It is December and I haven't finished the Europe posts or updated on daily events for more than a month.

On November 14th Brad, Liz, Sara, and I attended a performance of "Evil Dead: The Musical" at the Theatre on the Square in Indianapolis. They appear to fill their season up with a number of oddball works, so we may be back there before too long.

Needless to say, Thanksgiving yielded lots of delicious food and good times with the family. This year we attended the Noland clans' celebration. Photographic evidence is available.

Now Christmas is fast approaching. Sara and I have been scrambling to get gifts and the like in order. The 6th of December was particularly Christmassy. We took a walk downtown during Lafayette's annual Dickens of a Christmas event. The weather was particularly cooperative this year, providing light flurries for ambiance. After warm coffee, strolling around downtown, and taking in the performance of Stave I of A Christmas Carol we went shopping for gifts. By the time night fell we had erected a Christmas tree.

This is the fourth Europe trip post. It covers the events of July 14th and July 15th of the year 2008.

-- July 14th 2008: Dan's photoset, Sara's photoset, --

We woke up very early on the morning of the 14th, about 5:30 local time I think. You see July 14th is Fête Nationale (a.k.a. Bastille Day) in France. We wanted to watch the parade down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées so getting there early to claim a spot was a necessity.

When we first arrived we found a very nice spot right at the corner where Avenue de Marigny intersects Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Unfortunately after we had been there for 90 minutes or so, the street had become crowded. Only then did the security forces show up to cordon off the area we were in and force us all out of viewing range.

Through guile and cunning on Sara's part we were admitted into another cordoned off area that provided a decent view of the street. Given my height I could see fairly well, but Sara had some difficulty. Fortunately we met a very kindly older French couple who were there to watch their son, a military officer, march in the parade. They allowed Sara to use their step stool once they had seen their son pass by.

The parade itself was quite a production including soldiers in dress uniform, mounted cavalry, tanks, jeeps, jets, helicopters, and even paratroopers. We also saw President Nicolas Sarkozy pass by to go inspect the troops.

After the parade getting back to the apartment proved somewhat difficult. Many streets were barricaded against both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. I suspect that they were being used to get VIPs back to their hotels and offices. This meant that we, as not so important people, had to walk a very long way back to our apartment. We punctuated our hike with a stop for a snack and made it back without incident.

Back at the house we showered again, much needed after being out half the day in the hot sun, and rested a bit after our long walk. Then, secure in the knowledge that we were both spiffed up a little bit, I slipped a little black velvet box into my pocket and asked Sara to join me for a walk in the gardens.

We had discussed seeing both the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Jardin des Plantes when planning our trip. Heading over to the south side of town I was pretty nervous. I only picked at my lunch.

At the garden I discovered, to my dismay, that since most french people don't have to work on the national holiday the park was more crowded than I had hoped. Walking around I noticed how different formal European-style gardens are from the landscape architecture influenced parks common in the US. Instead of winding trails you find straight well-maintained gravel paths. Flowers are arranged in geometric patterns in beds that themselves form geometric patterns.

It took us a while to find it, but eventually we stumbled upon what I had been looking for, the Medici Fountain in the northeast corner of the garden. I was happy to see that its secluded location meant that it wasn't nearly as crowded as the rest of the park. We walked around it admiring the sculpture and then sat down on a pair of wrought iron chairs to enjoy the beautiful day. Then beneath the canopy of trees I asked Sara to be my wife. Of course we all know how that worked out.

We walked over and explored the Jardin des Plantes while enjoying eachother's company. Unfortunately we arrived to late to explore the natural history museum, but we didn't really care. Eventually we grew tired of walking and acquired an excellent engagement meal at Le Loup Blanc near our apartment. We retired for the evening happy, young, and in love in Paris.

-- July 15th 2008: Dan's photoset, Sara's photoset, --

We awoke on the 15th with the certain knowledge that our six day Paris Museum Pass was about to expire. We had already gotten more than our money's worth out of it with our many trips to the Louvre and other museums, but none the less we were determined to hit as many more as possible.

The most glaring omission from our list was obviously the Musée d'Orsay, and that is precisely where we spent our morning.

The Orsay used to be a train station and the layout betrays this. It is filled with excellent work by impressionists and members of related movements. We had lunch in the little café at the top of the museum before strolling through some of the Art Nouveau furnishings in their collection.

By mid-afternoon we were burned out on impressionist masterpieces. Still intent on using our passes to their fullest effect we headed to the Rodin Museum. The most famous work there is The Thinker.

As the afternoon stretched on we decided to hit one final museum before everything closed. We made it to the Picasso Museum just in time to make a hurried tour. We didn't capture any photos because (a) they were not permitted and (b) there wasn't time to be sneaky about it. I was fairly unimpressed with the Picasso Museum. It was small and contained only a few interesting works. I think anyone planning a trip to Paris could easily skip it if time were tight.

Later we made our way over to the The Panthéon. Across the street there is a government building associated with the 5th Arrondissement somehow (I gave up trying to understand the hierarchy of government levels in Paris). In that nice old government building the organizers of the SSIB conference had rented a ball room wherein they held a reception for the conference attendees.

After we walked about eight blocks to the registration site to pick up Sara's badges they even believed we were conference attendees. At the reception we rendezvoused with several of Sara's friends namely Ashley, Chelsea, and Lindsey.

With the reception completed we all gathered to make the trip up the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately the very top deck was closed for repairs, but we were able to ride up to the lower two decks. It is an impressive feat of engineering and provides an amazing view of the city. And despite how much the French complain about the new sparkling lights on the tower that are triggered every hour or so after sundown in thirty years they will all love it.