Kern River Camping 2013

The Kern River Flowing Slowly

 I always say that the more bruises I come home with after a camping trip the more fun I had. Well, I'm typing this blog with a wrist brace on my right arm due to a fall I had while camping at the Kern River. It is not the only bruise, or the only fall, just the one that I was afraid I might have broken a bone, but x-rays showed I didn't. The other bruises cause me to limp but they are getting better. I'd blame age for my clumsiness, but the real culprit is booze. I'm fine with beer, but when I was offered margaritas, that did me in. That and vodka and a shot of something too.

I first started camping at the Kern River in 2001 and have been many times since, but not every year. Up until two years ago we always camped at the same location, but last year it was very crowded at that site, as were all the other known spots. Luckily my friends found this isolated site just of highway 99 about 10 miles north of Kernville. We call it Camp Judy after my friend who found it.

Not Quite the Super Moon

 I arrived Friday afternoon and quickly set up my tent so I could relax with some beer. The rest of our friends arrived about an hour later. The weather was perfect, not too warm and very clear, with no smoke from fires like there usually is. As a bonus, it was the first day of Summer, so it would be light late, and on Saturday we had not only a full Moon, but a Super Moon, which I think is when the Moon is at its closest distance to Earth. The photo above was taken the day before. I have no Super Moon because my camera stopped working when it fell into the river.

The Crew Relaxing

 Two years ago the river was rushing with whitewater and too dangerous to cross. Lots of rafters and kayakers came by. Not this year. As you can see from the photo below the water is hardly moving. In fact, the wind was blowing up river and pushing the inter-tube up stream. This did make it nice and safe to sit out in the water. Also, the river wasn't deep at this spot and I easily walked across to the other side.

Slowly Tubing in the Kern River

 On Saturday, a few of us took what we thought would be a short walk up the river. Turns out we were gone for two hours. We had no real plans on where to go, but we made up rules along the way such as no back tracking. Well, we got stuck in a few places where the water was deep and the current was fast, so we did need to go back and find another route. I brought my camera to take photos, but even when I held it above my head I slipped on a mossy rock and fell in the water with my camera. It got water inside and stopped working. After letting it dry out it is now working so I don't need to buy another new digital camera.

We kept our meals simple, with some eggs for breakfast, red beans and rice for diner and on the second night we had some steak, chicken and carne asada. Well, I say it was simple, but that's because I didn't cook, only eat. I brought stuff for making sandwiches during the day.

There are a few Rapids

Everyone was having fun, despite various injuries, including someone who did break a bone in her arm, until 8:30 Sunday morning when a group of 25 loud people showed up and set up their day camp site right next to where we were. That's the downfall of camping in a primitive site where you don't have reserved sites. Once we heard the baby start crying, we very quickly packed up and left way earlier than we planned. Another sad trend at the Kern is people writing graffiti on the rock and leaving lots of trash. We assumed this group were the type to do that.

I was ready to make the five hour drive home, so I said my goodbyes and drove south, hitting traffic as I approached the 15/215 merge.

Overall it was a great trip, and I'm looking forwards to going back next year. I can't make that long trek more that once a year. And next time - no hard alcohol, just beer.

Hiking around Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve

Visitors Center

The last time I was in this area was in the late 80's, late at night after work. My friends and I drove out to the Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove/Questhaven area because we heard rumors about mysterious religious cults, drug houses and hell holes. When we stopped in front of the drug house and got out of the car, within a few seconds all the outside flood lights came on and we jumped in my car and drove out, along the narrow, windy road, very fast. That was a fun night. Well, there are still strange religious retreats out there that are hidden behind gates, fences and hills, but now there is the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve which is popular with hikers and mountain bikers.

Owl with Sunglasses

At the main parking lot there is a very nice visitors center. Almost as nice as one you might see at a national monument or state park. We didn't spend very much time inside, but long enough to takes some photos of stuffed wildlife wearing sun glasses.

The map at the trail head shows all the trails and distances. We decided to follow that main trail, called the Way Up Trail. For some reason I had the idea that all the trails were flat, but I was way wrong. This trail climbs steeply up the hillside and before you know it you are looking way down at the parking lot. It wasn't hot so we didn't need too many breaks, and luckily I was well stocked with water.

