Saturday
Saturday 2000-08-26
Buying train tickets, visiting a cemetery and most of all just sitting in the park enjoying the weather and people-watching.

I haven't been updating this page as often as I had hoped. Sorry! Here's the latest...

I leave Paris for London on Monday morning. I'm taking the EuroStar train to London. It's expensive - about $140! Yikes!! I'll be in London for 2 days. On Wednesday I leave London for Rotterdam (in Holland). I'm going to see my friend Saxwin in Holland. I'll be staying with him and his girlfriend for 2 days. Saxwin is an old friend. We worked together many years ago and I consulted for his company when I was in Holland 1 1/2 years ago. After that I leave for Germany to see Ann.

I've been busy in Paris. I've spent most of my time just walking around exploring the city and taking lots of photos. I've purposely avoided most of the tourist attractions for two reasons - I've already seen them and most of all I want to avoid all the tourists! Paris is swarming with tourists. I enjoy just walking around and discovering new things. The other day I found a wonderful part of town. It's called Marais. It's very trendy with lots of galleries, shops and cafes. It reminds me of the Soho / Tribeca / Greenwich Village part of lower Manhattan.

I brought two cameras with me. A digital camera and one of my trusty Nikons. I'm shooting exclusively black and white with the Nikon and using the digital for color photos. Unfortunately I'm going to use all the memory on the digital long before I leave Europe. On the Nikon I'm shooting very high speed (3200 ASA) black & white and also black & white Infrared film. The last time I was in Paris it was late autumn / early winter. That's a much more interesting time for photography. There are leaves on the ground and the weather is constantly changing.

I think I might be getting to familiar with Paris. When I get on the metro I board specific cars because I know that when I get to my destination they will be the ones closest to the exit that I want.

One of the best things about Paris is the parks. They're everywhere. Big ones and small ones. My favorite is Jardin du Luxembourg. It's big, beautiful, and great for kicking back and people-watching. That's where I was today.

I also visited Montparnasse cemetery to see the graves of Samuel Beckett and Jean Paul Sartre. I like cemeteries. Don't ask why.

Right now I'm in an Internet Cafe across the street from Jardin du Luxembourg. I just finished an expresso and now I'm totally wired. I think I'll walk to the Louvre. It doesn't get any better than this...