Paris

Landed yesterday. Walked around but the day was shot.
Days like today I'm glad I came by myself. Shit happens and I don't know how to handle it bit if I had to behave around someone else might be a problem.
I found a lady to do some work on my journal so I had to leave it with her. I'm never with out it and I'm finding stuff everywhere to paste in it or write about and now its out of my hands so I feel off balance.
Went to the museum. Very cool place but full, full, full of people.
Picked up my bag to change hotels. I'm tired, hungry and the iPod is running out of juice. Directions say its just off of the metro station.
Cool except the us consulate is just off the metro station.
Then it starts to rain. Then the strap on my bag breaks and I'm looking in the lonely planet for the hotel .
Half of me is pissed but the other half loves this shit. The worse it gets the better I feel when it's over. Getting to the other side is satisfying. Most people want to relax on vacation, I don't mind a turd on the lawn on occasion.
I'm beat.
Pick up the journal tomorrow and get ready for the plane.
This trip is almost done

48

Tie, shoes, slacks.
Couldn't sleep waiting for the table to open.
Got to the casino and roulette and blackjack were full. The crap table, empty, dark on the outside near the back corner . Pit boss says the table will open at ten, on five minutes .
I sit at the slots watching for the crew to get there. Out of the back a door opens and a dozen starched white shirts with legs empty into the room.
The actual casino room is divided into two. One room mainly slots and the main room for tables with some slots to absorb some of the space.
The roulette etc, the main tables are under canopy of eight crystal chandeliers. Vaulted ceiling in gold and green. A classic of what I would imagine a European reception room would be but better because it's a casino.
Three white shirts and a suit make it to the table and set up.
I'm worried there will be a crowd of douchebags ( I purposely leave myself out of this count ) or a bad crew. So many things can fuck up the table for me but it's Just me. No one. No one is interested on the table except me.
The crew is curious about the game they are calling but not into it.
I'm very lucky! They speak English . I had been practicing French for the numbers and le gran rouge but I'm glad I didn't have to break it out.
The stick guy is six foot something with stubble for hair. He pushed the dice. Amber dice on green felt. I pick two, roll 3 and 2. Bet. And I hit my five. Payouts are the same as Vegas but single odds back.
Dice out. Point is six. I make it. I make a five and I'm out.
The stick is calling six when I roll a five. He's calling seven out when it's the come out. His head is not on the game but it's just me so I help him. And I'm talk Ing with the dealers about payouts and odds. It's cool. The dice turn but it's ok.
Two college guys come up. One is a player his buddy knows nothing so we teach the rules to the buddy.
Dice are up and down. I'm putting winnings in my pocket and I feel some in there but I have to keep digging to keep the game going.
Eventually it's me and the player. And the dice cool off. Not cold but cool.
The player leaves.
I keep going.
Five. Make it.
Six. Make it.
Six. Make it.
I'm betting minimum. I could be winning. I'm up.
So I think. What did I come here for?
I rolled. I won.i played my game and won.
Over the arch is a gold blue and white enamel faced clock.
At 10:52pm, I walked out up 93 euro.
I'm having coffee in the lounge with my winnings.
Not a bad birthday.

Arles

I watched "Lust for Life" with Kirk Douglas years ago. It's still a favorite of mine. Watch it if you have the time.
Parts of it were shot in Arles at the van gogh sites. Now I'm here.
I wandered the streets. I meant to hit all the van gogh sites but I just wandered. Two days. Narrow streets. Wooden shutters and stone streets. Roman theaters and tiny cafes. I forgot why I really came and sank into this place.
It's off season so there are no crowds for anything.
The thing I knew would be here but wasn't prepared for was the wind. It feels like a giant is standing over the land and swiping past everything. It shoots through the streets. It blasts through the squares. It's like a person that keeps turning up around every corner.
I have to come back. Arles is small and could be done in a day but to feel it, really, it needs more.
Bullfights in the roman arena. That must be something.
Booked my train for tomorrow.
48 is coming, and I'm ready.

South

The snow turned to ice on the sidewalks overnight. Checked out of the hotel and checked my steps slowly to the metro station.

My sneakers were a bad choice. Feet wet and three times I was nearly ass over teakettle in the street.

Two stops on the metro and I'm at the station. The wrong station. Through the snow...slush...ice...feet wet ... I get to the right station.

Agent gets me on the first train south.