Small creek 

 Once you go over the small creek the vegetation along the trail is your typical dry chaparral, with no trees for shade. There are many trail markers along the way to let you know what trail you are on, the distance you've traveled, and what facilities are located at the trails end, such as benches and restrooms. We had no specific goal other than to view the reservoir which I had never seen.
 

One of many trail makers

 The trail wasn't that crowded, and we talked to other hikers and bikers along the way asking them about the  trails and what to see. So we just kept heading up and then towards the direction that we thought the lake was until we finally saw the reservoir. It isn't all that big, or at least it didn't look big, but the water was very blue and clean. I think I read an article about how they were going to pump water in from Lake Hodges but decided not to because that water was much dirtier and would have ruined this lake, which seems to have no recreational use. It is just for drinking.

Me with Lake

 We continued exploring, and found even better views of the lake like the one below that was at a summit along a trail that led to a Lake Hodges lookout. We didn't take that trail because it was too long and I've seen Lake Hodges many times. In the background you can see Mt. Woodson and Iron Mountain. You can also see how low the water level is.

Olivenhain Reservoir

On the way back down, we took the botanical garden trail, expecting to see a garden. Instead it was just another trail but with posts with numbers on it that probably referred to some guild that told you about the plants in that area. Near the bottom there were trees with shade, and then we had to walk across some rocks to get over the creek where kids were swimming in the slimy, green water as the parents watched.

I wished I had recorded the trip on my GPS so I'd know how far we walked. We were hiking for less than two hours but it was a pretty good workout. On the way home I took a different way out that took us though the new community of San Elijo Hills. I knew this places existed, but I had no idea how big it was. All the buildings, houses and even the school looked like they were just build. It was well landscaped and probably an expensive place to live. Once we got back to freeway we stopped at Rubio's before heading back home.

Black Mountain Hike

Black Mountain From Blackhawk Trail Head

Black Mountain, located in northern San Diego, is a mountain that I've seen thousands of times but had never hiked to the top of. It was on my list of local peak to "bag", so finally, on June 1st, National Trails Day, I decided it was time and gathered two friends to join me in the hike. We started from the Blackhawk trailhead, which is on the south side of the mountain.

The weather was a cool 72 degrees, but it sure felt a lot hotter. I didn't know what to expect as far as trail conditions, but I believed that the trail to the top was shorter than my usual hike up Iron Mt., which you can see in this photo of me. Mt. Woodson is directly behind my head and Iron Mt. is on the far right.

Me At, or near the top of Black Mt.

The trail was very rocky with lots of medium-sized rocks covering the whole trail in some spots. I had good boots on but I still had to watch my step on the steeping sections. As we hiked up it looked like we took the wrong trail, as the peak was on the other side of a valley and we didn't seem to be getting closer to the peak even after hiking for 30 minutes. Plus, there was no one else on the trail.

Finally the trail met up with a junction and there was a man with his three sons and he told us we were on the right trail to the summit. I'm not sure how long it took to hike up as I didn't look at my watch and I wasn't recording this hike on any GPS. We took many breaks on the way up so it took much longer than the hike down which we made in less than an hour.

Over-development below Black Mountain

 From the summit, on a clear day, you can see 360 degrees for long distance. It was foggy towards the west so you couldn't see the ocean. It was clearer looking north and east. Pictured above is the dense housing developments that were all built since the 1990s. That used to be 4-S Ranch, which was a real ranch with fields, farms and horses. Also it was a popular, and dangerous place to go off-roading.

Steve and Judy at Summit of Black Mt.

Even at the summit we only saw a few other people, including one mountain biker who flew down the hill with a Go Pro camera on his helmet. After the hike we were all tired and ready for a beer or two, or three. Now that I've done this hike, I don't need to do it again, but I will if the opportunity comes up. Maybe I'll try a different route up.

Cuatro de Mayo Bike Ride

 For the third year in a row my friends and  I rode our bikes to Old Town San Diego for the Cinco de Mayo celebration. The first year we found it by accident, as we were just on a bike ride and decided to go to Old Town for tacos and found the big street fair. This year we opted to go on Saturday the 4th because the weather was predicted to be warm and sunny and on the 5th they predicted rain.

We wanted to get more biking in for exercise, so we took a roundabout route to Old Town by exploring more of the streets in Mission Hills. There are always some really nice houses to look at with well maintained yards, but this year the house the stuck out was the one pictured above with a huge spider on the garage roof. Not sure if they just forgot to take it town after Halloween last year or if it is up there all year. I don't like spiders so I'm glad I'm not that persons neighbor.

