A Tale Of Between Two Cities - Condensed

When last I posted, and I apologize for the interruption (pre-Fourth of July party, Fourth of July party, post-Fourth of July barbecue and birthday party, recovery), I was boarding the train to Rome for an overnight trip. We were told how the trains to Rome were inferior to the trains that ran within France because the Italian rail system cannot handle the newer trains used within France. Oh well, our train was perfectly adequate for our purposes. Having watched all of those 1940's movies I felt right at home in our compartment.

Aisles Are A Bit Narrow Though


Still, the rooms were comfortable and popping the cork on a bottle of wine seemed like the appropriate thing to do to bid adieu to Gay Paree.

Traveling In Style


And soon we were underway. What, you thought I would wait until the train left the station to pop that cork? Along the way there was the usual scenery:

Graffiti On The Outskirts Of Paris


Suburban Sprawl


Village By The Tracks


Rome Station


Of course there was more than that, but scenery is scenery. Besides, it was an overnight trip so most of the time was spent sleeping. Bottom berth for me and top berth for the Mysterious Chinese Woman, and the Equally Mysterious Sister in the next berth.

There was a little sink for washing your hands and face and bottled water for brushing your teeth. The bathrooms were down the hall and you couldn't use them while the train was in a station. The reason was obvious, no holding tanks. You flush the toilet and the bottom opens up and a bit of water flushes the waste directly to the tracks below.

I had a beer left so I figured opening it to celebrate my arrival in Rome was appropriate.

Beer For Breakfast


Soon everyone piled off the train and loaded their bags onto carts to be loaded onto our bus.

Piling On The Bags


To The Bus


Some of us, however, lingered a bit too long over their breakfast and had to schlep their own bags to the bus.

Bad Bar Man


The bad thing was that we arrived in Rome early in the morning and we wouldn't be able to check into our hotel until later in the afternoon. In the meantime we were treated to a bus tour of a bit of the city and a quick stop at the Coliseum. We walked around the outside of the Coliseum but couldn't actually go inside. It was interesting to note that all of the ruins in Rome are ruins not because they were destroyed by invading hordes or by artillery or bombs during war. During World War I and World War II Rome was largely off limits to bombing because of the Vatican. No, the ruins became ruins because they were considered a good source of building material. The marble was hacked out and carted away by Romans themselves.

But all that and more will have to wait until tomorrow.

Bye Bye Paris

On our last day in Paris before taking the train to Rome I decided to go one way and the women-folk decided to go another. The Mysterious Chinese Woman and her Equally Mysterious Sister decided to go see the windows of Sainte Chapelle and maybe do a little shopping. I wanted to visit the Musee De L'Homme or Museum of Man. The museum is located across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower and was an easy walk. We agreed that we would meet for lunch at one of the several cafes nearby in Trocadero, a neighborhood around Palais Le Chaillot. Palais Le Chaillot houses several museums including the one I wanted to see and a Naval Museum that would have been fun if I had more time.

A view of the Palais Le Chaillot from the Eiffel Tower. I pulled this picture from the web because I never did get to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

The View


And, of course, a view of the Eiffel Tower from Palais Le Chaillot

The Other View


After a week of really nice weather you can see that Paris turned wet on the day we were to leave.

The museum may have been more educational if I could read French, but I found the exhibits to be quite interesting.

Half Man and Half Woman


Heh, I guess the above picture of this exhibit in a French museum is considered too racy for Photobucket to allow. Not too racy for the group of grade school children who were visiting the museum, however. Go figure.

I guess this was someone shedding their skin.

Hey, A Little Privacy, Please


They had a lot of pictures on crates to create, I guess, the impression that they might contain the actual remains.

An Odd Collection


Another Oddity


And The Contents Of The Crate


I guess the objective was to show that some early sketches, as ludicrous as they may look, may have been based on some factual evidence.

This Was Just Spooky


All and all, even with the language thing, I spent an enjoyable morning browsing through the many exhibits. One of the themes seemed to be how all people, as diverse as they may look and as diverse as their life styles may be, are much more closely related than most of us realize.

The restaurant where we were supposed to meet was quite crowded with business people having lunch, but we did manage to find a table.

Cafe Du Trocadero


And, of course, a view of the Eiffel Tower from the restaurant.

You Can See It From Everywhere


We didn't have a lot of time to do much more after lunch than buy some sandwiches and a bottle of wine for the train ride, then it was off to the train station.

