My Big Trip: Stuff We Did, Stuff That Happened (a post in which I have the worst time with carriage returns)

London:

--Fun Fact: Helen's brother lives in an area in the Northern outskirts of London called "Tooting." Hee hee.
-- Was treated rudely by just about everyone who heard my American accent. Helen apologized repeatedly for her people, though some of the rude people were from other European countries. Helen was often mistaken for an American and treated rudely, just because I sounded like a Yank and she was with me. In my experience that's mostly a London thing, though.

-- Watched an old episode of Jonathan Creek, one of my favorite shows from my time in England years ago.


Paris:

-- Climbed to the second level, as high as they'll let you climb up the Eiffel Tower. I was scared. Helen braved the elevator to the top and reported that, while you can go up to a level that's exposed to the air, you can stay behind windows if you like. OK then, I can probably tackle that the next time I visit Paris.

-- Decided I have to visit Paris again so I can make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

-- I got honked at by a taxi -- as depicted by trumpets in Gershwin's American in Paris!

-- Helen got pooped on by a French pigeon. Their poop is mustard yellow. Anybody have an idea why this is?

-- Stumbled upon the French version of American Idol on TV. Heard the announcer say "toot suite" more than once.

-- Had a hotel room that was so small, our twin beds were right up against each other. Cozy.

-- Witnessed an entire fight between two young men on the street, and the brave older gentlemen who broke it up.

--Learned there was a real D'Artagnan (of The Three Musketeers). I had no idea! Dude apparently lived right on the Seine. Nice.

-- Learned the hard way that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. Didn't even get to see the pyramid lit up at night, because that was the week in which they were using it to project poetry onto the surrounding buildings.

-- Touched human bones in the catacombs. Wondered what it means to respect the dead.
-- Walked a lot. Then rode the Metro. Then walked some more. Had feet so sore it took me two days to recover.
-- Saw the cutest little boy entranced by two young guys who were singing and playing guitar. My camera battery died just as I tried to take a picture. Have yet to find out if I got the shot.
-- There's a Metro stop in Paris called Miromesnil. Anybody else think that sounds like Metamucil?

Brighton:
-- Felt really normal. Was not a tourist, but visiting people and places I knew. Hung out, ran errands, took naps.
-- Met cute, tall South African, who seemed to think I was cute as well. (Not sure if he thought I was tall.) This was the closest I got to meeting my flirting goal.
-- Saw huge chasm of potential awfulness open before my host when he dropped his keys -- which included the only existing immobilizer for his car engine -- into a drain grate. Several men, including many of their new neighbors, came out to help/watch as they bucketed out 5 feet of leaves and water and lowered a man in to retrieve the keys. Miraculously, once they were dry, even the electronic devices worked again.
-- They needed some prose to be read over photo stills for part of the Easter service. As of Good Friday evening, they still didn't have anything, so I was asked to take a crack at it, and they used what I wrote. Yay! I was excited to be asked to write, and to do the writing, and to have people like it and use it, and to participate again in my old church -- especially since they'd really only known me as a trombone player before. I was so excited, in fact, that I couldn't fall asleep that Friday night and was up till 2:30. It was written from the point of view of one of Jesus' disciples on the Saturday between the day He died and the day He rose. They wanted a guy to read it (guess my voice is too high and my face too beardless to convince folks that I'm Matthew or Peter), so I didn't get to be a dramatic actress, but it was still a big deal to me.
-- Saw the original High School Musical, and Madagascar 2. Did I mention I was staying in a house with several children? I have this awesome bit of music running through my head, where Moto Moto, the boy hippo, decides to hit on Julia:

I like 'em big
I like 'em chunky
I like 'em round
A little somethin' somethin'

It sounds best when will.i.am does it.

Boston:

-- Work.