Friday, September 21, 2007

My Summer Vacation

In an effort to not think about my right Achilles tendon (sticking your fingers in your ears, closing your eyes and repeating ‘la-la-la-la-la’ works, too), I’ll post some pictures from my Paris trip. Those of you who are bored by travelogue photos can just skip ‘em, believe me, I’ll understand, though I at least made an effort to write goofball captions. Oh, and the Achilles ‘T’ says ‘hi’.






















The Galeries Lafayette is an old, big department store in an old, big 19th century building with an interior dome that reminds you of old, big 19th century Eiffel Tower construction methods. So why not recreate the Tower and invert it down from the ceiling?
Paging Dr. Freud!



As the British would put it, this usual shot of the Seine is ‘bloody typical’. Unfortunately, I had to leave after taking this picture, a cloud of cigarette smoke moved through like a high pressure area on Doppler radar.



Now that the euro has a value of $1.40, it makes the trip to Europe and all that secondhand smoke that much more expensive. So let’s go hit Le Grand Vefour, one of Paris’ best restaurants. Here’s the menu, and remember, in France an entrée is actually an appetizer. Hey, that first one is 92 euros, what does that mean in greenbacks? Only about $129. Hey. Let’s get the ‘tasting menu’, that’s just 268 euros. Chicken or fish? Boo-yaa!



The front door of the Prime Minister’s ‘Crib Official’. No, Ellie-Mae, no, Jethro, there is no ‘ce-ment pond’ in the back.



Waiting in line to get into the Elysée Palace, France’s version of The White House. The place is open only two days a year, in mid-September, and S. A. Chilles was all up in that. It took hours, don’t ask. Really, it did. And yes, that’s the Prez’s pimp-ass ride on the left…























The Président’s Office, and desk. Now THAT was a trip to Ikea. I wouldn’t want to lose that Allen wrench…



And finally, a timely shot taken in The Louvre. Remember to stretch, everybody!

6 comments:

Dubs said...

Great pics! Easy way to diet with those prices - damn, I'd lose a lot of weight, I'd be eating peanut butter out of the jar to survive.

brake a shoelace - haha! now you have me thinking - I'm going to crack up about this during the race, I'm sure of it -- maybe pop a blister - ouch! Thanks for the advice about the race. :)

Phil said...

You had me rolling on the floor. I love traveling in France and have a zillion pictures from all over the country, but I found your perspective unique to say the least. Keep those pictures coming.

BTW ... I don't think there is anywhere to go with our greenbacks. This week, the USD hit $1.40/Euro (as you stated), $2.00/British Pound and $1.00/Canadian Dollar. We are quickly becoming the low-cost region in the world.

Hope your achilles heals up soon so you can take your fingers out of your ears.

Angry Runner said...

I am so very tempted to go on a rant about how screwed up the US economy is and how the falling dollar will be the end of life as we know it, but I'll do that one over at my place sometime next week.

Pictures are great. The captions are even better. Do share more, we'll all appreciate it.

No Wetsuit Girl said...

URGH! I'm so pissed I never got to visit Paris while I was living in Europe. Living on dollars all summer I can really feel you on the exchange rate, but at those prices I hope the chicken was gold plated and the fish granted you 3 wishes!

Stephanie said...

Just checking in - great vacation you have been on. I miss some culture here!

Renee said...

Those sculptures speak to me. They say, all runners are inflexible bastards!