I am presently in Cologne, that´s in western Germany. I got here late last night. The past week and a half went well. I went to Lourdes on the 26th. There I visited the sanctuaries and grotto dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who is said to have appeared there several times in 1858 or 1853. Toulouse was alright. I didn´t see that much of it. Just a stroll into the center and back to my hostel. I roomed with an Algerian-Frenchman named Redouane. On the 27th, I took a TGV to Paris. There I stayed four nights. On the 28th (Palm Sunday), I went to mass at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. It was amazing. Much of the mass was sung in Gregorian chant. And the church, as big as it is, was packed. That day I did a little walking tour, passing the Opera house, the Bastille, and the Place de la Republique before returning to the cathedral to attend a conference that a bishop was giving about Vatican II. On the 29th, I visited the Louvre. I got in free with my student visa and for being under 26. There were so many people there! I visited pretty much all the rooms, stopping not often, but it still took five hours. After that, I took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe--some unfinished business from 2006. Then I took another look at the Eiffel Tower, because it wasn´t fare awaz, but didn´t go up this time. On the 30th, I visited the Catacombs of Paris; i don´t know how many hundreds or thousands of skulls and other bones I walked by. That cost only 4 euros. Then I went to Mont Martre to see the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, which I missed in 2006, though I don´t know how, because it´s so close to where I was. And then something amazing happened as I was exiting the church. I ran into 3 ladies who I went to school with in Cortona, by chance! We ate supper together and hung out for a bit. then I went back up the hill to walk through the arts district before returning to the hostel. March 31 was an adventure. I set out to visit the Canadian WWI monument at Vimy Ridge on my way to Bruxelles, Belgium. I had read on the veteran affairs´website that a shuttle takes people from Arras to Vimy, so I took a train to Arras, and walked to the tourism office only to find out that the shuttle doesn´t start until May. but I was determined to get to the monument. So I took a train from Arras to Vimy, planning on having to walk from the village to the monument (a few km out of town) or hitching a ride. Vimy is tiny; it doesn´t even have a train station, just a stop. I asked for directions from a young lady, and she directed me to the Mayor´s office to get directions from there. I got there, and it was closed. So I went to a grocery store that I had walked past. I asked them and they recommended taking a taxi. I agreed, only since my bag was burdomesome. But while they were calling a taxi for me, a lady in line said she would drive me there. I accepted her offer. The monument is very impressive. It was renovated only 3 years ago. They covered the original material with a rare stone, of which I forget the name. As I was visiting the monument, I hail storm occured. It was crazy. With the strong wind, I had to put on my tuque and look down as I made my waz towards the visitor centre. It is all run by the Canadian government. After a bit, I went on a guided tour of the tunnels and trenches dug by the Canadians, British, and French. I had to be back to the Vimy train stop to catch a train back to Arras, so I could catch another from there to Lille (and then another to Bruxelles). I have been buying all my tickets at the train stations, usually the day of departure. At the monument, I met 2 ladies from Ottawa. We also went on the same tour, and they were renting a car and had to pass through Vimy anyway, so they drove me there. I ended up getting to Bruxelles at 8:30 pm. At the hostel were a group of Quebecers. I talked to them a bit. There was also an Anglo-Montrealais. On April 1 I set out to visit the city center. I saw the famous peeing boy statue, and ate a Belgian waffle. At met up the guy from Montreal and a yound lady from Scotland that he knew. We visited the museum exposing the works of the surrealist painter Magritte. Then we saw the European Union Parliament, drank some Belgium beer, Gueuze, and saw the triumphal arch. Then we split up, and I saw the federal parliament, the cathedral, which was closed, the Grande Place, and then I went up a parking tower to get a good view of the city. I decided to take a bus here, instead of the train, so yesterday, and went to the bus station, but my bus wasn´t until 7:30, so I had the whole day to see more of Bruxelles. I stored my bag at the station, and then went to visit the cartoon museum. After, I went to the cathedral for the station´s of the Cross. It was Good Friday. I then walked by the Royal Palace and Bruxelles´s Little Africa. On the bus, I chatted with a young lady from China who was studying in Vienna. The bus got to Cologne at midnight. And I got to the hostel about 30 minutes later. I will stay here for another night. then I have two nights to plan now, but I do have a hostel reserved in Berlin for the 6th to 8th. The trip is going well. Evidently, I´m not bored. There´s always stuff to see. I sometimes feel like I´m starting to get tired of traveling, but i remind myself of how lucky I am to be able to do this, and that this might be the best time in my life to do it; that keeps me going. I also look forward to meeting people along the way.
mc
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