Atlas Mountain Adventures

One of the big draws of Morocco is the scenery.  Anne and Mark decided to take advantage of this and trek throughout the country, or at least the length of the Atlas Mountains, starting in Marrakech, stopping in the Erg Chebbi area to visit the sand dunes, and then finishing at Fes.  The scenery certainly did not disappoint.  It was a clear day and on several occasions, Anne and Mark could see mountains and valleys miles away.

Kind of looks like Utah.

One of the most striking aspects of the country is the scenic diversity.  There were lush, agricultural areas nustled next to towering peaks.  However, only a few short miles away, this vista gave way to drier, more arid environment.

Anne shows off a scenic area of Morocco.

Eventually, all of the views were of a desert area.

And then it looked like the surface of Mars for awhile.

Maybe this is where they tested the Mars Rover (Totally just made that up).

Anne and Mark had plenty of time to observe the changing landscape.  The roads in Morocco were not bad, but they were certainly not a modern highway system.  The main roads go through every little town between major cities.  Progress then slows to a snail's pace through these hovels as the speed limit decrease combined with pedestrians carelessly wandering the roads combine to impede all traffic.

And driving through small towns was not the only speed-reducing obstacle on the trek.  First, Anne and Mark had to deal with a little windstorm.

As the winds picked up (near the area where the Tattoine scenes from Star Wars were filmed), Anne and Mark found themselves driving directly into a little sand storm.  Obviously, visibility was reduced, but otherwise, the storm was minor and they had no trouble getting through this obstacle.

Later, Anne and Mark encountered some obstacles arranged by Moroccan animals.  First, while moving between mountain ranges, Anne and Mark started noticing shepherds and their flocks of sheep on the side of the road or in the ditches.  This turned out to be a significant obstacle when a few rebel sheep refused to move from the road, disrespecting the superior horsepower of the rental car.

A lot of traffic for this place at this time.

But this was not the only animal life on this trek.  Not far from Fes, Anne and Mark spotted a group of monkeys hanging out beside the road.  Apparently, these beasts have become tame from their encounters with humans at this roadside location, or somewhere else.

 Anne and Mark had yet another obstacle on this trek, this one dealing with local authorities.  Mark was driving and noticed that he was driving at around 70 kph (43.5 miles per hour) in a zone that had a maximum speed limit 60 kph (37.28 mph).  Actually Mark did not notice this, but the helpful police officer hiding at the side of the road did.  Ticket, please.

Near to where they arrived, Anne and Mark had a final obstacle.  Mark had driven past the turn that he needed to make in order to arrive at the hotel.  He decided to make a u-turn to correct this mistake.  The shoulder looked like it was covered in gravel, but it was not.  Ooops.  At this point, the car was stuck in the side of the road in a sandy ditch.

Now the car is stuck in the ditch.  What should Anne and Mark do next?  The ideal solution would be for Anne to pop it in reverse and give it a little gas while Mark pushes the car.  Unfortunately, the rental car has a manual transmission and Anne is not able to drive a stick (despite Peaches' promise to teach her last summer).

This put Mark in quite the pickle.  He knew how to work the clutch, but he was also socially obligated to get out in push, rather than sit in the car and wait for his wife to push him out of the ditch.

It also put Anne in a pickle, maybe moreso than Mark, because Anne entered up getting covered in sand as Mark gave it a little gas and the spinning tire threw fine Sahara sand 25 feet in all directions.  One of those directions was toward Anne and she was awarded her first sand shower.

Finally, a Good Samaritan stopped and offered to help push the car.  Anne and Mark had to explain to him that there were enough pushers, but he could help out by driving.  The passer-by agreed and Anne and Mark pushed the car back onto the beaten path.

Given all of these obstacles, it is a miracle that Anne and Mark made it anywhere.

Where has this been all my life?

Ever find something you didn't know existed, and then, once you find it you wonder how it is not the most popular thing in the world?  Well, sitting at cafe in Fes, Mark had this experience.  What inspired it?  Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you the meat-filled doughnut:

Anne and Mark's adventures with doughnuts around the world have been well documented on this blog (here and here).  In this never-ending quest for knowledge, Mark samples pretty much any confection that he can get.  Even so, Mark has never encountered a doughnut stuffed with what appeared to be pulled pork.

