After the CNN Behind the Scenes tour I grabbed some lunch (which turned out to be the worst sweet and sour chicken (?) I have ever eaten) from a Chinese place in the food court, bought some souvenirs from shops in the atrium and then hustled out to catch the train to my next stop, the High Museum of Art.

The High (as Atlantans call it) had two specific exhibits I wanted to see; Louvre Atlanta: Kings as Collectors, comprised of more than 30 works assembled during the reigns of Kings Louis XIV and Louis XVI of France and Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990 - 2005, an exhibit of 175 photographs Leibovitz created on assignment as a professional photographer, as well as personal photographs of her family and close friends.

Ironically (but not surprisingly), there is no photography allowed in the museum.

I arrived in time to take the one hour guided tour at 1pm so I could get an overview of where everything was in the museum and then spent another hour and a half just strolling through and enjoying the exhibits I came to see and other art on display. I was a little disappointed that they only had one Monet painting on exhibit, “Autumn on the Seine”, but since I was fortunate enough to have been at his home and garden just 2 months ago I shouldn’t grouse too much. The Louvre exhibit was beautiful and reminded me of my several visits to the Musée du Louvre in May.

The Annie Leibovitz exhibit was spectacular and easily the most crowded part of the museum’s exhibits. The exhibit was composed of both fully processed works and, perhaps even more interesting, proof shots. Ms. Leibovitz is truly an artist with a camera, carefully posing her subjects with their individual personalities in mind in what she is striving to capture. This famous photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono attempts to show the nature of this famous couple’s love and relationship. Tragically, this photo was taken the morning of December 8, 1980; at approximately 11pm that night Lennon was shot and killed outside his home.

After Atlanta, the exhibit moves to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. from October 13, 2007 through January 13, 2008 and then on to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco from February 9 through May 11, 2008. If you’re in either of those places during those times, I highly recommend this exhibit.

Leaving the High I got back on the train and made my way to Underground Atlanta. I wish now I hadn’t wasted my time.

Underground Atlanta used to be the street level for this section of town, back in the days when the train ran through it. In the 1900’s with new-fangled automobiles and an ever-increasing pedestrian population causing the streets to be dangerously crowded, the city decided to build viaducts, not to rise above bodies of water but to rise above the crowded railway street.

These days, Underground Atlanta is (this is my opinion) a horrible mutation that resembles a shopping mall with heavy flea market influences. There are shops on each side of the street and the street itself is filled with cheap kiosks that appear to have reproduced as prodigiously as rabbits. But I’m probably the one out of sync on this because the place was incredibly crowded and it was only 4 o’clock in the afternoon. I kept a hand on my wallet because pickpocketing would be so very easy in this atmosphere. I’m told by residents and friends that it is a very enjoyable place at night when the clubs open up and music acts are performing, but I’m not sure I’d enjoy it with even more people crammed in the area. Plus, the place smelled bad. I don’t even know how to describe the odor that was constant during my walk through, but it wasn’t pleasant by any means.

Here I am (somewhere, just not sure where) on the street level above Underground Atlanta where you will find several of those white archways letting you know that beneath your feet is the world famous Underground Atlanta. Like I said, I wish I hadn’t wasted my time.

Anyway, this Sunday I’m looking forward to my first Major League baseball game when I go to see the Atlanta braves play the Pittsburgh Pirates at 1:05pm. I already have my ticket and, if you want to watch for me, I’m in the field seats that are just beyond first base, 18 rows up. Of course I won’t have my mask on, so you won’t recognize me anyway. Still and video cameras are allowed so I’m hoping to get some good photos and a little bit of video, besides enjoying the game.

And finally, before I go I’ve been meaning to mention that not only is former WFTV reporter Ross Cavitt here at the Atlanta ABC local affiliate, but so is Jodie Fleischer.

A couple of friends have asked how the 10th Wedding Anniversary celebration went, so I guess I should post a little about it.

When Blog Girl awoke on Friday morning I had a nice card waiting for her, but that was all…for the moment.

At about 11am the dozen red premium (premium translates to about $30 added to the price) roses I had asked to be delivered at 9am finally arrived at her office, surprising her and making her the envy of the rest of the staff.

I have a gripe about florists (at least the last 2 I’ve used in the area where Blog Girl works) but this is not the place for that rant. Maybe some other time.

Blog Girl and I each got off work a little early to come back to the Blog Cave and get “freshened up”, as she likes to say, before heading out to a 5:50pm (that’s important) dinner at EPCOT.

Yes, EPCOT.

If you’re unfamiliar with EPCOT, that might seem like an odd choice of location for a 10th Wedding Anniversary dinner. But in the World Showcase section of EPCOT there is the French Pavilion (it even has a scaled-down version of the Eiffel Tower) and in the French Pavilion is a popular French restaurant named Les Chefs de France. Although 5 weeks after our anniversary we would be in the country of France itself (4 weeks now), we thought it would be fun to “visit” a little early by having dinner in a French restaurant.

We arrived a little early for our 5:50pm dinner (that’s important), so we went over to a little theater where they show an 18 minute film about France. Amazingly, in all the years I’ve been going to EPCOT, I’d never known the theater was even there, or what it showed. The semi-circle shape of the seats and screens gives you the impression you are flying through the sky over landmarks, castles, rivers and countryside. It only served to increase my desire to visit this beautiful country.

We arrived at the restaurant at approximately 5:45pm (that’s important) and as I stepped up to the podium where the Maitre’De was standing and greeted him with an excellent (if I DO say so myself) “bon jour”… he actually laughed and then stifled it. I asked him “What?” but he just kept looking down at the reservation book and, while smiling, told us it would be a few moments before our table was ready. I’m still not sure why he laughed. I used the proper form of greeting (if it had been after 6pm, and thus in the evening, the proper greeting would have been “bon soir”) and my pronunciation was decent, I thought. It’s not like I said “Bone Jore” or something like that.

Anyway, the meal was good, the service was excellent, the company was perfect and I discovered I don’t care for Creme Brulée.

After the meal we walked around the rest of the World Showcase, buying some things for Blog Girl at the Moroccan Pavilion and an Easter present for Mikey at the Japanese Pavilion before returning home around 8:30.

More about our Anniversary Celebration tomorrow.

April is Autism Awareness Month. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders to be about one in every 150 children.

Man, here I’ve been busting my butt trying to learn to speak French so that I don’t order squid testicles for dinner some night and all I really need to do is learn how to cop the Parisian Attitude! Do I have to have a cigarette dangling out of the corner of my mouth, or would that be over the top?