Paris & Rome 2018

[Drunk Monk]

saint martin, sacre coeur, moulin rouge.  a lot of walking and eating.  blood sugar is a tad high, but part of the reason for doing this now is to indulge before it gets too sensitive.  macaroon & choco mussel was worth it. maybe not so much for the crepe suiset (although tara was amused that the waiter didn't quite look like he knew what he was doing and set it on fire really close to my face).  martin neighborhood was cool & stylish.  sacre coeur was spectacular.  moulin rouge is surrounded by porn and strip clubs and there was a major fire nearby that was being cleaned up. couldn't quite swing the dali musee, which was a bum out, but alas.  i'm pretty beat.  my legs are so sore.  no swords today except for on the statues (which are remarkably accurate, i must say). 

early morning tomorrow to catch the tour bus.

[Drunk Monk]

Versailles = versux. Trust me. Do not go there. Even with skip-the-line tix, is was 2 1/2 hours to get processed by security which gave us just under an hour to see it and it was a total clusterfuk. And there wasn’t that much there. Worst tourist scene I’ve ever seen ever.

Fortunately Giverny redeemed the day. That was sublime.

[Greg]

Didn't you go to the gardens and see the fountains?

[Drunk Monk]

Didn't you go to the gardens and see the fountains?

Didn't have the time.  It was such a cluster.  We got a refund.  There were several tour members complained. 

Tonight was our last night. We walked the Seine.  Found the pissy places I'd heard so much about and the rats.  Saw some good street buskers.  

We did have some extraordinary fries a few days ago.  Maybe it was the kidney fat.  The rest of the fries have been unimpressive.

I'm told France has 2K cheeses.  I came up short by 1988 or so.

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So many bookstores. And so many comic book stores. But after seeing all the ukiyo at monet’s home, it all fell into place.

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I also got an extra ladybug in a salad a few nights ago.

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Blood sugar almost normal today. Was a little better with the diet.

[Drunk Monk]

Departing Paris thoughts:
Detective Dee & Darkest Minds were heavily promoted here.

Nipples are prominent - thought brassiere was a French word. Must be all the topless art. Art is either religious, regal, food selfies, or nudes. The French do understand the aesthetic power of a shapely teat. It’s not about size.

[Drunk Monk]

Had a scare when my point&shoot battery failed. The original battery died and I bought a new camera but then found the replacement which is what I’m using now. Blew out the dust and it seems to be working.

[Drunk Monk]

On train bound for Geneva. Euro trains are so civilized - WiFi, power, food & views.

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Had a descent sleep last night and feel relatively converted to Europe time. Had some leg recovery time too with 6 hours of napping on the tour buses. Today we ubered to the train station and it’s about a 4 hour ride.

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Ah Paris. What a gorgeous city. Only the truly ignorant don’t fall in love with her. The Egypt & Africa connections I sort of knew but didn’t quite get until visiting. And as for those rude parisians, we didn’t encounter a single one. Quite the opposite. Everyone was really nice, except the other tourists. The Chinese tourists were giving me ptsd from my China trips. And there was one asshole Texan that reminded me how embarrassing it is to be American here sometimes.

 I’m sad I missed the Dali museum but I didn’t even know it was there until we got there. And I should’ve eaten more croissants, mayonnaise & cheese. I could easily spend another week doing museums - a few days on the louvre alone. But I’m glad to move on. If fate smiles on me, I’d return here in a heartbeat. However my budget is slim and my bucket list time is shortening.

It’s raining lightly now. Thunderstorms ahead. Wheel to the storm & fly.

[Drunk Monk]

Once again I must express my general disappointment with our US versions of food. Croissants macaroons quiches crepes fromage glaces - none are even close to what they should be. WTF America? Where did we go so wrong? And yet our crappy fast food is here. Last night I saw some drunk Americans wearing Burger King crowns - not only so dumb to come to Paris and eat bk but then to boast it with dumb paper crowns? 

Joi de vivre is such a better way. What I don’t get is how diabetes hasn’t killed all the French because these people redefine sweet tooth. Maybe they balance it out with the tobacco?

[Greg]

Mmmmm, food.

I'm going to say you might consider going to Hadrian's Villa and the Villa D'este just outside of Rome. Although you will have plenty to do in Rome, this is about an hour bus journey outside of Rome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_d%27Este

Yes, Trains in Europe rule.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Since Rome *is* a museum, you can basically spend your entire time walking around, with breaks for eating and drinking.

[Drunk Monk]

It’s Monday so it must be Geneva.

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We’re here for an odd reason. Next year, Tara will be housed in Geneva house and we thought we’d stop somewhere for the night. I was thinking cheese, knives, watches, you know?

So it’s really expensive here - worse than Paris. A fondue for two goes for like 40+ Swiss francs which are only a little different from usd. We can use euros but they skim even more. A nice dinner could easily cost us over $100. We’ll only be here for less than 24 hours so it seems dumb to change money. Fortunately credit cards work. But the public transport is free due to a comp card from our hotel (edelweiss which looks like a Pinocchio set). So we took some boat rides, got some nice bread & cheese from the market.

I got propositioned by a prostitute with in minutes or leaving the train station.

There are some magnificent armories here in Switzerland but not here in Geneva. Tomorrow we’ll tour the UN then hop the train to Florence.

[Drunk Monk]

Okay Geneva tap water is the best I’ve ever had. Better than most bottled water.

[cranefly]

Okay Geneva tap water is the best I’ve ever had. Better than most bottled water.

All right.  That's it.  I'm adding Geneva to my bucket list.

[Greg]

If they ask you if you want to pay in euros or dollars, always say euros. If you say dollars they get to add in a surcharge. Meanwhile, your credit card company will just do the exchange rate from euros to dollars.

[Drunk Monk]

Yep. Only here it’s euros vs Swiss francs. I’ll just have tap water, thanks

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Euro cops are cool. They are tall, fit & sexy. Their uniforms are sharp and they got cool full auto rifles. And they’re nice. They look like heroes. No donuts here. Another wth u.s?