October 6

The first thing to do this morning was to drop Daisy off at the mechanic to get the solenoid and the carburetor adjusted. It is kinda scary dropping off a VW at a Renault shop in the middle of the country, but Didier highly recommended the shop and the mechanic seems like a right good fellow. He said it should be done by tomorrow. Cool!

This morning I also called Paul at his hotel, and we agreed to meet at Musee Rodin. Well, he actually showed up! Turns out that he and Nancy had also showed up at Le Pub, and from his description it was the same place that we were in. He sez they showed at 8pm, and stuck around until 8:30, but none of the three of us actually saw him, and I am kinda a hard guy to miss. Hrm.... Well, anyway, Musee Rodin is my favorite in Paris, so it was great to see it again. This is Paul and Matthew in front of the famous "Gates of Hell", which could be construed as a prophecy in that we've all come from "Bill Gates' Hell".

I looked and looked, and finally found a little "Microsoft" just under the little version of The Thinker.

Just kidding.

Paul had not, yet, really wandered around Paris, so we did a lot of walking and then stopping in cafes to just pass the time with coffee and talk.

One stop was Notre Dame, the second time for Matthew and I. Since it wasn't Sunday, some new areas were open, so I managed to get this shot.

Then, of course, is the Eiffel Tower at night. Matthew is deathly afraid of heights [why he rock climbs, then, is still a question :) ], so it turned out to be quite an adrenaline rush as well as a good view. I like, particularly, this photo... Going up to the top of this thing was a big deal for me. The structure is huge and was buit a few years back! Given the fact that it has been standing for a 100 yrs or something I felt my odds were pretty good that it wasn't going to collapse the night that I went up it. You take two elevators up to the top. The first one slides up one leg at an anle. The second one goes right up the centre to the top. The observation deck at the top is small. Flying small planes is no problem, but walking around the edge of this deck was a problem. It is enclosed and sheltered from the weather by glass windows. There is a 2nd level above this eck which is a lot more exposed. I'm glad it was dark, I had less of a feeling for height.

And here is a photo of Paris from the top. Unfortunately one just cannot capture the sense of enormity of the tower or of the city on film - be it digital film or not.

As the day progressed Matthew's knee started hurting more and more - but I will let him say more about that.We got back that night and my knee had swollen to twice it's size! It was hell to walk on. I limp like a pro though.

Lastly, when Didier picked us up that evening he told us that the mechanic had found that Daisy has a blown cylinder and will take a week to fix. GAH! He also said that it wouldn't be bad to drive on it in this way (as it is not completely blown) for a little while, but that it should get done. The mechanic didn't do any work, since we have to decide what we want to do about it. Matthew and I talked about it and decided that we would get the solenoid fixed so that we can at least restart Daisy when she stalls, and then drive to the south of France. From there we hope to get the cylinder fixed, and while Daisy is in the shop, maybe take a train to somewhere and continue the vacationing.....
C'est La Vie.

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