I feel like this is some soap opera......and then the killer end up being.....eh prolly the wife.....so i forgot one kinda cool story last time so let's go with that.....well as i was leaving the hostel from which i was doing some laundry (yest) there was an american standing outside.....it had begun to rain again and so instead of get wet i decided to maybe wait out the rain and chat it up with the guy......he had a name which escapes me.....one of those situations where we talked it was cool so at the end you do the by the way my name is.....yeh i mental noted his and lost it today while i was engorging the brain with info......so anyway he was from north carolina and was on week 7 of 8 of his journey....he had been all over and gave me a few pointers.....he had a daughter and was a former military guy.....i alawys wonder what such people think of the US's curent political status so i asked......he said he loved the military and it had so much to offer him.....he severed in it for 4 yrs and 5 on the reseves.....but currently the only way he would go back was if someone began bombing his backyard.....he thought all the lives lost have been for naught......the group of us actually hit on this the last hostel i was at and my thinking was that yeh maybe there were horrible things going on in iraq but there are horrible things also going on and continuing on in other contires that dont have oil......as for the way people react around here they dont really ask about polotics......the fam in amiens mentioned it as did the asst manager at hostel in boulogne but i mentioned i was a fan of bush and they left it at that......i wonder if i said i was what would happen.....i dont plan on trying but yeh....so anyway that is the story.....last nigth i got back to the campgrounds and busted out the stove and the newly aquired 90 percent methyl alcohol my stove requires to function.......well all was good in fact i had a great meal.......pesto pasta is quite easy to make......i splurged with a yogart for dessert......i also kinda made friends with the german guys camping accross the way who had traveled a huge number of miles on their motocycles in 9 days and heading home today.......it was so nice that the rain had subsided and there was even a sunset......wish i could have had a better veiw but eiffel tower on a sat nigth did not sound like fun in tourist season......speaking of eiffel and this is kinda jumping ahead but i was on the building that the pic in the corner was most likly taken from today.....so post dinner i packed up all that i could washed the pigeon §h&t off my tent and made for an early bed.......i was going to bed at 1030 as the 40 y/o germans went out on the town in paris......didnt seem right but i was so psyched for sleep.....the plan was to wake as early as possible pack up camp pending the night stayed dry and get to a hostel and then make something of the day........with a few adjustments in the sleeping situation i stayed warm all night......3rd time was a charm.....so then at 630 this morning two things happened.....first the swedish lads next door decided to pack up and leave and in a really noisy way......also i began to hear a pitter patter of my favorite weather condition......in my hazy partial awake state i asked myself what would bob wesneski do....the answer was easy and he would have left 2 hrs ago.....i needed to get up quickly......i did and the rain stopped......it was like god giving me a chance......45 minutes latter bags packed, teeth brushed, shoes tied and the rain began and i was walking to checkout....for once not bad timing except i now had to walk in the rain to the bus stop.....i messed up on the bus route and got on the wrong direction.....i knew it was the wrong direction i just didnt feel like being in the rain waiting.....i thought it would loop but it didnt it ended and i was at the end of the line......luckily with a metro stop there......purchased a ticket that didnt work and hopped the metro spinny thing care of a winno's advice....i think he said it in french......made my way t the only hostel i knew and hoped for a room....sure enough there was.....i even sprang for night two as i beleive paris needs to be wrapping up....so dropped off the pack and made my way for the nearest monument i had yet to see.....it was the army museum.....pretty cool little deal.....i i read french it woulda been more informative.....the part in english was kinda a repeat of a lot of what i saw at the memorial in caen......then there is also napoleons crypt which i saw.....ok so here is the thing i think i figured out about tourists......so i am looking at this huge casket deal and thinking about taking a pic.....but there is a whole family taking pics from the good vantage point......well i figure ok i can wait.....so dad takes one of wife and two kids....has spectator 1 also take pic of him with wife and kids.......then he has to get each kid in front of it as well and makes sure they smile......then spectator one jumps in to get the favor returned.....so then the wife asks if i want my picture with the casket.....no i dont....i maybe want a pic of the casket......not with me in it like i have conquored the thing.......not doing the peace sign which seems to be a favorite of some tourists......it was just anoyign in a disrespectful way.....like they coulda cared less about the thing but they got their picture proving they were there.......i understand we are different people and all at different points i our life but it is just frustrating for me at the point that i am at.....further more i will never make my kid smile in front of a dead persons place of rest.......whoa....survived that.....ok so then i hit up the next thing i had yet to see......i should explain where i get this fun list......there are these tourist proof subway maps that show which stop to stop at for these major monuments.....oh also today the sub gal was really nice and gave me a disc*** i didnt even know i qualified for......i could saved 6 bucks if i knew about it 3 days earlier......so then i went to the montparnasse.....the rain subsided and sun came out......amazing....56 floors up there is 360° view of paris.....that is via elevator in 38 seconds......you walk the last 3 floors to the roof.....amazing view....you could see everything...and like i said prolly where that pic came from....i got a bunch of pics of my own.....including one of me in front with the eiffel tower in back.....now that i think is appropriote use of tourist in front of monument.....but i still think peopleruin pics a lot of the time......as i have been walking around i wonder how many pics i have ruined for people with my corny fave in it one eye shut mid yawn......i hope a lot.....no thats not nice.....but yeh i make it appoint to keep people out unless it is of people then you can put em in.....so cool 10.50 poorer and 2 monuments seen......time for lunch...i had honey and PB in the pack just needed bread....found a cute little shop on some great back roads....best part was i was the only one around.....sun was out no tourists walking about.....i ate out on a bench and even splurged for a cup o moose for dessert.......so nice......then it started to rain......clearly i needed to end the afternoon inside at the louve......;prolly a good and bad idea......my quatitative mind came out......i am not so artsy.....really cant grasp all that such a museum had to offer.....i walked around clueless without any english anything......saw mona and (sadly not desmona ;-).......) and venus...and a ton of others.......i as startin to feel the 630am and the nature of said place was not my relm.....What i could appreciate was the detail of a lot of the sculptures.....most not in cases and right in front of you and though they are made of stone they look so real.....i cannot imagine how people and how long they would take to make....but to top it all off i noted that my camera setting was on the worst resolution for some time......i changed it for one photo so i could upload that pic here and changed it back but the setting must not have registered as my camera was busy doing whatever......so i hit a brick wall i was quite tired of the louve......and left a bit premature.....on the way out i found a bookshop that had an english visitors guide that i wish i had before i walked in....it was only 8 euro so i bought it hoping i would get some knowledge eventually......read some of it on the subway and it was quite intresting....and now i am here....tom i think is versailles....maybe a bike tour in english which i saw the other day....and i will be booking or finding a train outta here for sometime tuesday headed toward wherever the tour de france is.....the bulls have been then deleted from the itinerary.....and i am actually leaving paris the night before the 14th which is like their independance day......i just feel like i have spent way too long here....who knows we will see......hopefully some no snoring roomates tonight.....til later benjamin LW