May 2005

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Day 3 – Paris

May 22, 2005 in Travel | Permalink

Went to Garde D’Lyon to validate the pass and make reservations for the ride to Lyon which will be at 1pm. Made my way to the Sacre Coeur Basillica in the Monmarte area of Paris. The weather is great and inside of the Basillica is quite beautiful. Although it doesn’t have stained glass windows as grand as the Notre Dame, there is a huge and beautiful mural of Christ above the area where worship ceremonies are held.

After the Basillica, I took the Metro to the Musee D’Orsay . It is a very lovely museum for 19th century art. Many familiar works by Renoir, Money and especially Van Gogh’s Starry Night. The Orsay Museum is more approachable due to its size as well as exhibits. I’ve always recognised the sculpture but never knew who it was by and now I know it’s by Francois Pompon.

I had an hour to kill before queueing up for the Eiffel ride and I spent it chatting with a Moroccan guy on the lawn next to the Eiffel. He was alone and trying to take a picture and I helped him out. He helped me take one too and we had a nice chat. Morocco sounds like a great to place to visit along with Spain. Hmmm, maybe next year…

I’m now writing this in my notebook from the Eiffel. I don’t know why I’m up the Eiffel when I’m insanely terrified of heights, but it was better than I thought and seeing a rainbow from the Eiffel kinda makes it worth the while. The view is great up here and you can see all the main sights of Paris. I’m writing this seating on the bench next to the souvenir shops waiting for sunset so that I can get a night view of Paris as well. The days are long here and even already nine, the sun is only just starting to set. It’s quite cloudy so there’s not much of a sunset. That’s only part of why I’m not venturing out yet; standing at the edge outside still makes me nervous… Cold.

Day 1 – Paris

May 20, 2005 in Travel | Permalink

Arrived in Paris round about 6.30am, very tired and moody because I forgot the luggage lock key. I managed to open the pack with minimal surgery but the worse is yet to come… At the Louvre, I discovered that I left the camera card at home too. That was enough to make me want to pack up and fly home straight away but I had to pray for better times and bought another card for €61. Ouch. I walked from the Louvre to Notre Dame, picking up the SD on the way.

Diving 101

May 12, 2005 in Fun | Permalink

Had my first pool lesson of the open water diving course the day before. The most painful part might just be the treading water portion of things, but other than that everything was relatively easy.

Kneeling at the bottom of the pool with the full scuba pack and wearing the scuba mask feels slightly disorientating at first. The scuba mask blocks out almost all peripheral vision, and looking around involves lots of head-turning, sideways and up-down. I couldn’t even see below my buddy’s chest without having to tilt my face downwards. For someone who prefers racing goggles (the kind without the rubber padding) when swimming because of the extra light and peripheral vision, this takes alot of getting used to. Let’s just say, I thoroughly understand how a horse with blinkers feels now.

Breathing through the regulator was easier to get used too. I guess the habit of not closing my mouth while swimming helped a little.

After staying submerged in the pool after a wet cloudy day for more than 3 hours, it got pretty cold. I was shivering in the pool, even with the full body wet suit.

What we covered in the lesson:

  1. Identifying and wearing our gear: the BCD, regulator, tank, mask, snorkel, fins, weights.
  2. Basic underwater commands
  3. Drills:
    • learning to read the gauge (SPG?)
    • learning to clear a half and fully-filled mask underwater
    • leaning retrieve the regulator and to clear it underwater
    • learning to putting our masks back on
    • learning to control our bouyancy
    • learning to swtich between the snorkel and the regulator
  4. Packing our gear

Our second and final pool session is this evening. Like the day before, it looks like yet another drizzly cloudy day. I always have worse luck than a black cat.

“Paris is a moveable feast.”

May 10, 2005 in Travel | Permalink

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

- Ernest Hemingway

Will be packing my bags and heading off to Paris in 9 days’ time.

As always, the thought of running off to a foreign land, cozying it up in a back-to-basics dorm, planning my meals carefully to make sure I stay within budget, holding my breathe in front of sights I have known only through postcards, trudging uphill with my pack on my back…

Ah bliss. :)

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