Birthday in Paris - 3 June 2001

I took a sleeper train from Madrid to Blois a few days ago. I've decided that "sleeper" is a bit of a misnomer. Perhaps lie-down-and-desperately-try-to-sleeper would be more descriptive. Anyway, I arrived in Blois at about 7am, called the local Auberge de Jeunesse (youth hostel), and decoded the little town's bus system enough to get there before they closed for the day. I took a much-needed shower in the outdoor shower shed. Despite a prominently-posted apology for their condition, the showers weren't all that bad. They were hot and they stayed on when you turned the handle. My standards have fallen pretty low. I met a friendly older Kiwi and made plans with him to visit the House of Magic Later in the day. This place was pretty fun. Lots of "Trompe L'oeuils". The best part was the Magic Show at 3pm. It's a magician from Los Angeles who spoke no French at all. Weird. After getting another great pastry and lazing about the park in the center of town before being chased away by a one of France's many obnoxious groups of teenagers, I followed signs to La Musee de l'Object on a whim. Turns out I was the only visitor to this small museum of sculpture made from relatively ordinary objects at that time. So a very friendly young proprietor shows me around the museum, activating the pieces that needed to be activated and explaining to me the significance of each piece. What was so cool about this is that he did it all in French. And when I didn't understand a word, he would patiently explain it to me, complete with mime and a few English words. This was like a museum visit and an intermediate French lesson all in one. It was great! Later, I decided to stay in town past the time the last bus left for the youth hostel. I sat at a cafe and conducted a sociological study of the kissing habits of the residents of this town. Everyone (that includes pairs of men for all you Puritanical homophobes like me out there) who knew each other well greeted one another with a kiss on the left cheek then a kiss on the right. There seemed to be some unwritten protocol based, presumably, on how familiar you were with the person, for deciding whether to give the person the two kisses, the handshake, or just a verbal greeting. I guess the closest thing we have where I grew up is the hand on the steering wheel which can be raised in greeting if the person in the oncoming pickup truck is determined to be "local". Having missed the bus, I decided to be wacky and hitchhike back to the youth hostel. What a way to practice your French! (yes, Mom and Dad, I wore my seatbelt while hitchhiking). I got picked up by an older guy returning from work in Paris for the weekend. He was very friendly and invited me to stay with him and his wife in Blois next time I came to town. What a cool country. The next day, I missed the early train to Paris and got coffee at the train station while waiting for the next one. By the way, if you should find your self in France, remember not to order un cafe, s'il vous plait. You'll get a small cup of depleted uranium with sugar. Get the cafe au lait or the cafe creme instead. Anyway, the late train turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I met a very interesting Kiwi couple on the platform. He is a Physics PhD who did theoretical work on light wave propagation around black holes and she was a well-read literature PhD. I really enjoyed their relaxed company and hope to keep in touch with them via email. They also recommended some reading material that I am enjoying very much in Paris. On to Paris: I had planned to meet Perrin at the Southern pillar of the Eiffel Tower. But as it turned out, he was on the same train as me, so I saw him in the train station and saved a lot of hassle. We did go to the Eiffel Tower -- very impressive -- and wandered around Paris looking for tarts. I mean pastries. He took me out to a small restaurant with excellent food. We hit the obligatory Irish Pub and shut it down at the early hour of two. I had a great time trying to argue with the cabbie in French on the way home. I thought he was overcharging us, but I realized, mid-argument, that the beer had impaired my math skills and did my best to apologize. Fun nonetheless. We went to the beautiful Musee d'Orsay today (on yet another free museum day, unbeknownst to us). Perrin went home this evening, so I am at the only other open establishment right now, EasyEverything. Midnight approaches. I'm going to search for some chow and rest my legs for the Georges Pompideu or l'Orangerie tomorrow. All the best, Joe

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