Sunday, June 01, 2008

Roland Garros 2008 - Day 8

Woke up this morning and my mood was still not what I had hoped.  So, I hit the ground to get running.  I felt rested, and it did show in the run.  I did discover I've got a massive blister on the top of a toe on my right foot, which is lame, but I still managed to run my 5 miles.  I have been quite pleased with the amount of running, though I am not sure the levels are correct.  I also know I am not doing enough stretching before and after, which is my own fault.

I told myself that since the weather looked to start nice, I was getting out today and going sightseeing.  I figured spending money on my daughter to be allowed me the chance to shake these blues.  Besides, I had to get some pictures taken to show Colleen I was more than just a voice on the other side of the phone.  I took two in the hotel room showing me in my work tee, and then headed out the door.  Once again into the bowels of the city onto a metro line iPhone blasting away random tracks from my play list.

My first stop was Chatalet, which was a few blocks from Notre Dame.  I could have taken a closer stop, but it meant one additional transfer, and I wanted to walk anyway.  I won't take the tour of the cathedral, mostly because it is a serious tourist spot and like Westminster Abbey, the queues are in my opinion too long to make going to see worthwhile.  So, I snapped a couple of pics along the Seine and with the cathedral in the background and wandered on.

I walked through a section of town full of Anime shops and shops featuring a ton of Tin-Tin figures, books, and old magazines.  I would have bought some of that for Haylie, but I only vaguely remember Tin-Tin and it is unlikely Colleen would have any idea who it was.  I walked until I found the next train station and jumped on heading toward my next stop near Montmartre.

I chose deliberately to take the stairs up the four flights out of the metro stop as I hate the elevator there.  Once I was up, I began the slow assent to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.  It is at the top of a fairly significant staircase, or a slow tram ride up the hill.  I once again chose the stairs, more than anything to make myself feel more fit.  It always makes me sweat, though I made it all the way up without stopping this time around.

There were street performers aplenty.  This is yet another tourist stop and I was once again just here for the few pictures I'd take of the view, the Basilique and me with it behind me.  I walked around the square where I had purchased some art before and the same artist was there painting the same painting I now own.  It was much more in 2008 than in 2004.  Inflation?  I suspect she just thought more highly of her skill, though there were no differences my untrained eye could see.

I had considered going to the Dali exhibit which is a permanent fixture at the top of the hill.  Unfortunately, I recognized that I had inadequate time to merit paying the 10 Euros to enter so I thought perhaps I'd save it for another day.  Of course, that likely means I won't make it back, but it is a good thought.  I've been here twice and said the same thing twice now, so my money is on me not getting back there.

Came down the hill through street vendors aplenty and found two that did custom name based art or toys.  Of course I had to buy something for Haylie, so she now has a wooden and plastic train of letters spelling her name and a watercolor of her name in an odd Asian calligraphy that we can likely get framed later.  On the way down, I witnessed what is in my mind the oldest short cons I have ever seen:  the 3 card Monte.  It was being played at three distinct stops coming down the hill.  Every one was run almost the same, which made me wonder if there was a con artist school nearby and this was an active lesson.  I was several shills win and then the mark lose significantly larger sums.  I even watched a tourist hand one man a 100 Euro bill only to see it get quickly pocketed as she could not win.  If I had understood any of the language, I would have asked if I could just kick her in the ass for 100 Euro as it would have produced the same results.  Some people are really stupid, and I guess the aphorism "there's a sucker born every minute" (I won't attribute it to anyone in particular as the real origin is somewhat in doubt) is very true.

I kept walking down to Pigalle.  That's what I call the sex district, as it is rampant with peep shows, table dancers, and the classic tourist burlesque shows Paris is notorious for.  The street hawkers here are exceptionally forward, and once I had to pick up the pace to avoid speaking to one I had inadvertently made eye contact with and one that apparently believed I had looked a bit too long at one of the posters in front.  My only goal was to get the Moulin Rouge just to take a picture of me in front.  While walking the street, I popped into a Lebanese spot for a gyro and pomme frittes.  As I was leaving, there was a group of men speaking French with one in an obvious S & M outfit.  His friends would point at someone on the street and it became his job to go over and convince that person to swat him with a riding crop.  I am no sure the goal, but I half expected it was someone getting married or perhaps moving away and this was their celebration.  One was carrying a very old boom box and two others carrying cans of silly string.  At one point I was convinced an innocent bystander was going to come to blows as he was sprayed with the stuff, but I guess he decided the group of 6 was more than he could handle.

Looking at my watch I realized it was going to have me at the venue almost late for work.  I scrambled to get onto a more direct line and then headed to work.

Play ended at the typical time, though there had been a 1 hour rain delay in the middle that pushed us out later than I would have expected.  We decided to have Chinese at "their place" (the regulars on the venue team have restaurants they will eat at multiple times in the same year, believing their expertise has weeded out inferior offerings of the same cuisine) as the spot was relatively close to the hotel.  Dinner was OK, but it wasn't as filling as I had hoped.  Still, I managed to crank up the spice and found it quite tasty.  They even threw in a free dessert for the table as they knew we'd been there before and would be back (Eeee-Bay-Emmm the waiter said.  Cinq Tsing Tao?)

Dinner ended well after midnight and I walked back to the hotel through an incredibly upscale part of our side of town.  I saw more 70K USD cars than I care to even detail.  I called Colleen to see how she was holding up waiting for her mom to arrive by train.  Then, I drifted off to sleep knowing that it would be a short night with a job waiting for me in the morning.  At least at the end of the day I was no longer in the funk that threatened the rest of the event.

Cheers!

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