Of Miles Rausch

I hate 7:00am. Woke up, showered, and had breakfast. We travelled to the subway to take it to the South Ferry. There was construction going on the lines, so they were all messed up (especially on the weekends). We ended up taking a shuttle, too. Subways are hot! (not in the “Paris Hilton” way, either).

First we went to Clinton Castle to buy tickets. This used to be the 1st stop for immigrants going to Ellis Island. 1st and 2nd class passengers usually entered the United States from here. From this point we boated to Liberty Island. We got a lot of pictures at the seafront. A lot. Then we took a Liberty Tour with our Ranger. I took a panograph of the Statue, herself, and hope to have it completed soon. The same bird was walking along the bottom of the statue and ended up in everyone of my pictures of the base. We also took a lot of pictures in front of the statue, and one behind.

For lunch we had pizza. Well, everyone ordered a pepperoni pizza and drink except me, who got a hot dog combo (what’s more American than a hot dog on Liberty Island?). At lunch it took me several minutes to recall the word “pangea”, but I did it.

From here we went to Ellis Island, again by boat. I found the Statue to be interesting, but Ellis Island was fascinating. I got caught up in the history. We saw a movie on it, walked around, and then boated back to New York.

There’s a park area with lots of venders, and we hung around that for a while. sor’d Then we sought out Wall St. We found a bull (bronze) and the Canyon of Heros, which I really liked, even though it’s just the name of a street. But, to add to it, they put names and groups that were considered heros into the sidewalks down this street, and the buildings all around really felt like an urban canyon. This brought us to the Stock Exchange, and the location where George Washington was sworn in.

From there we walked to Ground Zero. There is (obviously) not much to see there. Of course, that is what there is to see. A space. A gaping hole in the frenzied mountainscape of buildings. I didn’t realize at first that we were at Ground Zero, and I inadvertently took a very poignant picture of it. I art by accident!

Next was the Brooklyn Bridge. We were sure that we had to take a subway to get there, but upon reentering the tunnels, we talked to a guy who told us that we were basically underneath the Brooklyn Bridge right now. So, we exited the Subway, and lo!, there we were. On top we walked along for a while. You walk on this wooden walkway over the roaring traffic. Holli was tired (I was, too) and her hips hurt, so we stopped before actually getting underneath anything, but Marissa stayed with us, and we talked about how the inherent dynamics of life lead one to believe that God does not, in fact, exist, while, at the same time, the simple existance of life and its dynamics do, in essense, require the existance of God in some form.

We walked back to TGIFridays, but they were closed. So, we walked to the subway, metro’d our way to home, and walked right up to an Applebees out of the subway.

On the way back I called a strange number that had awaykened us last night, and I had thought it was Dirk, but it was actually Collin. He has a kid on the way. CRAZY.

Time for bed.

The night was hot. It almost always is in France. So, I spent my night analyzing the room I wsa sleeping in. It’s a girls room. I think her name is Ann. She seems to be into Magic the Gathering. And she loves Australia. This I discerned without touching or moving a single item.

After several countless hours (oh, wait, I just counted them – there were several), I finally fell into sleep. I tried to sleep until someone came to get me. I nearly did this. I grabbed my carry-on bag, and Bryce and Alfred and I walked back here, to the house. At the house, everyone had already had breakfast, so I said, “Non“.

Then we walked into town. We toured two churches. Both were very old. The first was called Notre Dame du Port. I lit a candle there, just as I did in Notre Dame in Paris. This was a simple cathedral. No big murals or sculptures, just simple lines and massive size. I found interesting that in the crypt was a plaque deciated in the late 19th century. I (at first) assumed this to be the dedication by a Pope or something, but it was in fact a plea to the Virgin Mary to save the French soldiers and protect their country. I should research.

From here we went to another cathedral. This one was larger and more ornate. We could not go into the crypt, however. It had beautiful chapels. Benedicte talked to a guy who let us walk up to the top of the tour. This took for F’in ever. And I was really weak at the top. But I took pictures and a heel-click picture of Bryce. Then we departed down. Slowly; in the dark.

