The American Library in Paris said its goodbyes to a great employee last Thursday, which meant we got to have 'company' drinks at a wine bar around the corner from the library called Sancerre. Seeing as that we work in a library, I don't get to do a whole lot of socializing with my coworkers, but this changed. I got to see that other people are just as snarky and sarcastic as me, some people are much more compassionate and patient, and others I was okay having not known about before. This wasn't a super exciting get together, but I like to tell people about free drinks and what not, so I am :-P Oh...wait...I did officially learn the word for 'peanuts' at this event, and that is pretty monumental since my French is NOT coming along like I thought it would. Cacahuetes...that's the word, btw.
Friday was a gray, but not cold day, so it was a perfect day to check out some close my sites. Liz and I decided that we should check out the Mosque in Paris. It was supposed to be a twenty minute walk from my apartment, but it turned out to be a little longer, since we took an educational detour, locating the Jardin du Plantes and the Museum of Natural History. We finally arrived outside this BEAUTIFUL Mosque and were so excited to enter the gardins when we saw the sign that said "No visits Friday." We looked this place up ahead of time and everything and the website happened to omit this little detail :( We were more than a little disappointed. We made the best of it though and ventured by the menagerie in the Jardin du Plantes. Rather than paying the 8 euro entry fee (which we intend to do on a day the sun is out) we successfully saw red pandas, ostriches, and some bearlike animal for free :)
We decided to try to have a cheap, leisurely Friday night at home...since my apartment is only comfortable for one person to hang out in and maybe two to sleep in, this meant going to the burbs. We made an amazing Italian dinner and watched episodes of Law and Order SVU while cuddling her family's two cats, Rose and Violet. It was the best way to spend a gross evening.
Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day, which we spent outside taking in the sun. We first went to an open air market in Houilles, the suburb Liz lives in, and got to check out all the 'deals.' It was pretty cool, and we only got hassled by one guy. He was convinced that we both needed scarves with either animal print or star patterns. Post shopping we dug out some lawn chairs, drank sweet tea, and relaxed in the backyard in the bright warm sun. It was amazing. Spring had finally arrived....so I thought...more on this later, however.
As is our ritual, Saturday night was to include a pub crawl. This time it was more or less in my neighborhood, so that meant there was to be no mishaps with metros, or getting lost, etc. Too bad there is always room for other kinds of trouble. We successfully pre-gamed and smuggled booze on our persons this evening; Liz had a beer in her bag and I had a coke bottle of wine in mine (classy, we know), and we made it to the overcrowded, Canadian pub first stop at the perfect time...time to leave. The second spot was much roomier, and it was here that we got to meet some interesting characters.
1) The American that makes people hate Americans...aka Sorostitot Bonehead aka Slut.... this young lady reigns from the state of Florida, where she told us (within the first 15 seconds of conversation) that her family was wealthy and owned more slaves than the president at the time (over 500) and that she was proud of it. As you can imagine this astonished everyone in the circle. She sought redemption and understanding from Liz and I upon learning that we were from 'the south,' but we quickly told her she was mistaken and that that IS NOT a normal or acceptable conversation topic. She then went on to tell us how she found anyone with a little authority attractive and that she now wanted to get with the pub crawl leader. I mean really? As you can imagine, I promptly removed myself from her presence. Only to find myself in conversation with another character...
2) The Macho, Know it All, Smooth Talking Looker. This fellow is from Canada and has been living in various places promoting, teaching, and practicing MMA. Don't get me wrong, he was an attractive guy, but he dropped more names, places, and bullshit than Wikipedia. He turned down a free shot because he was 'running a marathon tomorrow,' yet continued to get wasted on beer and then vodka cranberries. I mean, really? Come on...He also had the nerve to say that the previously mentioned young lady could not possible be telling the truth when she said she studies ballet because her body wasn't muscular enough. Yeah, since she is the liar here...again...I didn't stay in this circle long...
By the third location Liz and I found ourselves with our now friend Mark (who we met at previous crawls), a Moroccan, and a very attractive doctor (originally from upstate NY, but working for Doctors Without Borders in Korea). It was in this third bar that things got to be a little shady, yet equally awesome. The awesome parts included meeting and speaking Spanish with the doctor, finding relatively cheap drinks, trying tequila flavored beer, watching a bartender put on a hotdog costume, and getting to sing popular 80s songs. No, I really can't elaborate, sorry. I will tell you that during this pub crawl everyone decided to rebel against the cheesy yellow name tags and adopt a new identity. At this bar, however, we chose to swap with the wrong gentleman and he used his towering stature to get his name tag back. I literally found myself running through the bar to get away from him. He eventually gave up his drunken pursuit, and I was relieved. I didn't quite get away unscathed, however, because by this time my 3.5 inch Steve Madden boots had not only murdered my feet, but had also picked up a shard of glass from a previously shattered liquor bottle, which I decided I should remove...thus, cutting my finger :( Fortunately I had a Mickey Mouse bandaid in my purse. (see shoe and bandaid below)
We left this bar after taking some apple flavored shot and walked what felt like a billion blocks to our final destination. It was 1:30 at this point, and as Liz and I learned the hard way, time for Metro riders to depart. The doctor and the Moroccan were the ones with transportation needs, and we were sad to see the doctor go, but Mr. Morocco was getting on our nerves by being overly chatting and handsy. Rather than saying our goodbyes to our doctor friend and heading to the last bar, our friend Mark invited us back to his place. Fortunately nature called Mr. Morocco and we were able to make a quick getaway while he was answering. So, we left.
This was the point in the evening where I decided it was a good idea to walk around Paris barefoot...well, not barefoot, but in just tights. When I saw my black feet the next morning I just laughed. We arrived at Mark's apartment just in time to almost watch a brawl at the bar next door. Once we made it safely inside we opened a couple of bottles of wine and played the best American board game ever....Twister. After we had contorted ourselves in unspeakable positions we opted to just discuss all the important issues in the world, like couch surfing, open relationships, etc. ;)
Eventually it was time to call it a night and Liz and I went home. During the short walk we recounted parts of the evening and hypothesized the hour. I thought it was around 3, she hoped earlier. Imagine our surprise when the clock said 4:30 when we got home. Oops....
Oh well, I didn't have to be at work until 1:00, and we had a pretty fun night.
open relationships eh ;-)
ReplyDelete