The Tyrant's European Texas Tour '07

Part of my vacation is to visit cities in Texas that are named after European cities. Or perhaps the European cities are named after Texas cities . . . who really knows.

It's my European Texas Tour '07.

In honor of celebrating Paris's release from jail, I took a roadtrip today to . . .

Paris, Texas



It was a quick trip. Turns out Paris is um, kind of a creepy little town. But, there are still stories to tell.

The highlights from Paris are:

1. Dairy Queen
I grabbed lunch at Sonic. But then I needed a bathroom. So I stopped at Dairy Queen for a pit stop. I walked in with my big sunglasses and my empty Starbucks cup to throw it away, and I realized after I walked in and everyone was staring at me that there probably isn't a Starbucks in Paris. I was clearly not from those parts.

I made it a QUICK pit stop.

But the best part of Dairy Queen was the two cops having lunch. They both had mullets.

2. Eiffel Tower
One of the reasons I am taking my European Texas adventure is because I like to take pictures of stuff. Just for fun. Especially random stuff. I take pretty decent pictures. It's fun.

So when I read that in Paris, TX there is an Eiffel Tower with a cowboy hat on it, I knew I had to have a picture of it.



Now, while that may seem pretty awesome and impressive, it actually wasn't. It's not really that tall. And it's hidden beside the Paris Civic Center on the outskirts of town.

But it does have a cowboy hat. And I have a picture of it.

3. Back in 1881, Jesus wore cowboy boots
The other big attraction for me in Paris was a cemetary. But not really so much the cemetary itself, although it is really old and kind of impressive with lots of huge headstones. But the Evergreen Cemetary in Paris has a gravemarker with a 12-foot statue of Jesus, wearing cowboy boots.

So of course, I had to have a picture of this.

The statue is from 1881, during Jesus' cowboy phase.







After that, I was pretty much done with Paris.

On the way home, I passed a golf course that was completely flooded from all the rain lately. It was just little hills with flags, poking up through a lake. I didn't get a picture of it because there was no place to pull over, and it was raining again anyway. But I would like to have seen someone out there golfing in a canoe.

I found where tractors go to die.



There were goats roaming amongst the tractors. They seem to live in harmony.

And, I don't really know what's going on here, but I definitely needed a picture of it.



It's apparently where this plane went to die.

Next stop: Dublin . . . Texas.

C.T.