Also, I lit a candle here. Then we walked back for lunch. Lunch I didn’t care for so much. It was a salad with onions and peppers and we also had fish eggs, bread, and plenty to drink. The meals for the Morizot’s are late.

Before lunch we watched a video about cathedrals in the area. It was very interesting, but we were all a little tired. The video was very well done and very theatrical.

After lunch we read. It was really a free time. I checked email to discover that Adam and Cari are engaged. So, congrats to them! Also, I agreed to go to New York City in July. I hate taking off work, but this will probably be the last of it.

I am really tired.

Then the sky turned orange and Benedicte said “Qui bizarre!” and I was standing there and I understood. Then the decision was made for me to stay at this house for the night. At first I thought it was because they sense that I was a little uncomfortable with the situation, but it was so I wasn’t travelling in the rain and thunder and lightening. So, Alfred and I got my stuff, talked to the parents who (it turns out) will be gone to Paris again tomorrow, so I barely met them. Then it started to rain, so we ran, and Alfred sang “Singing in the Rain” but he couldn’t remember the words.

Then we ate. We had lasagna, and it was delicious. There was some loud dinner conversation, but it was good. More problems over language. Then, after, Bryce, Brenna, Linds, and Molly completed their tournament. Oh, also, during the day we played Smash Brothers and I read “Le Chat“, a French comic.

Then we played poker. Bryce ended up winning against Linds. Molly was offended when Dad wouldn’t look at her face. So, Bryce actually lost two times (as himself and Molly) before taking Dad’s hand and winning it all.

Crazy.

Tonight, then, I’m sleeping in the room Quitterie was sleeping in, as she sleeps in the pantry. I really could sleep in the pantry, but I’m sure they won’t allow it. I’ll mention it tomorrow.

I want to give the kids American names, and they give us French names. Because we both have trouble with each other’s.

• Antoine » Tony
• Camille » Kammy
• Alfred » Freddy
• Quitterie » Kitty

We’ll see if it works.

Tonight I wrote myself and Holli postcards. Madame had given me postage-paid international envelopes. These should speed things up.

Good night, and Good luck.

France – June 06 Flickr set (June 16)

I hate 4am. Seriously.

Well, my Aunt Karin was gracious enough to allow Holli and I a night’s sleep. This helped tremendously, as our flight was at 6:45am. We met Larry, Carol, and Marissa shortly before 5:45am. We boarded the tiny plane and flew to Minneapolis.

Then we found Cari and Adam. Holli, Marissa, and I went to get breakfast. It took long because Marissa kept getting her beverage stolen by other customers at Starbuck’s.

Then we boarded and flew to New York. Flying in to La Guardia Airport is a little disconcerting because there’s water on both sides of the runway. Finally in, we got our luggage, found our shuttle bus driver, and a frenzy of picture-taking took place. That was just the drive. EVERYONE has a digital camera (Adam got his when we landed – he got Holli’s old one) which is kinda cool.

We couldn’t check in right away, so we walked to a little restaurant (Cosmic Diner or something) and had lunch. I experimented with long exposure pictures. Then we went back and checked in. Once ready we ventured into New York City. First we saw Rupert from Hello Deli near the CBS Store. Then we stopped at the store. I spyed Eugene O’Neill Theatre, named after the famous American Playwright who was born in Times Square.

We walked by Rockerfeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, steaming manholes (not this kind), and sidewalk salesmen. I took some photos for a panograph. Saw NBC studios. Finally, we arrived at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Our original idea for mass for Holli and I was The Actor’s Chapel, but we decided to walk down to St. Patrick’s instead. While we massed, the others shopped. Brilliant “Toccatta” at the end.

Then we saw Trump Tower across the street, the Soup Nazi’s store (called The Original Soupman), a neat AMD ad, a musical based on Anne Rice’s novel Lestat (called “Lestat”), and a broken Dakt sign in Times Square.

For supper we first opted for Hard Rock Cafe, which had lots of Beatles stuff, but then we moved to ESPNZone. Here we got yelled at, they made us wait an hour, they made Marissa and Carol upset, and then they never checked in on our table, and we had to ask other servers to fetch our waiter. I was much less than pleased, but all I’ve expected from sports jocks is bully behavior.

