Evidence that I am in Paris

I had my first day sight-seeing here in the City of Light, and then topped it off with a meal with friends, Rosemary and Chih. Even though I understand the concept intellectually, it still amazes me that I can come a few thousand kilometres to a relatively unfamiliar place and, suddenly, here are people that I know... trés, trés cool.

The evidence:

Chih is here attending business school, hence the dapper attire; Rosemary is living and working here for a while, hence her Parisian chic; I am a tourist here, hence my collosal geekdom. And thanks to the anonymous fellow at the Denfert Rochereau RER station for taking this fine photo.

On my first full day here, I tried to get good value from the 4 day museum pass that I bought. I went to Notre Dame (free, but the tower with its dandy view of the city costs, but not with the pass!), the Crypte Archeologique, the Paris Sewer Museum, and the Pantheon. I will update with photos, when I get to a facility that will enable such; stupidly, I left the connector cable for my camera at home. I was lucky at the Pantheon; the tower part was closed for regular tourists, but a tour group was being let in, so I tagged along, no one said anything to me, and got another great view of Paris! (after already going up Notre Dame)... I feel a bit spoiled. There was a display about Emile Zola and the Affair Dreyfuss in the Crypt of the Pantheon (Zola is buried there)... J'Accuse!

If you are ever in Paris, do try out the Sewer Museum, near the Pont de l'Alma (noteworthy as the place of death of what British princess, for $400, Alex?). It is certainly not an olfactory delight, but it gives good insight into the development of the city, as well as a different view of the problems created by that development... besides the good history, you can then say that you've toured the sewer... this has a lot of caché in some circles... considering how many school groups were there when I was, I have a pretty good idea who might think such a trip might be a good idea.