Thank you, Blog, for the pictures.

Final Paris blog post! I have just gone through and saved all the pictures that were here on the blog to David Graham's computer (as I no longer have one, it being in the stolen suitcase.) So a big thank you to my blog readers... if you hadn't been reading, I wouldn't have been posting, and then I wouldn't have had any Paris pictures left! But thanks to you, there were about 100 of the best ones safely here on the internet!

And now I sign off. Until the next adventure...

Back on native soil!

We're home!

We made it!

Didn't have much unpacking to do, because, you see, we don't have bags. No laundry either, because we don't have any clothes! Life is somehow strangely simplified in the midst of its complexity.

We have both purchased new phones/ SIM cards, so we can be in touch with the world again. We have just learned that the kindly gentlemen who broke into our car racked up quite a cell phone bill on David's phone, and we will be checking to see if we can track any of the numbers he called. Of course, it is highly unlikely that this will actually lead to finding anything, but it feels good to be able to DO something. It will feel less good to pay next month's bill to T-Mobile.

Interestingly enough, the worst part of the whole experience was not the police station or getting new passports, but dealing with Air France. It turned out there was a problem with my ticket that was completely unrelated to our missing our original flight; I will spare you the foggy details, but basically we spent 7 1/2 hours in the Air France store trying to redeem the ticket for which I had already paid. It culminated in my demanding to speak to the supervisor on vacation, us yelling at each other for a while, and the guy in the store getting tired of the whole situation and just printing us both tickets for no additional charge (which sounds really nice, but really it was just normal because we had already paid for these tickets.) So it only took 2 1/2 hours to get emergency passports, but it took 7 1/2 to convince Air France to let us get on the plane we had paid for. Cool.

I want to be sure to add that we do not want our little unpleasantness to discourage anyone from visiting France, which is a beautiful country and features many wonderful people. We would not even discourage you from going to Marseille; we would, however, advise against parking your car on rue Guibal, even in the middle of the day for only a few hours.

Pictures to come eventually of some of the lovely places we have seen! Also, I hope to be responding to everyone's messages and emails very soon... I have a weekend seminar so I'm in class this afternoon and all day tomorrow, but I will work on emailing as soon as I can!

The adventueres continue

DG and I have had a lovely time visiting the south of France. I would share some of the fantastic pictures he has taken with you, except, well.... you seeeee....

... our rental car was broken into in Marseille (our last city on the French coast.) Our GPS, suitcases, and backpack were all taken. These aforementioned suitcases contained many important items, notably my computer, diamond earrings, and our passports! Ahh! That was just the beginning of our drama, as the whole story turns out to be quite a horrible and yet strangely amusing saga.

My French skills have been excercised in interesting new ways... namely, in flagging down passersby to ask what the number was to call the police, making a police report, explaining to the car rental company why our car had a broken window, negotating with the train controller when we jumped on a train from Paris to Marseilles for which we did not have tickets, getting new emergency passports at the Consulat this morning, and spending some quality time with: some Air France agents trying to change our tickets, because we missed our flight out this morning because we were getting passports.

Fortunately, we had both of DG's cameras with us, and on them all the pictures from since he's been here! Unfortunately, his camera charger and card reader (and my camera with all my pictures from before he got here,) were among the many things in the suitcases that were stolen, which is why I can't post pictures until we get new ones. HOWEVER, you should definitely check back if you are interested, because we have seen some really beautiful places.

A difficult end to an otherwise spectacular trip. However, there's nothing like getting all your belongings stolen to remind you that what really matters, is that you still have each other! This whole situation will end up costing a fortune, but we are already looking at it with a lighthearted eye because everything that has happened is so riduculously unbelievable, it rapidly reaches the border of comedy.

I will now take this opportunity to share some of the interesting facts we have learned over the last few hours about various French companies and governmental agencies:

- the French National Police do not have internet in their offices. National Police. No internet. Right.