Gare De Paris Bercy


Not as fancy as Grand Central, but it seems to get the job done.

Waiting For The Train


And, finally, it was time to board.

All Aboard


Stay tuned for the train ride and our adventures in Rome.

Versailles And More, And Less

The "girls" wanted to visit Versailles and I figured that as long as I was in Paris I would be remiss if I failed to visit as well. Rather than pay the fairly hefty price for a tour we decided to just take the subway and then buy tickets on our own. Maybe that wasn't the best idea, but I still am not sure.

The subway drops you off just a short walk from Versailles. It was a crowded ride up to a point. There appears to be some kind of an office park on this line and a lot of people who work in Paris take the subway to get there. We must have hit it just about rush hour.

When you get to Versailles the first thing you notice is...THE LINES. And we got there early enough so that we thought we would beat the rush.

Lines


More Lines


Of course one of the reasons for the lines at this hour was because of some kind of a mini-strike that was going on. This one resulted in delaying the opening of the ticket offices for an hour and a half.

Work Stoppage In Progress


The French and their strikes. Got to love them. Just a nuisance thing now because France passed some kind of a law that a strike cannot interrupt a "vital service." So you get these pathetic things like delaying the opening of Versailles for an hour and a half. Just something to piss of the tourists.

One day I couldn't get a copy of The Herald, the New York Times international edition. I was told it was because of a strike of some kind. Apparently there was also a train strike when I was there. It didn't seem to affect the subways, though. I guess the subways are considered to be essential.

At least when Spain has strikes they are strikes with meat behind them. Garbage piles up, rats start carrying off small children, that kind of thing.

There were long lines beginning to form for the toilets even though it was still early in the day. I am not sure if they were late in opening too, or if this is just standard.

Holding It The Best I Can


I decided that I would pass on standing in line to get into Versailles itself and just spend time in the gardens. I left the interior to the Mysterious Chinese Woman and her Equally Mysterious Sister.

The gardens were quite interesting, lots of statues and fountains and no lines and free. Well, it was free, but the fountains weren't turned on either. Apparently they only turn the fountains on certain days and for certain occasions and then they charge admission. And there are probably lines.

Not A Bad Back Yard


This palace used to be a hunting lodge. You know, just a place to hang out, drink beer, play cards, and shoot the occasional wild stag as it walks by. As a result several of the fountains have a wildlife theme to them.

Teeth And Claws


Paws and Antlers


There were a few more traditional statues as well. Must have been the woman's touch.





I have to give this poor woman credit for her patience. The guy taking her picture spent forever focusing his camera and moving her to different spots. It reminded me of my Dad taking pictures of the family when I was a kid. I got stressed just watching.

Say Cheese


I told the Mysterious Chinese Woman that after I checked out the gardens I would head back to the hotel and meet them there latter. Luckily there was a little cafe on the way back to the subway where I stopped to get a beer.

Beer Time


As you can probably surmise, I had a Heineken.

That evening we headed back to Montmartre for dinner again. The Equally Mysterious Sister had read about a seafood restaurant that was supposed to be very good.

La Mascotte


Our visit turned out to be not so hot. We got there about 6:00 P.M. and were told that the restaurant did not start serving until 7:00 P.M. No suggestion that we sit at a table and have a drink while we waited, nothing. Well, the girls decided to go shopping and I decided to pop in across the street for a drink.

Cafe Bruant


I decided an aperitif would be in order so I had a Ricard.

Just Like A Local


At around 7:00 P.M. we headed back to La Mascotte and were seated in the dining room, which was just about empty. After we were seated we were pretty much left alone, no bread or water and nobody asked if anyone wanted a drink. Then, when we finally got our menu it was in French with no English descriptions. When I asked to see a menu in English I was told that they didn't have any. That they used to but it was a new menu and the English version wasn't available. And then the waiter left, knowing that we couldn't read the menu. I would have thought he might have asked us if we had any questions.

Now, I know, we were in France, but up until now everyone had been most helpful. Every other restaurant either had English versions of the menu or English descriptions of the dishes on the menu. Certainly every other restaurant had more helpful waiters.

When it became apparent that we weren't going to get any help we left. The maitre d asked us if something was wrong and when we told him we couldn't read the menu and the waiter left so we couldn't ask any questions he became quite upset. He said that there were English menus and that he would get the waiter to get them for us. By that time though we had had enough of our waiter and didn't want anymore to do with him. Particularly if the maitre d was going to get him riled up.