Stuffed with custard?  Check.

Whipped Cream?  Sure.

Jelly?  Most definitely.

Meat?  No.... but why the heck not?

This reminded both Anne and Mark of a scene from Friends wherein Rachel missed a page in the cookbook and ended up throwing a bunch of unrelated ingredients into a dessert dish.  Hilarity ensued.  The punchline, though, was that Joey enjoyed it anyway, explaining: "What's not to like?  Custard? Good.  Jam?  Good.  Meat?  Goooooood."

With the spirit of Joey Tribiani and the confidence that comes from the successful experience of a semi-intelligent character on a situation comedy, Mark decided to dig in.  As they say, "when in Fes, do as the Festives do."  (No one actually says that, but it would be pretty awesome if the people from Fes were actually called "Festives")

So dig in.  This dish, and it was big enough to be an entree for two or three people, was a doughnut with powdered sugar on top, stuffed with meat and a little bit of cheese and a substance that may have been gravy.  The first bite was a bit confusing.  Multiple taste sensations colliding, taste buds re-evaluating their core assumptions - this takes a moment of adjustment.  But, after catching his breath, Mark was ready for more.  He did not eat the entire dish, but he made a good showing.  Joey would have been proud.

And how was it?  Gooooood.

Anne sits within the "blast area" while Mark straps on the old feedbag.  This is a show of remarkable courage as people have lost fingers from doing nothing more than sitting this close when Mark gets his "eat on."  

Other than the food, which was quite an experience, Fes itself is a very pretty city.  Like Marrakech, Fes is one of the old, imperial cities of Morocco.  The Medina (in this context, this means the "old town" section - not to be confused with Medina, the city name) is surrounded by walls with still functioning gates.  Anne and Mark stayed at a very nice hotel inside the Medina and entered through the "Blue Gate."

The original gated community?

Street scene looking into the Medina

Anne and Mark were pleasantly surprised at their accommodations.  The hotel they had booked was a converted house that was several hundred years old.  Everything in the old section of town is expected to be pretty old - that's the point.  In fact, Fes features what it claims to be the oldest, continuously operated university in the world (The University of Al-Karaouine, founded in 859 AD).  However, the hotel conversion had gone very smoothly and the rooms were modern and beautiful, yet still retained their old world charm.  As shown in the photo below, Anne's and Mark's room featured a suite-like set-up, 20 foot ceilings and .... mosquito netting.

Guest Writer: "Rocket the Camel" Checks In

EDITOR'SNOTE: After leaving Marrakech, Anne and Mark headed to the sand dunes known as or located at Erg Chebbi (never quite figured out if that was the name of the dunes or of the location).  There, they stayed a night at a hotel, then went on a trek on camelback into the dunes for an overnight in a tent, Beduin style.  This blog entry was submitted by "Rocket," the unhappiest camel in Africa.  The reasons he is so unhappy.... well, let's just let Rocket tell his own story.

Does it look like the camels are posing for the camera?

Hello, I am Rocket the camel.  That's me in the photo above with the red circle around my head (I don't remember seeing that when the picture was taken - weird...).  I know it might seem strange to the uninitiated, that a camel who really never moves much faster than a brisk walk would be named "Rocket."  It sounds like a misnomer, like calling that guy busting my hump (literally) "Handsome."  Well let me tell you, I got wheels.  I can run like the wind, ladies and gentlemen.  The problem holding me back is that I have been labeled a second tier camel.  The camel in front of me, Rudolf (yep, just like the reindeer, and yes, I have heard the song), is slow, so I have to go as slow as him.  Otherwise, though, I would be outrunning the wind.

But slow walking isn't so bad.  In fact, once you get used to the view (and unless you are a lead camel, the view ain't great, so this takes some effort), life here on the dunes isn't so bad.  In the mornings, me, Rudolf and the boys kind of wander around looking for something to eat.  It's pretty much free range.  Then, at about 3 pm (just kidding - I have no idea what time it is, I just know it is a bit after the sun reaches its zenith - didn't think I would be unable to deal with the concept of measuring time, but still be able to properly use "zenith" in a sentence, did you?), me and the boys head back to the stables to be suited up for work.

