hello from paris
11 Sept 2006, Monday
bonjour. arrived in charles de gaulle airport 23 hours ago. the weather is nice, dry and warm contrary to the wet forecast on the internet. it feels nice to come back after 2 years. the sun sets at around 2100 and rises at around 700.
same romantic and lively mood. it was sunday when I arrived and noticed that most outlets are closed. like the first time, the forex is around 100 USD: 65~75 euros. I felt mangyan again hahaha
had a sumptuous dinner in a French restaurant. it was nice to see that these people will French kiss anywhere and at anytime. won't care less whether they will walk in public on a negligee and high heels.
i saw some pinoys working here. I don't know yet much about them. but hopefully I may see one of them tonight. and of course, the research is on hahaha the bell boy in my hotel is an Indian married to a pinay and can very well speak tagalog. they visit tarlac at least 3 times a year and have several business back home. they have been here for a long time already.
today, I visited again the louver museum. i wasn't able to see much of the 35000 pieces of art works the last time. I saw again aling mona (lisa) and didn't take photo of her because it is not allowed anymore. probably the book and the movie elevated her stature more lolzzzz but I was able to take photo of so dark the con of man (Madonna of the rocks). I got four-angled fotos of aling venus (de milo). hahaha asensado na sila masyado ah
my boss and other med students went to Pasteur institute and I did not join them since I have seen it before. will join them tomorrow at marie curie institute.
saw the concorde again and felt that it should be returned back to egypt. but if france will return all the looted art works, would there be as much visitors?
took JAL from osaka to paris CDG, and the food was not as good as it was in ANA which I prefer more. good thing that i致e had no immigration problem so far.
merci.
hello from paris 2
12 Sept 2006, Tuesday
I was not at all impressed with the pyramid at the musee louvre the first time I saw it. but since it became a sensation recently, I have no reason to get myself in a photo with it hahaha it's not august, at least to my eyes, unlike the very regal facade of the museum.
it is always advisable to wear very comfortable footwear like rubber shoes since all-day walking will really sore your sole but not your soul. in fact, it will enrich one's taste in arts and history.
I notice that people here are mixed. and it seems that everybody is French. there are many blacks, medittareanean, latinos, whites, malays, africans, etc. probably it has something to do with prior colonization.
had dinner alone in an oriental restaurant and it was a bit spicy. made the wrong order I guess. but it was good that I didn't join my boss because they went to a Tunisian restaurant for dinner and I do not enjoy kus-kus (not sure of spelling).
yesterday, I spent the whole afternoon walking around parissiene streets and saw some pinoys. one couple is based in Chicago who spent a week here and they asked me where the bus station is. another young and beautiful pinoy couple are from the UK and visited their pinay aunt here who is married to a French man and has been living here for almost 20 years, which was enough to make her talk with slang in the native tongue. hahaha she looks kind anyway.
then I saw 3 ladies, 2 of them were pinays and one was a black lady from the French colony of guadaloupe. one pinay cannot articulate very well because her bloody supposed to be (pustiso) kept on falling. hahaha the dentures were not porcelain, im sure lolzzzz the black lady can very well speak tagalog since she has been in company of pinoys for quite some time. they told me: kapatid gusto mo bang sumama sa aming lipin? saksi ni jehova kami. ngek, I think they barked on the wrong dog hahaha I might convert them instead. so, the most practical way I could think of the time was to tell them that I am more inclined to talk about this beautiful and historic city than religion, which they respected. then we saw some of their pinoy brethren, who tried to initiate the recruitment and started to say something biblical but I warned them that I was not in the mood to discuss with them the dossiers secrets, nag hammadi findings, priory documents ad infinitum hahahaha
we just walked along and I researched on their lives. most of them are, in my coinage, domestic executives, who are paid by the hour. their bosses are mostly Lebanese, blacks etc. they enjoy this city and some of them have been here for more than 10 years. after work, they would walk around the streets to find some pinoys and spread the word. not bad. but I have reservations whether it will prosper in the oldest daughter city of Christendom.
au revoir.
hello from paris 3
12 Sept 2006, Tuesday
today's sked is interesting for me. we visited musee d' curie. i knew a little about her. she is originally from warsaw and was educated in france and receive nobel prize two times, in physics and chemistry. she is an interesting person. her marriage to pierre is i think a scientifc love affair for they were recipients of the first nobel for physics. her elder daughter irene and hubby frederique were also laureates. marie's younger daughter is stil alive at 102 years old and is living in the US, no interest at all for science. good for her.
marie, pierre and irene died due to occupational hazard, radioactivity, which incidentally was coined by marie herself. truly an interesting person. but...she is a culprit why my medical school days was not so good hahaha
i visited musee d' orsay. i saw van gogh's work among others. i didn't know who they are. i saw names like millet, pissarro, whistler, monet, corot, etc etc. pre- and post-impressionism, symbolism, academism, and naturalism are the buzz words. so, if you're interested, this is one place to check out. admission price is 5.5 euros. for the louvre, it is 8.5 euros.
my boss is quite disappointed with his undergrads who prefer to see jazz shows rather than educational exhibits. magsumbong ba sa kin? parati kasi siyang iniiwan daw hahaha
today is my last day here, tomorrow's destination is geneva.
hello from paris 4
13 Sept 2006, Wednesday
i went to a jazz bar last night with 3 of our japanese medical students. it was about 20 mins by subway and had to transfer train once. still, i am not good in reading maps and lost my way back to the hotel when left alone. bakit ba kasi wala tayong mapa sa mga kalye natin at hindi tuloy nasanay magbasa ng mga mapa na iyan? hahaha their trains have this pungent smell and graffiti unlike those in japan. i think japanese are more meticulousy clean than french.
the bar showed folk singers of the texan style. since it was cowboy themed, i did not enjoy much. admission price is 20 euros. i did not order anything because i had no remaining cash anymore ngek i micro slept during the show hahaha
i initially opted to see moulin rouge but the package price of 180 euros inclusive of dinner was quite prohibitive for me. ngek, for a 2 hour show? maybe if i will come back here, i really must see that show.
smoking is ubiquitous here. everywhere is smoking area. they are very tolerant to smokers not like singapore. and you will see cigar butts everywhere also. don't be afraid when someone would ask for a cigar, it is common among them. and they will say merci if you give them one. if you don't give, they will say the same. no problemo.
unlike japanese, they do not seem to be in a rush. in the morning, they take their time drinking coffee in restaurants. chatting and all. after office hours, they do the same.
french language sounds music to my ears. monsiuer monsieur sila diyan hahaha merci merci.
it's really high fashion among them. maybe it's in their blood. tracing back to the old days, i think they have the genes for it. it's like im watching ramp modeling when i look at them. mukhang mangyan tuloy ang dating ko. hahaha
mobile phone is also vogue. i don't think they send sms much. they talk instead. it is not unusual to see someone on the road talking alone. moreso, i don't think they would send missed calls hahaha
with all the monumental landmarks that i saw here, i think that the great people in history had made an impact on what the present world is. napoleon bonaparte, king louis XIV, the curies, pasteur, victor hugo et al. their historic buildings remained untouched during the 2 world wars, the french revolution, the german occupation and all. no wonder this city is always on the top spot as the most common destination in the world among tourists. truly amazing!
will fly to switzerland in 4 hours' time. au revoir.
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