Captain's Log, Stardate 101007.22 or something along the lines.
I write this entry from a TGV as I depart Paris. Internet access was so horrible in the hostel I was staying in that it made it incredibly difficult to get online, and when I did, I would be sitting haphazardly on some stairs along with a dozen other 20somethings asking their boyfriends if they could hear them because the Skype connection was so bad. So, needless to say, I didn't spend much time online.
I did however have a really good time in Paris; I went on a tour in Normandy at the beginning of the week, saw Omaha, Point d'Hoc, the artificial harbour, some surviving German gun batteries, the American graveyard, and we had a guided tour of the Caen Memorial.
I highly suggest anyone who has an interest in WWII and would like to see some of the sights to go on this tour; the rates were pretty reasonable (170 USD) considering we had lunch included (steak and wine) and our groups were very small, at most 8 people per guide. The fact that the groups are small really made it worthwhile, you didn't have to wait for the guide to finish repeating their speil in four languages before you could ask a question. It was really great. The visit is organized by the Caen Memorial, but I bought my tickets through http://www.linkparis.com. If you can get a good deal on your train fare to Caen and back from Paris, it should cost you no more than about 200 dollars. Sure, it's a good chunk of money at face value, but if you're interested in the material, there's nothing like getting taken around by a professional.
The next day I went to the Eiffel Tower. I was there at a time that I thought was early (10AM), but when I showed up, the lines were huge. I spent at least an hour waiting to get my ticket to the second floor, at which point they informed me that the top of the tower was closed due to congestion (not unjustifiable, at least). I didn't really care, going to the second floor is better than not going. Up there, however, they were selling tickets for the tower, so I queued again for about half an hour, this time. I was luckily able to get a few kerbillion pictures as the line wrapped its way all the way around the second floor.
Upon reaching the top, I declined getting a 10 Euro glass thimble of champagne, took a couple pictures and essentially got right back in line for the elevator down. 45 minutes later, I was back on the ground looking for the Notre Dame cathedral. The line to Notre Dame had a lineup akin to that of the Eiffel Tower so I took some outside pictures, sat down in the park behind it, and crossed it off my list.
Ah yes, now, the adventure for supper. I had read about a Canadian pub (yeah, apparently they exist?) called the Moose that actually looked like it would be interesting, so I tried to make my way over there. Epic fail. About an hour into the 13 minute walk I ended up at a tavern that had some nice looking beer and food for less than ten euros. It was pretty simple, I had a "tartine", some sort of bread with cheese melted onto it and toasted. It was simple, but tasted good; mine had goat's cheese and another kind I couldn't pronounce. For desert, I found a crepe shop and had a nutella/Gran Marnier crepe, scoffed it down while it was still warm, then walked what (at the time I thought was) the road back to the hostel. 20 minutes later, I realize something is up; I should have at least seen a building or street that looked familiar... or the frakking Pantheon that I knew was on the way. I was really, really lost, and naturally without a map. I had somehow ended up in a part of town where metros were scarce, so I couldn't even figure out what stop I was at. Eventually, though, I found a metro, managed to misinterperate what direction I was facing, and then stumble somewhat in the direction of where I was going.
By the time I got to the hostel I had been wandering around for about 90 minutes, was drenched in sweat, and fell asleep on my bed fully clothed (minus the shirt I was wearing which had to be burned), with the lights on.
My last day in Paris (yesterday) I went to the "Cite des Sciences et Industrie", a purely immense science museum geared towards everyone. It has to be at least 3 times as big as the Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, which in itself is pretty huge. In the 6 hours I was there I saw a 3D IMAX show in their theatre, a planetarium show that was pretty fantastic, and two and a half out of maybe a dozen exhibits. I can't imagine anyone actually having the time to visit the entire museum in one day.
That night, I met up with a coworker from McGill who was in town for a high energy conference (TeVPa), and he, his girlfriend, sisters and myself went on an hour long boat tour. You couldn't really hear the guide which was a bit of a drag, but the experience was still nice (albeit a bit of rain). We had supper at this South American place, then my coworker and his girlfriend and I went out for drinks. We ended up at this royally expensive (but really cool) place next to the Pantheon. I had a 1L "glass" of kreik (a sour cherry beer) out of a kwak bottle.... The pictures can explain more than I can with words.
Today, I made my way to Ghent, got royally lost on my way to my B&B, checked in, took a 4 hour break (was pretty pooped), and now I write this sitting on a terasse, drinking a Duvel, surrounded by live music, magicians, street performers, this creepy girl in a dress (see the pictures) and swaths of people. Ghent looks like it would be a blast to visit when there isn't a festival going on, this is nuts. It's like the Montreal Jazz Festival on crack with a small section of LaRonde thrown in (did I mention there are rides set up here?). I missed the Ghent jazz festival, which is too bad; I was hoping to be able to compare it to Montreal's. Oh well, it gives me an excuse to come back. Also, at (I think) 45 Euros a night, my B&B is really nice; nicer than some (most) hotels I've stayed in.
Well, my glass is empty. Time to order another bottle of something that'd cost me three times as much back home.
*caveat: I do miss my brewery. I should be taking notes on all the things I try; it would be really cool to try and figure out what makes then and attempt to duplicate some of the flavours. I don't want to clone them, there's no fun in that. Instead, I would like to be able to pull together something similar.
PS, there are some really, really pretty girls in Ghent.
PPS, most of them smoke.
PPPS, I hear that there are all you can eat ribs somewhere around here. w00t.
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