I Know You've Missed Me

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been busy. I am in Europe you know.

Last we spoke I was in London. Now I'm in Brugge and headed to Amsterdam in an hour. Paris was in the middle. So, the chunnel ride to Paris was uneventful. The actual crossing of the channel is nothing more than 20 minutes of darkness. Not very exciting. Personally, I'm not a big fan of tunnels, especially those under water, so I was glad to get out of there. The train does go really fast though. Neat huh?

The arrival in Paris actually sucked. I couldn't find a cash machine, and when I finally found one, I couldn't get change to get a metro ticket. My first impression of Paris was definately not a good one, but that quickly changed once I actually saw the city. My hotel was great, and compared to the hostels I've been staying at, it was like the Ritz (albeit a tiny Ritz).

My first evening in Paris was spent walking around and just admiring a beautiful city. Went to St. Chapelle (amazingly beautiful inside, I don't think it is possible to make a more beautiful building), Notre Dame (also an amazing building, but I still hate the Fighting Irish. I'd prefer the Paterno Cathedral, but you take what you can get), and the Latin Quarter.

That night, after baguettes and cheese in the room, we (me and my lady-friend) headed out to the Effiel Tower. Of course, I followed the advice of my good buddy Rick Steves, and got off the metro across the river and walked over to the tower. He was right as always, what a great wy to see the tower for the first time. When you first see it, it doesn't look that big, but as you get closer and closer it just gets bigger and bigger. Very impressive and very beautiful. It's amazing to see these famous sights from all over the world that you see in movies, books, tv, etc in person. We waited in line and went to the second landing of the tower. It was worth the 7 euro for the views of Paris at night. Cest Bon.

The next day we got up and headed to Versailles. Took the train out, and when we got there, saw the longest line I have ever seen in my life (that includes the line in the San Juan airport in March for those of you that were there). Also, it started to pour, and I was wearing shorts and a tshirt like a jackass. So, we hid under part of the palace for about 10 minutes, said enough of this and took the train back to the city. I'm not too worried about it though, because now I just have one more reason to get back to Paris. So, next trip to Paris, Versailles.

After returning to Paris, we went to the room and changed into smarter clothes and headed out to the Champs Elysee. We walked up to the Arc de Triumph and went under the circle to under the Arc (very easy to find by the way (I'm looking in your direction Ali)). Once under the Arc, it started to rain, so we hung out until it passed. I also ran into my good friend PositiveMode under the Arc. He made it to Paris in one piece (or should I say Mode).

The afternoon was spent walking down the Champs towards the Louvre. We got to the Louvre after it closed, but that was fine by us. Checked out the pyramid and under the pryamid, and headed back to the hotel for nap time. Later, we went for dinner and drinks in the Latin Quarter which was just lovely. After that we went to what may or may not have been a gay bar (I actually don't think it was, but it was very gay if that makes sense), but that was okay, as I was with my woman!

Yesterday we took the train to Brugge at 11 and got in around 3. What a beautiful town. It is like walking around in a fairy tale. It really looks like Cinderella is about to step out of any chruch or random building. We took a tour of the Strong Henry brewery, which was great, and of course, sampled the fantastic beer. I must say, the beer here is very good. The difference between here and home is not that you can't get the same beer, it is what constitutes a "regular" beer, e.g., at home, Bud or Miller Lite is the cheap beer, whereas here it is Hoegaarden or Leffe. That's a big difference. Anyway, that's another post for another time.

After the tour, we walked around the city, taking our time and enjoying the sights. For dinner we had a lovely, romantic candlelit meal. It was great. Now its about 11:30 and our train leaves in a few hours. I think we'll try and take a boat tour of Brugge by canal if we have time.

Sorry I didn't have more details, but I'll try and fill them an later. Amsterdam should be fun, and hopefully, I can see straight enough to type. Tschus!