Hello from Paris!

Mmmm, dinner! I am safely in Paris and in for the night. Well, unless I decide to go post this from McDonald’s - there’s one a block away J I am starting off dinner with a pink grapefruit yogurt - that doesn’t have any added sweeteners. I can’t figure out why they don’t have any of those at home. At least not any that I can ever find. That could be reason enough to move here. And then there are Apericubes. Delicious little cubes of flavored cheese. I got tomato, olive, and goat cheese - three separate flavors. The stores here don’t all keep them refrigerated, and the package doesn’t say they have to be, but I’m pretty sure the customs people would have any issue with me trying to bring some home. Maybe I’ll try anyway? I got real food, too, don’t worry - bread, some dry sausage (doesn’t need the fridge), a carrot, clementines, an apple, a pear, and little cans of green beans that have a pull-off top. Oh, and dates (from Tunisia - haha!) Actually… I should probably go shower before I finish my dinner - it’s a shared shower and will likely be busy in the morning. Be right back!

There, that’s better. I knew my flip-flops would come in handy! So where was I? I guess what I did today should be next. I wandered, really. It was nice. I started off at the Hotel de Ville - near the center, and where visiting important people stayed WAAAY back in the day. I forget what it’s used for now. But I knew it would be pretty, and have lots of people around. It didn’t disappoint at all, and I took a few pics of the lights they had up. They have an ice rink there in the winter, but no skating for me. Too many people - if I fell, I’d just get run over. I walked around the area and into a few stores. Took a picture of a chocolate display at a candy shop. After that, I made my way over to the old Opera, a pretty building, and wandered over to the Louvre. It was closed by that time, but the building itself is still cool. There weren’t too many people there, so I got to sit down for a bit and watch two sets of Japanese girls trying to take pictures of themselves. One was more prepared - they had a tripod and were carefully setting it up, looking where it would go, then one stood in the right spot while the other made a few adjustments. Then the second girl would hit the timed button and go stand next to her friend to pose - some silly, some serious. The second set was a little less prepared. They had set a bag on one of the light-things (like the one I was sitting on) and had the camera on the bag. They’d both try to see where to stand, then one would stand in more or less the right place, then the other would make sure it worked, hit the button, and run over. It worked pretty well until they were trying to pose like they were holding the big pyramid. They couldn’t get both of them at the right height and the right distance for 3 or 4 tries. Finally, once they squatted down REALLY low, they finally seemed to get what they wanted.

After that I walked through the gardens right there and found a giant Christmas market! The Christmas markets are really sort of goofy - lots of gifts, supposedly from different countries and regions, some are cool, some are really odd, and then somewhat over-priced food. Mulled wine, sausages, crepes, waffles, candy… I didn’t go through too much of it because it was getting sort of dark, and I wanted to be sure to get back before the grocery store closed. If my feet aren’t dead tomorrow after the museum I’ll go back J Goofy things are much cooler in other countries.

These dates are very good. I remember last time they tasted pretty much the same as in Tunis. But they are WAY better than the ones I’ve been having at home. I am still opening everyone and checking it before I eat it, though. Can’t be TOO careful with Tunisia dates….