France 2022

France 2022
Old Town Nice, France

23 June 2012

The Minitel - Gone but not forgotten

The Minitel has been around in France since the 1980's.  The little screen and modem were free to  households, and they could actually do some online shopping, play games, play the Stock Market, look up phone numbers and addresses for people and businesses throughout the country.  The longer you were "online", the higher your phone costs were; even though, it was pretty cool, and the forerunner of the PC.  Now, it will be phased out, and will take its rightful place in history.
L'héritage du Minitel continue d'influencer le monde du numérique | France-Amérique

21 June 2012

I love to travel.  Car, plane, boat, you tell me that I'm going somewhere, I will ask "what do I have to wear, and how many pairs of shoes do I need?".  When I was small, my family took road trips mostly to visit relatives in Texas and Mississippi, but we also went to New York, Montreal, and British Columbia as well.  That is how I got the bug.
My favorite place of all is Paris - wow, wild guess.  I love walking around seeing familiar and new things and places. Even though Parisians have the reputation of being cold and rude, I don't find them that way.  They are just trying to get from one place to another around tourists who will stop at the drop of a dime to look at some random thing. You might be rude, too!
If you are in Paris, be sure to visit the Opera district - the Opera house has a ceiling painted by Marc Chagall.  In order to see it, you have to take the tour, but I think that it might be cool!  I do have to admit that I have never done it, that is on my list.  However, when you are done, walk around the back of the building to the Galeries Lafayette and visit the main part which is covered by a gorgeous steel and stained glass dome.  Take tons of photos while you dodge the cosmetic section shoppers, then progress by escalator to the cafeteria on the 6th floor and walk up stairs to the urban park that is the observation deck.  Not many tourists know about it, and you can sit on benches or on the ground while soaking up the sun.  Ahhhh....
In the next few posts, I will be talking about my favorite places and posting pics if I have them.  In the meantime, think about visiting Paris, the south of France, and Italy with me next June!
(www.tinyurl.com/Europe2012).  Don't let the price scare you - it goes down with traveler #20, and then again at #25, so enroll now and bring a friend!
The stained glass dome of the Galeries Lafayette

The "park" on the roof!