Speculations; Paris

You’ll probably have read the news on one of the other blogs, but the first issue of SPECULATIONS is now available. Congratulations for carrying this through to the finish line.

I’m not able to download it yet, because there’s still no internet in my place. That’s one problem, and the only other real problem is that the air is really static and stagnant in there, and it being a Sunday, there were no fans for sale anywhere that I could see. Tomorrow, then.

Nice little place, though, and it has a great view. I trusted a friend to line this up for me and inspect it, and my friend delivered as expected.

One other Paris note… Almost no one would ever admit this, but I think one of the most impressive things in Paris is… the Eiffel Tower. What’s not to like about it? The engineering is still breathtaking more than a century later. I happen to think it looks nice (and if you stand right under it and look up through the innards, the size of it is overpowering no matter how many times you do it). And of course the view is great from the top.

Most Parisians I know have been up the tower only when on school trips in early childhood. But in principle, I would go up the tower at least once on every trip here. I say in principle, because in practice, over the past few years the crowds have simply become too large. All right, that’s what’s not to like about it: the crowds. But since I’m part of the crowd myself, no grounds for complaint.