- following in this vein of reasoning, Air France (a huge international company,) does not have a 24 hour phone line. Not even for emercencies. They are closed all night until 8:30 the next day. Despite the fact that their customers have urgent business to discuss with them regarding impending flights. They, in fact, open AFTER some of their flights have left for the day.

- again, in the same theme, the Air France office on the seventh arrondissement in Paris CANNOT CALL INTERNATIONALLY. So if they need to talk to say the airport in Manchester who didn't record me getting booked on an alternate flight coming over here about why my plan tickets are blocked, they can't. They can't call internationally. Air France.

- and finally, the people on the train are unable to look up your ticket order on the spot. Apparently, instant confirmation about whether or not people actually ordered their tickets is not their priority. I can go to my email and view a confirmation of my order instantly, but the people on the train do not keep a record of ticket orders.

And there you have it, the interesting facts we have learned lately. More to come, I'm sure.

Eventually we will return to the States, and more eventually, we will post pictures of our recent adventures before the Recent Unpleasantness.

small cites and Avignon

.... after Lyon, we rented a car (!) and started driving down the Rhone Valley. We stopped in a tiny little town at a winery called Ogier. David Graham had asked me to call them a few weeks ago to see if we could come by for a tasting and a tour, so I called and talked to a nice lady. At the end of the call, I asked her what her name was, and she said, "Oh, Mrs. Ogier." That's how it seems to work around here... many small vineyards that make world-renowned wine.

Above, me and Mrs. Ogier. She told us everything in French and I translated to DG. We tasted several wines and also met her son, who now owns the winery, and his finacee.

We are driving down little country roads with sunflower and lavender fields. Unfortunately, we are just a few weeks past the peak blooming season, but it's still pretty.

We stopped at a small town called Tournon, and went up to check out their local castle. Everyone has one, you see. Here's the view from the window.

... and this is the castle of an even smaller city called Grignan. And their labyrinth.

DG being a wine conoisseur outside one of the "caveaux" where you can taste wines in Chateauneuf du Pape, which is a famous wine town. The name means "New Castle of the Pope," and it was where a pope built his summer home to escape from his other home in Avignon (more on that below.)

We took this picture because this is not the typical view out the window on any American interstate I've ever been on.

In the 14th century, the pope left Rome because the Italians were fighting each other and it made him nervous. He built himself a mighty fine castle right here in Avignon, which is where DG and I am today. Throughout this century, popes lived here instead of in Rome. Today we learned that the pope had an entourage of 650 people, including someone to carry his water for him (blessed be the poor, you know...) Also, no one except the pope was allowed to eat with a knife. Not sure why, but I guess it's so no one would murder him.

Too bad we didn't have the little camera with us to video this, but it was great: these are amateur street performers on a square right outside our hotel in Avignon. It was just five guys who formed a band called Two Peas in a Pod, plus the guy randomly throwing fire behind them. They were so excited to have such a crowd of people around them and played some of their own music, many French songs that people sang along to, and, of COURSE, "Billy Jean" which I have heard A THOUSAND TIMES over here. And "Thriller," people play that ALL THE TIME, too. I think the French love Michael Jackson more than we do.... certainly more than I do...

DG comes to Paris.... and Lyon

We are alive, we just haven't had free internet access for a while.
A few quick pictures of the past days:

Paris Plage! A few years ago, the mayor of Paris decided to bring the beach to the city. There are chairs and umbrellas and areas to work out, and playgrounds, and water fountains, and misting fountains, and...

SAND! They bring in truckloads.

RA and DG in front of Pont Alexandre III, one of my favorite bridges. I also like Pont Neuf, which means New Bridge, but is actually the oldest bridge in Paris. Hmm.

We went on a boat cruise of the Seine River, which runs through Paris, and David Graham was excited to see the police on a speedboat. He wants to be one.

He was also excited to tour the sewers of Paris... yes, the sewers... which is an actual touristic attraction for which you must pay. The tour was interesting and informative and somewhat pungent. Above is a guide teaching young French children about what happens when they flush the toilet.