Two hours in the sun hits me for the first time in weeks.fuuuuuucccckkk...how I missed it.

I have music on random. French countryside with zeppelin, muddy waters and chuck berry in my head. I'm nearly embarrassed how good these moment is.

Nearing Avignon....

Cold

I left Copenhagen as it started to turn cold and it's catching up to me here.
I looked our of the window and it rained overnight.
My nose is stuffed and my eyes hurt. I had a bowl of onion soup yesterday but it was not enough to ward off the cold.
I walked all day yesterday from my hotel to the louve to cafes and the subway.
The size of the city is amazing again in contrast with Copenhagen terrific.
Changing hotels again. See a different part of the city.
Tomorrow moving on.

Here to there...

Left Copenhagen yesterday. I kind of miss it. The city and the people have a slow friendly pulse.
On the plane I got jacked 3euro for a diet coke. Airplane austerity...
The book said airport to the city was straight forward but work on the subway meant otherwise. Copenhagen to paris flight-90 minutes. Cdg to main station . 2.5 hrs. By the time I got to the hotel I was wiped out. I lost the evening in Paris.
20 euro for wifi so I would not post.
Sleep.
Up early .
Arc de truimphe, champs des élysées ...louve. Walking .
This is much different than Copenhagen . Big. It's a city. Harder but elegant just the same.
People are friendly. I think the rude local to tourist idea is dying. May not be dead but I think with the times and our sensitivity to each other there is more slack allowed.
No louve today. Maybe for this trip. Have to budget time.
Fog has obscured the Eiffel so I may have to wait for that moment until I come back around. Weather is supposed to get cold.
Throat is sore. Nose running. I'm fighting it. Cup o noodles yesterday. Helped. Onion soup today is on the agenda.
But fuck, even if I get sick. I'm in Paris. Who could bitch about that.
Later...

Cope

I have never been a morning person but when I travel I try and make the most of my time.
I've been getting up at about 5am to walk the city, get some coffee and write. Trouble is Copenhagen opens at about 9am.
I went to mcdonalds yesterday at 6am for breakfast and the kid behind the counter looked confused. I asked and he said no breakfast until 7. Shit
Out today at 6am and still nothing was open. I picked up coffee at 7-11 and sat on a bench eating a scone and watching the sun come up. Brutal. My fingers were sore and red from the cold.
The radisson royal is ok. The design is modern and a bit cold. Renovated some of the human touches were excerised in favor of meeting spaces. Touring the landmark room 606 before I check out.
Plane at 5pm.
Paris tonight.

Thunder

Out of stupidity, after I finished getting the house ready for my departure, I decided to start my vacation by running to the 7-11 at midnight and picking up a coke and some chips like I did in college.
When faced with my options of Doritos and funyons (neither could never occur in nature) I decided to keep with the college theme and I picked...BOTH!

Fast forward. Palace hotel, Copenhagen.
After a nice plane ride, I got out of the airport. Got lost. No free wifi so I had to ask a local for help. Stumbled, bumbled and eventually found my hotel.
The palace is a great historic building on the main square. The rooms and decor are modern and comfortable but walking the streets you can feel the age of this place. There is a feeling of stability confidence and humility in the way the city is put together.
I've stayed near the square so I haven't seen a lot but I did not notice any seventy story high rises that scream at the eye. Brick and wood and glass and steel sit together respectfully.

The plane and dragging my bags around took a lot our of me. The strap on my backpack has been broken for weeks so the chore is more difficult getting here to there. So I hit the bed and stayed.

This morning I looked outside. No snow but the residents were bundled so I had breakfast in the hotel. Meat, local breads, coffee and veg. Mostly healthy but off the diet I've been trying to keep.
I wrote but mostly in a fowl mood since the plane.
Finished two cups of coffee with breakfast headed to the room. Hit the button in the elevator and a twisting searing pain hit me in my gut held me for ten seconds or so. I'm guessing ten seconds. It felt like a minute but searing pain tends go play with the imagination. I had to get to the room.
Fast walk. Agh! I know what this is!
You know in moments like this how the universe with fuck with you. My room key needed three swipes to work...one...beep beep beep...two...beep beep beep....three..beep beep...green light.
Got to the room to unleash a thunderous barrage of Doritos funyon apocalypse which reminded me that in college I was an idiot.
I was in a better mood afterward.
Walked to the museum, hard rock and a seamstress fixed my bag.
Moving hotels tomorrow.
Things are good.