Paris: Part II

Today has been another slow day before I leave this country for a warmer, less rainy destination. Fun fact: it has rained, more or less, every day since I have arrived in Europe. From my overnight connection in London, which required an umbrella; to my first exploration after getting off the plane, which included a lot of ducking under awnings; to today, which absolutely poured for about an hour; I clearly brought terrible weather to Europe.

This morning I was able to sleep in a bit, since Maureen had a fully French class and didn't think I'd be interested in it, so she came back around noon and woke me up. After I got ready for the day, we went to a supermarché to get pizza to cook for lunch. Remind me to go back there and buy a super cute, super cheap orange shopping bag with a lady bug on it. After coming back to make our lunch, we headed to a mall so Maureen could get a book for our trip au Italie. The first bookstore, similar to an FYE, was expensive, but had hilariously named French versions of American shows; House M.D. becomes Dr. House, which isn't as cool, and One Tree Hill becomes Les Frères Scott (The Brothers Scott). Oh well.

The second bookstore we went to, directly across from the first, was more like a Waldenbooks. Apparently Twilight is just as popular here, but the nuances of titles that deal with the phases of moon must not go over well, since they were renamed as "Fascination" and "Révelation" and the like. Patty said it best: "I like that Twilight has become Fascination...it makes Edward's stalkerish behavior sound even creepier." True statement.

Since nothing was found at either bookstore, we left the mall and headed back to Maureen's apartment to grab her camera before catching a bus near l'Isle de la Cité. We crossed the Seine and I realized we must be close to Notre Dame de Paris, when I looked to my right and it was RIGHT THERE. I have no idea how I missed a giant church prior to that moment, but ok. The bookstore we went to was AWESOME. It had all types of books, new and used, and it was eclectic looking with shelves everywhere and books stacked on every surface. I have a few titles that I'm going to have to look up when I get back to Boston; I must hit up the Public Library and get a card!

Our entire plan for the day had been to hit up la Maison Europeéne de la Photographie, which is free on Wednesdays. We had a bit of time to spare, so we first found a department store that sells Longchamps so I could check the price of a bag I want to buy, given my budget holds up. Having killed time, we walked back to the museum. Maureen had done a presentation on Henri Cartier-Bresson, who had an exhibit there, so we checked it out. My favorite of the 4 or 5 exhibits was definitely Gérard Uféras, who took photos of dancers backstage at various operas and ballets. I plan to Google image search for a few of them and potentially turn them into posters for next year.

For dinner we went to a place called Breakfast in America, which is a little diner in Paris where I could get pancakes for dinner. I don't know what is more exciting: having had them earlier today, or knowing I can have the rest for breakfast tomorrow! The people in the diner were a mix of British girls who knew the waitresses and French couples who clearly like cheeseburgers. It was a great dinner, but then we had to run back to the Métro in the rain, which was starting to really come down after having drizzled all day. By the time we got back to Maureen's apartment, it was completely pouring.

We've since spent the rest of the night in, so Maureen could Skype with her mom and I could attend to more pictures. Tomorrow will be an early day, since Maureen has two classes and I'm going to go to both of them. One is in English and her classmates are getting hot drinks beforehand, meaning a 09:30 departure time, and the other is a French language class and will end in a wine and cheese party, évidemment. We then have to go to the post office so I can send the postcards I'm writing, and then pack for Italy! This may include laundry and eating in, but perhaps other things as well. Then it's bed at 23:00 so we can wake up at 05:00 and catch the bus to Beauvais for our flight to Rome! I am so ready to channel Robert Langdon and hit up the Path of Illumination (I'm only half kidding).

Bonne nuit à tous!
Sam