etc. etc.

Night of May 2, 2008

Saturday...in the park...

Julia's sommaire (or something fancy and French that means 'summary'): 

First, a few thoughts about last night... Yes, we did indeed make it out last night (I know, amazing given that we should have been passed out tired from the full day of not-getting-into-Versailles and shopping-for-things-we-can't-afford).  But we thought - second to last night in Paris, we deserve a good dinner out.

So I led Jenn to the heart of Le Marais neighborhood - through what probably seemed like "the hood" to her, but we actually ended up on a street with lots of bars and restaurants (I had to convince her this is where all the "trendy" and "bohemian" Parisians hang out).  It was after midnight, so we thought it was lucky we found a place that still served food.  We asked the nice English-speaking waiter: can we get a table outside, but away from all the smoke?  Of course! he replied.  He proceeded to put a table and chairs together for us as far away from the other diners/drinkers as could possibly be - we laughed politely when thought he was kidding at first (he wasn't)... the only way he could have put us further away is if our table was out in the street and we were getting run over by cars.  Ah yes, the designated American seating.  It was all good, we took it in stride and enjoyed our salad, sandwich, dirty looks, and ridiculously overpriced dinner bill.  (Jenn: Julia exaggerates.  She took us the long way there and the long way was through some rather deserted streets where everything appeared closed.  The only thing not closed was a fresh fruit stand with attached liquor store.  This "7-11 or Quick-e-mart" came in handy later that evening and today.  Let's just say I was skeptical of Julia's judgment.)

May 3, 2008

Today was a day of leisure, so... what can I say... we leisured.   Let's just say it began with croissants (they finally had them in stock!), continued with a bottle of wine at the park, then coffee on Ile St Louis and neighborhood shopping, and ended with many a caipirinha and champagne at a Le Marais neighborhood bar with our new British friends.  (Jenn: we drank for about 12 hours today...I'm spent.)

Yes, we had lofty goals for today.  Our last day in Paris, and it was our amazing luck that it happened to be the most beautiful day since we've been here - 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and every French person out and about (since, after all, it was still a holiday).  So we set out with an improv picnic basket - several croissants, pre-made sandwiches on baguettes, fruit, and a bottle of Bordeaux.  We lounged in the royal gardens (aka the Tuileries), then migrated over to the grassy knolls nearby, where we sipped wine from our plastic water bottles, as we laid out and worked on our tans with the other French folks.  (ok, so the other Frenchies were making out laying on top of each other in the park, which is, apparently, what you do around here).  (Jenn: we were extremely classy today.  We poured our bottle of wine into water bottles with sports tops.  The water bottles were like decanters, adding to the splendor of the wine we had the guy at the fruit stand open for us.  Julia and I were the only couple in the park not making out and laying on each other.  Instead, we worked diligently on our tans.  A creepy guy asked if he could massage our feet for no charge...that was a little awkward and I'd like to forget that ever happened.)

Some walking and shopping later, we ended up in Le Marais back near our dinner spot from last night.  This time we were in a new bar - the one that we spotted last night that was quite popular (we even heard catcalls and screaming from here last night, what do they sell here - crack??).  Apparently, it was THE local bar of the neighborhood, having been around for years (and, no, they don't even sell Absinthe here... we asked).  We were chatted up by a pair of dapper Englishmen, who made sure we didn't end the evening with our beers... or several caipirinhas... or several glasses of champagne.  Man, those English are evil and know how to drink!  They even taught us how to compliment someone on how stunning, amazing, [etcetera, etcetera] they are.  Yes, from now on, we are using 'etcetera etcetera' when speaking with someone, because obviously it's the ultimate form of flattery. 

(Jenn: The English use adjectives to no end followed by an obligatory "etc. etc."  John and Karim were quite a pair and we traded rhyming cuplets, completed each others limericks, and taught each other slang words that we had to incorporate throughout the night.  We taught them the verb "to haze" and they took it to heart and basically hazed us all night.  I don't want to recount the number of drinks I had tonight but I'm sure it was more than one too many.  Our early wake up call for our flight is going to come way too early.  A "few drinks and dinner at the local pub" turned into 5 hours of drinking and dinner at the local pub.  However, these two were quite a treat to meet and we hope to cross paths with them some day in the future.  They asked us to join them at a British cabaret, but somehow, I don't think that could top the day we have already had and a cabaret, as Simon Cowell from American Idol would say, sounded rather campy.)

So, it's the end of our trip, and we are packing our bags getting ready for an early flight in the morning... It is only appropriate that we end this blog with a poem of cuplets from Jenn that she wrote post-wine in the gardens this afternoon...

And so our last day begins,

In the city on the Seine.

A baguette and bottle of bordeaux,

We set out to where the Sun King's gardens grow.

Skirts in the warm spring breeze...no skinny jeans for us,

Sipping wine from a water bottle, being classy is a must.

Our trip of indulgences began in the land of grass and red lights,

We next ventured to the place where beer gets its bite.

Dining on waffles, pralines, crepes and cafe au lait,

Our hearts content could, but our figures can't stay.

To end in Paris, how ironic, how right,