Your humble technophobic correspondent had to assemble this dispatch in four parts because after all this time he still can't make the googleblog monster obey his commands. Or even his tearful sniveling pleas, for that matter. And now that they're posted, he finds, to his dismay, that they've come out in a confused non-sequential order!! So, to find even that minuscule structural logic which is usually inherent in these productions, it is recommended that you begin with Page 1, second from the bottom, and proceed in a sequential manner, hopping forward, backward or even sideways, when necessary, through Pages 2 and 3 to Page 4, which appears before Pages 3, 2 and 1. Or, to be perfectly accurate for a change, before Pages 3,1 and 2. (Let's see - I think I've got that right!) Thank you.
There are lots of spectacular churches in Paris. These were taken in Ste. Chapelle, which was built in just 6 years for King Louis the IXth, otherwise known as St. Louis for his devotion to the crusades, his bigotry and his perpetration of genocide, but all in a good cause; the Conciergerie (Okay, not really a church, but it feels like one) which was the court, prison and last stop on the way to the guillotine during the Revolution; and St. Germain l'Auxerrois, about which I know absolutely nothing except that it's across the street from the Louvre. Ah, the Louvre, the Louvre! One of those simple looking french words that's impossible to pronounce.
Loov? Lurv? Loov-ruh? Who knows? We visited it twice and barely scratched the surface. But we did see IT! You know, IT! HER!! The Mona Lisa. We clawed our way through massed ranks of Japanese tourists, gazed upon her enigmatic features and came away changed. I had a nasty welt over my right eye and Mike was missing a shoe. Oh, yeah, we saw some other stuff, too.
Here's a beautiful artistic shot taken from the Pont Alexandre (the II, I think, czar of Russia, 19th century predecessor of the present incumbent, Vladimir I). We had rain, we had sun, we had pain, we had fun, we had life, love and laughter, we had Paree! It was fun to be tourists. We were reminded that, although this whole thing of living in France for a year sounds thrilling and exciting and adventurous, much of it is just routine humdrum daily living. When we're at home in Provence we have car trouble, arguments over homework, dishes to do, bills to pay, etc. It's just like being at home in Portland. I don't know if I find that comforting or disturbing or both, but that's how it is. C'est comme ca!
I was woefully out of touch with current events during our sojourn, so I fear I don't have any insightful political commentary to offer today. But maybe next time. There's always something!
Like the Red Sox winning the Series. Man, that was quick!
Au revoir! Tom
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