Day 5 started with a very early bus ride to Normandy with a smarmy bus driver, I’ll save further descriptions of him for another post. One of the reasons I took this trip was to be able to go to Normandy. As with most memorials I have visited, nothing really prepares you and you’re surprised by what affects you and how you’re affected. There is nothing that can convey the shear number of casualties other than visiting Normandy. As I walked among the marble crosses and stars of David I began to think of my uncle who survived D-Day. He was a bomber pilot who volunteered for extra sorties beyond his assignment. While reflecting on his bravery and contribution to the war effort I was reminded of my dad who passed in March. They both led long, charmed, amazing lives. I walked, bringing them with me, feeling the weight of the place; couldn’t help but weep.
photography
Day 5: Normandy
Day 3-Paris: Of People, Pickpockets, and Piss
(Editors note: WiFi was surprisingly hard to come by and not very reliable so the following posts are post trip.)
Paris has too many people and it smells like piss. I had all kinds of romantic notions of what Paris would be like and was feeling excited upon arrival following a three hour train ride. The train station was magnificent. The iron work and architecture reminded me of the film ‘Hugo’. I was beginning to imagine sitting at a cafe having bread and chocolate, then strolling along the Seine to the Eiffel tower; then I stepped outside. The smell of urine was 1) unexpected, 2) surprisingly strong and 3) inexplicably persistent throughout the city. So much for the hype.
As with most group tours the day was packed with activities with the added bonus of the Paris Metro (please refer to previous comment regarding too many people in Paris). We were able to visit the Arch de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and take a boat tour. Two things I did not know about the Arch de Triomphe were you can’t drive through it, and it has an eternal flame; disappointed to learn the former, interested by the latter.
The roundabout encircling the Arch is very dangerous to try and cross so it may be accessed through an underground passage which, yes, smelled a little pissy. If you happen to cross through the passage you may be talked into striking a silly pose:
At some point after visiting the Arch de Triomphe (this is a post visit account remember) we took a cruise on the Seine where we saw things like this:
and this:
cool artwork:
and a spontaneous dance party erupted on the upper deck where we were complete with people cheering from the banks of the river and a couple of asses mooning us from a bridge.
Following the cruise we visited the Eiffel Tower of which I have only one thought; it’s big, really, really big.
Honestly, I had no idea just how large it was. We were too late to make it all the way to the top, but we were able to make it to the middle level. (I took some photos, but it was night and they didn’t turn out).
I left out the visit to Notre Dame where the most interesting part to me was seeing this:
which marks the starting point for all roads in France. The cathedral is beautiful, but they’re not really my thing. Locating Quasimodo is more of my thing:
While my introduction to France was a bit stinky, the sights we saw this day were truly amazing. Next time: “Pickpocket Paradise”.
Adventuring in California – Wandering Monterey
For the last, um, five years give or take a year I’ve come down to Monterey to run the Big Sur Half Marathon. After picking up my bib # I decided to wander around a bit. I headed over to browse an antique mall near Cannery Row in which I was intrigued and perplexed by this:
The tag said it was plaster and hand painted; that didn’t make it less odd. What was it for? I pondered. Who’d make this and why? And do they think someone will buy it again? Man, that’s just too weird.
Then I saw this:
Ok, this one I can kind of understand, I’ve seen masks like this before, it may actually be purchaseable (BTW I’m aware that isn’t a word). I averted my gaze from the monster mask only to be startled by this:
What kind of antique mall is this?!
The kind that displays things like this:
Really?
Yep:
Sometimes they come in threes:
And sometimes they come with a body:
And other times with clothes:
I dunno, maybe my browsing radar was just stuck on odd, no, no wait, here’s the cold hard truth; people like weird and creepy shit.
See?
Netherlands Post Visit – Fini
Alas I have run out of pictures to share from the Netherlands so this will be my last post until I venture abroad again; hopefully in the near future. I will be continuing to post on my other blog http://geowoodward.wordpress.com/ which has photos from my adventures in California. I’ll leave you with a few of my favorites from the Netherlands.
One of my favorite ventures was to the ‘Heineken Experience’, not just because 3 beers were included with the admission price, and there was a horse that shared my name, but because it was a great place to people watch and I got to personalize an actual bottle of Heineken. The end of the factory tour is set up like a club, disco lights, loud music and table games so people are behaving as if they’re in a club. One guy in particular caught my attention because he was having his wife circulate around the room collecting all the unfinished beers and pouring them into his glass. Yep, he was getting hammered. I happened to be leaving the factory at the same time they were and they were trying to collect their free gift, which could only be collected by visiting the factory store in a different part of town. Heineken provides a boat from the factory to the store but the last boat of the day had just left; Mr. Hammered had difficulty understanding this, I felt bad for the employee that had to try and help him understand.
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- I didn’t understand the cow at first but was reminded they feed the hops to the cows after making the beer.
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- Since I teach Geography I felt this was more than appropriate.
Netherlands Post Visit – Neighborhood Park
One day while visiting my brother we took his girls to a local park that had some awesome play structures, critters to pet, and some, uh, art. I was amazed at the number of people in the park, I mean it was a weekday evening; the parks in my hood aren’t nearly as full, but to be honest they’re lame. None of the parks near me have these cool things to pet
nor informational pigs
(note the cow behind the pig, you could “milk” it)
or interesting…uh…art
For some reason these statues made me think of this
Netherlands Post Visit – Urban Critters
While wandering around Utrecht and Amsterdam I enjoyed occasionally coming across the occasional urban critter.
Netherlands Post Visit – Architecture
Initially walking around Utrecht and Amsterdam I felt like I was in some sort of amusement park. The architecture just kind of had the look of being a little too storybook, if you know what I mean. Then I was told why they appeared that way. One reason is that the windows on many Dutch buildings are designed to get smaller as the building gets higher giving the illusion that the structures are taller than they actually are. Another reason is that Dutch staircases tend to be rater steep and narrow making it difficult to heft furniture up to the top floors. So the buildings lean outward slightly and many homes have a beam hanging from the top over the street with a pulley at the end to hoist heavy things into the house. Clever, but it messes with your head a little if you’re not used to it.
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- Front of Rijks Museum
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- Back of Rijks Museum
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- One for wind direction one for time.
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- Apparently I like to shoot up.
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- Crazy.
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- Old meets new at the
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- Urban Museum.
Netherlands Post Visit – Canals
What recounting of a trip to the Netherlands would be complete without mentioning canals?
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- This bridge….
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- was constructed in 1720.
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- I appreciate…
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- the little details.
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- Shoot, missed the Cheese Museum…
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- …and the Tulip Museum.
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- Zoom to see deco ‘1930’
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- Arches in a row.
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- They got close.
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- Near Anne Frank House
I have some photos from adventuring in California on my main blog for anyone interested http://geowoodward.wordpress.com/
Netherlands Post Visit – Cafe Culture
Why don’t we have a cafe culture in the U.S.? Sure there’s a bar culture and a coffee shop culture, but it’s not the same as the cafe culture in many European countries. Cafe culture is just so casual, and relaxing. It is so enjoyable to have a seat, preferably outside, order a beer with some snacks or lunch, and lazily watch the world go by.
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- Mmmm, kasstengles and bitterballen
Netherlands Post Visit – Doors
What is it about doors?
Adventuring in Europe 