Back in Belgium after my weekend in Paris. Belgium smells good, all waffles & chocolate :)

It was nice to see Paris again, but I don't think Paris was happy to see me; it rained the whole weekend. I arrived early on Friday & Sandrine met me at the Gare de Nord (it was so nice to have help with all my bags! I can't stress this enough. If Sandrine and/or Téa come to Philly for the AAPA meetings next year, I've promised to meet them at the airport & carry all their bags to their hotel as a thank-you for their help this wknd getting everything on & off the train ;) We left one bag in a locker in the station for the weekend (where I met the smarmiest locker attendent EVER) and braved the Paris metro with the rest. Dropped it all off at Sandrine's apartment & I wandered the city while she went off to work. I hid from one rain shower in Notre Dame but got caught in another while waiting to get into the Musée d'Orsay. Met up with Sandrine & Téa for dinner later. They took me to a really teeny (but really cute) Japanese place. It was really nice, but I was so tired & we all crashed early. Here's a photo of the rain clouds that followed me all day:



On Saturday the 3 of us wnt to the Pompidou. Here's some photos of me playing with a facial distortion thingy in a children's exhibit:



After the Pompidou, we sat in a café for a while. It was nice to have people to do this with. I was alone the last time I was in Paris. Also, it was just nice to have friends to wander with. It's been great seeing so many nice places, but it was getting a little lonely. After the café, we walked around (in the rain, still) the Montmartre area. Ordered in pizza for dinner. In Paris, a three-cheese pizza involves Brie, Gruyère, & Camembert. No mozzarella, cheddar or "American" cheese here! Here's a photo of Sandrine & Téa in the rain:



I'll be back in Paris in May to see the fossils at the Musée de l'Homme. In fact, I may be back in Paris twice before coming home, actually. I've finally been able to schedule in a visit to London on May 4th, and I may try to see the Qafzeh 6 fossil at the IPH on May 2. (Musée de l'Homme is scheduled for May 9th.) There are a few big holidays in the UK & France in early May, and, if you combine that with wknds when the museum labs are closed...well, I may be doing some jumping around. In any case, hopefully the rain will have stopped in Paris by then.

It seems to have followed me to Lèige, though. Got here yesterday afternoon& had a scary moment at the train station with the ShapeCam case & no escalator or elevator in sight -- just a really steep staircase down from the platform. I think I've perfected the "please won't somebody help me?" face, because another nice Belgian stopped & helped me out. (Or maybe Belgians are just really nice in general! Add that to the beer, waffles & chocolate and I think I really like Belgium.)

Saw the Engis Neandertal skull this morning at the University here in Lèige. Again, so very cool. Dr. Poty had no problem with me posting a photo of the Shapecam in action with the fossil, so here you go:



Look how serious I am. Shapesnatching is serious business.