Darcy's Paris Blog

Lessons in eating and flirting the French way

My plan for lunch was to go to Ikea and get a full-length mirror – but I actually decided I kinda like not having one. It just makes me a little less compulsive, I spend less time getting dressed in the morning, and I just generally feel a little better about the way I look here. People here have a knack for pulling off whatever outfit they put on in the morning, and I’ve kindof adopted that philosophy. Which makes me wonder how people here stay so skinny – an often-pondered question. At lunch one of the guys at work told me he eats 5 croissants (or related pastries) a day. I’m sorry, but all of the justifications I’ve heard for svelte French bodies – walking more, smaller portions, not eating between meals – are completely bunk at those quantities. (I’m not sure any of those things are actually all that true, either, for the general French population.) I’ve decided that it’s just something genetic, and that I’ll try to suck up as much of those genes as I can while I’m here.

Got the car steam-cleaned at lunch to get rid of all evidence of the past owner’s nasty smoking habit. 90 euros is pretty expensive, but it went to NI – it’s a lot cheaper than a rent car for 4 months. Hooray.

Made plans to go to Israel next week, on Thursday, for a few days for work. It’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go, but I haven’t felt comfortable enough until recently. I got another raving endorsement from someone else at work – which makes a few people now – and a guy I really like from our UK office will be there, too, which will give me someone fun to spend the weekend with and will make me a little more comfortable.

Came home to a card from Mom – my first mail actually addressed to me, and from someone I actually know! Nice treat.

I spent a long time at night chatting with Cyrille online (one of the metro guys.) He’s very sweet, and fun, but not in the same over-the-top way as his chatty metro friend (Loic.) His way of flirting is very direct, too, and everything I say is construed to be something about him or something about the potential of us being together. Very direct, and cute, although it feels to an American like trying to play tennis with Andy Roddick – you gotta admire his skills, but it’s a little hard to keep up. Questions like: “Do you prefer me? (vs. the other metro guys)” and “Do you want a French boyfriend?” etc It’s a lot less subtle than the way most American guys flirt, but it’s kinda fun – at least you have some idea of where you stand – and we made a date for Tuesday night after French class. Should be fun!

posted by Darcy @ 11:56 PM