I've mulling over the purchase of an Ipod for several months now. After Christmas the Shuffle became available. The 512 MB model can store up to 128 songs and runs many hours on a charge in your USB port. The Shuffle comes with ear pieces and lanyard. I decided that the larger models were not what I needed because 128 songs a day is enough. I can reload each night when I charge the device. Besides, the 512 MB model is only $99.
I check with the University Bookstore and they have received only 4 since January. I placed my order hoping for a Shuffle before April.
Surprise! It came in yesterday.
This device is really a technical marvel! It's only about the size of a pack of gum and weighs next to nothing. After some initial problems loading the required software, I was able to charge the device and load 170 songs on it from my iTunes Library.
I was literally rockin' all day today. An was I productive? Yes! I got lots accomplished without any distractions.
If you don't have one of these music machines, you are missing out!
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
Last day in Paris
Last night we had a great dinner at La Maison en Hiver. The proprietor, Claude and our waiter Sergi gave us wonderful Parisian service. We were seated in a warm corner next to a lady from Holland. Jaime and I had vegetable soup and steak. After dinner it was back to Julie's apartment where Rick played D.J., entertaining us into the night with his large collection of music.
This morning we awoke early and were on the ERE bound for the Musee Rodin by noon. We walked by the Invalides where the tomb of Napoleon is located. Musee Rodin is just down the street on Rue de Varenne. Part of the gardens were closed due to ice, but the building was open. The building was constructed as a residence and was the finest of its day (circa 1800).
For lunch today, we grabbed a quick BLT from a cafe on the way to our next stop.
After seeing Rodin, we walked along the Boulevard Saint Germain to the Pont Neuf where we took a river boat ride on the Seine. This trip lasted about an hour. The various points of interest were broadcast by a narrator. The river ride took us by many sites we had previously seen and some new ones, too. We had a great view of Notre Dame and Julie's apartment. We yelled to Julie from the top of the boat as we passed, but she was out for lunch.
After the boat ride was over, we walked past the Conciergerie back to Notre Dame. We went inside Notre Dame for a few minutes to watch mass. The Cathedral is quite spectacular inside as well. It is a huge space.
I was impressed that this 800 year old cathedral was equipment with 60 inch plasma screens so that those standing in the wings could see the proceedings!
We then walked back to Julie's. Tonight, we are taking Rick and Julie to dinner and then Julie has reservations to take us to the Crazy Horse. The evening should be lots of fun!
Tomorrow we plan to leave by ERE for Charles de Gaulle about 10:30 a.m. It is starting to snow again. I believe that we have had snow everyday while in Paris.
That's it for the blog. Stay tuned and I'll have some photos next week.
Au revoir,
Sam
This morning we awoke early and were on the ERE bound for the Musee Rodin by noon. We walked by the Invalides where the tomb of Napoleon is located. Musee Rodin is just down the street on Rue de Varenne. Part of the gardens were closed due to ice, but the building was open. The building was constructed as a residence and was the finest of its day (circa 1800).
For lunch today, we grabbed a quick BLT from a cafe on the way to our next stop.
After seeing Rodin, we walked along the Boulevard Saint Germain to the Pont Neuf where we took a river boat ride on the Seine. This trip lasted about an hour. The various points of interest were broadcast by a narrator. The river ride took us by many sites we had previously seen and some new ones, too. We had a great view of Notre Dame and Julie's apartment. We yelled to Julie from the top of the boat as we passed, but she was out for lunch.
After the boat ride was over, we walked past the Conciergerie back to Notre Dame. We went inside Notre Dame for a few minutes to watch mass. The Cathedral is quite spectacular inside as well. It is a huge space.
I was impressed that this 800 year old cathedral was equipment with 60 inch plasma screens so that those standing in the wings could see the proceedings!
We then walked back to Julie's. Tonight, we are taking Rick and Julie to dinner and then Julie has reservations to take us to the Crazy Horse. The evening should be lots of fun!
Tomorrow we plan to leave by ERE for Charles de Gaulle about 10:30 a.m. It is starting to snow again. I believe that we have had snow everyday while in Paris.
That's it for the blog. Stay tuned and I'll have some photos next week.
Au revoir,
Sam
Thursday, March 03, 2005
il neige
Well, we awakened early this morning (about 9:00 a.m.) for a train ride to the Eiffel Tower. To our surprise, it is still snowing and snowing hard. Still we Singers are a determined lot and decided no problem. We got dressed and headed out to the train station with our directions. No sooner than we were on the sidewalk, we knew there was a problem. Right, the snow had turned to ice and many areas were very slick. Regretfully, we decided to wait until after lunch for a thaw before departing.