Heading back to punch in for work.

Sometimes people are surprised to learn that there is no bell or anything, we just show up on time for work everyday.  Those people are playing into the "lazy camel" stereotype, which is not true.  The one about spitting - that one's true, but not the one about being lazy.  Or the one about being slow.

Left to right: Anne, Rudolf, Edi

And most of the time, work isn't too bad, either.  Edi, the Beduin guy in the blue pictured above, hooks us up with grain and water, so that's pretty sweet.  And he keeps the jackals away, which is a big plus.  I hates me some jackals.  Then he puts blankets around our humps every afternoon, which is nice.  Then we go pick up some out-of-towners and wander into the dunes, sleep the night, then come back.  And as long as the tourists are cool (like the lady riding Rudolf shown above), we have no problems and it ain't such a bad gig (sure beats racking up billable hours).

But just like everybody else, sometimes we have a bad day at work.  Let me tell you about this one day.  So we're all sitting outside the Yaz (Editor's note: Rocket is referring to the Yasmina Hotel, where Anne and Mark stayed on their first night in the dunes).  Then this lady comes out with 4 dudes.  The lady gets on Rudolf and it turns out the four dudes is actually just one guy.  (It's an honest mistake though - see for yourself - he is the guy blocking half of the horizon in the photo at the top of this post.  I mean, come on, who blocks out the HORIZON?)  So then I say to the guys, "YHHHHHHHH!!" - which is camel for "Holy crap, buddy, take it easy on the Krispy Kreme!"  The guys remained perfectly silent and motionless, showing their approval.  Then I thought to myself that I sure felt sorry for whoever had to lug this monster around.

Then wouldn't you know it, he came right over to me.  COMEON!

Then it got worse.  Once Jabba the Tourist hopped on, it appeared he had never ridden a camel before.  Here's a tip: two hands on the wheel, hot shot.  (Editor's note: camels making Star Wars references are surprisingly common in Morocco, most likely because the scenes on Tattoine were actually shot in Morocco).

So talk about your bad days: not only do I not get to show off my speed, I have to lug this guy who may or may not try to eat me.  Ugh.  Makes me want to spit.

But it wasn't all bad.  The nice lady gave me a bit of attention, which actually worked out well for her because I was probably going to spit on her right before this, but called off the salivary attack when she showed a little love.

The camel whisperer.

Well, anyway, once I got properly burdened with way too much humanity, we took off for the dunes.  It was a pretty slow pace.  Again, this is not my fault, when you're strapped to the camel in front of you, it's  difficult to change speeds.

In your face, Lawrence of Arabia

Then we made it to the camp and Bob's Big Boy hopped off, leaving Rudolf and me be for the night.  In the morning, I knew it was going to be "back to the Yaz," so I decided to get some sleep to re-charge my batteries.  But first, I made sure to watch the famous Moroccan sunset.

Next Stop: Marrakech

After spending a few days in Paris, Anne and Mark hopped a plane and headed off to the ancient city of Marrakech.  Marrakech is one of the old imperial cities of Morocco, located on the west coast of Africa, just south of Spain.  This makes Africa the fifth different continent that Anne has visited, leaving only Australia and Antarctica (and maybe Atlantis, although Anne and Mark are having a difficult time finding a flight to Atlantis at a decent price).

Marrakech is an old, walled city still boasting many of the features that have been standing since caravans of traders crossing north Africa stopped in to visit it hundreds of years ago.  For example, in addition to the walls of the city and the Medina, the Koutoubia Mosque (pictured below) is a venerable structure that has gained fame and been used as a model for towers throughout the Muslim world.

The other feature that you cannot miss when visiting Marrakech is the Jemaa el Fna.  This was pretty close to being an outdoor festival when Anne and Mark visited (it may be a bit more calm during the daytime).  There were stands lining the square serving all types of Moroccan culinary fare, as well as several different types of entertainers attempting to impress the passers-by.  There were a large number of locals in the area, which gave it a sense of authenticity.  On the other hand, however, there was a distinct feeling that some of the vendors had targeted this area as a tourist trap.  Especially beware of standing too close to an entertainment act.  Even if you are not paying attention to it, or are not entertained by it, you will be expected to drop a little money.

