Steve's Travel Blog: Finally Really Getting into the Swing of Things

Wow, it's taken a lot longer to be finally free of jet lag on this trip. Don't know if it's the difficulties with the trip over, we're just getting older, or something else.

Sunday we met up with Laurie, a friend who splits her time between Paris & Scottsdale. We went over to her neighborhood in Montparnasse in the shadow of the big tower and really did the Paris thing. Had a leisurely lunch...close to four hours, catching up and just plain yakking away.

Oh, yeah, the food....

Susanne & Laurie each had this vegetable quiche with a nice salad.

I had what they called an Italian salad, with fruit & vegetables. There are some asparagus spears hidden in there somewhere. That's mozzarella up front.

We shared two desserts, a very light cheesecake & a chocolate thingy.

Susanne grabbed a shot of their dessert selection.

Anything with the word Tango catches Susanne's eye so she took this shot before we left. Turns out it is a sheet music cover printed in the USA in 1913.

On the bus back I took this pic of a reflection of the clock tower at Gare de Lyon.

Then it got me to thinking. This is not the tower, only a reflection of it distorted by the windows on the building.

The tower is real but what's in this photo is not real, only an image distorted. Suppose the actual tower represents reality, because it is.

So what we're seeing is not reality but a reflection/perception of reality distorted by the wall of windows. What does the wall of windows represent? I would say it is our mind that is a combination of our genetics, our ability to think and reason openly, & the sum total of our life experiences. The healthier the mind (and body) the clearer the mirror. An unhealthy mind will have a mirror analogous to the wavy mirror in a circus side show whose image barely resembles reality.

Last night we had dinner at a friend's apartment in a suburb just outside Paris to the south. He lives on the 13th floor and has a view of some of the Paris landmarks.

Late in the afternoon of a dreary day doesn't make for spectacular scenery. In addition to the obvious on the left, tucked under the last crane on the right, way out there, is Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, in the Paris north.

We became so involved in solving the world's problems that I didn't take many pics. But had to catch this one.

Duck pate as food art. Our friend loves Americans. He studied advanced dentistry at Northwestern University many years ago.

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Today, the weather is best described by my good friend Doug in Auckland as "pissing down rain". It gives no sign of letting up later in the day. Early in our trip we prepared for this weather by purchasing a ready-made heat & serve European dinner. So tonight it's choucroute, a salad and beer in the apt..

Also we recommend for those who stay only a short time to have a museum pre-chosen so a rainy day = a museum day. We have no museum calling out to us.

Each Paris visit we like to do at least one day trip. We decided to go to Rouen on Monday the 16th. It is famous for its cathedral that Monet loved to paint. Also, it's gare is close to the town center so everything can be done on foot. It is northwest of Paris in Brittany about 70 minutes by train. The weather forecast is pretty iffy, but we'll go anyway and dress for whatever Mother Nature dishes out that day. The train leaves from Gare Saint Lazare, a huge railway station. We can't buy tickets online because we have no printer. I've never been to this gare so I decided to brave the rain to buy the tickets while Susanne does a little yoga at the apt.

If you're interested in checking out an overview of Rouen, click HERE.

On previous trips we've done Poivrins & Fountainbleau.

Last week when we were looking for Rachid, I did a video of the fruit & vegetable market. It was late in the morning & most shoppers have come and gone. So it is not as crowded as when it first opens. But the audio gives you some sense of the sellers shouting out their wares.

As mentioned before, if you can't view this here, try the blog directly, THERE.

We had the choucroute dinner in. Choucroute is the French word for sauerkraut. The dish comes from the Alsace region, close to Germany.

Having little else to post, here are some photos. The kitchen is tiny so we rub elbows alot.