Once in Old Town we locked up our bikes and walked around for a while before looking for beer and food. They had this usual street lined with low-riders, which even though I'm not a big fan of, I admire the work that the owners put into their cars to make them lift up and down and even bounce. Other attractions to see included people playing football (soccer), which I had no interest to watch.

This small, stuffed man was in front of one of the low-riders. After walking around for a while we headed to the "usual" bar and ordered a round of margaritas. They tasted good after the bike ride there. The weather kept changing, going from warm and sunny to cold, cloudy and windy, but it all felt good to me.

Then we went on a search for food and went back to a small stand we found last year that had really good carnitas. I ordered two since they were small, and due to lack of any place to sit and eat along the street we ate our tacos over a trash can along the street. We were hungry and weren't worried about looking like some homeless people. Then more walking,  past the stage where this band was playing, but didn't stop to listen.

We then went into another restaurant for a round of beers and to sit down to relax. They wanted the drinkers to go out back to the patio, but we sat at a table inside and service was very slow, but the waiter was also obviously not happy we ordered no food. Oh well. He still got paid and got a tip.

Somehow it was already getting "late", as in 4:00, but we wanted to ride home before it got colder. First we walked around to let the food and beer settle as we had a long, steep hill to ride up. We visited a museum where I took a photo of these "dolls".

Then we found a petting zoo which was really busy. I had to laugh at the "Enter at your own Risk" sign with a small goat below it. I know some of the animals can bite if you don't feed them right, but really?

So the ride home took us up Juan Street, a very long and steep road up to Mission Hills. Once again I made it all the way up without stopping, using the "granny" gear. Once everyone made it to the top we took a more direct route back home and proceeded to relax. I ended the night by watching Ironman 2, so now I can see Ironman 3.

Today is the real Cinco de Mayo, but I plan on staying home (after my trip to the gym) and relaxing.

Casual Bike Ride Exploring Hidden Bridges

Small wooden bridge in canyon

Got a call from my friend on Friday saying he and his girlfriend wanted to go on a casual bike ride on Saturday since it was going to be a nice, warm, sunny San Diego day. I say "casual" ride because more of my recent rides have been longer and more intense, where I ride between 12 and 30 miles on my road bike. In fact, I had just gone on a 13 mile ride after having a three hour job interview. For this ride I took my older hybrid bike, which is good for streets and off road if the path isn't too rocky or sandy.

Once I got to my friend's house and we got our bikes ready with air in the tires and oiled chains, we had a long discussion on where to ride. We decide to explore some hidden bridges in San Diego in the Balboa Park, Mission Hills and Banker's Hill area. Our first stop was a canyon below Balboa Park on a bike path that runs along highway 163. As we got near the usual entrance we take, we saw a trail leading down to a canyon that we had never taken before, so our off-road biking began by carrying our bikes down some steep steps  to get to the trail where you see this small wooden bridge in the photo above. We did not cross the bridge but took a parallel path.

First Street Bridge

Our bike ride continued to the bike path along 163 where at the end we ended up once again carrying our bikes up an even steeper path that lead to Balboa Park. Perhaps there are some hard-core bikers who could have ridden up this trail, but we did not and by the time we got to the top we needed a five minute break to catch our breath.

Then we rode around the dirt and paved trails of Balboa Park going no place in particular. There were lots of people out having picnics on the grass as well as the usual homeless people wandering around. We then headed towards Mission Hills and rode past the interesting and unique (and expensive) houses of the area. Somehow, with Steve leading, we followed a road, or series of roads that zigzag down through Banker's Hill and ended up in an area of town that I had never seen before, located not too far from interstate 5 and Pacific Highway. Well, we knew that after that long downhill ride we had to ride back up. After a break we headed back up after we heard and saw a large swarm of bees near us. I managed to ride all the way back up using my bike's "granny gear". We took a different route on the way up that was shorter but steeper.

Then we explored some more side streets and eventually followed along First Ave. where we crossed the First Avenue Bridge pictured above. I've driven across this bridge before but had no idea how historic and beautiful it is. The sign on the bridge says it was build in 1911 and it is obvious that it is a well built steel bridge that could withstand a major earthquake. Below the bridge we saw a dirt trail but couldn't figure out how to get down there. That will be a ride for another day.

