Egyptian zombies in Paris

I saw this at the Louvre - clearly evidence of ancient Egyptian zombies.

My last few weeks (month) have been discombobulating - for which I’m blaming robots. More specifically, underwater robots. I work at a place that has a lot of equipment on the ocean bottom and a couple times a year we send down a ROV (remotely operated vehicle, aka robot) to do maintenance.

While the ROV is at work, a group of us do shifts on shore to support this work. Starting shift work shortly after international travel left my body confused about what time-zone I’m in. Only now is my schedule is finally getting back to normal (except that my car died, which is another story).

So a little more about my trip to Paris…

There was a real gap between how I pictured Paris verses how it actually was. I’d seen the streets of Paris in movies, TV shows and in books. Plus people I know talked lovingly about being there. I went there with high expectations, so high that it felt a bit surreal just wandering the streets.

More fascinating apartments - I can't help but wonder what they are like inside

A view down a street on Montmartre.

A lovely cafe I had some cheese in.

I loved walking around and am happy eating cheese and croissants for every meal (which I did). There wasn’t a lot of green spaces in the area I was in--just a lot of concrete--which is typical of old cities. The streets were also very crowded plus the traffic is nuts as though following the traffic lights is only optional. Also there was a lot of construction going on.

I saw a bunch of impressionist paintings including a number by van Gogh

My conference was at the Sorbonne, which required a bag search to get into. The venue had a very 1960s modern vibe to it and had an awesome green wall which I took tons of photos of.

Some interesting statues just inside the front entrance of the Sorbonne.

I have no idea what the purpose of this building was.

I assume this building contained offices and classrooms - so different to the style on the streets outside.

The green wall that really caught my fancy

Overall, it was a good trip but I happy to be home (I'm generally a homebody).

Here's a few more iconic views of Paris:

The Arc de Triomphe, which was surrounded by traffic mayhem

A city view complete with smog. The gold dome on the left houses Napoleon's (the conquering one) tomb.