The last, ultimate and final day in Paris was much easier than the rest had been. Our hotel was literally across the road from the Louvre Museum, so it was nice to have an easy lie in, followed by the usual breakfast and then a short 2 minute stroll across the road to the amazing pyramid shaped entrance hall that leads you underground and into the Louvre itself.
The entrance is just over there!
Our first task was to try and decipher where we were on the map that we got from the information booth. Now, one thing that anyone who has been to Paris will know, is that it isn't the easiest city to find your way around. The Metro for example has different coloured lines and numbers that seem to change from station to station - plus there are RER (express) lines and normal trains that appear at some Metro stations and act as metro trains themselves. We didnt get lost - but saw a lot of people looking confused everywhere we went! So you can guess that the map of the louvre looks much like it was drawn by the same people.
The louvre is split into 3 areas and each area is either 3, 4 or 5 floors high - depending on whether it has floor 3 and the lower ground floor or not. Luckily, the map is colour coded and the man rooms are numbered. So it should be easy - but as soon as we stepped into the first large open area we saw that the 'single floor' on the map was actually 3 or 4 floors with stairs and balconies that all appeared to be on the ground floor itself. It got better later on when we saw a sign saying we were in room 19 of the ground floor, but we actually knew where we were and room 19 was at the other end of the museum. To get from floor 2 or one area to floor 2 of another you have to go up one set of stairs and down 2 other, before rounding a corner and climbing a different set and going back the way you came. I'm sure there are people walking around the Louvre who entered years ago and just cant find their way out.
I actually found the way out really easily as I took a wrong turn at one point and ended up the wrong side of a pane of glass travelling up an escalator towards the exit door. There was no way to turn around, so I knocked at Buffy on the glass and told here to stay put, while I made my way back to the entrance and to where she was waiting - that was fun!
The museum itself is huge and full of some absolute treasures. We enjoyed most of it, but when you have seen 300 paintings and thousands of similar statues it gets a bit tiring. So I was really happy to find some cool things that were a bit out of the norm...
Cool skeleton statue thing
Little slave ship built by hand thousands of years ago!
Egyptian of Alion? (Alien)
Buff and a huge statue!
We did actually enjoy getting a bit lost in the museum as it was raining outside - the easiest way to know where you were was to find something really famous and then find it on the map. Most of these were obvious by the crowds taking photos...
There are better Statues than Venus de Milo...but the crowds love it
I went round the back....
and noticed something funny!!!
and huge crowds trying to get a photo of the Mona Lisa
I used my zoom and got two pictures of it in one!!
One weird thing we noticed in Paris were the signs warning of pickpockets at all the main sights.
They are the only thing that seems consistent around Paris as the pickpockets are always depicted as a huge red man. They are everywhere....
Happy Pickpocket at the Eiffel tower...
On the metro...
At the Louvre...
Nooooooooo!!!
Even pickpockets can be hit by trains!!! hahahahahaha
Next time I go to Paris...Im going to wear one of these.......
Kids should watch out for closing train doors...
so should scruffy rabbits!!
So after our 3 hour tour of the Louvre, we spent the rest of our last day sitting in a nice little pub with a cold beer or two and generally lazing out - a lovely end to a lovely week away in Paris. The only thing left was to pack up our stuff on the Sunday morning and take it to the airport via a short walk and a metro ride to Charles de Gaulle airport. A 40 minute flight to Heathrow airport was over so quick we didn't have time to sleep - then a layover for just under two hours during which we had a cool iced coffee and watched Sebastien Coe walk past us on his way somewhere. Finally, another 40 minute flight home to Manchester and our trip was done.
Our final two views of the Louvre - the grand entrance place
and people stood in rows taking photos of the pyramid!
Now we are back at home and settled back into the normal life. Work at Asda is easy this week and Buffy is up to date with Wilderness Supply - But away from work it certainly isn't quiet....As we had planned we are now well into the mountain of paperwork we have to compile, sign, fill in, check and photocopy in order to get me back into Canada next year as a resident. Police Checks from different countries, Medicals, photos, a relationship history and lots of other stuff all has to be put together and sent away in the next couple of months, before we sit and wait for the result - so far this week we have put about 16 hours work into it all in - Its giving us sleepless nights, so a nice weekend away this week in Skegness for my mum and dads 50th wedding anniversary is being well looked forward to!
(Thanks to Susan Cowtan for pointing out my mistakes on this post!!) :-)
Leaving Dallas I drove east across the state of Texas
towards New Mexico. It was a great drive today – starting with the outskirts of
Dallas and then the city of Fort Worth a little down the road. The roads
quietened down after that and the buildings disappeared to be replaced by thousands
of wind turbines in what must be the biggest wind farm I have ever seen. There
were just endless amounts of the turbines as far as you could see. But as
quickly as they had appeared they were gone and being replaced by Oil Drills.
