Sunday, September 22, 1985, Paris, 11am
I am sitting here on my balcony while the maid cleans my
room. I did not go and take care of business matters yesterday. I decided to
give my feet a rest and stay in the neighborhood. I wrote post cards finally
and sat in the Jardin du Luxembourg while I ate lunch (French style).
I took a walk late in the afternoon to see Jean-François’
cousin. J-F warned me that his cousin
and his cousin’s partner were a little strange. The cousin was not there but
his partner was. When I explained my frustration at not having much non-tourist
interaction with anyone he pointed out some good places to go to meet real
people. I sat and talked with him for over an hour. I have been invited to
dinner tomorrow night but I think I will beg off. J-F was right, nice but a bit
strange.
I must start planning my journey to Florence, Venice and
Milan. I don’t know how much the train tickets will be or when they leave etc.
Must do that tomorrow morning.
Sunday, September 22, 1985 Paris, 9:30pm
I took a walk today through the small streets surrounding
the Sorbonne, working my way toward le Jardin des Plantes. I had heard that it is very nice and not many
tourists there. I figured that on a Sunday I would likely see mostly Parisians.
I noticed that most stores were closed along the way. The Jardin des Plantes is
essentially a botanical garden and the flowers there were quite beautiful. It
was very crowded with local people. In fact the whole city seemed crowded with
people. I am sure a beautifully sunny day in September brought people out just
as they would at home.
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| Jardin des Plantes |
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| Boats along the Seine |
The Jardin is close to the Seine so I decided to walk along
the quays back up toward Notre Dame. The quays were also crowded. Families out
walking together, people sitting and reading or watching each other, people out
in their boats on the Seine, walking their dogs, knitting – all very leisurely
activities. About half the people were families out together, the other half
seemed to be friends of singles sitting or sunning themselves.
Monday, September 23, 1985, Paris, 5pm
I went and got the information I need for deciding what
train to take. (Hopefully, Noel will show up at the appointed hour and I can
discuss my plans with him.)
I finally caught up with Alexandre about 1:30p. He said he
was going to do some wash and had to meet a friend (another Egyptian) to talk
over a problem. He invited me to go
along. I said that I thought 3 would be a crowd. He said not to worry since
they would be talking in Arabic. I said OK. We met Mustafa and while Alex went
to put his wash in Mustafa and I talked mostly in French with a little English
thrown in.We were at a café on the corner
of a busy street in Montparnasse. He told me that he has a friend in Pennsylvania and how difficult
things are long distance. We talked about that for a while. Alex returned and
then a woman named Dominique appeared. She was introduced to me as Mustafa’s
girlfriend. I was beginning to get the picture. Alex leaned over and said to me in English “She doesn’t know about the American.” I
told him I figured as much. He wanted to make sure I didn’t spill the beans.
Alex and Said sat there and discussed Said’s friend in Arabic, while Dominique
and I chatted away in French. (I did pretty good too!) They told her they were discussing a work problem.
Dominique, I learned, does not work or go to school. She has been here less
than a year from a province in Normandy I think. I don’t know how she lives. Mustafa
does work but I don’t know at what. I do recall his mentioning his “patron” a
few times but does he mean a boss?
In some ways it was very nice to be included by these
people, sitting in a café and three languages being spoken at the same time. I
found it interesting to be talking with these non-Parisian Parisians. At about
3:30pm things started breaking up and I realized that it was time for me to get
moving. I spent the rest of the day
wandering around Montparnasse working my way back to my own neighborhood. A
short stop in a café for people watching seemed about right while I reflected
on my afternoon.
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| Moi! |
Tuesday, September 24, 1985, Paris, 1pm
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| Flying Buttresses at Notre Dame |
Alexandre
and I caught up again last night. I had
eaten dinner at a place near Notre Dame and gave him a call as promised. He
invited me over. When I arrived at his
apartment he was busy cleaning up. It was messy but as I told him I was there
to see him not his apartment. He hadn’t eaten and asked me to eat with him.
Since I had already eaten I declined. There was a movie on TV that we watched
which for me was a strange experience. I was only able to follow half of what
was going on. The nice thing was that it was pleasant just to be somewhere
other than in a hotel room by myself with nothing to do. He cooked and ate
while I watched TV. We talked also.