Luckily we were close to the place where we had our desserts the last time we were here and they looked like they were doing a lively business.

Le Relais Gascon


We were ushered upstairs to a crowded restaurant with the tables packed together. It was crowded in a nice way though with everyone looking like they were enjoying themselves. Although really big salads seemed to be a specialty of theirs, when I saw cassoulette on the menu I had to go for it. It is a simple dish made with white beans and duck that has been slow cooked in lard. Simple, and simply delicious.

A Romantic Dinner


We all had a good time and everyone agreed that the bad service at La Mascotte actually worked to our advantage.

Montmartre, My Kind Of Place

We decided to head to the Montmarte area of Paris for our evening meal. The last, and only time prior to this, that we were in Paris was ten years ago. We spent some time in this area and had a lot of fun. Really a neat neighborhood with all kinds of cafes and bars that spill out onto the sidewalks. A youngish crowd, certainly by my standards, out for an evening with friends. But we are talking about a lot of people. I don't remember it being this crowded when last I was here. Otherwise though it looked pretty much the same, and that is a good thing.

La Forum looked like a good spot to pop into for one. It, like most of the places, was packed outside so the available seats were all inside.

La Forum


That was fine though, added a bit of a decadent air to having my beer.

A Decadent Beer At The Bar


The Mysterious Chinese Woman preferred having her's at a table where she could watch the crowd through the window.

A Demure Beer


We really didn't know where to go for dinner around here so I figured I would do what I usually do when I am not sure about something, ask the bartender.

Who Would Know Better?


She asked us what kind of food we were interested in. I said just the local fare and asked her where she would go to eat. She said she liked Un Zebre which was a few blocks away, just down the street. Purple awning, can't miss it.

Well, it was more than a few blocks away or else the blocks were long, or something. It seemed like a long ways and we asked people a few times if we were on the right track. We were, so on we walked. It was a fun walk though. Finally, we saw the purple awning in the distance.

Un Zebre


I was a little nervous because of all the motor scooters out front. Could be a rough crowd, the bartender at La Forum looked a bit on the tough side. But then I realized that motor scooters were parked in front of every place. Oh no, it was like The Wild Ones. Well, not really, these were mostly pastel motor scooters.

Un Zebre was fairly crowded but there were a few open tables and we were able to get one.

How Romantic


There weren't any menus handed out here, instead they brought over a blackboard with the offerings.

The Offrings


I don't remember what everyone else had, but I had the stewed duck legs and they were suburb. Our bartender friend did not lead us astray because everyone said they enjoyed their meal. I did manage to pop over to the bar to pose for a shot.

Posing At The Bar


They had desserts here but we decided to do a minuature graze instead. Besides, we had spotted a place with gelatos on display so that is where we headed.

Right Next Door


I thought the Mysterious Chinese Woman fit right into the sidewalk scene with her uber-cool shades.

Remember Corey Heart?


I wear my sunglasses at night so I can, so I can watch you weave then breath your story lines.

I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself, the lyrics just sprang into my head when I posted that picture. I was still feeling a bit decadent from my beer at La Forum so I had some white port, most excellent, an espresso and some pistachio gellato.

A fun and flavor-filled evening and after taking the subway back to our hotel we managed to get a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower.

Postcard Worthy


A perfect ending.

Road Runner Runs Off The Road Again

I decided to call up Time Warner Cable again this morning (I know, I am a glutton for punishment) to see if I could find out anything more about the Road Runner Cable Internet service I had been offered. Thing just got worse.

I got hold of a customer service representative who quickly realized she could not help me with my problem so she switched me to a supervisor. The supervisor, after checking my records, at least knew about the service that I had been offered, but again said they had no provision for actually mailing out a self-install package and that I would either have to go to a service center and pick up the package or have a technician come to my house and install it. She said she would transfer me to an internet specialist to help me decide what to do. You guessed it, after being put on hold for a few minutes I was back at the main menu.

I decided to give it one more shot and got another customer service person who, again, informed me that Time Warner Cable did not, despite what I was told on the phone, send out self-install packages. Interestingly, however, she said there was a note placed on my file on Tuesday indicating that a modem had, in fact, been sent out. She said she didn't know how it got there though, that maybe "the computer just put it there."