Part of this probably was targeting the tourists, but part of it is the result of the fact that Morocco has a strong "tipping culture."  To some extent we are used to this in the United States, particularly when a person serves food, drives a taxi, cuts hair, etc. - it is fairly common to pay a little extra "for the effort." (or "to insure proper service," if you believe that legend of etymology).  But in Morocco, tipping is common for pretty much everything.  Anne and Mark noticed several efforts that earned tips in Morocco that would not have had they occurred in the U.S.   The boy on the street tells the taxi driver how much room he has while he is backing up: driver tips the kid.  The lady at the rental car center hands the keys to the guy who shows where the car is (presumably he also works there): she tips the guy.  

This is a difficult cultural adjustment to make on the fly, for several reasons. First, Anne and Mark are coming from a culture where these things would not get a tip at all.  In fact, like Mr. Pink says, not even waitresses always get a tip ("All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I'll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it's for the birds.") Additionally, Anne and Mark really do not know how much to tip appropriately (what is 20% of "You got plenty of room"?).  Third, Anne and Mark do not have any small bills.  They only have the large bills that were issued by the airport ATM and whenever they try to break them, the vendor wants to keep the change as a tip.  It's quite the vicious circle.

Then it started to get a little ridiculous.  After taking a cab from the airport to the area of their hotel, Anne and Mark got out of the cab and and removed their luggage.  As soon as they did, a guy materialized (pretty much out of nowhere) to help them carry their luggage to the hotel.  Initially, of course, since Mark had not asked anyone to carry the luggage and this is just a guy on the street, Mark assumed that his luggage was being stolen.  Turns out, not so much.  Oops.  Have to give him a big tip to make up for that.

Anne and Mark were able to overcome some of these obstacles, but never really figured out appropriate amounts for various tips, and probably ripped off some people and wildly overpaid others.  (But they tried, so no one should criticize them.)

Of particular note at the Jemaa el Fna (and pretty much everywhere else) was the fresh squeezed orange juice.  Delicious and nutricious.

Anne rocks the kasbah.  Anne and Mark stayed in the room with the wooden door on the second story, facing this courtyard.

After a brief stay in Marrakech, Anne and Mark drove through Morocco to view the scenery.  If any of you are ever considering driving in Marrakech, here is a little advice: Don't.  It is a bustling city with traffic patterns which are incomprehensible and indecipherable.  Additionally, there are many guides who would love to drive you around (for a tip, of course).

But Anne and Mark disregarded this advice, and if you choose to similarly disregard it, Mark has prepared a few driving tips for your adventures in Marrakech.

Driving in Marrakech

Step 1: Make your peace with God.

You should probably do this anyway, but it has a bit more urgency when you are driving in Marrakech.  No matter what your destination is, you have a pretty decent chance of going to meet your maker.



Step 2: Forget about your blind spots.

Never, ever, ever look back.  Just assume someone is there.  It is going to be another car, a bike, a moped, a horse, a horse-drawn carriage, a pedestrian or some combination thereof.  But make no mistake, someone or something is surrounding you at all times.  Therefore, there is no need to check.



Step 3: Abandon your blinkers.

No one is looking at your blinkers; these are now useless and a waste of time and effort better spent doing other things.



Step 4: Pay attention to everyone in front of you and nothing else.

Because the people in front of you have already integrated Steps 2 and 3 into their driving, you are directly and absolutely responsible for reacting to their movements, even if they have not signaled them.  In this way, driving in Marrakech is kind of like playing Super Mario Kart (video game), except that it is game over on the first crash.



Step 5: Ignore all horns.

By the time you figure out what the horn was about, you are already on to the next traffic circles.



Step 6: Fake your way through traffic circles.