San Diego Bay

The photo above is looking towards San Diego Bay and you can see Point Loma in distance. I don't remember exactly where I took the photo but it was during one of our rest breaks. Our ride lasted 2 1/2 hours and was 10 miles long. We took a lot of breaks as we were in no hurry.

Blue and Green House

Many of the houses we passed were very unique, including this one that was painted with clashing colors of blue and green. It could be a fun house to live in. It is hard to know what this inside looks like and who knows what colors the walls are painted. We saw other houses that were much nicer and one that looked like a big square building with no thought put into the design.

Quince Street Bridge

Getting back on track, we still had two more bridges to find. I've seen photos of these bridges but had never seen them in person. The next bridge was the Quince Street pedestrian bridge. We parked our bikes on the east side and I took a walk out to middle so I could get a photo of the valley where I saw another hiking trail below. I could also see how to get down there, a series of long, steep steps. That too will be a ride for next time. While I was on the bridge a woman and here four-ish year old daughter passed me and the girl very politely walked up to me and said "How are you doing? I'm going to a playground. Have a good day." She said this is a very clear manner and I had to smile. Her mom said nothing but she did acknowledged me with a smile.

View from Quince Street Bridge

Steve and Judy had enough of walking up and down steps so they stayed at the top of the bridge. While were getting ready to leave, a man and his daughter walked by and we asked him where the suspension bridge was. He said it was near Spruce and 1st. So that was our next destination. But first we rode some more and stopped at a 7/11 for some water.

Steve and Judy above Bridge

From there we rode down to Spruce and then followed it to the end where sure enough, there was the bridge. I started by riding my bike on the bridge but soon my acrophobia kicked in and I got off my bike and walked it across. I called this the bouncy bridge because it did move. There was one woman who walked a little ways onto the bridge and then stopped, holding the railing tightly. She had an even greater fear of heights than me. This bridge was pretty crowded. Also, there was no place to take a photo of the bridge from the side, so I snapped a photo of it after we crossed, as you can see below.

Spruce Street Suspension Bridge

As we were all getting tired, we headed back to my friend's house where we started. Luckily the ride was pretty level. Back at his house we had a few drinks and then grabbed some Mexican food. I had a shrimp burrito with rice and beans which was really good.

It was a great bike ride for a Saturday. It was fun, relaxing and also a good work-out. So now today, Sunday, I woke up still feeling tired and sore, but still got to the gym for an upper-body workout. I plan on relaxing the rest of the day and will probably take a nap in the afternoon. Tomorrow for most people is back to work, but since I've been unemployed for over six months, I'll be doing more job searches and hoping for a call during the week from the company I just interviewed with saying they'd like to continue the interview process which would hopefully lead to be getting hired and once again being a productive member of society, as they say.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2012 - Paris, Last Day

Our first stop of the day was the Vincennes Castle, located further out of town than we had been. It was easy to get to, just get on the Metro line near our hotel and take it to the last stop. As we left our hotel we were surprised to see the entire street closed to traffic. There were barricades along the sidewalks and police everywhere. Apparently something big was going on this day and hopefully it wouldn't interfere with our plans. So to the Metro we went and sat, at each stop more and more people got off. By the time we reached the end of the line there were only a few  people left. When we got to the surface we were right at the entrance to the castle.

A short walk to the entrance where we took some photos and then crossed the drawbridge across the moat. We used our Paris Museum Pass to get our tickets and then were free to wander the sites that were open in the castle. There weren't many people here yet, but there two groups of guided tours, one with mostly older people and one with children. We planned our first stop by going in the building that the children didn't - the bell tower and dungeon. It was fun exploring the different rooms and levels of this building. Some of the rooms were small, once used at the latrine. We climbed more spiral staircases to get to the upper levels, but sadly the path to the very top of the tower was closed and looked like it was only accessible as part of a guided tour.

The second building was the chapel. It was one big room with paintings on the walls and more stained glass windows. There was a second level that gave a good view of the chapel from above. We left this building and walked back to the gift shop to warm up and decide where to go next. We opted to try the Conciergerie again, the place that was closed the day before.

