Finally got some photos posted thanks to Janis!! Helped me big-time with a work-around fix. The website still isn't working the way it should but at least I got some up!
Rainy, cold and windy today -- not a great combination, but, hey, better here than somewhere else! Headed off this morning to find a coffee maker -- Christine suggested I try a major department store in the center of Paris -- Fnac -- and it was an excellent idea. (Actually got the coffee maker in the apartment to work -- turns out the pictograph directions showed putting the capsule in foil-side up when the correct way was foil-side down -- made a world of difference. Decided to still buy a cafetiere to take with me -- that way I'm not faced with having to potentially learn how to use a new coffee maker every time I change apartments -- I'm here to learn and have fun, not mess around with coffee makers and, God, I need my coffee in the morning!!)
Entering the store was a somewhat novel experience -- in France, they apparently are really taking security seriously -- to get into the store you need to pass through a security check complete with a bag check and being wanded -- this by a guy with a gun on his hip. The smaller shops don't bother with it, but now that I think about it, all of the chain and larger stores have security guards at the door -- really different feeling than in the USA. There is also a farily good -sized police presence in the streets -- nothing heavy-handed but you see them around. In the airport and government buildings, it's big time body armor and guns -- and a lot of them -- a somewhat different way of life here. People here seem to take it in stride.
Had also planned on doing some touristy stuff while I was out -- two places I wanted to visit -- the Tour of Jean sans Peur -- a Gothic military tower built during the Hundred Years War so the guy could protect himself from the friends of the people he asssinated. The other was the Egilse St Eustache, again a Gothic structure, apparently frequented by some familiar names (Louis XIV, Mozart, Moliere, etc...) during their times. Unfortunately, the tower is closed on Mondays and the Church had a flood on the first floor -- so, another time.
Instead, I ended-up aimlessly wandering the neighborhood streets in that area for the next four hours -- go two blocks, take a right, go one block take a left, cut through an alley, then randomly repeat, stop at a boulangerie, wander through a chocolate shop, sit for a couple of minutes on a park bench and watch people pass by -- talk about getting lost and turned-around -- but it was fun and I had no where I needed to be and no time I needed to be there!
It did get a little strange in a couple of areas -- found the "love" section of Paris (or at least one of them) -- love hotels (that's what they call themselves), porn stores, video parlors, the whole deal -- what was interesting is that they were fully integrated into the other shops on the street -- there would be a "love hotel" flanked by a Nike store on one side and an upscale women's boutique on the other, and then a love hotel and then a shoe store -- it was like they were just another normal business on the street -- struck me as strange.
Another thing here that's different is the way people walk -- it's very much an attitude of if I get there first, get out of my way -- or, if you're not gong to walk in the middle of the sidewalk, I am and you can go around me. I understand that it's a "big city", but sometimes, I swear people go out of their way and walk straight at you to see if you'll give way. I tend to be taller and bigger than most of the people here so for me it's just an annoyance, but you frquently see people literally bounce off of each other or duck out of the way at the last second -- really weird.
Raining pretty good out there right now -- tomorrow the plan is to visit the American Embassy and see if our people over here are as big a PIA as the French were at the Los Angeles Consulate. Plus, people have said I should "check-in" in case anything happens over here or back in the States. Think I'll also amble by the Place du Concorde nearby -- that was the location during the Revolution where they constructed the guillotine and people lost their heads as the crowds cheered -- should be a fun day!
Hope to get more photos tomorrow while I'm enjoying my big mug of coffee!