Wind turbines - Green power....
replaced by Oil Drills!! Black Gold!!
Thousands of them!
The oil drills were everywhere. At one point I had a clear
view both sides of the road as far as I could see and all I could see was the
slow motion see-sawing of thousands of these metal hulks as they pumped oil
from below the dry rocky ground. I opened the car window and was smacked in the
face by the gorgeous tar like smell that must be the norm around these parts!
It has to be the Texan version of smelling a Chip shop in Manchester or Pizza
in Italy. It’s a lovely smell and a shame I couldn’t somehow post a smell on
here for you to tale a sniff.
I finally arrived in Roswell, New Mexico after a good 6 and
a half hour drive. I had made good time, so after stopping at the hotel to
check in I continued to drive a little further north into the New Mexico desert.
This place is known for aliens after the infamous alleged crash of a UFO in the
1940’s, so I wanted to take the opportunity for a little bit of alien spotting.
What about the aliens?
Offroading in the desert
Aaaah aliens!!
and more of them!
I had heard about a road north of Roswell called simply
‘Road 13’, where there are reports of strange goings on. I looked into the
information and discovered that the most probable time to see anything ‘unusual’
is at dusk – just as the sun has descended beyond the horizon and before it
gets so dark you would miss anything. This is the time to spot aliens.
The entrance to ROAD 13
So I found road 13 and drove off the highway, along a sandy
dirt track and into the unknown. After a while I found an area where there was
another track leading further into the desolate landscape. I turned off and
drove deeper into the desert until my car could go no further. I turned around
for a quick getaway, left the car and went out to see what I could find. I
noticed on my watch that the time was a couple of minutes before 6pm.
I remember nothing about what happened next, except for a
strange noise all around and dull feeling in my forehead. I dropped my camera
but luckily it continued to record video as the sky around me grew darker. A
while later I found myself back in the car, driving back towards the highway
with no recollection of the events that occurred since I had left the car.
I glanced at my watch and it was now 3 hours later.
I don’t know what happened, but I feel like I have been in a
microwave. I have checked my arse and it appears not to have been probed! All I
have is this short video recording from my camera. Take a look at this and
please don’t be scared. Now tell me that aliens do not exist!!
WATCH THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CAREFULLY!!!!!
Only watch if you are not of a nervous disposition.
I went to bed that night after witnessing unexplained white
flakes falling from the sky outside. They looked like snow and felt like snow,
but this is New Mexico – does it snow here!? I’m not sure what is happening!!
SNOW - OR ALIEN LIFEFORMS!?!
The next day I awoke after a fantastic sleep and found
myself drawn towards the UFO museum in town. This is a place that tells the
story of the UFO sightings and alleged alien beings that crash landed near here
all those years ago.
Hmmm interesting...
True?
Aaaaah reminds me of last night...what happened!?
The museum is like stepping back in time to the 1960’s, when
I suppose it was in its heyday. There are no modern computer simulations or 3d
images. Just newspaper clippings, original photographs and testimony from lots
of people who claim to have been involved someway in the mystery that surrounds
this little New Mexico town. After my traumatic episode last night, the stories
sounded familiar as did some of the photos. I almost felt like some eyes were
watching me as I studied the many letters written about the incident. It was in
fact a really quaint way to spend an afternoon and I was quite surprised at how
many people there were looking around. When I left the museum, I was surprised
that the ‘Snow’, from last night seemed to have fallen only in certain areas –
One the road behind the museum, only the left side of the road was affected.
The right side of the road was completely clear. Weird eh!!
What is it!?
Dead or alive? Real or conspiracy?
Aliens getting married?
Selling coke?
Doing security?
Nowhere to park in Roswell..unless...
Street lamp or Alien?
Only one side of the street with snow? Must be aliens!
The town is still in the grip of Alien fever, with strange
little shops lining main street and alien themed cafes on the corners. It could
really do with a facelift as its looking past its sell by date – but it is
still definitely worth a visit if you are interested in the extra terrestrial
and want to visit.
I’m stuck between two thoughts. On one side I like the place
with all its weird little quirks, like the alien heads atop the street
lights.On the other hand it could be so
much more if the museum was updated and more effort was put into more modern
facilities all around. I suppose it’s a bit out of fashion nowadays as you can
read all you want about Roswell on the internet and in books. But I suspect
there may just be some otherworldly being in charge of everything down here in
deepest New Mexico. Perhaps this strange being wants Roswell to remain as the
quiet little town that it is, so that they can come back sometime soon.
