WELCOME TO AMERICA: Liberty Home loans.
(click and zoom in on the sign)
It all happened so quick I’m not sure I actually told anyone what was going on. My boss gave me 24hr to book the flight and then 2 weeks later I was on the plane to Seattle for the 3rd Annual Organic Microelectronics Conference. Somehow it was all perfectly organised and I arrived in time for the 4th of July Fire works down on the water front (apparently people travel hundreds of kilometres to see these fireworks). With in moments of arriving my bunk mate turned out to be a Kiwi who was travelling the states on a motorbike. With an another Australian we went out saw the fireworks, rode the mer-pig (half pig and half fish) and nearly got arreste for drinking beer. Finally into bed after 31 hours awake.
To reach enlightenment one must ride the Mer-pig my son...ride the Mer-pig
I then headed off into the wilderness for 4 days of walking because I wasn’t sure Seattle could entertain me for a week. The trip report can be read here and the photos are here.
Sunset in Olympic Mountains
I returned from the mountains with very little sleep, no shower and hardly being able to walk because I pushed myself a little hard on one of the days. However, this was made somewhat better but being able to stagger into a 4 star hotel and take a warm bath.
That evening the conference began and I quickly met up with some Canadians who where also here alone. The idea of me being at the conference was to adsorb ideas and come but with some work proposals for here in France. So, my job was to 'network' with people (i.e. drink beer and chat), not such a bad job really.
The conference ended up being pretty hard work, beginning at 730am and generally getting back to the hotel at about 11-12pm. However, I love these things, for the simple fact that while I might talk chemistry all day every day, its done in a relaxed and casual atmosphere where people are throwing ideas everywhere. Nothing is too weird.
Anyway, Seattle is apparently famous for its seafood which I took to with gusto. The final meal involved a bunch of us going down to the water and getting a "Crab Feast" which was so much crab that I think they are now close to extinction.
Remains of our crab feast, some people left early for the airport and left us with an unfair load
Being a tourist we also got a bunch of people together and did the Seattle Underground tour, which was basically an excuse for a lot of toilet jokes. Apparently Seattle was built on a lot of mud and so all the streets where mud and garbage. To solve this they raised the streets by 3m. This left the problem that the side walks were now 3m below the street level (good American town planning). So thus they raised the sidewalk level too and the end result is that the entire cities "ground floor" is now below ground and you can walk around all the old shop fronts.
I also visited Pikes Market where they throw fish (don’t ask me)and a Starbucks (there is literally one on every corner). Having suffered from the American coffee for the last week I decided that I just didn’t understand American coffee so I went into Starbucks and asked for their "most American coffee". To which she offered the drip coffee. Since I had standards she suggests an Americano instead, which is a shot of espresso diluted to 500ml with water. It has both the look and the taste of very weak mud. God I was glad to get back to France ;-)
My return to France unfortunately took me via Detroit, which meant I had to fly Northwest Airlines Domestic and they make Crazy Dave's Debt Collection and Kneecapping Agency seem customer friendly. I didn’t eat until 9pm that night when I was finally offered something to eat on the international flight.
That over I arrived in Paris in time for Bastille Day. On Friday I went wandering along the Seine and stumbled upon this church (it turned out to be Notre Dame) which I think stopped being a church and became a tourist destination many years ago. All semblances of serenity and religious meaning was long gone. But it was beautiful. Clair arrived from London later that night and we went out to check out the free concerts. On the night before Bastille day there are free concerts held by Firemen (Dance de Pompiers) and also in the Bastille (a roundabout where the old Bastille prison used to be). However, since I was pushing another 31hr without sleep I didnt make it out too late.
On Saturday Clare and I played tourist visiting the Louvre, watching the millitary flyover as part of the Bastille day parade, looking at another church etc. When we tired we had a traditional french lunch of bagettes, cheese and Fosters Larger (ok, maybe not TOO traditional). We slowly touristed out and went to drink wine in one of the back alley bars away from the hordes of tourists. However, we weren’t finished; there was still the Fireworks display. We setup with a view of the Eiffel Tower and waited only to find out when the fire works started that they were too low. So we ended up jogging down the street until we found a bridge where we could see the display (with about 500 other people).
After a late night after the fireworks Clare and I crawled out to Versailles. It was the most amazingly touristed things I have ever done. The que was 2hr long to get tickets and eventually we went and payed double the price with a tour company to skip the que. Inside it often degraded into a pack of humanity shuffling along each with their head glued to an audio guide. That aside parts of the palace were fantastic, The Hall of Mirrors, the Gardens etc. You can see why there was a revolution after seeing how well the royalty lived.
Anyway, that was my last 2 weeks. The two girls have moved out of the apartment so I have the place to myself for a while (maybe a couple of months). I have also moved rooms so I now have a garden view and no noise from the cars. I’m loving it. Summer is warming up here and the French cannot cope with the heat. Soon its summer holidays and most people take a month or more off. I will be taking a bit less because of other holiday commitments I have.
PHOTOS OF THE TRIP ARE HERE
and here for photos of Paris
The sunsets on a great trip (over Seattle bay-Pugot sound)
2 comments:
See, didn't I tell you the Olympic Peninsula was fantastic? (Actually, did I tell you that? Well I should've if I didn't, but you found it anyways so I'm claiming moral victory.) And nice timing on bookending your trip with firework-laden national holidays!
Yeah you did, but since you have become a "freedom loving american" I have had to do the exact oposite of what you suggest. Thus, I planned to got to Rainier, its only when all other options were closed to me that I was forced to follow your suggestions.
But yes, you may claim a moral victory for this ;-)
Each of the national holidays were accidental, I didnt know it was 4th of july until I was landing on the plane and Bastille day just coincided with what weekends Claire and I had free.
Post a Comment