Hotel Plat D Etain Paris

... today (15th) it has 11 million people in it and we didn't get lost once - woohoo.

need a few days to recover before meeting the kennedys in bali on monday.

europe was great and we will be back.

see ya all in bali - hahaha we will be in bali and you won't

rob and shell

... traffic-nightmare-free-for-all-round-ab out in the world. Walking back to the hotel was not really that bad. we took the Champs Elysees, and then walked for a little bit longer. During the frst day we walked atleast 15miles. It was really convenient that near our hotel there was a McDonalds and a Subway. Don't scoff at our choices of food, we were all broke and wanted to fill up. We ate three times at McDonalds (most amazing breakfast ever ...

... pyramid is wonderful. Since we only had one day in Paris, we couldn't spend more than a couple hours here. First, we were off to the Mona Lisa. I'd heard it was small, but it was still smaller than I'd expected. Still a nice piece of art, though. It actually wasn't too crowded, so I was able to get a nice picture of it. Then, we wandered over to Venus de Milo. We saw some other statues, too. We explored the museum for awhile, and lastly ...

... the Mediterranean and landed in Paris about 08:00. Thought I was mentally prepared for the temperature change, it was still a bit of a shock. When I boarded the plane it was 85 degrees F. When I deplaned in Paris it was 32.... I picked up my rental car, which took nearly an hour, due to paperwork snafus (delays don't just happen in the developing world) and drove into Paris. I drove down the Champs Elysées, one of the most beautiful boulevards ...

... some way we have more to do. We are paying for this flight over with Frequent Flyer miles. It wasn't that much more to go Business Class. We're on the Paris/Johannesburg leg of the trip as I write. We're on Air France and it's been just wonderful. Regular coach flying has become so unfun. The food, service and room has been great. We're flying on Air France. There are so many biases against the French and their snobbishness and ...

Today we took a day trip out to Versailles. I've never seen so many tourists in one place. Due to that and how much it cost to actually go into the palace, we decided to just explore the gardens instead. They are huge and we also took a nice long walk around the big man made lake before relaxing and having some lunch on the grass.

... it. In any case, I walked away feeling really steamed at being so accosted. But, wait, that is not all, then I was walking in the Marais district and I had a young man approach me telling me he was a student and would I like to contribute to his education . . . of course I said "no" and then just went off to my hotel room to stay away from people for a while. How was your day? Til tomorrow, Bon soire, Jorge

... I think a few of them were French because of the way they carried themselves. Anyhow, it certainly got me in the mood for all things "french." Upon arrival in Paris, the weather was excellent--I kept worrying that I was too dressed down (t-shirt, cargo shorts, tennis) but I felt great. The weather has been very nice. It can get a bit warm during the day, with all the walking, but at night, it cools down. It ...

... has got to end at some point - the human body can only take so many early rises...) and headed to the train station, caught a train to Madrid, paid for an overpriced train*, and arrived in Paris at 8:27 the following morning. Our next train was at 19:00 that evening, leaving us roughly 10 hours to see Paris. So we were a bit rushed. Our first bit of touring involved us getting from our station of arrival to station of departure ...

... because insstead of having the chairs face each other, all of them face the street. Effectively, its like sitting in a theater on the sidewalk. I would imagine that if you have more than two people together it makes conversation pretty inconvenient, but its perfect for one, which I was. thats another thing I've noticed here, there are a lot more people on their own than I'v noticed in New York. and the city accepts it. In the Luxembourg Gardens, which are very near to where I'm ...