Mark attended driver's ed at Lewiston-Altura Public High School and scored very well on the written test and passed the road test to obtain a Minnesota driver's license.  Despite this, he has no idea why anyone would ever use a traffic circle instead of an intersection.  The concept is foreign and indecipherable, which naturally leads to panic.  The thought process when approaching a traffic circle is always the same: "Stay on the outside.... ok, that guy wants to get in, so I will merge to the inside.... now I am trapped on the inside.... I think I have now gone around this thing 3 times...AHHH, WE'RE TRAPPED!!!.... ok, screw it, I am going for it" at which point Mark cuts off all of the other drivers and ends up back on the same road from which he entered the traffic circle.


Step 7: Ignore Step 6, Avoid Traffic Circles

This is better than Step 6.


Step 8: Have fun out there.

Louvre for the Moment

So... I think we turn right.

On their third day in Paris, Anne and Mark got up early and headed to the famous Parisian museum known as "the Louvre."  The information desk there informs visitors that if they spent just one minute on each work that the Louvre has in its collection, they would still need 250 years to see everything (ok, so those numbers are not accurate, but they feel right, so they have truthiness).  This is one museum where you actually need a strategy.  Decide what you want to see, because it is physically impossible to see it all.

Anne and Mark decided that they wanted to see three main types of exhibits: (1) masterpieces they have seen in books or have otherwise heard of, (2) Egyptian stuff, and (3) the sports collection.

Upon arrival at the Musee d'Orsay metro stop (the Orsay is another famous museum with an impressive collection, but was closed on this day), Anne and Mark crossed the river and headed to the entry of the Louvre.  The entrance is housed in the glass pyramid inside the courtyard of what used to be the Louvre Palace.  Once the king decided to move to Versailles, there was no one living in the Louvre, so they made it into a museum for the royal collection (art, gifts, antiquities, etc.).  Over time the collection has grown exponentially.

The glass pyramid houses the security check for the museum and then ushers visitors to the entrance, which is actually underground (just as described in the Da Vinci Code).  One tip that Anne and Mark would give to those planning visits to the Louvre: when you buy a ticket in advance, they will ask whether you want to pay the extra one and a half Euro for priority admission.  The entrance actually has two lines, priority admission and the long line.  Anne and Mark really enjoyed their visit to the Louvre, but few moments were more exciting than that moment of realization when they saw the sign for priority admission and knew that they did not have to wait in the 30-45 minute line before entering.  Awesome.

So, what did they see at the Louvre?  

Stage 1: Familiar works

The Louvre has many masterpieces on display, some of which are so famous that most people in the world have seen them at least one.  For example, the Mona Lisa:

What are you smiling at?

The Mona Lisa is in room 6 of the Italian collection (not as described in the Da Vinci Code).  Visitors are allowed to take photos, but are not allowed to use flash.  (This rule apparently does not apply to people who are in certain tour groups)

Interesting fact: according to the Louvre, this is not actually called the Mona Lisa.  Although we all know it by that name, the museum lists its title as La Gionconda ("the joyful one").  Go figure.

Later Anne and Mark wandered into the area of sculpture and saw the Venus de Milo.   In contrast to the Mona Lisa, which has been famous since not long after the Italian master Leonardo da Vinci created it in the 16th century, the Venus de Milo was lost for much of history and only was discovered in 1820.

After viewing these two familiar faces, Anne and Mark did not really expect to see all that many more.  Imagine their surprise when they saw another one:

Obviously, this is a familiar face, but Anne and Mark cannot agree on exactly who it is.  Mark says that this is a bald, sad Ron Paul with a Beard, while Anne argues that it is just a bald Gandolf.

Gandolf

Ron Paul

As always, input is welcome in the comments section.

Stage 2: Egyptian Stuff

Although Anne and Mark have never actually visited Egypt (ancient or otherwise), it feels almost familiar to them.  The collections of Egyptian artifacts at the Vatican Museum, the British Museum and now the Louvre are extensive.  Each has mummies and sarcofoguses sarcofogai more than one sarcofogus the things that they buried the mummies in on display.

Anne and Mark always feel a bit strange about the mummies being on display, but they love seeing the statues.  Mark particularly loves seeing the statues of the priests that guarded the mummies on their way to the afterlife, as it gives him another opportunity to win a staring contest he started with these priests long ago.

Mark loses again.  That priest statue just wanted it more.

