Archive for December, 2004

If you want to help

It was surreal to be on vacation enjoying Paris, while this huge tsunami tragedy was unfolding. We’d been in Paris a couple days when the tsunami hit, our hotel had two English language news channels that let us follow the events: BBC World and CNN International. Of the two I felt BBC World […]

Glad to be going home

It’s been a good visit here to Paris, but I’m glad to be heading home this morning. I want to go back to a country where they give you ice for your Coke, like God intended.
And I definitely won’t miss the prices–have no idea how much I’ve charged on the credit card but it’s […]

Normandy was a worthwhile day trip

If you’re in Paris long enough to spare one day for a side trip, Normandy is definitely worth it. We went there today, on the tour bus, and saw Omaha Beach where the Allied assault against the Nazis began. Also saw the American cemetary there in Normandy, and a couple other spots of […]

Jim Morrison is still dead

Went to the grave of Jim Morrison here in Paris, and like the other weird tourists who were there, I took a photo next to his tombstone. Well, as close as I could–they’ve put up a small barricade and there is a gendarme posted to watch over the gravesite. Apparently the graffitti and […]

The Louvre is too big

Okay, there is no earthly way you can see a place like the Louvre in one day. So I don’t think they should put that big a collection in one place–the limit should be the number of things you can reasonably see in one day.
Spent the day wandering through this massive museum. I […]

Disneyland Paris is a bust

Okay, maybe partly it was because the park was chilly and very very crowded, but I was really unimpressed with Disneyland Paris. It’s actually two parks, the main Disneyland and a newer Disney Studios theme park. 49 euro gets you a park-hopper ticket to both, it’s 40 euro for just one park.
Of […]

Paris is cold and dreary in December, but Versailles is awesome

First full day of my Paris adventure, and it’s cold and dreary out here. To be expected this time of year I suppose.
Flight arrived yesterday morning, and one of our stewards was so stereotypical French. He had that little triangle beard, the one that’s just under the lip and that you only see […]

Mario Power Tennis rocks

Aarrggh, I have a new obsession that’s going to eat way way too much of my time–Mario Power Tennis. Just bought it yesterday while I was at Best Buy, it’s way way better than I had expected.
Now I’ve been a fan of the Nintendo 64 Mario Tennis, but I donated my old N64 to a […]

Disappointing first use of the AWD

So we had the first decent snowfall/ice blizzard this morning. Nothing dramatic, but enough to make the roads slick. I was excited by the chance to see how the Realtime AWD in my Honda CR-V would perform. Unfortunately it was something of a disappointment.
Maybe I had too high an expectation for all-wheel-drive, but on […]

Lots of people feeling rather blue today

Not a big basketball fan, but around here you do at the very least know when UK and UofL are playing. Today was the day, a noon start at Freedom Hall.
Now I was at the used video store right about half-time, they had the game playing on the radio in the store. At […]