October 5

Today is a white day. I guess we are going thru the colors of the French flag or something. Anyway, it is probably time we introduced you a little more to Daisy, as her name will crop up here quite a bit. Daisy is the Van, of course, and this is what she looks like from the outside. I like this photo, especially because of the obviously non-US house in the background. Really gives the sense that we are faaaar away.

Daisy has got some problems, don't we all, but hers are more mechnical than most. It's not her fault, she is an old woman. Over time anybody is going to blow a gasket or two eventually. I'm sure has mentioned more about this a litle later. It has been gloomy here in Paris for couple of days. I'm longing for the sun.

The two pictures here are either side of the interior. On the left you can see the edge of the right-hand drive. I must say that it is very weird to shift and use the parking brake with the left hand. I keep automatically using my right hand to reach for the shift stick - which results in my smashing my hand into the door, promptly reminding me to use the other hand. The white table top folds up to reveal the cooker and a sink. The cooler in the front is doubly as our fridge, while the non-working fridge becomes general food storage.

I haven't had much problem with driving the bus. The roundabouts here are a bit of a mind-f**k, but everything else is pretty natural. I've been driving in the US more than I have in the UK. The photo on the right shows my bed folded down and the various places we have to stash our clothing and what-not. Of course all this talk about sleeping inside, cooking, eating, etc, is all theoretical, as we have yet to actually camp :-)

Here we see a giant rose about to stomp Didier's house to bits.

Ok, not really.

I tried to frame a rose from the garden with the house to give everyone an idea of where we are staying near Paris, but it ends up looking rather odd, and in the bigger version of this photo it looks like I actually overlayed a photo of a rose on a photo of the house.

Didier gave Matthew and I two trophies, for being The Best. That's Sean's translation anyhow.

Then, it was off to Paris, again. We wandered around a lot. I guess it is because there is just so much to see, that one rarely wants to go from metro stop to metro stop. Just walking the boulevards is such an experience. Here is a scene from the Les Halles area, where they have a nice area for playing Pa-tunk, aka, Boules, or Bocce Ball.

Below is Matthew pretending to be Napoleon, at the Louvre :-)

The design of the glass pyramids really works. There is a contrast between the old and the new, yet the design itself is as old as ancient Egypt. Each pyramid has an arrangement of overflowin 'ponds' around the perimeter.

Finally, we were supposed to meet Katia, Paul and Nancy (all friends from Seattle) at Le Pub de St Germain in the Latin Quarter at 8pm. Matthew and I got there an hour early because our feet were sore from all the walking. Katia showed up about a quarter to 8 (wow! I guess French time is different when it is in France?). We never did see Paul and Nancy, so we talked and laughed for a couple of hours. Katia was visiting France for her grandmother's 80th birthday, and then in Paris for a couple of days for work. It was great to see her, and give her a hug :)
The beer was good, we drank Spaten Blonde. The food is really good over here. A little more care is taken over the qualiy, and there is less emphasis on quantity. I ordered a steak avec pommes frites. Try asking for medium-rarein France! Fortunately a had a couple of good translators with me.

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