the wonders of the internet and the château de Vincennes

Oh internet, how I love you. Last night, I was alerted on MySpace that my favorite band of all time--I saw them at a free show at Biola University when I was in 8th grade--was playing a live acoustic set on punkradiocast.com. So I tuned in through iTunes and got to listen to a crisp broadcast of Dustin of Thrice playing "The Whaler", and it was most excellent. I remember the days when I'd listen to them on KUCI radio on dial-up. They were on an independent label and were touring in a crappy van.

It's just amazing to me how I can listen to their live broadcast from Toronto, and I'm in Paris. The internet is...wow. And just to watch their work progress and evolve and to grow with them...I could not have picked a better band to grow old with.

Today, went to Château de Vincennes nearby Lucia's. She wanted to talk. We walked through the grounds talking for an hour, pausing for a while in front of Parc Floral to get some sun. It was freezing cold, but the sun was out. Then we went in the keep, or donjon. Lucia and I shared an audioguide, and it was most interesting. We stood in the room where Charles V would work and receive guests. We saw the graffiti of prisoners who stayed there when it was turned into a prison. It was really cool. Right now, this is the tallest existing keep in Europe. We stayed for two hours at this place and saw everything, and it wasn't even busy at all. It was nice taking our time and not rushing through everything which is something I always do in museums and monuments and am trying to change.

Went to return to the audioguide, and I was totally into getting the book on the castle and keep, but then thought about saving my money. Then, I saw some pocket children's books on tales and legends during the French Middle Ages (in French), and I almost got that. Maybe next time. But it was definitely an interesting read. I love children's books. Books in general are my downfall.

Had lunch across the street and got grec sandwiches with samurai sauce (spicy). It was really good. Then the owner came over, seeing that we were shivering from the cold, and brought us hot mint tea, no charge. Lovely. It was good too! Fragrant and sweet.