The end result, however, seems to be that Time Warner Cable sub-contracted with a telemarketer who, apparently, didn't know that what they were offering wasn't available (even though I was told they worked from a script provided by Time Warner Cable). Again, I was told that the only way to get a self-install kit was to go to a service center and pick one up. I said that if I was Time Warner Cable and told someone they would have one delivered I would send someone out with one. She said she would check to see if that was possible. After being put on hold again for a few minutes I was told that if someone came out to my house with a self-install kit they would have to install it. Why the customer service center couldn't just send one out via DHL or something, I do not know.

I was on the phone with this last customer service person for almost half an hour and was finally told that neither she nor anyone else at Time Warner Cable could help me out. That what I wanted, and what I was told I would get over the telephone, simply wasn't available.

And so ends the sad story of The Road Runner.

Wiley Coyote Wins One

Just a rant interjected into my normal subject matter.

On Monday I got a call from someone who said his name was Vincent Lewis. He was extending an offer for a 30 day trial of Time Warner's Road Runner Cable Internet Service. If, during the 30 days, you decide you don't want to continue the service you can call and discontinue it and owe nothing. Supposedly you get to keep some firewall package anyway. If you decided to keep it you would be charged $19.95 a month for the first year and then $29.95 a month thereafter.

Well, I am not a big fan of Road Runner ever since an attempt to install it totally hosed my system many years ago. This was a big deal at the time, got written up in magazines, nasty business. I put that aside and decided to give it a try. I was told that I would receive a modem and everything else required to do an install delivered via DHL or a similar service and I would receive it by the end of the week. That would be today or tomorrow.

This morning I got a call from a Time Warner service person who wanted to know if I would be there for a service call. I said I didn't have any service call scheduled that I knew of. I did say that I was expecting to receive a modem but that I was under the impression that I could install it myself. After about a five minute conversation where I don't know if either of us knew exactly what we were talking about he said he would close the ticket.

When no modem showed up by late afternoon I figured I should call Time Warner to see if there was some kind of a mix up. The number that I was given to call if I had any questions about the modem or service turned out to be their generic customer service number. This, of course, required negotiating through their automated menu and trying to figure out which selections were most appropriate. I punched the technical problem button just to see what would happen. I got one of those automated help things that just drive me crazy. You have to answer about a dozen questions that have nothing to do with your actual problem before actually being able to talk to anyone. I finally went back and pressed the button having to do with new services or something like that.

The first person that I talked to didn't know anything about any offer for a self-install modem and wasn't familiar with the free trial offer either. She said she would transfer me to someone in the New York sales office who could help me. I got transferred back to the main menu instead.

The next person I talked to was more helpful, but only marginally. He actually pulled up my account and saw that there was a service call scheduled for the morning but couldn't say what it was for because the ticket had been closed. He thought it might be to install the modem, but wasn't sure. When I said I was told that I could do the install myself and the serviceman I talked to didn't seem to know anything about a modem he first said that Time Warner didn't offer a self-install modem. When I said that was what I was told he kind of backed down and said that it looked like they had one but that I would have to go to a Time Warner service station or something to pick it up and get the appropriate access codes.

He also initially said he was unaware of any introductory offer but the standard rate was $29.95 a month. When I said I was told the rate would be $19.95 a month for the first year and would then increase to $29.95 he did manage to find such an offer. But he still said there was no provision for sending out a self install package with a modem.

At this point I said to just cancel my order. I said if this was the level of service I could expect when I called the number I was given to call if I had problems, had the name of the person I talked to about the service, and still couldn't get a real good handle on what was going on I certainly didn't want to depend upon them if I actually had a problem in the future.

This is the kind of thing that drives me crazy. Someone actually gets you to try a service and you would think they would bend over backwards to make sure you were pleased with it. Instead, nobody even seems to be sure about what you were offered but seem convinced that what you described isn't available. Of course nobody even tried to get hold of Vincent Lewis to see what was going on. In my experience tele-marketers seldom give you their real name anyway, but they still should have been able to track him down. My conversation was even recorded by a verifier to make sure they had all of my correct billing information when I accepted the offer.

Needless to say, I will not be trying Time Warner's Road Runner Cable Internet Service, or whatever it is, anytime soon. Probably never.

By the way, I was supposedly offered this Road Runner Cable Internet package because I am a long term customer of Time Warner Cable whose account is in good standing. When I went to the Time Warner Cable website and entered my address to find out what offers were available nothing like what I was offered on the telephone showed up. I don't think their left hand knows what their right hand is doing.