Not so gay Paris....

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  Paris, France
Friday, May 16, 2008

May 15, 2008

Thank goodness Mary met me at CDG, although we did get our wires crossed. She waited 90 minutes for me to show up, and I waited 90 minutes for her to show up, separated only by a thin wall...neither of us knew. Finally she walked around the baggage claim area to find me fast asleep in a chair, waiting for her. We took a bus back to Paris and walked to her apartment. As per my expectations, it was small, cramped and every nook and cranny was packed to overflowing with Mary's "collections". The entire apartment is 365 square feet and you cannot pass another person in any location. You must sit down or get out of the way for another to pass. If you do not shut the bathroom door before you sit on the toilet, you cannot do it afterward. The open bathroom door interfaces with the main door to the apartment, so you could (potentially) answer the front door while sitting on the throne

Mary & Me at her favorite Sports Bar, Paris

! LOL Hysterical!

We dropped off my things and I slept for 2 hours while Mary attended a previous appointment. Upon her return, we went to her favorite bar for a glass of wine and then to dinner at "Samsara" restaurant (what a peculiar name!) where we stuffed ourselves with Indian food and then waddled home. It was early, but I had a headache and Mary was clearly tired. The next struggle was sleeping arrangements. She has a bunk, but insisted on me taking the lower. Unfortunately, her junk covered all access to the top bunk and it took her about 30 minutes to give up trying to get up there from a chair, and together we moved file cabinets, tables, shelving and other assundry crap so she could access the ladder. When she finally achieved the near-insurmountable task, it was a noisy, ill-fitted mattress that groaned and squeaked with her every move. Her two cats, Suzie and Flavio, wanted to be up there with her and used me as the springboard all night long. Mary's apartment is a 3rd floor walk-up, next to a bar. At night, bar patrons have to go outside to smoke and the sound carried right up to her open windows. So, until 3 am, loud drunks were shouting, laughing and carousing below. Two-stroke scooters and motorcycles screamed by, and a dog across the street barked incessantly until the bar closed. I finally drifted off and then was awakened by the TV turning itself on. I heard Mary moving things from her lofty perch. I asked what was wrong and after answering "nothing" several times, she finally fessed up that she had to pee and could not get down the bed's ladder. I had to fetch a standard ladder from the kitchen and help her off the top bunk. Of course the reverse was true when she returned. I slept about another hour before the alarm rang with cruel indifference.

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