Wandering Downtown and Making a New Friend

I went to Institute tonight, but gost lost on the way, so I got there late. Next week I'll get there early so I can speak to more people. I just felt silly walking up to them at the end and introducing myself. Not quite sure why. But next week I'll definitely make a point to be there on time. Maybe I'll go to dinner at a restaurant by the Centre Pompidou since it's right across the street.

That's actually where I started my adventure tonight (Thursday night) after Institute. I walked behind the C. Pompidou where the Stravinsky fountain is and took this picture of the Eglise Saint-Merri.



I was going to take some pictures of the fountain, but a) it wasn't working, so it looked kind of depressing, and b) there was absolutely no light on it whatsoever and I had no tripod. Maybe I'll go take some tomorrow in the daylight. Capturing that depressed look of the foundain might be interesting compared with the normally lively and colrful display (and I say capturing in the most broad of terms. My photography skills are still in embryo, as it were).

Then I went past City Hall, which boasted a temporary ice rink out in front and a roof that was glimmering when I came upon it (much like the Eiffel Tower does evey hour on the hour).




Continuing on without any real direciton or purpose, I passed through the square in front of Notre Dame and decided to stop for a picture. It looks freshly sandblasted. So pretty. I loved that there was still a Christmas tree in front of it.


I managed to find a store that was open so I could buy body wash (will I ever remember everything I need at the store?), and I grabbed a baguette while I was there and munched on it on my way back to the Metro. There really is nothing better than a French baguette. Expect maybe a French lover, but I can't provide a comparison for you, sorry.

While waiting for the metro train to come, I checked the map on the wall like 4 times, because I had to make two transfers to get to the line that goes to my neighborhood, and I wanted to be certain I knew ahead of time exactly where I had to transfer. A guy standing near me noticed how often I was looking and asked in French if I was lost. I said I didn't think so, but showed him where I was trying to go and how I was planning to get there. It apparently worked, because he said that's where he was going.

I apparently have an English accent (gosh, I didn't already know that, thanks), and so he spoke to me a little bit in English before introducing himself (Y, from Algeria). We chatted our way through two Metro stops in a random conversation about ourselves in English and French. He is currently studying Physics at a University in Paris, and his internship is at a big Obsertavory here, where he is studying Saturn and its system. Whatever that means. I guess Saturn probably has some suns/moons/other things that are fun to learn about when you care about physics. He is also trying to pass the TOFEL so he can come to the US and study finance. The guy speaks French, Arabic, English, Spanish, and some other language (German, I think). Man. I'm completely jealous.

So, anyways, we're going to go out on the town tomorrow. My dad is, of course, freaking out.

Don't worry, dad. I promise not to marry him. I don't even know if this is a date. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

__________________________

During our metro-ride chat, he asked if I had a boyfriend and I said, "No."

"Why?" He asked--and he was completely serious.

Ummmmm... Okay. If I knew, then maybe I'd be able to do something about it, right?

How do you even answer that kind of question?