Watching the news was interesting. The production part is
nowhere near the quality of American TV news. It was more on the level of the
Hagerstown TV station. The weather was exceptionally brief. I was surprised at
how many American references there were; American responses to the Greenpeace
scandal, the fall of the dollar, and Reagan talking about protectionism. We
also listened to some music on a Paris radio station called the “Sound of
America.” They were playing a lot of
gentle soul music which he said is his favorite. I told him I would make a tape
of the same kind of stuff after I got home.
When it got late I left and headed back to my hotel. I was
really pleased to have made a friend and had the experience of visiting a local
even if he is not a native Frenchman.
The weather is still perfect – no rain at
all and temperatures of 70-75 every day. What luck!
Tuesday, September 24, 1985, Paris, 7:30pm
About my meeting with Noel…. I realized that after I had
talked with him that he had his dates confused. He told me he has registration
on Wed the 26th except that I discovered that Wed is the 25th. I went to the
Place de la Sorbonne today at 11am just in case his days were right and his
dates wrong. He didn’t show up and I didn’t worry about it. I decided I would
go up again tomorrow at 11am.
At about 6:15pm I was sitting at the corner café sipping on
some Pastis when who should appear but Noel. He also realized that he had his
dates confused. He was here at 11am but didn’t think I would be. He’s having
dinner now with 2 friends and will meet me here at 10pm.
Wednesday, September 25, 1985, Paris, 9:10am
I had the most delightful evening last night! I went out to
get some dinner having decided to have a good restaurant meal. As I was
perusing a menu, this attractive woman came along and asked me if I spoke
Spanish or English. I told her I spoke English and she pointed to “poissons” on the menu and asked if this
“poissons” was fish. One thing led to
another and we decided to have dinner together. Her name is Gregoria Marrero,
she is from Puerto Rico and she is passing through Paris on her way to Berlin
to run in the Berlin marathon. She is 38 years old and reminds me of Kathie.
She is quite petite at 5”1” and weighs about 98 lbs. We had the most wonderful
dinner! We talked non-stop about all kinds of things. I thoroughly enjoyed
myself and wished I could have spent more time with her. However, I was
supposed to meet Noel at 10pm.
I was late returning here to the Sorbonne but he came along
about 2 minutes after I did. We had drinks with friends of his (all French). By
then I was tired and had trouble following the conversation. Still it was nice
to be included even if I was a 5th wheel. I dropped into bed pooped.
Wednesday, September 25, 1985, Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, 1:30pm
On this my last day in Paris, I find myself in a pensive and
reflective mood. I am also sad. I am sitting here in a quiet corner of this
lovely garden under a stand of chestnut trees, the peacefulness interrupted
only by the occasional falling chestnut or a passing car or truck in the street
nearby. The sun peeks at me through the leaves of the chestnuts. Two lovers are
seated off to my left caught up in the pleasure of each other’s company. A man
studies to my right occasionally glancing my way when a chestnut falls.
I am very much at peace here, but my sense of sadness is
nearly overwhelming. I don’t want to leave here. I came to Paris as a tourist and
discovered so much more. I think I shall always carry some of this enchanting
city around with me in my heart. This
is such a perfect place to spend my last few hours in Paris. I will probably
walk around for a while before heading to the train station. I may
take the time on the train to record some of the miscellaneous impression I
have of this special place.
Thursday, September 26th , 1985 Lausanne, Switzerland, 12:25am
I am sitting here in the train station waiting for my train
to Florence. I am glad that I arranged to get there this way. The TGV (Train à
Grand Vitesse) was an interesting experience. [Ticket from Paris to Florence - 574FF
or about $70] The TGV travels along about 160 mph and its cars are very much
like being in a plane only nicer. The ticket agent thought I was a little crazy
to take the TGV at 6pm to arrive in Lausanne at 10pm so I could catch up with
another train at 12:45am that left Paris at 6pm for Florence! It probably is crazy
but I wanted to try a high speed train and it gave me the chance to get out and
walk around Lausanne for a while. I thought I could get some dinner but fool me
– Lausanne isn’t very big and all I could get after 10pm was a fruit tart and
some iced tea.
My train will be here shortly. I am traveling “en couchette”
which will also be a new experience. I really should reflect back on Paris now
but I am not in the mood. I’d better smoke my cigarettes now since I am booked
into a non-smoking couchette.
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