We had lunch nearby at Le Parvis Restaurant. Julie says that it has great cheeseburgers. Jaime and I have vegetable soup, a salad and I had creme brulee. After the delicious lunch, we decided that the ice age was subsiding and that with only two remaining days in Paris, we must make a try for the Tower. Jaime and I found RER C line and boarded the limited stop train for the Eifeel Tower. I managed to miss the Champ de Mars stop for the Tower, but we were able to get off at the next stop. Just a few blocks to walk back to the Eiffel Tower.
We arrive at the tower to find that it was closed due to bad weather! Well, we still made photos before leaving.
We stopped at the Le Castel for coffee and hot chocolate. The train ride back to Notre Dame ended very successfully.
It is about 6:30 now and we plan to have dinner at the restaurant we ate at on Sunday night. Tomorrow will be our last full day as our plane will leave after lunch on Saturday.
I will post to the blog again on Friday for the final installment.
Au revoir,
Sam
We had lunch nearby at Le Parvis Restaurant. Julie says that it has great cheeseburgers. Jaime and I have vegetable soup, a salad and I had creme brulee. After the delicious lunch, we decided that the ice age was subsiding and that with only two remaining days in Paris, we must make a try for the Tower. Jaime and I found RER C line and boarded the limited stop train for the Eifeel Tower. I managed to miss the Champ de Mars stop for the Tower, but we were able to get off at the next stop. Just a few blocks to walk back to the Eiffel Tower.
We arrive at the tower to find that it was closed due to bad weather! Well, we still made photos before leaving.
We stopped at the Le Castel for coffee and hot chocolate. The train ride back to Notre Dame ended very successfully.
It is about 6:30 now and we plan to have dinner at the restaurant we ate at on Sunday night. Tomorrow will be our last full day as our plane will leave after lunch on Saturday.
I will post to the blog again on Friday for the final installment.
Au revoir,
Sam
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Mercredi
To Betsy and Jessica: I'm glad that you were able to update the class schedule in php as I have no way to do that from here!
To everyone:
Well, this will be the second time that I have written this post today, the first having bombed out the computer. I have saved, checked this page, and everything seems to be working fine now.
I woke up this morning around 11:30 Paris (5:30 a.m. at home). I was up last night until around 2:00 a.m. After a wonderful dinner of baked chicken and baked beans at Julie and Rick's, I got a great video of Julie and Jaime standing in the snow on the balcony overlooking the Seine while singing some Rolling Stones song!
It snowed almost an inch last night, but it failed to stick. We joined Julie's friend Noel for lunch on Saint Louis for lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Tapas. We ate nachos, burritos, and drank wine, margaritas, and had shooters (compliments of Julie's friend, the restaurant manager)! After a long lunch (still snowing) it was time for some shopping.
Lots of great shopping on this island... but we need dinner. The original plan was for pork tenderloin, but we ended up with lasagna(ok, the spell checker on this blog is terrible).
After shopping, we needed to stop for a rest at La Chaumiei c'en L'Ile. This is a little wine bar and the home of the "fair priced scotch". In Paris, spirits are expensive. After sampling some vin rouge, we headed home with dinner.
After a short stop at Natalie's (the wine shop), for wine for the night, I have stumbled(it is icy and snowing) over to the Left bank to the Internet cafe where I am updating this blog. It is located about a block from Notre Dame. I'll walk back to Julie's apartment which is only about 5 minutes away.
I'll write again tomorrow.
Bonsoir,
Sam
To everyone:
Well, this will be the second time that I have written this post today, the first having bombed out the computer. I have saved, checked this page, and everything seems to be working fine now.
I woke up this morning around 11:30 Paris (5:30 a.m. at home). I was up last night until around 2:00 a.m. After a wonderful dinner of baked chicken and baked beans at Julie and Rick's, I got a great video of Julie and Jaime standing in the snow on the balcony overlooking the Seine while singing some Rolling Stones song!
It snowed almost an inch last night, but it failed to stick. We joined Julie's friend Noel for lunch on Saint Louis for lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Tapas. We ate nachos, burritos, and drank wine, margaritas, and had shooters (compliments of Julie's friend, the restaurant manager)! After a long lunch (still snowing) it was time for some shopping.