Stage 3: Sports

Many people are surprised that the Louvre even has a sports exhibit (*editor's note: that is because the Louvre does not have a sports exhibit).  However, with March Madness being so near, it is only appropriate that Anne and Mark spent a little time visiting the displays of art celebrating sport.

The first exhibit in this section appears to celebrate the ancient Greek sport of nude boxing.

Although replaced in the Olympics with "boxing," nude boxing had a long and celebrated run as one of ancient Greece's most popular nude combat sports.

Later Anne and Mark saw a sculpture that depicts the invention of golf.  Although the description spoke of Hercules and his second labor (slaying the hydra), any observer recognizes that a sculpture of a guy swinging a club at a small enemy that is seemingly impossible to control is obviously talking about golf.

Fore!

 Okay, enough of Paris, let's go somewhere else...

First Sunday

The second day that Anne and Mark were in Paris happened to fall on the first Sunday of the month.  Unbeknownst to Anne and Mark, the first Sunday of the month is kind of a big deal in Paris.  Most of the major attractions will open admissions to anyone, free of charge.  Hello!

Anne and Mark became aware of this little perk when they arrived at the Palace of Versailles and attempted to purchase a ticket.  No tickets necessary.  As you can imagine, this free entry policy draws quite the large number of visitors.  In the peak months for visitors, the lines and crowds on Free Sundays are nearly prohibitive.  However on the first Sunday of March, the weather was not terribly beautiful and, apparently, even free admission was not enough of a draw to overcome rainclouds for most revelers.  Most, but not all.  Anne and Mark reveled on.

The Palace of Versailles is one of the largest and most beautiful palaces in the world.  In fact, noted palace expert Anne (such an expert in fact that she actually uttered this sentence while in Turkey: "This is the fourth best palace I have ever visited.") rates Versailles as the favorite of all of the palaces she has visited.

"Best hall of mirrors you're ever going to find in any palace at any price!" - Anne

Anne and Mark walked the apartments and war rooms and throne rooms and whatever other rooms were in the palace.  Then they walked the grounds of the palace, which included a cross-shaped body of water large enough for the 18th century royals to have brought boats out there for recreation (mostly fishing and gondola-type activities - no water-skiing as that would not be invented until centuries later in a place called Lake City, Minnesota).  Finally, Anne and Mark headed over to the petit trianon, which is a residence on the same grounds that was a home to several members of the royal family over the years.  Some of the people who called this home were big names.  For example, this is where Marie Antoinette used to hang out.  After she lost her head, Napoleon made it his own.

Some of this might actually be doll furniture.

The room pictured above is the study/office of Napoleon.  Anne and Mark read this on a placard, but any reasonably-diligent observer would have figured this out just by noticing that the furniture is particularly low to the ground to suit the diminutive French leader.

After completing their tour of the palace grounds, Anne and Mark headed back to the city proper (Versailles is located just outside of town).  Back in the heart of the city, they headed to the Sainte-Chapelle church.

The Sainte-Chapelle actually has two separate chapels.  The lower chapel is nice.  It has a roof about ten feet high and several beautiful works of art.  This church was built during a period of very high stratification of society based on status and this chapel was for the poor people.  And, like I said, it is nice.

The upper chapel, however, is stunning.  It was where the rich went to pray and it is adorned with towering stained glass windows

Where the 1% pray.

 This must have been quite a disappointment for the poor people going to pray.  On the way in, they could see the huge windows rising to the heavens, but once they were inside, they found themselves in a nearly windowless and dark room.  Still a fine place to pray.... but not as nice as it looked from the outside.

The rich people, on the other hand climbed the stairs to a beautiful room flooded with stained-glass colored light pouring in from every direction.  The king even had a private room on the side of the upper chapel so that he could offer his prayers in this beautiful space.

The chapel itself was constructed for a very specific purpose.  I am not saying that praying in a beautiful church is not a purpose, I am just saying it is not the specific purpose for which this church was built.  According to the locals, this entire church was constructed to house the (actual) crown of thorns that Jesus wore on Good Friday.  The altar was actually raised so that the crown could be more easily viewed by the faithful during mass.