DG in Pere Lachaise cemetary, the one with many famous people buried there (notably Oscar Wilde, Moliere, and Jim Morrison. Jim Morrison's grave was surrounded by young people of all different nationalities drinking beer... except that one girl was drinking wine straight from the bottle. Another girl stood there for a few minutes, then said, "I wanna smoke a joint right now." An interesting crowd, for sure.)

We went to a mass at Notre Dame. The acoustics of the music were incredible. DG took this picture inside.

A view of a street in Montmartre, in the north of the city.

We got to hang out with Frederic and his girlfriend Charlene on Sunday night and it was a lot of fun.

On Tuesday morning, we left Paris for Lyon (you see it there next to Switzerland and Italy.) We took the TGV and it was so fast and so efficient and so easy, and I am a big fan (we went up to 170 mph!) We are now traveling down the Rhone Valley, from Lyon to Marseille (on the coast.)

In Lyon, we met up with Aziz, our friend from the French Table in Auburn. He took the whole day to show us around the city and was a great tour guide. This picture is from a church at the very top of the city overlooking everything.

city view

His wife prepared this outstanding meal at their home: salmon tartare, a kind of tuna salad, and olive puree, and a salad with yellow tomatoes and tiny hard-boiled eggs! Plus some fabulous wine, an interesting kind of beer, a giant cheese plate, and fruit crumble for dessert! It was a fantastic day and such an enjoyable evening... they were so kind to welcome us!

View of Lyon by night. The Rhone and Saune rivers flow through the city.

We are now in Montelimar, a city between Lyon and Avignon, but we are about to leave, so I don't have time to post pictures from here. If our next hotel has free internet access, I'll be back....

Various pictures...

A brief post of some pictures from the last few days, as I am packing up and going to meet David Graham (!)

Met up for coffe with with the famous Dr. Spencer, back left (my AU professor responsible for getting me across the Atlantic three times,) Madame Bourget, bottom left, who ran around town and got Ross and my internship contracts signed by half the city of Paris for us, Madame Turpin, a friend of Mme Bourget's, and Ross.

A mid-action picture of some of the Ungaro team. (back row:) Charly, behind me, had his back to the camera because he didn't want to be in the picture, then there's Pauline and Steeve... front row, Marilyne (who has been so wonderful to me in so many ways... notably letting me stay at her house for a night, helping me re-sell some train tickets online that I accidentally bought for 5:00 in the morning instead of 5:00 at night, and giving my some French cookbooks! Get ready, I'm going to start cooking for real this time,) Gerard, of the Diva-spraying fame, and Mari-Line, one of the ladies who works upstairs doing alterations.

Met up with Quinn, David Graham's cousin, for lunch and to show her around Ungaro...


Met up with Lindsey for a meal at a cool restaurant her friend had recommended... I would post a picture of the meal, but somehow the picture numbers are messed up and the ones I click on to post are not showing up...

A short video from my dinner with Pauline, my fellow Ungaro intern, near St. Michel on Thursday night. Now you will feel like you were there...

Picnic and other news

.... Having not yet had a picnic on Ile de la Cite on this trip, I decided to have one. So I created a Facebook event and all the people that I have met here, or knew already. It was lots of fun, and there were more than 20 of us.

RA and Frederic. Don't let him fool you; he's not normally this tan; he just got back from vacation in Corsica.

This is the view of Ile de la Cite from the river. This is what we looked like to the tour boats passing by. We were at the very tip of the island, under the weeping willow.

This was our view.

Ross/ Michel/ Michael, and Laura Leeker, fellow Auburn alums. (Am I an alum even though I'm still there?)

Girls from the foyer: Ana, Fatia, Linda, me, and Aurore.


I just now got back from a party at a new friend's house (new because I met him last night at the picnic.) Cedric invited some people over to his place before he leaves for Portugal tomorrow to do work with a race car team for a few weeks.



Check it out, David Graham. Cedric let me take a picture of this picture that he had. So you see Cedric on the left, and I need not specify who's on the right. Go team 24.