Lots of great shopping on this island... but we need dinner. The original plan was for pork tenderloin, but we ended up with lasagna(ok, the spell checker on this blog is terrible).
After shopping, we needed to stop for a rest at La Chaumiei c'en L'Ile. This is a little wine bar and the home of the "fair priced scotch". In Paris, spirits are expensive. After sampling some vin rouge, we headed home with dinner.
After a short stop at Natalie's (the wine shop), for wine for the night, I have stumbled(it is icy and snowing) over to the Left bank to the Internet cafe where I am updating this blog. It is located about a block from Notre Dame. I'll walk back to Julie's apartment which is only about 5 minutes away.
I'll write again tomorrow.
Bonsoir,
Sam
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Jour Deux
Bonjour!
Yesterday, day 2, was lots of fun. I mentioned in the earlier entry some of the events of the day. To elaborate some, we grabbed coffee ole at the tobacco shop down the street. The cigarettes that I bought for Jaime cost 5 euros! We had lunch with Julie's friend from college, Noel. Lunch was at Maharjah's(Indian cuisine). We had Murgh Tikka (chicken) which we enjoyed in a very formal (white table cloth) restaurant. We then walked into the Latin quarter and back to the Notre Dame area for a visit at Shakespeare's bookstore. We then enjoyed wine and cheese at the Cafe Panes. Here we met Julie's friend Oliver who lives near Julie and works as piano teacher. Julie knows everyone.
We picked up wine at a wine shop called Natalie's and operated by her friend Christian.
When Rick arrived home from work about 9:00 last night, (no he doesn't work that long, as he doesn't leave for work until 10 a.m.). We went out to dinner at Au Viex Paris. We were served by Julie's friend, Fred. The restaurant was located in a fourteenth century building. We ate goose pate, escargots, salad, and steak. Everything was delicious!
We have been trying to walk in the sun as it is very cold in the shade.
Rick has a great collection of rock 'n roll and blues, etc. which we have totally enjoyed. Last night Julie and Jaime had a run-in with some Polish vodka that contained a stem of grass inside the bottle.
The heat system in the apartment is a closed hot water system, fired by a gas burner. The system supplies heat through a radiator and hot water is abundant being stored in the radiators.
We experienced a two-dog night last night sleeping with Slinky and Bertha. No, not dogs, but the names of two of Julie's quilts!
Today, we will take in the Place de la Concord, which has an Egyptian oblique and walk the Champselysees. We will take the Metro and maybe a boat ride if the weather is ok. Also Tueillers Garden and the Louvre.
Au revoir,
Sam
Yesterday, day 2, was lots of fun. I mentioned in the earlier entry some of the events of the day. To elaborate some, we grabbed coffee ole at the tobacco shop down the street. The cigarettes that I bought for Jaime cost 5 euros! We had lunch with Julie's friend from college, Noel. Lunch was at Maharjah's(Indian cuisine). We had Murgh Tikka (chicken) which we enjoyed in a very formal (white table cloth) restaurant. We then walked into the Latin quarter and back to the Notre Dame area for a visit at Shakespeare's bookstore. We then enjoyed wine and cheese at the Cafe Panes. Here we met Julie's friend Oliver who lives near Julie and works as piano teacher. Julie knows everyone.
We picked up wine at a wine shop called Natalie's and operated by her friend Christian.
When Rick arrived home from work about 9:00 last night, (no he doesn't work that long, as he doesn't leave for work until 10 a.m.). We went out to dinner at Au Viex Paris. We were served by Julie's friend, Fred. The restaurant was located in a fourteenth century building. We ate goose pate, escargots, salad, and steak. Everything was delicious!
We have been trying to walk in the sun as it is very cold in the shade.
Rick has a great collection of rock 'n roll and blues, etc. which we have totally enjoyed. Last night Julie and Jaime had a run-in with some Polish vodka that contained a stem of grass inside the bottle.
The heat system in the apartment is a closed hot water system, fired by a gas burner. The system supplies heat through a radiator and hot water is abundant being stored in the radiators.
We experienced a two-dog night last night sleeping with Slinky and Bertha. No, not dogs, but the names of two of Julie's quilts!
Today, we will take in the Place de la Concord, which has an Egyptian oblique and walk the Champselysees. We will take the Metro and maybe a boat ride if the weather is ok. Also Tueillers Garden and the Louvre.
Au revoir,
Sam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)