We're home!

I'm mostly rested... Have the entire weekend to recover....

...makes for one sleepy Woosi...

But, one more list I did on the plane...

Insights about art from all the museums I visited:

• Practice... experiment
• Try different things until you find something you like. Practice until you're good at it. (The Picasso museum had a lot of his early art, of which some was really crude)
• It's okay to copy the masters to learn. (I saw lots of famous artist's renditions of other famous artists work)
• It's okay to copy the masters and put your own spin on it. (Ditto with a spin)
• (But it's still not okay to pass it off as a master :)
• Take a subject and try as many ways as you can to represent it in art
• Make a lot of art
• Whatever you make with the intent of making art... *is* art.  Whether or not anyone (including yourself) likes it, doesn't matter.
• Hang out with your artist friends. Learn and encourage and promote each other
• Break the rules. Make new rules. Break those.  Challenge your assumptions. Challenge yourself.

...all the way home :)

We're at our hotel in the bowels of the Helsinki airport. It's very strange. Underground with no windows, and portholes in the halls that make it look like we're on a ship.

Just a few piks of our room here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/woosi/

And!!!  Thinks I like about Paris

• Eating Gallettes (savory crepes) on the sidewalk outside the creperies
• Pain au chocolat and orangina and Baguette sandwiches and Chevre chaud salads
• Views.... from Notre Dam, the Eiffel Tower, and Sacre Coeur
• Gargoyles!!!
• Hotel Amelie was wonderful. Cheap and perfectly located
• Walking everywhere, especially the cobbled streets with funky shops and no cars
• Watching lovers (though it made me homesick)
• Cruising on the Seine. Especially good on a hot day
• Wrought iron balconies - all different
• Discovering new artists.
• Museums that let you take pictures (almost all of them in France)  My new userpic is a Van Gogh painting that I love.

And... things I learned in France that you don't really need:

• That much meat.
• That much room to live in.
• A car if you live in a city with good public transit.

Probably more, but we're going to go SAUNA one more time before we go home....

 It was a very full day. It was just starting to rain as we got back to our room. Now it's raining with thunder and lightning and it's wonderfully cool.

We went to the Louvre Part Deux, and then to the Musee d'Orsay, and then on a whim decided to throw in the Sacre Coeur.  Beautiful views from the top of Sacre Coeur  It was hot but a very nice day and very busy.  Tomorrow, we're off to Helsinki, and then home. This could be my last post...

Piks here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/woosi/.

Another short post and lots of pictures...

Yesterday we went to the Picasso museum, and then strolled around in the Latin Quarter, having crepes and shopping in some of the cute shops. I've seen more hoighty-toighty shops than cute shops, so I'm glad to have found a few.

Today was a scorcher - the first really hot day we've had. We went down into the catacombes and then on a cruise on the Seine. Very good choices for a hot hot day.

Warning: As the sign at the catacombes said, these pictures may make an impression on children and people with a nervous disposition....   Pictures are here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/woosi/

 Today we went to the Musee de Moyen Age (cluny), walked the Bastille market (very crowded), and then went to Notre Dam. We couldn't find the crypte, so we stood in line for the Towers - very much worth the line and the stairs!  Then went in a much shorter line for the cathedral. After all of the cathedrals we've seen on this trip, it was impressive but not different, and they're shuffling you through like cattle, unlike Bayeux or Chartres where there are many fewer people and more time to browse.

I forgot to post photos from Rennes to Chartres to Paris, so I've done that first, and then photos from today.  Warning, if you are afraid of gargoyles, you may want to pass :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/woosi/

After calling the car rental place and having a conversation entirely in French that I'm not quite sure I understood completely, I set off this morning back to Versailles- Chantier train station to retrace my steps.  Searched our route before and after, and searched the car, but no luck.  I then tried the bar where we'd stopped to use the bathroom, and voila!  They had found a passport!  The guy behind the bar opened it up and then started teasing me that it wasn't mine, but it belonged to the old crotchety guy beside me at the bar.... but it was mine and I've got it back.  So, no, rev_sysyphus , I won't be becoming a frenchie....

With much relief, I returned to Paris, and had a few hours to kill before meeting Claire back at our hotel to check into our permanent room. Shopping down rue Cler, finding a honey (miel) store and tasting all of the honeys, and enjoying lunch at a little cafe passed the time pleasantly.  On my way back, I was offered to have a drink with a very nice gentleman who spoke no English.  I declined... but I wonder what kind of conversation would have ensued with my very bad French... :)

After we checked back into the hotel (for 5 glorious days of not lugging our luggage), we decided to pop over to the Louvre. We went through the sculpture exhibits, and the Egyptian antiquities. I had to, of course, do it.  You know I did. Don't blame me if the song keeps running through your head... 

Piks in the usual place in a minute...

It was a few days ago, but I didn't really get a chance to post about it.

The abbey is beautiful and old, and beautiful, and up a lot of stairs....   

