France Day 19 Rain in Paris

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While Laurie was planning our “assault” on the Louvre, she read that it began as a fort in 1190 to watch for Vikings coming up the Seine. They somehow heard we were coming, because police were everywhere dressed in full riot gear, blocking all entrances to the Louvre when we got there. Lots and lots of people were walking around trying to find a way in, to no avail. We wondered if there had be a threat or other incident, then Laurie asked one of the policemen who told us it was closed because the president of Holland was visiting. So we went back up to our neighborhood, a ten minute walk on crowded streets in the rain, and explored the neighborhood. Today’s photos are shots of fashion on the streets and store windows in the area around the Opera. The area is pretty upscale, with fine clothing and jewelry shops and a variety of ethnic restaurants. There are a lot of tourists from all over, but there seems to be a large concentration of Japanese and Chinese in the area, and there are several Japanese restaurants and an oriental food store on the three streets that border the building we are in.

 

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France Day 3 Paris & a walk at night

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Today we went by the outdoor market on our way to the Rodin Sculpture Garden, Napoleon’s tomb, the Military Museum and Map Museum as part of the class. Then Laurie and I walked to the Cimetière du Montparnasse, found Serge Gainsbourg’s grave, then walked back to the hotel. We walked to a restaurant that specialized in crepes for dinner, which was a mile and a half from the Hotel. The crepes were delicious, and a couple of women sitting at the end of our table gave us a sample of their apple cider, which was really good — it reminded us of Spain. After dinner we walk back to the hotel, which was mostly along Rue Mouffetard. A light rain was falling making the air slightly hazy and the stone streets glisten. One of the stores we walked by had Moulin Rouge Goth style dresses and an ad for a Goth-style model. There were several bars and food places along the walk, and the dog in the second photo was part of the crepe restaurant. I measured our walk on Google Map Pedometer and got 6.5 miles for the day.

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The Trouble With Bras

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The only aisle that is a straight shot from household goods to groceries in Walmart runs right through the bras. For as much as people complain about Walmart, they are good at merchandising, because I have never seen a woman walk past the bras on her way to household or groceries and not stop and at least flip through the large variety of brightly colored, multi-patterned bras hanging on the displays. If she decides to try on a few, and she happens to have a man in tow, he will slowly die of hunger and thirst waiting for his lovely gal to find a bra that fits just right.

Since l was done with the grocery shopping and there was nothing else I needed or wanted to look for, I sat on the wire bench outside the fitting rooms while I waited for Laurie. While fidgeting around trying to get comfortable, I started thinking about how suicide bombers believe they get 72 virgins after they blow themselves to hell. “Hmmm!” I thought to myself, what if they actually got condemned to shopping for bras with their 72 virgins for eternity? Now that would be hell! Think about it, sitting on an uncomfortable bench watching his 72 virgins all lined to get into the fitting room, each with a half a dozen bras in their hands. One by one they would come out and explain to him in detail why each bra didn’t fit quite right — “The cups fit on this one, but the straps dug into the fat! This one bloops out unless I stand up really straight and stick my chest out… this one’s underwire poked me, and this one…” And she’s off to grab another handful of bras to try on. While he’s waiting for his next virgin to give him the run down on the inadequacies of the load of bras she hauled into the fitting room, he has the rather round and tired old lady who’s at the end of her shift that never comes to keep him company. She’s nice enough, but he’s not enjoying fantasizing about what she would look like in her underwear. Another virgin interrupts his fantasy to describe her delicate dilemmas with the colorful display of cups and straps she’s dangling in his face — “This one doesn’t….”

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Adam and Marissa

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Adam is leaving for boot camp next week, and will serve in the Army for the next three years. He brought is girlfriend, Marissa, with him to the photo session, and although she was reluctant to get in front of the camera, she turned out to be a delightful model. Marissa is studying mechanical engineering at UNM. Rosencrantz had to get in action, of course!

 

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