Well, we were DEFINITELY tired! :)

It is NOW 12:45p, Paris time. I just woke up. Carmen is still out like a light. Eesh. We needed it, though. Went to bed about midnight last night after a nice full day.

We first stopped at a street vendor and picked up a couple things to munch on - a crepe with Nutella and sugar (holy smokes, it was SWEEEEEEET - but tasty!) and a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich with lettuce. Pretty good. Then, caught a tram (above ground light rail), caught the subway, and went to the Eiffel Tower. Ahhh, how windy and chilly the day was. :) Before visiting the Eiffel Tower, we stopped at a cafe for a hot chocolate and coffee. Then, we walked to the Eiffel. HUGE place. We were there for a bit, Carmen was freezing, a guy got arrested, and we decided to leave and come back later when it was all lit up. There were probably about 234,646,754,349,234,920 people (I did a rough estimate) visiting there that morning. So, we caught the subway (RER) and headed out.

Now, we were at the Street called the Champs d'Elyses (man, I hope I spelled that correctly!). It's that really long street that starts at the Concord and (looks like) stops at the Arc d'Triumph. We took some really neat pictures of that street and stuff, and then walked to the Louvre via the Tuilerie Gardens. Pretty neat. A LOT of it was under construction, so much of it was pretty shredded.

The Louvre, in case you didn't know, is a place wherein lies a bunch of artsy stuff. Everything from Paintings to Sculpture. Oh, and there are more pieces of art in there than you will ever be able to see in a lifetime. Yeah, that huge. We looked at some really old paintings, then a bunch of sculptures, and then a LOT of Egyptian artifacts. We walked around that place for about 7 hours!! Once we were thoroughly walked out, then we walked out to the RER and rode back to the Eiffel Tower.

In the evenings, there is a light show for the Eiffel Tower - Flashing lights, sparkling lights, colored lights - and many light shows in sync to music. It was a really neat show to see. We stood in line for about 20-25 minutes in the Wind and Cold (Yeah, it was SUPER CHILLY by then!) and finally had our chance to go to the top of the Eiffel. Did you know that people PUSH in order to get into and out of elevators? I was shocked! Anyway, about 50 people in a super full cramped elevator rode to the second to the top floor of the Tower. Then, everyone gets off the elevator, and if you continue to the top, you get onto another elevator. So, on we went with about 25-30 people to the top of the Eiffel. We walked out to the platform level where you can be outside and felt the super strong wind at 276 meters in the air (a meter being about 33 inches, or just longer than a yard, or 3 feet). COOOOOLD! AND WINDY! But, the view was amazing from up there. :) We took a few pictures, walked around a little bit, and then back down we went.

After the Eiffel, we caught the RER and then the Tram, and by this time is was about 11pm. We stopped for dinner at a Thai food place Carmen saw on our way out. It wasn't Thai (not that we're used to, not like Thai China or Char's or Thai Orchid) but, it was more like curried Chinese food. :) after that, we went back and CRASHED, and now waking up at Noon Paris time!

Time to go have fun! Looks like another windy, chilly day!

Talk to you all soon! I WILL start posting pix soon. :)

L8rZ!

Pah-REE! (you know you want to do the "laugh"!)

Well, not much to say right now, but we are in Paris, France. Landed in London, England, UK, yesterday about quarter to one PM on Wednesday (UK time), then took a subway train (London Underground) from London Heathrow to King's Cross/St. Pancras station, where we had a little time to relax and then catch the Eurostar train from St. Pancras International to Gar de Nord in Paris, France.

Mass transit is HEAVILY USED in London and Paris. It was SUPER CROWDED on the London trains, but it was really neat seeing how many took advantage of using the Mass Transit system.

Will have more for you later. We are staying in a hotel called Hotel F1 - a Stripped down hotel with virtually no amenities. But, hey, if you aren't staying in your room ALL THE TIME, what's the use in amenities? :)

Right now, it's 9:30am, making it about 1:30am in Tucson. Adding more info and PIX later. Going to the Musee d'Orsay today, and hopefully the Eiffel Tower.

L8rZ!

So, we made it to LAX...

Well, we are currently sitting around in Los Angeles International Airport. Terminal 2. This is where many of the International Flights depart from. In the wing we're in, there is literally NOTHING here - just a couple little duty free stops, a currency exchange place, and 2 restaurants.
The biggest excitement we've had here is Ozzy Osbourne getting on an Air New Zealand flight to London at 4pm. :) We should begin our boarding in about half hour, so I'm gonna tuck this little laptop away and just wait away the time. :) Good thing I brought my book from the Convention along! :)

Oh, here's a tip for ya - If you EVER find yourself in Terminal 2 in LAX, connecting to the "Air France Lounge G" connection is free! No passwords, no nothin'! :)

L8rZ!
Gene.

Day of a trip... Man, I hate 'em! :)

Ok, so if you've traveled before, you know that the day you are about to begin your journey is the MOST STINKIN' STRESSFUL DAY of the WHOLE TRIP! Aye Chihuahua! So, gonna go now and finish getting stuff together. Didn't get some of my supplies from the meeting last night... ooops. Good thing Dwayne has a reliable counterpart! : )

L8rZ!

Getting Ready to Go!

Man, it is only about 24 hours before we embark on a Cool adventure to Europe and Africa!

Still have a few things left to do before we go - finish packing, hauling the rest of the bunny stuff to my mom's place, finish cleaning some stuff, and all that jazz!

I'll try to keep this blog up to date while we're gone! :)

L8rZ,
Gene.