Back on the Metro we headed back to our familiar stops, and along the way we heard announcements that the Metro line would be closed between certain stations, most likely related to the police activity we saw in the morning. Luckily we didn't have to go to any of those stops to get to the Conciergerie, and since we found the entrance the day before, we were able to walk straight there from the closest Metro stop. There was a small line to enter, and once again we used our Paris Museum Pass to get in.

It turns out that it was closed because they were setting up a special exhibition that seemed to be dedicated to castles. They had lots of miniature castles made of various material including Legos! The room was dark, but they had cool lighting for each castle giving the room a fantasy like atmosphere. Now the rest of the place was a palace and prison. You walked through various rooms where they had mannequins set up like prisoners waiting to be executed. The highlight, if you could call it that, was a room depicting the cell that held Marie-Antoinette with her sitting with her back to the door dressed in all black. Once we finished the self-guided tour we left to go find lunch.

It took three tries to find a place to eat that we all agreed on, and once again we were given seats near the window. I ordered a plate of meats, and I'm not really sure what they all were. One could have been liver, and if it was that's the first time I've had liver. It was all good. Next we wanted to see something that wasn't too far away and would take too long to visit. We somehow decided on what we just called the sewer museum, "a history of water and mains drainage, and a visit to the hear of the sewerage network.". Well, we found the entrance, a small building along the banks of the Seine. However, it was closed. We weren't the only tourists showing up to find it closed. And actually, I forgot that earlier we tried to see some Roman ruins near Notre Dame and they were also closed, as well as some catacombs that were also not open on this trip and the previous trip to Paris.


At this point my sister was ready to go back to her room to warm up and do some blog posting. So my brother, sister-in-law and I attempted to take the train to another site, but our tickets got rejected. We had three day Metro tickets so they should have been good. So instead we walked across the river towards the Metro stop and along the way stopped to take a look at a full sized replica of the Statue of Liberty's Flame. While walking around it I noticed writing on the bridge we were standing on and it was all messages to Princess Diana. Turns out that we were standing above the tunnel where she crashed and died. There were also small memorials to her placed next to the flame. Very sad.

So back down to the Metro where we had more trouble with our tickets, at least my brother did. His wife and I got through okay but his ticket kept getting rejected. All we could think of is that the system knew that the ticket was used and rejected a few times within ten minutes, so it may have been rendered invalid. So we gave up and decided to walk. Along the way we stopped to take photos of the many statues, mostly men who we didn't know on horses. We also decided not to go to the site we were originally taking the train to because it was getting late and most museums close by five. So we walked passed some interesting looking buildings before ended up back at the Christmas Market. It was now in full swing, with people shopping at the little shops and ice skating in a cool looking ice rink and path that  passed by displays of animatronic animals like bears and pandas.

We walked all the way to the end where the Obelisk stands in the center of the Place de la Concorde. There was also a large Ferris Wheel that I had been seeing since I got to Paris and finally got to take a photo of. We then crossed the street and continued walking through the Christmas Market as we headed to our hotel. Along the way my sister-in-law stopped a woman from steeling from a man's backpack as he was taking photos. I had no idea she did that until later. And no, the two women, working together, were not wearing red like in the warning posters.

We finally made it to our hotel and by now all the police activity was gone and the street was opened up to traffic. We later learned that a Russian delegation was in town and there was a wreath laying ceremony, and we luckily missed any Metro stoppages by just a few minutes at one time during the day. So a short break before dinner where we were joined by my sister. This time we ate at the other Italian restaurant across the street. After dinner we made our final stop - the Arc de Triomphe. It was a short walk up to the tunnel which led under the street to the arc. We used our passes to enter and proceeded up a very long stairwell where people seemed to be in a rush to get to the top. Another 284 steps to add to my total for the trip. It was now dark and from the top there was a great view of the Champs Elyesse lined with lights and the Eiffel Tower all lit up. I took many photos, many turned out blurry because I wasn't using a tripod to stabilize the camera for long exposures, but enough turned out semi-decent. Then, I think on the hour, the Eiffel Tower changed to its "sparkle" setting, with lights all up and down the tower flashing brightly. This caused everyone on the arc to walk to one side for viewing.

Well, it was really cold and windy, so we walked by down after a visit to the gift shop, where I bought another souvenir. Back at the hotel it was bed time. My flight with my sister home in the morning left early, so we had to leave the hotel by 5:45 in the morning. My brother and his wife had one more day in Paris. The next morning we checked out and took a taxi to the airport which was much quicker with no traffic. Then the long trip home. Paris to Frankfurt to Washington DC to San Diego, which one to three hour layovers at each airport. By the time I got home I had basically been awake for 25 hours as I got very little sleeps on the flights.

