after I ate lunch (sandwich), I opened up the hiking guide and looked for something not too far outside of downtown Dijon. I drank a bottle of wine and headed off to the "Martin pecheur" route which leads to a great garden and then along a river and to Lake Kir. It was about 4 miles all together by the time I made it back to the hotel. I just had dinner at La Concord again. Beef borgognon again and it was absolutely delicious yet again. To top it off, I ordered a very expensive cognac for dessert and savored every sip.

Leaving for Paris tomorrow, so I should pack up a little and get some sleep.