Leaving Paris and the Green Island

So now I'm one week behind on the blogging...but when you're in New York City and the sun is shining you don't want to spend time on a computer. This post will be quite short then...

Last Sunday I snuck out early to go to the last remaining Paris Museum on my todo list, Musee d'Orsay. Another impressive building, another impressive building with an amazing collection. D'Orsay is the home of the impressionists (Van Gogh, Monet, et al), and they were predictably good. Like every other gallery (the theme continues) I seemed to like the minor artists more than the big guns. Speaking of guns, my favourite painting was of a French street (done in classic impressionist pastelly style) with a dead soldier, woman and child in the foreground, powerful stuff.

After that I raced back on the Metro to Pere Lachaise cemetery, and did what every rock n roll fan is bound to do in Paris, visit Jim Morrison's grave. We found it eventually, he didn't rise up or anything. Then it was back to base to get my bag, say au revoir to Kieran and Menna, and get the train to Charles De Gaulle airport.

Really nice Easyjet flight to Belfast, which was COLD and GREY and a little BORING. Got boozed with hostel people on the first night which made it all better. Monday I got on the bus to (London)derry, scene of much of the violence of the Troubles, including Bloody Sunday. I've never actually been anywhere properly dangerous, and Derry is the place of been where there has been the most recent danger. But now its very safe to walk round both Poorer/Catholic/Republican and Richer/Protestant/Loyalist neighbourhoods and look at the murals. More commentary will follow with photos, but it was a good experience.

Next day took the bus through Armagh, (where some of the McGirrs are from) to Dublin. Armagh was cold, but nice. Dublin was a little boring and samey. I'd like to go back to Ireland with more time, and a rental car to see the countryside, the best part of the place.