Picked in Paris

As you travel around Paris you'll see this sign in the subway.

 You'll see this sign at the high speed train station.

 You'll see this sign at the Eiffel Tower.

 Those signs give you warning that there is the potential for problems.  Saturday we were walking along the Seine River towards the Notre-Dame Cathedral which in on this island you see in the picture below.  As we got to the bridge in the picture a woman came up to me begging for money.  She did not speak English.  She was very aggressive and bumped into me as she got in my face asking for money.  She bumped into me again for a couple of seconds as I told her no.  As she moved away I checked my pockets and my wallet which was zipped into the chest pocket of my North  Face coat was gone.  I wondered for a few seconds if I had lost it somewhere previously and I realized she had very smoothly in a matter of seconds picked my pocket.  I told her to give me back my wallet.  My friend Barry said are you sure, I said yes.  He said to her and I, let's get the police.  I said to her again, give me my wallet and Barry again said let's get the police.  He said to her let's look in your shopping bag, she opened it.  No wallet.  I said to again, I know you have it, give me my wallet.  She opened her purse and gave me back my wallet.  Nothing was missing.  She again asked for money indicating was a raised shirt that she was pregnant.  We said no and  left the scene to catch up with our other friends.  I kept my hand on wallet in my pocket for the rest of the weekend.  I had been very fortunate.  Several friends had their pockets picked in Chicago last November.  The prompting to check immediately as it happened enabled us to confront her before she left.  The whole incident probably didn't last 2 minutes.  Lesson learned.

Gent, Belgium at Night

This afternoon I and 3 coworkers took the train at 180 mph from Paris to Brussels, Belgium and then a local train to our hotel in Gent.  Here is a picture of our hotel.  It is mostly new put it does have any older section that has a beautiful exterior.

This building with all the exterior sculptors is directly across the street from my hotel.

 Here are a few pictures of buildings and churches in the main square in Gent.  I'll take some daytime pictures during the upcoming week.

The group stopped for a pose outside the restaurant where we had just finished dinner.  Michelle Dimmock is from Edinborough, Scotland.  Brian Fabrizzio, Daryl Benson and Barry Johnson are all from the US. 

This is the last stop on this trip.  We have a global sales meeting this week that lasts until Friday night.

Notre- Dame Cathedral in Paris

This is the front of the cathedral.  The detail and the craftsmanship on this old building are really amazing.  

 From these next two pictures you can see some of the detailed designs in one of the entrance ways.

 I liked this statue outside.

 Here is the front of the cathedral looking across the Seine River.  You can see the statue above in the foreground.

 The lighting inside the building was minimal and there were no flashes allowed.  There are several large windows of stained glass that were really beautiful.

 These statues are a little hard to see, but they tell the story of the King having the male babies killed while Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are leaving on a donkey.

This painting is in the Louvre but it fits best here in the blog.  This is Napoleon inside the cathedral making someone queen.

 These last two pics are from inside the cathedral.  In this next picture you can compare the height of the people versus the height of the ceiling.  The cathedral is just amazing considering it was built many hundreds of years ago.

Paris Visit

 Meetings over a two week period left me with a free weekend in Paris.  I don't like being away from home this long, but the chance to do some sight-seeing was a real treat.  This is the hotel where I stayed.  Hotel Louvre is across the street from the famous museum by the same name.

 This is the Notre-Dame Cathedral at night.  I'll have some daytime pictures in another blog.

 Here is the Eiffel Tower at night.  A trip to Paris wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Eiffel Tower

 This is the Assemblee Nationale building.  I didn't go in, but it sure was colorful at night.

 Another beautiful sample of Paris at night.

 This is the Seine River looking across the city.

Until the Next Visit.......

Young Jedi Warriors defending the homefront!

 Our trip isn't complete until Grandpa Ray sings and plays the piano for us.

We were sad to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa O'Neal because we had such a good time!  We miss you already!

At the Park in Astoria

A little too much spinning for Ian!

After our three hour ride to Astoria, the boys begged us to go to this fun park.  

Visit to Astoria

We drove to Astoria Thursday to see Barbara and Ray.  The boys were so happy to be there and Amy and I were too.  First thing:  Lots of hugs, kisses and smiles!

 James and Ian:  Getting Tall!