Alina's here!!!

Today I went to the airport...

...to pick up Alina!!!!!!

She pointed out this sad key on the keyboard at lab (next to the P)

We got delicious sorbet at this place! It's nice out today.

I got a scoop of lime and a scoop of melon.

Sandwiches!

Late night

It was a late night, but I got a lot done and also got some cool night pictures from the cell culture room!

I hadn't seen the Eiffel Tower lit up until now! After 10 minutes in a dark room, I managed to catch the spotlight coming around. The white building with the blue lights is an exhibit for the World Arab Institute, the other building are part of the Jussieu campus.

The central high rise has cool green and blue lights!

Le boudin

I had le boudin (blood sausage) at lunch today, recommended by the postdoc. I notice that neither he nor anyone else chose to get it... Its appearance and mushy interior did put me off a bit but it tasted nice.

Closeup

The postdoc also mentioned that he and another lab member call the engineered tendons "les boudins" due to the similarity in shape. I don't know about that..the proportions are off.

Jardin des Plantes

Today I briefly visited the Jardin des Plantes which is just down the street from the lab.

There are always tree-lined paths! Love these.

Pretty flowers!

Saw this cute little guy, eating some bamboo.

Pizza

Pizza is an option at the cantine very nearly every day. I have been waiting for a particular kind of pizza and today they had it!

Pizza with an egg on top:

The Louvre, part 2

I went back to the Louvre today with my office mate. I arrived 15 minutes early so I got in line. It stretched much further than the last free day (first Sunday of the month!) but since last time it was also very long and the wait was only 30 minutes, I figured it still wouldn't be so bad.

So...we didn't really have a good way to find each other, the plan was to check if the other person is in line and then get in line. But the line was soooo long. The red dot is where I was last time, the blue dot is where I started this time. I was past the red dot by the time my office mate found me. It was a little over an hour for the wait this time, but it didn't feel like it. The line moves pretty constantly, the time spent standing still is pretty much just waiting for other people ahead to move forward to close the gap.

We both got audio guides and wandered around listening. It was nice the first time to just look at everything, this time I spent most of the time just looking at things for which there was commentary on.

I noticed more things this time, these statues of Artemis keep cropping up, much like the one at the Luxembourg Gardens.

 




I also noticed the nice columns everywhere.

 

Also some Egyptian ones. I like the one on the left the best.

 

Afterwards, I decided to walk over to the Rose Bakery, located on the east side of my district. I like the Marais neighborhood, it seems to be pretty residential with lots of narrow windy streets.

I passed by some sort of flea market on the way there, selling lots of interesting wares as well as food here and there.

I got a coffee and a quiche at the Rose Bakery which is actually an English shop. There was not very much coffee in that cup... The quiche was good though! I brought it home with me and warmed it up slightly.

There was zucchini and crab inside which I was not expecting! Tasty.