Still Alive: Paris

I lied about that unlimited free internet at the Apple Store; it turns out they kick you out after about half an hour of you using the demo computers and clearly not planning to buy anything. But I can come back again and again for more half-hours.

So, anyhow, here I am in Paris, and after seeing a few, I can say with a fair degree of confidence that this must be the most beautiful city in the world. I guess that’s why it’s so famous. I’ve serendipitously showed up on the day before the first Sunday of the month, which is the day when all of the following are free: the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe, tours of Notre Dame, and a bunch of other things that I won’t have time to see. And in the evening, I’m meeting Flavia, a Californian girl I met in Rome and who studies in Salamanca and jets to a new European city each weekend to try and see as many as she can before graduating. Don’t get too many ideas, though; it’ll probably just be a friends-for-the-weekend thing. After a day tomorrow of running around like a cat in a hamster shop, I’ll have a couple more days to see other stuff that I didn’t have time for already, like the catacombs and other cool stuff.

That’s it for now, but like I said, be expecting more blogs once I get to England. Oh, also: there have been calls for me to put up a Christmas list. I don’t know what to do exactly now that there are kind of two separate branches of my family without much communication and no one will know what the others are getting… maybe I’ll leave it up to you to exchange email addresses and tell each other? or maybe I’ll get used to the possibility of getting two identical gifts? or if you ask me to, I can split up the list into two parts, one per half of the family? Anyhow, here are my only material desires I can think of:

  • A camera that isn’t terrible (my current one is, owing largely to a chipped lens and a refusal to ever believe that it has sufficient battery… the kind you can charge at an outlet would be good, because I don’t like how I have to buy AA’s for this one)
  • Some kind of hat that could keep rain off my head, and maybe even keep my head warm: I don’t really know what kind of hat this would be, but one must exist
  • A sort of smallish satchel that I could carry around if I didn’t want to carry my whole backpack – something durable, and big enough for maybe a book or two and a bottle of water and/or a little food, but not much bigger, so if I needed to I could hold it in my hands and sprint flat-out. This would replace my strategy of carrying stuff around in my cargo pockets, which makes it hard to run or jog or even hustle, much less bustle.
  • Books that I would like… but I’m hesitant to name any because, actually, I plan to hit the library pretty hard while I’m in town, so that no one including me would need to buy books for me, and so I won’t be too weighed down by a collection of them. But one that I’m almost sure I’ll want to own is Unlearn, Rewild.

If I think of anything else, I’ll put it in a comment. I ought to be around!

File under: Year of Adventure, Still Alive · Places: France

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13 Comments

Anonymous

History

Well let's see. Gifts. Money always works and you can buy and choose your own "stuff". Also the Musee d'Orsay left me with Museum Coma for two years. It is Huge. Winged Victory, in the Louvre, is one of my most favorite sculptures of all time. Sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Paris, with a Cappachino (sp) and people watching was a perfect pastime. Notre Dame was stunning, especially the flying buttresses. Finally, Flavia. Sounds like the flavor of the month, however always remember that one can love rich women as well as poor ones and ones with unlimited bank accounts well …………………..I have no words

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Anonymous

History

What I have to offer in my humility (old and cluttered (w/ Micah's "findings") apt) can't match your adventures anymore. I'm so afraid you'll be disappointed…but I'm super excited for you to come home. You can stay with your dad, with me, with Gma/Gpa…everyone wants you to stay with them. Love, Mom

:) :) :)

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Anonymous

History

btw, it is unseasonably warm here…no prospects of it getting much colder. It's supposed to get a little colder later this week, then warm back up again. Today it is 70 degrees F.
Mom

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Anonymous

History

Is it warmer in Europe than usual? Or is it just this part of the globe things are a little wacky? In Colorado there are fires because it's warm and refuses to snow.
Mom

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Anonymous

History

We're looking forward to seeing you really soon. So glad that you've had a chance to see my beloved Paris. I didn't think you'd have time for all the things you've seen.

Don't know about presents. I think both your parents will be busy doing those gifts, but then I don't really know. We may have something else in mind.

Keep us informed about your activities. Even though it's near the end, we're still anxious to hear about your travels wherever they are. Love, Grandma

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Chuck

History

I really have no idea what size my head is. I'm sorry. Maybe if you can find an adjustable hat I've recently worn, you can deduce from that. If I can, I'll try to get it measured, maybe in England. That might be possible.

I thought of another little thing I'd like: a rain cover for my backpack that's a bit more subdued and camouflageable than the neon yellow one I have now. I think you probably buy them based on backpack size, and I believe my backpack is 65 liters.

I dont't know whether it's a lot warmer or colder than usual here - it seems maybe a little above average, but the other day I definitely woke up next to a truck stop with frost on my sleeping bag. Haven't had that inside Paris, but there's bound to be an urban heat island effect here. 70° is an absurd temperature. It scares me.

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Anonymous

History

Have you been to the Eiffel Tower or he old opera house. How about a boat ride on the Seine, either day or night and the Palace of Versailles, where Louis the XIV use to do indoor hunting (yeah it is a big place).

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Anonymous

History

You'll have to find a habadashery in England. If you make it to Oxford, look up 'The Eagle and the Child' pub where the inklings met. Then I can live out my dream vicariously through you!

Dave

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