The Will to Blog: I'm a lazy bastard, but blogging resumes at last; PRC takes over the world, beginning with Paris

Paris again. ::Yawn:: Hee. Yes, I'm an ass.

Dude, seriously! Last time I had the great fortune to visit the City of Lights, it was bursting at its metaphorical seams with Japanese tourists. Typical. Expected, even. This time, though, in a true grudge match of "Which Asian Country Are You Gonna Fear Next?", the Motherland wins out! I've never seen so many Mainland Chinese tourists - not restaurant workers...not undocumented immigrants...I'm talking well-to-do and legit tourists here - in a Western country. Really. I have to say, I'm impressed! Although y'all know (perhaps indicated by my use of "y'all" just now) that I just bleed red, white, and blue (or, at the very least, consider myself "American," first and foremost), I couldn't help but feel my shrivelled heart warm a little for my once-countrymen and women! It was the week of Chinese New Year, so I assume that it's a little travelin' treat for the Chinese nouveau-riche. Honestly, it's nice to see China busting out of its shell in such a way that now their wealth can allow them to travel abroad, instead of Westerners merely going to the Mainland and, in true Orientalist fashion, marvelling at the modern conveniences of Beijing and Shanghai ("Wow! McDonalds!"). Of course, this doesn't really address the issues of growing racial stereotypes and resentment, or the troubling problems that the PRC has with its stark socio-economic inequalities...but, if you want to chat about it, please feel free to email me or comment!

Anyhoo, cultural and international socio-political observances aside, here are a few treats for your eyes.

An uneventful and disturbingly empty flight. Yeesh, it felt as if there were more flight attendants than passengers! Still, I was delighted to have my own personal screen TV and a great variety of movies to choose from. I chose Pride and Prejudice and Walk the Line instead of sleeping on an overnight flight (smooth move!). I left the plane with a strange urge to buy a Johnny Cash CD and go on a viewing marathon of the 1995 BBC production (i.e., wet shirted Colin Firth version) of Pride and Prejudice.

When I blogged my 1-2 sentence post from Charles De Gaulle Airport, I was waiting for Liss, whose flight was delayed from Chicago. Of course, my flight was wondrously early. I arrived at 7:00 AM, and Liss was scheduled to appear around 12 noon or so. After hours of listening to my I-Pod, reading Le Monde and Salinger's Nine Stories, and recovering from the carpal tunnel inflicted by that cruel internet kiosk, Liss arrived! Oh, her sweet face was indeed worthy of this triumphant photo!

Sacre Cœur (Sacred Heart) Cathedral in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris. Here, the French have really mastered the American art of making something look old when it's actually not (the cathedral was finished in the late 1910s). For a geographical-social reference point, Montmartre is where much of Amélie was filmed.

Of course, when faced with a cathedral whose dome is just yearning to be climbed (...with a fee attached to climb it), there's only one thing one can do: climb!!! It was fun as always, and - delightfully - not as dangerous as Notre Dame...although a handrail would've been nice.

Here's Liss capturing yet another photo! We spent a lot of time taking photos of each other taking photos. Actually, after so much time spent traveling alone, I forgot how fun it was to have a travel buddy! Liss certainly proved to be a good one.

So the rest of the Paris trip was pretty low-key and fun. We shopped (winter sales at Printemps! OH BOY!). We also hung out at a bar on Liss's birthday, where Liss discovered Snake Bite (gross), I realized that I could no longer down Guiness like I could in my younger days, and we both realized that French tequila is both expensive and not terribly effective. However, several nice French guys kept us entertained between the drinking disappointments.

Other than that, the only thing more amusing that our excursions around Paris were the passing of nights in our very cute hotel room. Just to note, our room did have 2 twin beds - it's just that tiny European spaces require those beds to be pushed together.