We walked back, got wet, went to the MTV store, took pictures in Times Square, saw a Church of Scientology, and finally in for bed.

Phew!

P.S. I bought a hat.

New York City – July 06 Flickr set (July 22)

The big question for the day is “Are we going to The Catacombes?” The answer was “Non.” Due to logistical planning problems, neither The Catacombes (Paris’s City of the Dead) nor the Archeological Crypt of Notre Dame would work, so we opted for some souvenir shops nearby. I only bought a letter opener which may or may not become a letter opener souvernir.

From there we journeyed back, collected our bags, packed a car, and everyone but Dad and Madame tramped to the Metro.

On the metro, Mom and I met a Parisian woman who had lived for a time in Chicago. She spoke fluent English, with a little trace of an accent, and asked about the definition of the word “mix-match“. We talked to her for a couple stops. Thinking on it now, we gave her the definition of “mismatch“.

Then to the train station at Gare de Lyons. There we met the other two with our bags. I stopped at a photo kiosk and got my picture taken for 2 euros. It’s for Holli. :)

We set and waited for the train to Clermont-Ferrand to board. We had lunch: sandwhiches, chips, and coke. We put tags on the bags. Then we boarded our train. All was good until we tried to find our seat. Then it was discovered that our tickets were for the 16th, not 15th (see post title). We were scared, and Camille was angry (at her dad). She pleaded with an official, and we sat in unchosen seats. Thusly we enjoyed our trip: Linds, Bryce, Moll, and Bren in one quad and Camille, moi, Mom, and Dad in the other. The trip was problemless.

Arriving in Clermont we were met by Benedicte and Benoit and Alfred. We climbed into 2 vehicles, I and Bryce with Camille and Benedicte, where Camille was practicing her driving to be ready to take her test. Her driving wasn’t bad. France, not just Paris, is crazy with driving. Apparently there are a lot of accidents and harsher driving laws have helped to curb that.

We drove to the house and dropped our bags off. The first part of the evening was spent conversing and having champagne, soda, and pretzels. We met Quitterie, the youngest. Then they left to get Antoine. He is the eldest and most fluent English speaker of the kids. He took us to his place, which is elsewhere in Clermont-Ferrand, to download Bryce’s pictures, which caused him to run out of battery power (and it’s an odd, random battery). From Antoine’s we travelled to a volcano in the region, the Puy-de-Dôme. Clermont-Ferrand is situated within the Auvergne Moutains, made up of dormant volcanoes. I had a major ordeal in the bathroom there where I had trapsed almost all over the WC only to find that the floor was wet, and I had left my sexy footprints everywhere. So, I tried in vain to clean it as much as possible with toilet paper as I backed out.

The mountains were beautiful. We sat and had champagne (again) and chips and talked. Antoine had told us to correct him whenever he pronounces something wrong or uses the wrong word, so I have been. It’s been interesting conversation, and I don’t mean that sarcastically.

Once back, Alfred took me to my resting place. See, I am seperated from the group in order to have a bed. I would argue the point, but it’s obvious that Benedicte has put a lot of work into getting this room, even though I am fine sleeping on the floor if it a means a little familiarity in a foreign country. I suppose that sort of feeling is what Mom had when she came over here, 37 years ago. There is a French guy staying here (probably around my age) who speaks fluent English. He showed me around, and I set my stuff down, and then Alfred and I left.

Once back we dined. It was omelettes and cheese (Bryce’s favorite saying!). Camille left to stay at a friend’s place (perhaps to free up a bed), but the rest of us ate. There was a lot of conversation in both languages, and a little in Spanish, too. The meal was good, as was the dessert. Shortly after, however, I headed back here with Alfred to settle in. The guy here is chatty (I suppose being friendly), but it makes me uncomfortable, as I’m not at all sure of the traditions, customs, or manners in this place, and I’d hate to offend anyone. Oh, well.

I told my parents of my plans for NYC in July. I’m still not sure if I’m going. I haven’t been able to check my mail yet. Hopefully tomorrow. Discovered that Bryce reminds everyone of a comical actor who created a character called “Brice de Nice”, who thinks he’s a surfer from the Mediterranean (where there are no waves).

I am le tired.

France – June 06 Flickr set (June 15)