The Left Bank Continued

Ahh....I have followers!  I was starting to wonder if these posts should just be long emails to Jen.  After all, she has to read them and love them.  She's obligated.  My mom would be too if she knew what a blog was, or the internet for that matter.

Yesterday was all about wandering the Left Bank. Now that I know the walking path and have my landmarks situated appropriately, I am not getting lost quite so much.  I started my day with petit dejeuner (bfast) at Le Pain Quotidien.  It was recommended by my apartment owners and they seem to have great taste so far.  A bit about the owners of this Adorable Paris Apartment (capitalized b/c that is their actual name of the place on VRBO)   The owners are B. Ruby Rich and Mary Peelen from San Francisco.  I found this place by trolling through VRBO, not through any connections.  I believe Ruby and Mary are a couple, they have the same home address and it's SF and all....  I googled Ruby and found out that she is a prominent feminist film theorist and is a professor.  Fancy that, I just found them by chance.  OK, back to my day.  Le Pain Quotidien is also in the NY - I recognized the pretty ashy gray/white washed out Shabby Chic-y look of the shop.  This is considered kind of a health food place and there were folks there eating lots of greens and quinoa.  I sat next to two beautiful and stylish Japanese ladies probably in their 30s.  And when I say sat next to I mean practically sat on top of.  The Paris restaurants shove their tables so close together because 1.  The people are smaller and 2.  They need to make the most of the precious real estate.  It is kind of like NY but amplified.  The Japanese ladies were speaking to each other in Japanese of course.  I was picking out words I understood and strung together a scenario they were discussing about having friends in Paris.  I kind of wish I wasn't listening so intently because then I started to respond to the waiter in Japanese instead of French.  All of my partially understood languages were running together in my brain and coming out as Frenganese.  So now my table neighbors know that I understand at least some of what they are saying and my waiter is confused.  Thank goodness I was done and ready to go on my way.

I saw several flyers up around the news stands with the following statement:  "Ben Ladin something something something parle de France".  Meaning Bin Laden speaks about France and yes, they call him Ben.  That was not a typo.  I read this just as I was passing the crowded French ministry building with multiple security points and I did have a moment of fear.  As soon as I walked past the fear was gone but I was wondering what Bin Ladin was saying....I found out later that he released a tape where he calls for the French army to leave Afghanistan.  Along with a few threats to the French.  Oh, and the tape has been verified.  Great.  I also watched the news of the explosive materials sent from Yemen to the US.  I wonder if this is going to be what it's like the rest of our lives now.  Will we talk to future generations about the good old days when we lived w/o terrorist fear?

I wandered through the gorgeous windy streets between St. Germain and the Seine.  I visited Rue de Buci which is in a very old part of Paris and has a bevvy of beautiful shops.  I went to a papeterie (paper shop) and found a great souvenir for Chelsea - she will love it.  I also found a little something for my pals Annie and Sarah and a few things pour moi.  I ended up on a little street that Jen and I were on before where there are several fondue restaurants.  I remembered it fondly and thought it would be fun to come back when Reese is here.  She is going to be so lucky b/c I will have already made all the rookie mistakes by the time she gets here.  She will be able to get to and fro so easily....  I stopped at a lovely seafood bar for lunch and had my first taste of French french fries.  Delicieux!  I visited the Taschen book store which is really more like a gallery.  I also found a small jar of pimente d'esplette which is a dried mild/sweet pepper that is very expensive back home.  I loved finding it in a small jar to ensure freshness - and it was cheap!

My walk home was direct - I knew where I was going!  I ended up taking a street to the Seine that was lined with tons of art galleries.  What a treat!  I was tired from the day and thought it would be a good night to do some laundry.  You have to plan to do laundry here because you have to actually turn the machines off when they are done.  They don't turn off automatically and you can't leave them running due to the poor venting in the old bldgs.  I don't know if this is just my washer and dryer or if it's a French/European thing.  I am so used to doing laundry along with a zillion other things at the same time.  Here, you have to be conscious and present.  I know there is a lesson in there somewhere and I hope to have it down by the time I leave lovely France.