The tide was out when we got there, and there's another island farther out than Mont St. Michel. There were people walking out on the tide flats to that island, and people on horseback too.  Shortly before we left, the bells in the abbey rang for several minutes. I think it was telling people that it's time to head back in so they didn't get stuck on the island.

I've uploaded more pictures and added comments.

We set off from Bouxiere this morning, stopped by Chartres, drove into Paris accidentally, turned around, finally got back to Versailles through rush hour traffic (ICK!) and dropped the car off.  Taking the train into Paris and walking to our hotel went perfectly, but then I discovered I had lost my passport!  I'm not quite sure how it happened - I think I might have left it in the rental car since I took it out and may have not quite gotten it in my money belt, but between my belt and my pants somehow... Don't know, but it's gone. 

Luckily, the US Embassy is a 20 min walk away, and I have a copy of my passport with me. Will be a hassle, but not a catastrophe since we're here for 6 nights and have some time to get it all situated.  I'm bummed at losing all of the cool stamps I got :(

We went to the Eiffel tower just as it was getting dark tonight.  It was rainy and windy but still fabulous.  See pictures! 

Although it might have been lost in the original writing...

Here's a translation of my french post for those who didn't understand it:

We went to the coast of Normandy today, and now we're relaxing at Francoise and Xavier's house in Caen.

We visited the Dieppe castle - very old and very pretty. After that, we visited the village of Veules Les Roses.  My goddess, it's pretty!  We walked for more than 2 hours, and ate at a little cafe called Jour D'ete. I took a lot of pictures!

We had adventures today too. A horse and cart in the road, our first experience with an "Aire" (look at the photographs) and we had a little difficulty finding Francoise and Xavier's house. We are very happy for the assistance of several people in Caen who helped us find the right road.

For my French friends, excuse me for not using the accents, I've forgotten how. 

For photographes, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/woosi/

We spent the morning on a walk through the forest with our Servas family in the morning, and then on to a hot day in Fougeres in the afternoon.  Then we had dinner back home with the Servas family.  Their children, Yolan (5) and Angelina (3) are very adorable. They speak both french and german, and figured out that Claire spoke some german and I spoke some french!

Tomorrow to chartres and Versailles. Our servas hosts in Versailles had to cancel due to a family emergency, so we're trying to figure out where we're staying tomorrow night...

A few pictures tonight. Most when I get a better connection... 

 We had a very full day yesterday, starting out with talking to our car rental company about getting another car. The passenger seat broke - the seat back wouldn't go back up and it wouldn't lock in place. Very uncomfortable for Claire!  After getting a car with a working seat, we went to Bayeux, to see the Bayeux tapestry. It was very interesting.  Our Caen hosts said it was like the first comic book, and that's exactly what it was - telling the story of William the Conqueror.

We went quickly to the Bayeux cathedral and after searching for the labyrinth fruitlessly (I read somewhere there was one), we gave up and had crepes for the first time, and then headed to Mont St. Michel.

Mont St. Michel was stunning. I've wanted to go since high school and it was so cool to finally get there. I have tons of pictures, but I have a slow internet connection so you'll all have to wait!

We're going to Fougeres today and the druid stones.

It's been wonderful to have our Servas hosts share with us the history of the places we're visiting. We learned a lot about the history of Dieppe from Stephanie and Ludwig, and then going to the museum in the castle, we understood more of the art.  

Now we're in Caen, and our hosts Francoise and Xavier have shared with us the history of this region.  It's interesting to hear, and (not surprisingly), learn the differences between what we're told in our very American-centric schools about what happened vs. the whole story.  Kinda disturbing to realize how much is left out in American history books.  Xavier explained that the french were very happy to see the Americans on the beach on D-day, but then we went on to bomb Caen, which was completely unnecessary since there were no Germans here.  Much of the old city was destroyed. Very sad, especially since it wasn't needed.

More later (and a translation of my previous post :)

Nous avons aller a la cote de Normandie aujourd'hui, et maintenant nous restons chez Francoise et Xavier a Caen.

Nous avons visiter le chateau de Dieppe - tres vieux and tres belle!  Apres-ca, nous avons visiter le ville de Veules Les Roses.  Mon dieu, c'est belle! Nous avons marcher la pour plus de deux heures, et manger dans un cafe petit qui s'appelle Jour D'ete.  J'ai prendre beaucoup des photographes!

Nous avons les adventures aujourd-hui aussi, un chevaux et cart dans le rue, notre premiere experience avec un "Aire" (voyez les photographes) et nous avons un peu de difficulte de trouver chez Francoise et Xavier.  Nous sommes tres heureux pour l'assistance des plusieurs des personne a Caen qui nous assiste a trouver le rue correctement.

Pour mes amis francaises, je m'excuse pour n'utilise pas des accents.  J'ai oublie comment.

