Luzern, Switzerland

Train ride from Paris to Lucerne, Switzerland. 

The countryside of Switzerland.

Lucerne, the center of Switzerland.

Paris to Luzerne, Switzerland

Our train ride through French countryside and Switzerland.

The countryside of France.

Waiting for our train. Its the best way to travel through Europe, especially if one travels to multiple countries. We bought a eurail pass prior to leaving US with our designated countries on the pass. Most importantly, the pass doesn't guarantee seats, which must be reserved at least four weeks prior to our first trip, otherwise last minute reservations can cost an arm and a leg.

le Arc du Triomph, Paris, France

Our next stop, le Arc de Triomphe, the Triumphal Arch. It stands at the west end of the Champs-Elysees, it honors those who died for France in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Beneath there is a vault with the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI.
Built in 1806, it is inspired by the Arch of Titus, a Roman arch also dedicated for victory; which we later visited (since it sits near the Colosseum, Rome) in our Europe trip. It was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon after the victory of Austerlitz, where Napoleon I defeated the Russo-Austrian army in Austerlitz, Czech Republic, in Dec 1805.

This sculpture, one of four, represents the La Resistance de 1814.

To access the Arc, one must use the underpass that exits near one of the Arch's columns.

An eternal flame burns constantly in memory of the unknown soldiers of the two world wars.

the façade of the inner wall of the Arc. 

From Paris to Luzern, Switzerland

Revisiting Monmartre,

Chairs and tables tipical of Parisian and Italian restaurants. Such is the life of Europeans, hours to drink cafe and chat while observing passerby.

Artists' displays in the streets of Monmartre. Unfortunately much is tailored to the know sights of Paris to attract tourist. Rather they should paint what they desire. Paintings that shows us who they are, such as the famous painters that frequent this place years before.

Crepes, a Parisian delicacy, is a must try for the sweet tooth. A thin pancake of wheat flour spread with nutella or bananas, among other fillings, and curled prior to eaten. ('crepe' is derived from latin crispa meaning curl). Originated in the northwest of France, Brittany, it is now considered a national food. The liquid batter is pour onto a hot plate (above) to make the pancake. Then fillings are added and served.


A few things Montmartre is know for is the artists still try to make a living through art. Only this time they take advantage of the tourists. Many famous artists have worked in Montmartre through the ages; Salvador Dali, Amedeo Modilgiani, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh.

the statues inside Lourve, Paris, France

 Inside the Lourve;

If you pay attention to detail, which you should, then you will find this small statue (above) of a gargoyle. The concept of gargoyle, from Latin gurgolia for "gullet" or "throat", can be traced back to the Egyptian.

Aphrodite of Milos, aka Venus de Milo (ancient Greek city), is located in the Greek, Roman section. Ask any guide and he/she will show you. Ancient greek sculpture circa 130-100 BC of the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Marble, possible by sculptor Alexandros of Antioch. This statue was brought by the French shortly after it was found on the ruins of the island of Milos in 1820. The right missing arm would've laid over the left thigh holding up the drapery. The missing left are would be holding an apple raised just below her eye level. Why is this statue famous? It has been French's jealousy and subsequent promotion to surpass another statue, Medici Venus, which was returned to Italy after it was looted by Napoleon Bonaparte.

the lourve, Paris, France

The hall before getting into the room with Mona Lisa has tons of paintings, mostly with themes from the bible.



On our 2nd day in Paris, we visited the Lourve, a must for anyone's first time in Paris. Then visit again only if you have to take someone with you and its their first visit. It will take a whole day, or two, but most people just see the important things and skim through the rest for the duration of the day. We stayed until they closed.

The Mona Lisa is without mention. Well, I had to say it somehow here. Prepare to be disappointed though, it's smaller than you think. The picture you take will not be clear because of the glass in front of it, and it may not even be the original painting. There will always be a crowd there. Both times that I was there anyway. Just be patient and make your way through to the front as people starts to leave, they inevitably will leave when they know that their picture sucks because of the glass, (I feel like Rick Steves writing a guide book).

The crowd (above) in front of the Mona Lisa. Can you see the painting?Here's my attempt, after taking 20 times.

There are other paintings as fascinating, like this one (below, in the same room as the Mona). No matter where I stand she still seems to look at me, directly.

Paris, France

A statue in the back of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.
Statue of Joan of Arc in front of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.

The Eiffel tower lights up every hour after 9pm.

The Trocadero, view from the second landing of the Eiffel tower (above).
View from the floor of the Trocadero. Of note, if you are planning to ascend the Eiffel tower to the top, make sure you stand in the correct line. The line is usually 300 miles long, and not all lines lead to "Rome". The first line that you first encounter is usually the correct one, if you were approaching the tower from the river Seine. The lines further back with entry into the hind-legs, excuse the pun, at least when we were there, lead to only the second landing, and you have to walk up the stairs. To be sure just trace the lines to it's origin before standing for 1-2 hours.

