Another new park and a night with my French friends
Today I had my first pangs of homesickness. I talked to Neil today when he was finishing lunch on the first day of the MS150, and I could tell he was having a blast, and I knew that I would've been there with him. That ride was the one thing that I really feel like I'm missing out on, and I really wished I'd been there. Not that I'd trade my Parisian experience for it, but you know me, I try to find a way to have my cake and eat it too.
Anyway, it was a beautiful day, and I headed out to do some shopping on the C-E and the Left Bank. I wasn't quite done with my errands in the mid-afternoon when I got a call from Majid, one of the metro guys, whose call I'd been expecting to hear the evening plans. He told me that everyone was meeting at Cyrille's and then maybe going out afterwards, but that he was headed to the Parc de la Villete (a huge park near the city outskirts,) and did I want to come? At first I declined, since I wanted to finish my errands and head home to change before going to Cyrille's. But then I rethought it, since Majid told me that it's a place that he really wanted to show me -- which meant he'd thought about it, and factored me in, thinking of places to take me. So I called him back and told him I'd meet him -- the errands can wait. When it's a beautiful day and a nice cute guy tells you there's a park he wants to show you, you go. He showed me all of his favorite places there, since he's been coming for years. We walked past groups of drummers in a bamboo forest and over to a huge green lawn by a canal, where people were playing guitar, playing football, or just laying out and enjoying the first really warm and sunny day we've had. Majid was close and charming and fun, and I actually wished that we didn't have to go to Cyrille's as early as we did. But when the time came, he drove me there with him, telling me that I looked fine and didn't need to go home and change first (despite the fact that I was wearing sneakers -- not discotheque-appropriate.) At Cyrille's (in St. Ouen) we drank and barbeque'd on his little patio -- his place is not nearly big enough to hold all of us. Majid took a lot of pictures, although he's actually in one -- Loic took one of Lizette, Fabrice, Majid, and me. I guess Majid and I were flirting, although with some of these guys it's hard to tell -- I get the sense, though, that it's not Majid's nature, as it it Loic's. (For example, Loic playfully asked if things between Majid and I were serious.) When it got cold and late we headed to a soiree -- not a discotheque, but a professionally planned party that feels just like a disco except the drinks are included with a big cover and the locations are never the same. The place was nice, but I was definitely underdressed (apparently sneakers are against the dress code for guys, but for women they let it slide -- thank goodness) and also a little bored. When the French guys meet up with other friends there, and it's so loud you can't make out any words even if you could understand them, it doesn't lend itself to great conversation. I did, though, get the "Majid's a really nice guy" talk from one of the girls in the group. Majid and I left early (which means about 2, I think) -- although we'd made a pack to go together, we hadn't agreed to leave together, and in fact when we were there we didn't spent a lot of time together -- but he was nice enough to drive me home. Bottom line: Majid is a really nice, sweet guy I'd like to spend more time with. Who knows, we'll see -- again, all part of the adventure.
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Quiet Friday night
Nothing too eventful. An average day of work followed by a quiet Friday night. I need these every now and again to recover from everything else on the agenda!
Three hours of French class -- ooh la la
Tonight was three whole hours of French class, from 6-9. Needless to say I had to leave work pretty early to get down there in time. And let me just say, 3 hours is too long. By the end we were all mush. They've got it figured out -- an hour and a half is the right normal length, especially after a full day of work. Je suis fatigue!
Cancelled the Israel trip
After waaaay too much internal debate, I cancelled my trip to Israel today. There's a decent business case for me to go, but it's not urgent that I go now, and I just don't feel safe after the weekend bombing in Tel Aviv. I know that Gaza and the West Bank are places where this stuff is expected, but frankly I thought Tel Aviv would be more removed from that. Shows what I know. I thought about cutting days off the trip, too, but I'm just not totally comfortable, even though I know that I'd have someone local with me all the time and I'd be put up in the Rolls Royce of hotels (with similar level of security.) At least the guys there have been completely understanding -- they couldn't have been nicer. Maybe I'll go another time while I'm here.