Pour les photographes, voyez: http://www.flickr.com/photos/woosi/

1.  9 out of 10 times, don’t trust what a transit employee tells you (or maybe speak with a British accent)
2. There is an underground (tube), rail, and bus service.  Check all options before deciding the best way to go.
3. The big outlined circles indicate transfer stations. If they’re at the same station, don’t assume the transfer won’t involve going up and down several staircases.
4.  Always ask which platform your train is leaving from when buying your ticket.
5. Referring to #1, check the boards to confirm that the transit employee was correct about platform your train leaves from.
6. When you get to your platform, don’t get on a train until the board is listing the station you want to go to.  Remember there are both a New Cross and a New Cross Gate Station.
7. Find the board that lists stations alphabetically to find the next train to your station (we figured this one out the last day).
8. Bring a friend so you can doublecheck your thinking.
9. Don’t assume because a train left from a certain platform one time it will necessarily leave from that platform all the time.
10.  When riding the tube, try not to think about how far you are underground. Or about earthquakes.

We learned all of these from experience.  We spent the first day taking the tube and a replacement bus into London, taking about an hour each way, before finding out there was a rail line that served New Cross Gate and took us straight into London in 5 minutes.

Having learned all this, our trip to Dover Priory to catch the Dover-Calais ferry today went swimmingly.  I’m typing this on the ferry on my way to FRANCE!  Whoo hoo!  Or should I say, Whooque Hooque?

Pictures of the Dover cliffs, Dover castle, and our trip Calais to Dieppe are here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/woosi/   

We're staying with Servas hosts Stephanie and Ludwig, who made us a wonderful dinner and then showed us around Dieppe (pronounced dee-epp) and shared with us its history.  We're thinking about sticking around a bit tomorrow morning to explore the gothic church inside and the museum that's in the medieval castle.

Forgot to post the link to photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/woosi/), and to the Dali quotes:

• What is important is to spread confusion, not to elimate it.
• Modesty is not exactly my specialty.
• The one thing of which the world will never have enough is exaggeration
• Man has two defects: modesty and women.

I think I would have liked this man :) 

That's one of Salvador Dali's works that I liked today.

We trained back from Reading (StevePalmer's marathon was cancelled so we didn't have to get up early :) and went to the Dali Museum, Westminister Abbey, which was mostly closed, but there was a side entrance we were able to get to some of it from.  Then found the *other* Tate gallery.  This one had the pre-Raphaelite art that I love. No pictures allowed though, and the one of the lady in the boat ( the Lady of Shallot???) was out on an exhibition (big frowny face).

We took pictures of the London Eye.  Didn't go up in it at all - it goes very slowly and gives you a good view, but we were getting good views by just walking everywhere.

Had some problems finding food on the way back, but finally found an indian restaurant that was open and it had great food. Enough for breakfast and a light lunch tomorrow too, for under 12 pounds :)

Off to bed - early morning tomorrow.

Little late but here's my Amsterdam list.

• The city is very bike and pedestrian friendly. Bikes have the right-of-way first, followed by people.  Having been in London for the last few days, it's a very different feel...
• Indonesian cuisine :)
• Small little streets with funky architecture on both sides, all different but all the same style.
• Laws and rules being really just guidelines... Seems like they don't enforce the laws unless you're being stupid. And it seems that people are less stupid when you assume they're adults and can handle not having everything regulated.
• Markets - Nieuw markt and the flower market and China town
• Beer!
• Rolling our own sushi
• International mindset - we asked Ace and Eric for Dutch food, and there is dutch food, but the real dutch way is to incorporate things from all over.
• Art is everywhere. Their construction barriers have art on them. The graffiti artists tend to decorate temporary structures rather than ruining the brick.
• Smart cars cost less!
• Windmill power
• How the city was reclaimed from mud flats is interesting, and most of the streets are cobblestones, which is more tolerant of the sinking ground, and because of this, everything is flat - easy walking!
• Ace and Eric are the awesomest hosts ever! 

We went to see Avebury today. We shared the path with quite a few people and some very vocal sheep.  It was very cool to see and get to walk in the circle and touch the stones.  One picture is of the two massive stones that frame the sunset (I assume at a particular time of the year). 

And then for something completely different, we went to Salisbury Cathedral.  Stunningly beautiful. I keep thinking the churches can't get more elaborate, but they do.  In the center of the cathedral, the pillars are ever so slightly bent.  Steve pointed out that the brochure said the roof used to be flat, and when they added the spire, it bent the pillars. Seems like the housing authority would never of approved it, but it's still standing from the 13th century.

To balance out our day, we drove by Stonehenge. No use paying to park and then walk in a cordoned-off circle around the stones...they don't let you in and have the whole thing fenced off. Kinda sad in a way. I was very happy we went to Avebury ...

stevewpalmer  was wonderful about driving us about, saving us from sure death trying to drive on the correct side of the road... :)

We had a great day today - walking around the Amsterdam historical museum, which is amazing, several old churches, and then walking through the...um...interesting districts of Amsterdam.

Photos in the usual place....

Tomorrow, to London!