Picture of random apartment... can you imagine living up there on the top floor that covers two stories?

OK, Dr. Barry's CTSE 7930 and 4430 students, this is for you. I am going to make a culture lesson on French signs, which reveal French values of "le mot juste," politeness, formality, correctness, etc. I found this particular sign on the inside of the stall in the bathroom in the foyer. Behold a translation for the English speakers (although of course I would not be translating to my class:)

"Thank you for concentrating on leaving this space clean after your passage. You have at your disposition the flusher and the toilet brush to use without moderation."

I know, right?

Here's another really good example:


In French, the appropriate way for Kenzo to inform people that they have moved is to say, "Your boutique has had a change of address. Starting on August 6 2008, we will have the pleasure of welcoming you at 51 avenue George V."

.... whereas in English, you simply say, "New store." This illustrates how Americans value what is efficient, more than what is beautifully put.


* * *

I have been meeting people from so many different places, so I decided, Elizabeth Mills style, to make a list. I have met French speakers from the following countries:

Tunisia
Bolivia
Madagascar (yes, Sally, it's true!)
l'Ile de la Reunion
Guadeloupe
Algeria
Wales
Spain
Iran
Argentina
Canada
England
Italy

Velib et Tour de France

This post is devoted to the noble sport of biking. It will go down in two sections:
Part the first: Ruth Ann explores biking as public transportation.
Part the second: The Tour de France riders arrive in Paris!

I. And we begin. I left Paris in May of 2007, and in July of 2007, the city started installing bikes as forms of public transportation. The system is called "Velib" (velo= bike; lib= play on liberty,) and there are more than 20,000 bikes and 1,450 stations.

A map of Paris, showing all the stations. Obviously they are everywhere.

A station looks like this. You go up to the machine, insert your transportation pass if you are a native (it was more complicated for me because I don't have a European bank card, but I won't bore you with details...) suffice it to say that I took out a week's subscription to the service. So at any time during that week, I could approach any station in the city, punch in my code, and take a bike. It costs 5 euros ($7) to take out a weekly account. If you return the bike to a station in under 30 mins, you pay nothing. If your trip takes from 30-59 minutes, you pay one euro ($1.40), and it starts getting more expensive after that. Even if your trip will take more than 30 minutes, you can easily check your bike in at any station, and continue (so you don't pay anything.)

As we all know, I require my bikes to be equipped with baskets. As these are.
People using these bikes are not tourists; they are Parisians. Working people can toss their purse or briefcase in the basket, and be on their way. And, be it noted LIZ MOORE, that MANY Parisian women ride in their dresses (and heels)! So there.

So this system is fantastic and I loved using it. The only problem I encountered is that streets randomly turn into going only one way, and I don't know which ones do that. So as long as you don't find yourself in the middle of a busy intersection with cars coming at you and nowhere to go, it's great.

It is perhaps both my greatest accomplishment... or dumbest thing I've ever done... or both... that I successfully rode my bike around Etoile (the Arc de Triomphe, see below.)

Velib's slogan: "Life is more beautiful on a bike." I agree.

II. The Tour de France arrives! After 21 days, the bikers appeared in Paris for the last leg of their grueling trip. This involves doing 8 laps from Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe (pictures below to explain.)

My picture of the riders from where I was standing on the Champs-Elysees.

This is the Arc de Triomphe (where I rode my Velib bike around one day... crazy, I know.) The giant street is the Champs-Elysees. The white spot at the end of it is Concorde. The riders did eight laps between Concorde and the Arc.

This is what it looks like at Concorde (I didn't take this picture, obviously, but here it is). (Note: Concorde is where the Hotel Crillon is.)

View as they are heading from the Arc toward Concorde

In this video, you can see the first group whizzing by, followed by the peleton several seconds later. As you can see, they are FAST. It was pretty cool to see. Kind of like Nascar, but not as loud as they passed.

And, for David Graham's benefit, more cars. Let it be noted that all these pictures were taken either on George V (where I live,) or on Avenue Montaigne (where I work.)