Friday Morning, Paris

We finally made it. This is the scene outside our apartment on a cool, drizzly morning. I totally stole the composition idea in the top picture from Virginia, but she does it better. The one below is, I think, a shoe store for men with more money than sense. The shutters are still down but note that the tree on the right is smoking a cigarette.

My French cooties are slowly subsiding. Actually ate some dinner last night. The main problem now is the arthritis in my back, which gets much worse with dragging and lifting luggage. Really slowing me down sometimes. But we'll take it easier today and start with the Picasso museum, which is nearby.

And I'm stumbling along okay in French. They appreciate that I try.         

It's Nice

Yep, Nice, France, the end of our trail. You know, famous for salade niçoise, being on the Cote d'Azur and brilliant summer sun, which is nowhere to be found today (as illustrated below).

Tiring trip from St. Louis to Chicago to Paris to Nice. All flights were late, although we didn't miss any connections. Terminal 2 at Charles de Gaulle Airport is a terrible place to get around and stunningly ugly from the outside. (Part of the cavernous Terminal 2F, where we left for Nice, is below. A very nice information lady in 2A, where we came in, said it was five minutes walk away. Try 25, sweetie.) Got hopelessly lost trying to find our hotel from the Nice airport despite having two GPS systems, a Garmin and my iPhone with Google Maps. No energy to go to the city center for dinner tonight so we went to the supermarket around the corner and got sandwiches, fruit and wine.

I spoke to several actual French people today in their native language and some of them understood me. I'm thrilled. Bed in a moment. Tourism tomorrow.                                          

Meanwhile In St. Louis

Meanwhile in St. Louis . . . what? Who cares? I'm outta here for eight days. A somewhat unusual Thursday Arch picture tomorrow and then cowboys and Indians, bustin' broncos, ten gallon hats and prize steers, followed by mountains, glaciers and icy, pristine lakes. Trip theme songs here and here.

The photo is from Paint Louis, the recently redecorated part of the Mississippi River floodwall.                       

Travel Day, But To Where?

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The Crowes are on the road again today. This photo is not in St. Louis. So, where to now? Cleveland? Who goes to Cleveland in January? Who goes to Cleveland? (Actually, it's not so bad. My brother and family lived there for a few years. It's got the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)

Guesses as to this location are invited. However, this is not the final destination. We'll spend the night there and fly out Saturday morning to the end of our trail. May have a supplemental photo on the blog from there by Saturday evening our time, early Sunday at the latest. I plan to horn in on the territory of one of our CDP friends for a week.

We're talking about the skyline today on Downtown St. Louis 365.

STL DPB On The Road: Kathmandu

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There are many responsible people in Kathmandu. Too many.

It's been nine years since I was last here. It's different; everything changes. More fancy, Western-looking stores on Durbar Marg, a main shopping street. Crumbling streets and sidewalks, an infrastructure broken down during the years of the Maoist civil war. Now they are in charge, democratically elected, the monarchy abolished. Far more trash in the streets. Same throngs of the desperately poor, but now the occasional middle class family in their own car. Well, at least in this part of town. The restaurant our group dined at last night had Nepali dishes on the menu, but it also has penne arriabatta and sachertorte.

Tourist stuff tomorrow.
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We're Outta Here

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Guest photo by Mrs. C., taken in Kathmandu a year and a half ago. A young Buddhist monk walks past Boudnath Stupa in the sunset. You can see more of her Nepal pictures here.

We leave today on a 19 day trip, going through Chicago and then on to Delhi, a 14 hour flight. One night there and then Kathmandu Saturday. Tibet on Tuesday. I may post a few days ahead if I get some editing done on the plane - no problem with Internet service in India. With luck I'll post something from from Nepal, as long as there is a place to hook up my laptop. No uploads from Tibet - the altitude is too high to run a laptop without damaging the hard drive. The Chinese government blocks Blogger, anyway.

Team member ShadowyOne will cover St. Louis as much as possible while I'm away. Expect a big tub-o-photos from Asia starting about September 22. Hasta la vista, y'all.

STL DPB In the Air

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On a very empty Boeing 777. Details as permitted by intermittent Internet access.

Travel Day

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An American Airlines Boeing 757 glides over the St. Louis riverfront. This is a day in the air. I won't have Internet service where I'm staying unless I go to the bar down a street with free WiFi. The blog is posted ahead. a couple of days Details to follow.

WHAT I APOLOGIZE FOR IN ADVANCE: won't be able to leave comments on your blogs for several days.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series.