One of the funniest (saddest) dates I've ever had
Tonight I was supposed to have French class, but the teacher from another class came in and apologized; our teacher would be late, but she didn't know how late. After 35 minutes, I figured I'd waited long enough and took off. After all, I was going to be rushing to make my football (soccer)-watching date with Cyrille. I took a cab home, where we were going to meet before heading out to watch the game at a nearby bar. Cyrille showed up with wine, for which I thanked him, and then headed out the door. We walked to the bar, where the TV was pretty small, and Cyrille admitted he brought the wine because he thought we were going to watch at my place. I felt a little bad for misunderstanding, even though I thought I'd made it intentionally pretty clear that I wanted to watch in the bar, but my guilt got the best of me and I said we could go back home to watch it. I also didn't pick Cyrille for being crafty enough to fake a misunderstanding of location just to get me back at my place. I'm still not sure if I was right or wrong about that one. When we got back home, he reminded me of the rules and tried to teach me some more stuff in French...and then he started puttin' on the moves. These were classic texbook moves, too, and I was a little charmed until I decided I'd had enough and shut him down. This brought on a slew of apologies from him, which I thought was ok at first until it just got ridiculous. It got even more ridiculous when I learned the reason why he felt so bad. Turns out he is interested in another girl and doesn't want his friends to find out anything about us hanging out, for fear it'll ruin his chances with her. Talk about pathetic! Ten minutes ago you basically wanted to sleep with me, and now you're telling me that you want me to not tell anybody we even saw each other at all tonight!? So sad. Oh, well, at least he cut right to the chase -- I don't have to spend any more time dating him to find out if I'm interested. Next!
Holiday city shut-down, and a lovely new park
Hooray! Fixed the washer by opening the valve at the bottom and draining the water one saucer at a time. Hard work, too, since I had to life the front of the washer an inch to get the water to drain into the saucer and not flood the kitchen. At least my clothes are rescued, though. Man.
After that ordeal, I walked to H&M near St. Lazare just to see if they had anything fun. I was there forever -- I love that place -- it's cheaper and more fashionable than Old Navy. Basically it's kindof what Old Navy should be. Wish we had them at home. Turns out they were the only thing open at all, since it's a holiday here. Even McDonald's and Starbucks are closed. (Note, though, that my fruit guy was open.) All the closings made it really hard to find food for a late lunch, and I was kicking myself for not leaving with a cereal bar or something as planned. Oh, well. I stuck to my plan, even in the face of exhaustion, and dragged myself to the Parc Monceau, which I really wanted to see. And...I found where the really rich people live in Paris. Around this park there are lovely mantions, beautifully manicured streets, and blossoming trees. This is the type of place where you imagine a family lives in the whole building, not broken up into a bunch of flats like mine. The neighborhood was beautiful, and the park was one of the most charming I've ever seen. If you come to Paris and you have an extra day, or this is a return trip for you, make a point to go there on a nice day. It's worth it. It's got green lawns, fantastic floral landscaping, a playscape, a pond, lots of lovely sculptures, a waterfall...it's got pretty much everything, yet it's not big enough to be overwhelming. On a pretty day like today it's pretty much the best thing to do. Plus I found a crepe and Orangina for food! As luck would have it, the snack stand here is the one food option open today. Oh, well, any excuse for a crepe...
Lazy Easter Sunday
Today we got more strawberries and pastry for breakfast. The fruit guy near my house is super-friendly and nice, plus he sells the best strawberries you've ever had in your life. They're not cheap, but they're out-of-this-world fantastic. I now call him my dealer -- he's my fix for my strawberry habit. We ate on the way to the airport, since Sherry has a morning flight out of town. When I got back to park the guy, the parking garage guy asked me out for the third time for coffee. I told him (in French,) that I couldn't because I had to go to church, but that I'd go the next time. I headed down to Notre Dame. Even though I'm not Catholic, I figured I had to head to the headquarters in town for the holiday -- it just sounded more special than going to the American Cathedral here (although I'd be able to understand the service there and actually take Communion, but oh, well.) The church was incredibly packed -- it was standing room only, even an hour before service began, but it was worth it. The service was overwhelmingly beautiful. It really was. It helps, too, that I'm a sucker for organ. It definitely made the Easter feel special, though, and I was really happy with my decision.
Afterwards I bought lilies at the Ile de la Cite flower market -- it just seemed like the right choice given the significance of the day.
Then I walked all the way through the Tuileries Gardens and up the Champs-Elysees, where I made a quick stop in Sephora (this location's always open, never fail.) I metro'd home to find my washer broken, filled with water with my clothes held hostage inside. Since it's a front-load, it won't open until the water's drained and it's done with its cycle. Major bummer. Oh, well, I'll deal with that tomorrow...for now, it's take-out pizza for dinner...
