Trip to the Louvre

First trip to the Louvre on Monday and it was generally OK.  

Being one of the few museums open on Monday it was quite busy - especially the popular exhibits.

I was having a grand time checking-out old French painters, Greek and Roman sculpture and glass, Egyptian antiquities and more and it wasn't until I decided to inspect the popular stuff that life got interesting.

Take - for instance - the Winged Victory of Samothrace.  This headless sculpture has been displayed at the Louvre since 1884 making it one of the most celebrated sculptures of all time.

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The problem with the visit was the throng of individuals - selfie sticks in hand - pushing and shoving to jockey for photo dominance. It was a mob scene.

It gets worse.

This is my best photo of the Mona Lisa.  

Yes, that's her on the far side of the horde.  

I attempted better but the pushing, elbowing and shoving from dozens upon dozens of 100 pound rude princesses only resulted in these crappy photos.

In the midst of it all someone in the crowd blew chow and projectile vomit covered the floor.  The scrum slipped right-on thru.  It was gross beyond belief and I am not making this up.  With all of the elbows flying, jostling and the risk of losing an eye to a selfie stick (being careful not to slip) I beat a hasty retreat.  

Discouraged I skipped Venus De Milo.  

I went to see the Mona Lisa and as evidence of my visit  returned with this photo of a martyred Saint John the Baptist...

Sigh.

Walk, Bus, Walk,Bus, Walk, Walk, Bus, Walk, Metro, Walk

Busy day yesterday traipsing around one of my favorite cities.

Braumeister et moi et Et nos épouses

Selfie - Tour Eiffel

Photobomb (Trocadero)

Fin de la journée...

Parisan Dining

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Yup, if you and your friends get lost in the high-end shopping district of Paris you can purchase roasted chestnuts from a guy on the street who cooks them on a sheet over a charcoal brazier from a garbage can in a shopping cart on the street.

And if you walk around the corner from the Hôtel Jeanne d'Arc barely a few minutes from la place des Vosges you can dine upon a selection of delicacies including escargots, steak de bœuf prix fixe (including dessert) for 25 Euros.  Check out:  Les Bougresses...

Life is good...

Hump? What Hump?

Great line from an even greater Mel Brooks movie.

 Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris...

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Whale of a Time

From  a reader.

This is a holographic projection of a whale. It is a photographic process that produces images thanks to the differences between several laser beams as the images are projected into the gym using a special camera.

There is not a drop of water in this room let alone a whale ...

Friday Music

 

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France.  Wikipedia

Learn more here - La Basilique du Sacré Cœur de Montmartre  

On our way...

Point and Shoot

Traveling.

Pardon the puns but I purchased a new point and shoot from Target the other day.

Guess which one it is...? 

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Weather Forecast

Quote of the Day

Trumpism is effectively the epistemological position that knowledge is reducible to perception.

                                                              -Unknown

Selfie Time

From last weekend plenty of slip-sliding on the water-covered ice to run the trail camera circuit.

Nothing like a selfie to confirm that the camera is still working even if there aren't any critters on it.

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Nice hat, eh?  

There is no try.  Do or Don't do.  Otherwise you are a Hoser....

Fork Horn

In case you were wondering what came of all the stale Cracker Jack and peanuts I scattered around the trail camera a couple of weekends ago - not much.

I'm beginning to think that I need to drag some of the cameras back to the house for a good dehydration and maybe even a software upgrade.  After-all, why would there be absolutely no pictures and plenty of evidence of birds and other critters?  Bad SD cards maybe?

Grrrrrr.

In any event this two and-half-year-old fork buck survived the slaughter this fall and stopped by the camera for a nibble...

click on image for a clearer view

The Big Thaw

 

Here we are at the end of January and it feels more like spring and the cusp of mud season.  Although it's not muddy (yet) because the mud is still frozen.  But the snow and ice are melting from the unseasonably warm weather but because the mud is still frozen all of the melt water has got nowhere to go but to seek the low lands.

It is a lake of water-covered ice around here. Is it climate change?  Not likely.  More like a warm spell that's going to wreck havoc with the ice drinkers.

From Saturday - welcome to the world of ice and water from the big thaw...

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Selfie

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From the weekend before last (that would be ten days ago) and from the trail camera furthest north (think active scrape and all the YUGE bucks that paid a call) there is yours truly scattering a bag of stale peanuts within range.  Stay tuned to see if this profligate waste of stale legumes catches anyone's attention.

Ugh

Packers lose to Falcons.

Guess I won't be pulling an all-nighter at the WOS Bar in Paris.

Ugh...

Doe and Fawn

In keeping with all of the crap ton of whitetails around here some pictures from a trail camera in a different location.  It's a doe and her fawn.

I'd be willing to bet that this photo taken at an earlier date is this little guy.  A button buck - also known as a nubbin buck.  You can see the antler buds showing prominently on his brow, 

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Women's March on Washington

All I can say is the next four years are going to be interesting and probably hilarious from time to time.

Dana Milbank covers politics over at the left-leaning Washington Post and his column on the political theater in Washington today is a stitch.  

Seen on protest signs...

• #FreeMelania
• No Country for Dirty Old Men
• Sad!
• I Have a Vagenda
• Orange Is the New Fascism
• Super Callous Fragile Ego, Trump You Are Atrocious
• Leave it to the Beavers
• Viva la Vulva
• (Older woman’s sign:) I Can’t Believe I’m Still Protesting This Shit
• (On a drawing of ovaries:) Grow a Pair
• This Pussy Grabs Back
• Patriarchy is for Dicks
• There Will Be Hell Toupée 

Read the entire piece here.

Pea Soup

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Drove more than 100 miles today in this stuff.

At times visibility was down to 100 yards.

Exceedingly hazardous navigating a left turn off the four-lane or crossing the four-lane to get to the other side.

Listen-up!

Closing distance at 65 miles an hour is 32 yards per second.  When visibility is measured in a hundred or so yards please turn your lights on so you don't kill someone.

Guess the Critter

From a walk in the woods...
 

The first set of tracks might be from a member of the weasel family?

Photo bomb notwithstanding the second looks like an erratic, miniature trench line made by a rodent forging thru the powdery snow.  Vole perhaps?

Help.

Benchmark

Revisit this in four to eight years...

	Jan-09	Dec-16
Vehicle Sales1	9.6	18.3
Monthly Employment change2	-791	156
Unemployment Rate3	7.8%	4.7%
Housing Starts4	490	1,126
New Home Sales5	336	592
Mortgage Delinquency Rate6	13.0%	6.1%
Budget Deficit7	9.8%	2.8%
S&P 5008	805	2,269
1millions, SAAR 2Thousands 3Peaked at 10% in 2009 4Thousands, SAAR 5Thousands, SAAR 6Source: MBA, Quarterly including in-foreclosure 7Annual, fiscal 2008 vs. 2016 8Jan 20, 2009 vs Jan 20, 2017

Source - Calculated Risk Blog