So what did I think of Paris? Well, everyone said what a great city it was and it was a must see, and I agree. But I didn't get a "Paris" vibe.  Maybe all major European cities are staring to feel the same, like Madrid, Barcelona, Rome and Vienna. Would I go back? Yes, there is still plenty to see. Some people say you could spend three weeks there and never get bored.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2012 - Paris Day Two

Our second day in Paris became a museum day. For one, it was going to rain and museums are a great place to be when the weather is stormy. Also, the Louvre is open late on Wednesdays, so we decided to make that our last stop. After our breakfast buffet ritual, we bundled up with warm clothes and this time umbrellas as it was already lightly raining outside. A short walk to the Metro station and we were ready for a quick trip to our first stop, the Cluny Museum. According to Wikipedia, the "Cluny houses a variety of important medieval artifacts, in particular its tapestry notable works stored there include early Medieval sculptures from the seventh and eighth centuries. There are also works of gold, ivory, antique furnishings, stained glass." It was a smaller museum, so we spent less than an hour here. Instead of buying a ticket for just this museum, we ended up buying a two-day Paris Museum Pass, which is good for entrance to over 60 museums in Paris. So we planned our day around museums that were on this pass to get our monies worth.

Just up the street was The Pantheon, not to be confused with the famous one in Rome. The inside was well decorated and had picture-worthy architecture with the usual tall columns, statues and paintings. In the center was a pendulum hanging down from a very high ceiling. It represented the rotation of the Earth, according to the green brochure I'm looking at. They were consistent  in having the English brochures in green in most of the museums. Down below was a very large crypt, where many famous French people are interred.

Once outside the Pantheon it was nice to see the rain stopped, for we were walking to our next destination, the Conciergerie. It was located on an island in the middle of the Seine near Notre Dame. The building was supposed to be big and hard to miss, but it took us a long time to find the entrance just to find out it was closed but would be open the next day. So off to lunch we went. There are so many places to eat, we tend to stop and look at the menu, and if it looks good and someone from the restaurant welcomes us in, that's were we eat. We were seated next to a window along a busy street and with a great view of Notre Dame and other buildings. I ordered the special, which included the appetizer of the day, a main dish and then the dessert of the day. For a drink I went with a coke, and man, cokes are expensive. A single small bottle can cost up to $10. Beer and wine are cheaper, but I knew a beer in the middle of the day would make me more tired. The food and service was once again good, and we left to head to our next stop which I believe was the Museum of Cinematography.


It was located further away from the city center, so it took a few Metro lines to get there, which put us in yet another district of Paris - Bercy. The museum is located in a building that houses many attractions, but our tickets got us access to two rooms. The first was a room dedicated to the history of cinematography in France. It contained old film projectors and cameras. There were projections of movies on the walls, and some of the exhibits were hands-on, which were probably for the children, as there was a large group of children there on a field trip. Upstairs was an exhibit dedicated to the famous French director Marcel Carné, who I probably had heard of, but I was not familiar with his works. They were projecting clips from his movies on the walls and there was other stuff to look at as well. As you might have guessed, I can't remember much from this museum, maybe because to photos were allowed (or I was tired), and I tend to rely on my pictures to piece together my trip and write this blog.

Now we were headed back to the Champs Elysees district to the Museum of Decorative Arts, located near the Louvre. It contains, according to Wikipedia,  "... furniture, interior design, altar pieces, religious paintings, tapestries, wallpaper, ceramics and glassware, plus toys from the to the present day." These displays are in various rooms on different levels, some of which were closed, such as the room of tapestries. However, we were lucky to find that there was a special exhibit of Star Wars collectibles that contained some very rare pieces such as prototypes for Princess Leia. I'm sure the collection was very valuable, and I would have loved to have owned some of the figures, even though I don't really collect Star Wars memorabilia. And unfortunately but understandably, no photos were allowed. People of all ages were looking over the exhibit that included all six movies. After this exhibit the rest of the museum was kind of boring so we walked quickly through most of the rooms. The French furniture room for some reason contained only a few pieces of furniture. A more interesting room was a few floors up. It was dedicated to music and pop culture. They had lots of album covers displayed and had music playing. The highlight of this room for me was a display that included an Atari ST, just like the one my Dad bought back in the 80's and I still have! What made that computer unique was that it had build in MIDI ports to be connected to other MIDI equipped hardware such as sequencers and synthesizers.  I thought I took a photo, but I can't find any so photos must not have been allowed.