Europe through the D90

One of our second day in Paris is the Jardin de Luxembourg. From the Trocadero metro we took the subway to the Jardin de Luxembourg. The garden was to complement the Palais de Luxembourg, built by Marie de Medicis with a design to imitate the Petti Palace in her native Florence. Wife of Henry IV, Marie de Medicis was from a wealthy and powerful Florentine de Medici dynasty in Tuscany.
The gardin today is a favorite relaxing place for Parisians. I think there is more dirt than grass, and if you like sand blowing into your face than this is the place. Otherwise, there's a central basin of water surrounded by Statues of former French queens and famous women, including that of Marie de Medici (above).Palais de Luxembourg. The statue in front, the roman hunter and a deer, is a copy, like many statues nowadays, with the original in the Lourve, Paris.

Our first visit is the most recognized structure in the world and the most visited paid monument in the world.

Guilded bronze statues adorns the Palais de Chaillot, which houses 4 museums and a theater, Theatre National de Chaillot. Interestingly, most don't notice the arc buildings, for obvious reasons.

It was mom's first time, and we covered more ground than she would like. Our first stop, Paris... where mom's first sight, as if it will disappear by David Copperfield soon, is the Eiffel Tower. The inner highest quality wrought iron design of the tower is by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who also designed the Statue of Liberty in New York. It is the tallest building in Paris. The tower was one of many entries into a competition for an entrance arc to the 1889 world's fair. About 18,000 pieces of wrought iron weighing about 10,000 tons made up the tower.

Sacre-Coeur Basilica.

and of course we visited Sacre-Coeur Basilica, which sits on Montmartre, the highest land base point in Paris, and if you go up to the Dome of the Basilica you would be on the second highest point in Paris, after the Eiffel Tower. The church was dedicated to the Sacre heart (coeur) of Jesus. It was the site of the beheading of bishop St. Denis in the 3rd century, the head of which was carried to what is now the suburb of Saint-Denis. Two bronze statues in front of the basilica are Joan of Arc (above and left side of basilica) and King Saint Louis IX. The basilica is built of Chateau-Landon stone that bleaches to white with age.

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Victoria, BC, Canada

Mother still poses while trying to adjust her pants.

September, 2010
Today I have some time to contemplate on the journey of live. An article in JAMA about a surgeon becoming a patient made me think. It made me look back at the patients that have crossed my own path. I wish I can capture the paths I have crossed with my own patients, but that would be too numerous to keep up. One particular individual however deserves a mention, Mr. C.B., whom I encounter during my residency. In his early 30's, he was about my age, which made it much more difficult to give up on him. He was a brittle diabetic with widely fluctuating blood sugar. He was a difficult patient to treat not because of his diabetes, but because of his poor social support, or lack thereof. It seems that he never developed the maturity to handle diabetes and its complications. When I last left him I wanted him to be on the transplant list for a new pancreas. That never materialized. Sharing the journey with him taught me much about life itself. During our encounter, he had lost all his teeth due to erosions of his enamel, which I later realize was from too much carbonated beverages. He had lost the left eyesight prior to that. He had multiple admissions to the hospital, and although I was still a resident, I was called in to manage his condition each time. He was "my" patient, as everybody came to know. In the interim, he had a bowel resection from a perforated appendix on one of his hospital admission. His care was more difficult for others to deal with than it was for me. He was labeled as noncompliant. However I've learned that one still can't give up on a non-compliant patient. As if labeling him as non-compliant would made him more insightful of his disease and suddenly become compliant. "Non-compliant" was the medical community's ways of saying "there's nothing else we can do for you".

For me, I was always there to give him a hand, no matter how "non-compliant" he was.

Cancer patients have always been a challenge to take care. I don't think I can feel what they go through unless I go through it personally. The loneliness that I sometimes see in their eyes are at times indescribable. It is at times immensely disheartening to witness someone that have accepted their end. I can see the resolution in their voices and at times try to hold back my own tears. I have been through countless pronunciations of end of life. I hope that the redundancy of things will not make me forget the individuality of each passing.

One particular gentleman came in late one night unable to breath. A palliative nurse had called me from his home and woke me up from sleep asking me to admit him to make him comfortable through the night and then plan for nursing home in the morning. On arrival to his room he was very dyspneic. His neck cancer and associated lymphadenopathy with significant swelling had obstructed his upper airway and he was struggling to get air. He was profoundly short of breath and uncomfortable. I briefly spoke to the family of my plans, wrote some orders for pain medications, and onward I went to admit the next patient. Shortly thereafter the nurse informed me that the he had passed away. I returned to his room to find the nurse who had carried out my orders crying profusely. I reassured her that it wasn't her fault. I knew that by making him more comfortable would mean that his breathing may slow down. However, I felt rather lack of emotion at that time. Maybe it was because I didn't know the man. Maybe because I have been too often at the bedside. At that time I couldn't force myself to feel the way "I should have feel".