Paris/Geneva

DISCLAIMER: I am currently on a computer in which the q and a are switched, the z and w are switched, you have to hold down shift to type numbers, the m is where the semicolon is supposed to be and the comma and question mark are where the m is supposed to be. And I just realized you have to hold down shift to make a period. And I can`t find the regular apostrophe anywhere. In short, this post will be likely be wrought with typos, and will be severely lacking in the grammatical correctness that generally defines my writing.

That said...

I passed a newsstand with USA Todays the other day, and realized the NCAA clearly doesn't know I'm gone and started the NCAA tournament without me. And on top of everything. they gave UNCW the highest seed in school history. And I missed it.

But I did see the Eiffel Tower, so at least I have that.

So the Catacombes:

In 1810 the bones from Paris’ overflowing cemeteries were exhumed and stacked underground through about a mile of tunnel. The mile of tunnel is now known as the Catacombes, and visitors can shell out €3 to walk through. Everything is stacked so specifically, with arm and leg bones lined up perpendicular to the wall and the skulls forming very neat rows in the midst of that.

Anyway there are a lot of gaps in the skull rows, which means visitors have been smuggling these 200-year old skulls out with them. We saw that there were no cameras or security of any sort, so it seemed like it was almost too easy to steal the bones. And then we reached the exit.

“Open your bags,” a uniformed man said suspiciously as we made our way to the door.

That’s when I noticed the two skulls and a femur sitting on the table behind him.

That’s right – three people had tried to steal bones by 10 a.m. on that day alone. I love to think about how those discoveries went down (OHMIGOD how’d that get in there??? This place must be haunted!)

Anyway we went from the Catacombes to Musee d’Orsay, which, despite its modest exterior (especially compared to the crystal-looking pyramid that is the Louvre) was amazing. Obviously the Monet stuff was phenomenal and the Van Gogh stuff was great, but I kept getting drawn to Camille Pissarro’s work, and I’d known almost nothing about him before. Impressionism is so amazing to me, because after all ,y years of art classes I still can’t comprehend how the artists make it work.

I know I already wrote about the Eiffel Tower (but did I mention you cqn purchase what I’m sure is a wonderful meal up there for the bargain price of just €40?), so I’ll move on to...

GENEVA

I’m in love with that city.

It’s like this international melting pot of people and cultures, and everyone I met was amazingly nice (and knew at least some English). I got lunch at this sort of outdoor cafe on a little pier jutting out on to the lake, and then sat down at one of the cafeteria-style tables to eat. Well apparently, everyone says “Bon Apetit!” every time someone new sits down.

And the lake itself was gorgeous. It was a kind of hazy day, but instead of making the scenery bland it created this pastel-like effect, making the lake and the houses and buildings on the other side look like artwork instead of real life. Plus since it was a weekend, everyone in Geneva was out for a lakeside stroll. I can’t even imagine what that place is like in the summer, but I do know that I want to go back and jump off those diving boards, and go waterskiing.

Before the lake I went to the Red Cross museum, which was basically a huge maze of old photos with information boards scattered throughout. Near the beginning of the museum, there was an entire rool filed with card catalogues (I think it said all the cards stacked together would take nearly a half-mile) that chronicled the prisoners of war from WWI. The museum also talked a lot about what led up to the Geneva Convention, and how the condition of the the victims in the Battle of Solferino led up to it. There were quotes from the Geneva Convention all around, and of course the United States military doesn’t violate these things. Ever.

From there I was going to make it an all-political day and go to Europe’s U.N. headquarters, which used to house the League of Nations. But it was Sunday and they don’t do weekend tours until April, so I settled for a picture of the front gates.

LAUSANNE

I arrived in Lausanne tonight and tomorrow I’m going to the Musee de L’Art Brut, an art museum featuring the works of psychiatric patients and incarcerated criminals, and I’m more than a little excited.

I’ll let you know.