So finally, our last museum of the day was the Louvre. The biggest and most famous in Paris. Since my sister was tired and had been there before, she headed back to the hotel for the night. So my brother, his wife and I entered the Louvre, at least the shopping area downstairs which in itself was massive. Once we found the entrance, there was no line and all we had to do is to show our museum pass. Now the Louvre is really big, taking up four stories that are divided up into themes. Really the only painting I had to see was the Mona Lisa, and since it is the most popular artwork there, all signs led you to that room. So we made a beeline to the room and there it was, sitting on a wall all by itself, protected by glass and a roped-off area. There were crowds of people jockeying to get up close for a photo of the painting a photo of them near the painting trying to make a Mona Lisa smile on their face. I opted just to get a photo of the painting, and the problem I had was in every photo you could see the reflections of other people in its class covering. So I took about seven photos hoping one would turn out.

So now we had to plan what to see next. Unless you want to spend a whole day here, you need to decide what to see, and more importantly, how to get there. It is not always easy to get from one room on a floor to another room on a different floor. The map may show that the rooms connect, but they don't always, sometimes due to closed areas of the museum. As we tried to get to the section that contained paintings from France, Germany, Belgian and other European countries we viewed what we passed along the way, including the Venus de Milo, which I almost walked passed without seeing. Whenever I think of this statue I think of the Simpson's episode where Homer stole and ate the Gummy de Milo.

We passed through a large section dedicated to Napolean III that had lots of rooms filled with fancy furniture and chandlers. Another room contained large Egyptian statues, much like the ones I saw in the British museum, which should probably be returned to Egypt some day, when they have a stable government. After making lots of wrong turns, walks up stairs and escalators, and hitting dead ends, we finally made it to the European paintings. We walked through the rooms and after a while we all agreed that it was time for dinner. I was told that there was great food in the Louvre, but when we went to the main food court, most of the places were close to closing and only had limited foods selections. Another restaurant was closed for a  private event. So we chose to leave, get on the Metro and get off on a stop and find a place to eat in the city. Well, we chose the wrong stop because we found no restaurants that looked good, and the one that did had no customers. So we got back on the Metro and got off near our hotel, and decided to eat at the first place we saw, which was a pizza place, and pizza sounded good. The restaurant was very busy and they seated us once again near a window. I ordered a whole pizza and ate all but the crust, and drank a beer or two.

So needless to say, we were all exhausted and ready for sleep. A short walk across the street to our hotel where we retired to our rooms for the night. Tomorrow was our last day in Paris, at least for me and my sister, so anything we wanted to see, that was going to be our last chance. Luckily I slept really well and was ready for breakfast the next morning.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2012 - Paris Day One

It is usually the second night on an overseas trip that I get the worst sleep, and yes, once again I woke up at 4 AM and didn't get back to sleep until 7 AM and my alarm went off at 8 AM. Well, there's plenty of time to sleep when I get back home, so begins my first full day in Paris. We met for breakfast in the hotel and opted for the full buffet, where all the food was tasty. Since today was going to be the sunniest day of the week, with rain forecasted for the next day, we agreed to head straight to the Eiffel Tower. The rest of my family had been to the Eiffel Tower eight years before when it was cloudy and had no good views of the city. So out the door and off to the nearest Metro station we headed.

It took three Metro lines to get us there, but we probably could have made it in two if we looked at the map more carefully. A short walk from the Eiffel Tower Metro station and there it was. Finally I got to see the famous tower, and like I was told, it was much bigger than you'd expect. We headed straight to the ticket line which really wasn't that long. Once we got our ticket and through security we queued up for the next elevator, which takes you to the lower platform where you have to stand in line to take  another lift to the top. There are signs everywhere warning you about pick-pockets, and apparently they all wear red because the photos show a red person reaching into unsuspecting people's backpacks.

