Paris Rapid Transit

I would like to think that we have some experience of the world, having used public transport in several European and Australian cities, and even a few places in America, so what I am about to express should have some authority The Paris metro system has to rank among the best public transport options in the world. We have yet to wait any longer than five minutes for a train, and the connections have been so easy, so smooth, that it seems like you can get anywhere in this city of 2.4 million people within minutes. You are never more than a few hundred yards from a stop, too, so once you master the line numbers and colors the maps are easy for anyone to use even if you do not speak a word of French. We have been buying Metro tickets in batches of ten for the discount price of fourteen Euros (about eighteen to twenty bucks American) making each ride super cheap. I am really impressed with this Paris system, and while you miss a few sightseeing opportunities by being underground, the convenience and speed more than makes up for it.

I was not as impressed today with my solo outing to see Napoleon's tomb and the army museum. I saw where the emperor lies in his red stone crypt surrounded by marble engravings that commemorate his victories (and defeats; Moscow was on there). After reflecting on this world dictator wannabe, I went into the army museum to look at relics dating from damn near the stone age to WWII. I get a little dazed looking at all that armor, all those swords, and all those firearms, and there is something almost antiseptically offensive to consider nothing seems to denote the carnage they caused. This can't be said for the modern war exhibits, though. From the Franco-Prussian war of the 1870s to the end of World War II there are an astounding number of exhibits devoted to the objects and the horror they participated in. In fact, the very first thing you see when you enter the early part of this modern war section of the museum are a series of paintings that show dead French soldiers in various poses from the Franco-Prussian war. The WWI section really gets the message across with vintage film clips, models of trench layouts, and even an overcoat that is still stained with the mud from the trenches. I guess the most unsettling thing I saw in the WWII section, aside from the documentation of the German death camps and the French people who were shipped to them, was a large photograph of Hitler and some general with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Like some sort of vile "selfie" from the worst human who ever lived, it made me somewhat nauseous.

All in all, I must say that Jayne and I felt more emotional impact from the deportation memorial that stands behind Notre Dame than from visiting the entire army museum. Still, I am glad I went. Jayne was feeling under the weather today and I knew this was something that I would find more interesting than her.