The crown that used to sit on this altar is still around, but is now housed in the treasury of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.  It is only put on display during Fridays during Lent.

After viewing Saint-Chapelle chapel, Anne and Mark decided to squeeze the last bit of value out of the first Sunday of the month free admission policy.  They walked the length of the Champs-Elysee (roughly translated as "The street where they hold the last stage of the Tour de France") to the Arc de Triomphe.

View of the Arc from about halfway down the Champs-Elysee

The Arc is a monument to some Napoleonic victory.  The little guy ordered the Arc to be placed right in the middle of town.  The Arc itself is actually mostly hollow and visitors are permitted to climb to the top.  Anne and Mark decided to go for it.  When they reached the top, they were treated to an outstanding view of the city.

View of the city from atop the Arc.

Paris in Springtime

The first leg of SpringBreak 2012 (brought to you by Anne and Mark) was a short jaunt through Paris.  Paris is a huge city and one of the most popular tourist locales in the world.  This has its pros and cons.  On the negative side, Paris is crowded, especially at the main sites.  On the positive side, however, the sites are world-famous and the city is well-prepared to deal with millions of visitors each year.  Additionally, since Anne and Mark visited in March rather than June, the crowds were not actually very large, so this turned out to be a fantastic visit to one of the capitals of Europe.

Their first day in Paris was spent visiting major, major sites (tourist sites in Paris are categorized as "major, major" - "big time" - and "I didn't know that was in Paris).  Two of the biggest and most famous sites in the city of lights are the Eiffel Tower (pictured above) and the Notre Dame Cathedral (also a "major, major" site).

Prior to visiting the cathedral, Mark was under the misconception that "Notre Dame" was either a housing development of some sort for hunchbacks or a fancy word that meant "mediocre football program in northern Indiana."  To his surprise, however, Mark learned that "Notre Dame" is a French term meaning "Our Lady" and the Cathedral of Notre Dame is a large, venerable church.

Fighting Irish of Notre Dame

The Fighting Polish at Notre Dame?

The church is hundreds of years old and sits near the center of the city on the banks of the river.  The building is still in use as a church, but also invites visitors inside for a tour.  The artwork adorning both the inside and outside of the building is beautifully maintained (or restored, in some places) and looks largely the same way it did during and even before the French Revolution.

Anne and Mark took the walk around the inside of the Cathedral and spent quite a while admiring the outside views.  While waiting to enter the cathedral, they noticed the statute pictured below near the entrance.  The gentleman with his head in his hands (literally) is St. Denis.  Apparently, St. Denis was an early bishop of Paris was beheaded on Montmartre in Paris.  Most of us would probably call it a day at that point, and a bad day at that.  But not Denis.  Instead, he picked up his head and walked a few miles around town, preaching a sermon the whole way.  This is the kind of guy who is not going to let a little beheading get in his way.

So if anyone ever says "You would lose your head if it wasn't attached" - think of Denis - who STILL didn't lose his head, even after he lost his head.

Running around like a Denis with his head cut off.

After visiting Notre Dame, Anne and Mark walked around the surrounding area.  They visited the memorial for those deported during World War II (photos are allowed, but visitors were required to promise that they would not post them on the internet, so none will be posted here).  Then they wandered around some of the old neighborhoods.

Wheel-a-pianist guy.

Anne visited the landmark bookstore Shakespeare & Co.

Later, the duo sat down for a fancy coffee-like drink.  The coffee in France is not like the coffee in the U.S.  They do not run water through ground up coffee beans and then serve the filtered result.  Instead they pump pure rocket fuel into the smallest cups they can find.  Mark can attest to this because after drinking half of the cup of French coffee pictured below, he ran a half-marathon and did 100 jumping jacks.  (Mark also reports that when he picked up this little tiny cup, he felt a bit like he should watch out for Jack and retreat to the safety of his beanstalk)

That's a strong cup o joe.  Classy with the pinky, though.

Finally, Anne and Mark capped off their first day in Paris with a visit to the Eiffel Tower.  Although they had only visited a few landmarks, they felt that they had taken a real bite out of their "to-do" list.

A "bite".... get it?