Travel Fast & Furious

hello again from paris, where i am slowly learning how to use a french keyboard without looking at my hands.

due to the transportation strike, we had to walk everywhere today which means i'm pretty much completely exhausted and my legs hurt like hell. but it was worth it because i went to the rodin museum and notre dame (with just one friend, not 40 other people in my group). we walked along the seine for a long time and it was sunny and breezy. later we stopped for chocolat, which was served in two parts: a small pitcher of liquid chocolate and a larger pitcher of steamed milk.

it's sort of frustrating and exhilarating that i haven't taken french in years, but the french still understand me better than the danes. i don't even bother trying danish most of the time in denmark since everyone just cocks their head at me and looks confused. at least here i usually get a pause and then a nod, like they've translated my pathetic french into something understandable in their minds.

we had a fun waiter at the crêperie last night. i tried some french and was mostly understood, although i had a harder time understanding him. i asked him to explain something on the menu (qu'est-ce que c'est?) and his speedy reply blew past me. uh... en l'anglais? he tried again. i asked him later, mon français, c'est pas mal? and he told me it was très bien. i decided then that he was looking for a big tip or was just being incredibly sarcastic.

paris is expensive. parisian food, even "cheap" eats, can be spendy. i had water (bottled, bad choice), a salmon/spinach crêpe, hot chocolate, and half of a chocolate/coconut/vanilla ice cream crêpe and the total (just for me, not including my friend's food) was €20, or about $30. ouch.

tomorrow = museé d'orsay, the catacombes, the louvre and montmatre. and, hopefully, metro trains and less walking.

On our viking field trip on Saturday, we went to a burial mound in the middle of an open field. That opening is much smaller than it looks -- everyone had to bend over completely at the waist and squat to squeeze in. Once inside, it was completely pitch black. I couldn't see anything past a few inches inside the entrance. In addition to camera bulb flashes, the teacher lit a single match. It was actually tall enough on one side that he (at about 6'5" or so) could stand up straight.

If you ever want to conquer your fear of claustrophobia, I strongly recommend that you pile into a unlit 1500-year-old hand-mand hole in the earth with a dozen other people. Oh, and while you're in there, make sure that your professor mentions that you would all be dead instantly if it caved in. Whee!
4 taps| tap tap tap

some notes on legoland
Legoland is:

- Not very politically correct (from a middle class white American viewpoint)
- Designed for small children (all of the rides are short, fast, and small, and none of them are particularly scary, and none of them involve shoulder restraints or harnesses)
- Expensive (I paid $12 for a hamburger and french fries! It was gross!)
- cute. Miniland with its tiny models of oil rigs, castles, harbors, cities, and airports is kitschy and amusing
- The only place I know of where you can buy Legos in bulk by the gram, like drugs

I had fun, but it probably would have been more fun if I was five.