Taking a moment to remember the season
Now, go wipe your eyes and have a better day. ..bruce w..
Category: Main
Euroarmageddon Tour — here comes the flood
There are arguments about who first said Après moi, le déluge (“After me, the Flood.”) and whether is was meant prophetically (“Things are going to get bad once I’m gone”) or dismissively (“I really don’t care if things go to hell once I’m gone.”). I’m not sure it matters. I think both apply to the […]
Euroarmageddon Tour — last night in Paris
I did indeed crash. Probably just as well, since it appeared to have been raining durng the afternoon, which pretty much ruled out putting up the new signs, etc. Instead, once I was sufficiently conscious, Sandra and I headed down to the Christmas Market on the lower part of the Champs-Elysees, both to grab something […]
Euroarmaggedon Tour — Tour Eiffel Tour
France’s future is cloudy. OK, OK, cheap symbolism, but that’s the best kind, for reasons that I’ll come with eventually. Meanwhile, in case you’re wondering about the strange post name, “Tour Eiffel” is French for “Eiffel Tower”, and yes, we went on a tour of the Eiffel Tower this morning. We had gone last year […]
Euroarmaggedon Tour — Saturday backstory
OK, as mentioned below, I got a grand total of two man-on-the-street interviews today. I was probably lucky to get that, all things considered. Sometime early this morning, while thinking about my goals for this trip, I came to the conclusion that my probability of success was pretty low in doing cold approaches on strangers […]
Euroarmageddon Tour — tension in Paris
Holidays notwithstanding, things are not all that gay in Paree this time. Here are some of the indications: When Sandra and I went to the Christmas Market on the lower half of the Champs-Elysees last (Friday) night, we saw something that we definitely didn’t see a year ago: Army patrols, in groups of three, carrying […]
Euroarmageddon Tour — first blood
I did get two interviews. In two hours. Plus one bit of pungent walk-by commentary. I’ll chronicle the whole effort later, but here’s the feedback from today. Thomas — in his 30s, and looking like a classic clean-cut-with-stubble French professional — described himself as ‘not a typical Parisian’, though he never quite explained what that […]
Euroarmageddon Tour – late night edition
And I’m awake at 0400 Paris time. On the other hand, I can hardly be surprised, since I not only crashed for about 4 hours yestreday afternoon, but I went to be relatively early (2200 Paris time) last night as well. Our hotel room (acquired using some of the bazillion frequent-stayer points I’ve accumulated at […]
Euroarmageddon Tour — the Eagle has landed
Tocqueville, we have arrived! I’m not sure what Tocqueville would have made of the Euromess, but I think it’s pretty easy to guess. On the other hand, I think I may have discovered part of the core financial problem here in France. Sitting in the lobby of our hotel, waiting for a room to become […]
Euroarmageddon Tour: questions to ask
OK, so we’re on the first leg of our flight to Paris, where I’ve found that my two French phrase books (the aptly-titled French Phrase Book as well as Just Enough French) don’t contain such handy questions as “What do you think are the possible sovereign consequences of replacing the European Financial Stability Facility with […]