They pack you in tight in the elevators but it wasn't too bad, and the lifts go up surprisingly fast. Now I have acrophobia (fear of heights) and I was a little nervous at first, but once I got to the top I was so amazed with the view I ignored how high up I was. So the first order of business is to get a photo of yourself at the top, which I did, and then walk around to all sides taking plenty of pictures of the city. You get a great view of the city and can see the different districts, parks and downtown buildings. It was also cold and windy, so finding protection from the wind was wise. Then back inside where it was warm I visited the conveniently located gift shop and bought my usual souvenir magnet that best represents the city. After we had our fill of the top we look the elevator back down, getting off by mistake on a mid-level section, where I snapped a few more photos before getting the next lift to the bottom. Then we walked towards the grassy park area where you have a good, unobstructed view of the tower and took more photos.


Upon my sister's suggestion, we walked to the Seine River to go on a one hour boat ride, but then decided to buy tickets for the Boat Bus, a hop-on-hop-off boat that stopped at eight major sites, including Notre Dame and near our hotel. The boat runs about every 15 minutes, so it didn't take long before we boarded the glass enclosed boat. You had a great view of the buildings along the Seine, but if you wanted to take any photos you needed to go outside in the back where it was cold. I stayed inside. Once we reached the Notre Dame stop we disembarked and walked to the site. Entrance to the inside of the cathedral was free. It is an active church and they keep visitors away from the church goers, and there are signs everywhere reminded you to be silent. It is very large inside, probably the largest cathedral I've been in. The walls are decorated with stained glass windows which sparkle when the sun shines through. After making a full circle inside we then headed to the entrance to the tower. We realized it was past lunch time, and if we were going to climb 425 stairs we needed some food. So after a quick snack we got in line. It took about 15 minutes before we were let in, as they limit the number of people to prevent overcrowding in the narrow staircases and walkways.

Somehow the trip to the top of the tower didn't feel like 425 steps, but you go up in sections so it is broken up. They should warm people at the beginning that you really do need to be fit and not overweight, because some of the passages were very tight. Luckily I saw no one get stuck. Once we got near the top of the tower the line stopped for about 10 minutes. There is limited room on the tower and once again they need to let one group off before letting the next group in.

Just like the Eiffel Tower, you have a great view of Paris and I took plenty of photos. After our allotted time was up we made the hike back down which is done all in one staircase. Even with the hikes I had been doing at home in the weeks before taking this trip, my legs were really feeling the stress of all the towers and domes I'd been up so far. Yes, there were more towers to tackle. We then walked back to the boat launch and hopped on the next boat for the ride to the stop near our hotel. Now I believe that this is when we discovered the Christmas market along the Champs Elysees. We didn't spend much time here as we planned to come back later in the trip, but my sister and I stayed long enough to buy some Gluhwein. We walked back up the street to our hotel for a much needed break. We had been walking and moving about all day and needed to rest before going out to dinner.

My job for the trip was to find a restaurant, or brewery, that served local beer, and luckily I had found one not too far away by Metro. It was also my job to figure out what Metro lines to take go get there. That turned out to be harder than expected. I spent 40 minutes of our hour long break to figure out the best way there. The maps of Paris are hard to read and there are many little street that run in funny angels to the main roads. But the planning paid off. It took us two lines to get to the stop and the place was just around the corner. It was called the Frog and Rosbif, part of a local chain called Frog Pubs.

We were there early for dinner, as I'm told Europeans tend to eat later in the evening than us Americans, so there were only a few people inside, which was actually nice. Our waitress was very friendly and spoke English well enough. Looking at the menu, both my sister and I started with a pint of their darkest beer, the Dark de Triomphe, yes a play on words. And yes, it was a really good beer! For food I opted for the cheeseburger, and should have asked for it to be cooked well done, because it was so rare I heard it go "mooo". The second beer I had was the Parislytic, a very mild but malty beer. Once we got our check and paid, I wanted to explore the neighborhood. It had a much different vibe than the Champs Elysees, and I spotted a pedestrian only street that curved off in the distance. Not really knowing what direction we were headed, I assumed that we'd find a Metro stop along the way. This street had lots of shops, some of which made us feel like we were in a red-light district, and we may have been. But my sense of direction turned out to be good, and we ended up at the Metro stop that we had used to transfer trains on the way to the Frog Pub. So back on the Metro to our hotel stop we went.

It was after 9 PM by now, and that meant time for bed. We were all very tired but had a full day of exploring Paris. So once again be planned to meet for breakfast in the morning.