Parislog 7
Mar. 9, 2006


Today I didn't get out of bed until noon. I just didn't want to. I guess that I have just been driving myself non-stop. I lied there and read a couple of magazines in French of course. After I finally climbed out of bed and had brunch, I headed off to the most expensive shopping street in Paris, rue Montaigne.

It was daunting but impressive. The first store that I saw was Valentino and the work in person was formidable (amazing). I was simply looking through the windows and was stunned by the detail of the pieces. The magazine photos just don't cut it. It seemed that every woman who walked past smelled of some uber-expensive perfume and was dressed to the nines. I was a little overwhelmed and didn't walk into any stores at all. Maybe another visit.

After I got to the end, I turned onto Champs-Elysees and was completely under whelmed the same as last time. It is so commercial. It is not very interesting in and of itself. I walked towards the Arc de Triumphe and was stopped by a Chinese couple that wanted me to buy a Louis Vuitton bag and wallet for them. They said that they could not buy another due to some duty restriction and asked me to do it. I was a sap and took the 900€ and went to the store where I was thoroughly embarrassed when the manager told me that it was a scam that the Chinese were perpetrating in order to use the product to make money off the brand. I felt like such a schtoop. I have been known to be gullible. I went right out and gave them the money. Yes. I thought about keeping it, wished I could keep it but of course they were right there outside the only door. Anyway it is easier on my mind to have it done with and clear.

On the way back another Chinese couple tried the same thing. Annoying but at least this time I knew what was going on.

On my return down rue Montaigne, I was following what must have been a model. She was 6 ft, skinny as a rail and dressed in obviously couture gear. Perfume wafted back at me. I wanted the jacket she wore. It had the coolest criss-cross of leather ties on the back of the whole bodice.

My roommate is watching “le foot” (soccer) right now.

Mar.9
Today is going to be a laid back day. I did my laundry in this little tiny apartment machine and now my laundry hangs on a rack on the balcony trying to dry out. It isn't raining today but there is a pretty solid cloud cover.

The radio is on in the other room right now and I can tell the difference in how many of the words I understand. It still isn't enough to really get a grip on what they are saying but it is definitely getting closer.

Oh, I forgot to write about the guy on the street that I met yesterday. I was trying to find a specific street and he asked me directions so I pulled out the pocket map and it turned out that he was looking for the same street as me. We chatted naturally enough and I did better than I thought. We arrived at the building at which he had a meeting and he asked me if I would wait twenty minutes and we could go for a coffee and talk. I figured what they hey. It isn't like I have a schedule, so I agreed. I waited. I waited. I took some photos. I waited. When it had been 40 minutes I gave up. I know he really wanted to hang out with me but he was with his client and in my experience that seldom takes 20 minutes let alone an hour. Too bad. He was an architect. Maybe I will run across him again. Next time I will know that in French 20 minutes means an unknown amount of time and say give me your number and we can meet later. Live and learn.