Posted by:
Nightingale
(
)
Date: February 18, 2020 05:14PM
Soft Machine Wrote:
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> If you ever want to come, Nightingale, just drop
> me a line. We have surplus bedrooms and you would
> be very welcome ;-)
How very kind of you, Tom. If I can ever pour myself into an aeroplane again I may just look you up. It would be brilliant fun.
One weekend, which is all I've spent in Paris, obviously does not do it justice. My English cousin, who I went with, and I had only 2 hours to do the entire Louvre. We had to choose our top 2-3 exhibits to visit and bypass the rest, sadly. I managed to see David, Mona and Monet's lilies as we raced through the hallways.
Amazingly, because I'm hopeless with heights, I got myself up the Eiffel Tower as well. I'm so glad I did that as it's an indelible memory that I cherish. I had heard about the special light in Paris that attracted all the famous artists and I think I grasped why when I saw the sky from the Tower.
Back on earth, stupidly, I asked a street newspaper vendor for directions to the Bastille. I thought my schoolgirl French was pretty darn good. His reaction was hostile, yelling and mumbling incomprehensibly (although I got the word 'English'), and spitting at my feet. I found out later that, of course, the Bastille no longer stands. I felt like a dope. And wow, I guess Parisians have a long memory when it comes to something like those brutal days of yore in their city, understandably. And maybe also their differences with my ancestors.
I also picked up an awful bug there and had to find an MD in a hurry, clutching my little pocket dictionary to get through the appointment and come away with the correct medicine. Still, I managed to tour the Notre Dame Cathedral after that and then go on to a cabaret night where my waiter unexpectedly at some point ended up joining the nude dancers on stage that I hadn't been expecting. At all. When he came back to our table after the show to see if we wanted anything else we said no, thanks and were silly enough (and giddy with champagne) to start giggling uncontrollably. I never saw before, or since, a server person waiting on tables and then transforming into a nude dancer. I didn't actually think it was all that appetizing. A shock more like. :)
I remember seeing lots of dogs around and about. And drinking a lot of very good wine. Like you can't find any bad wine in Paris. Even if you have to order it in English. :)
Who knows. I might wash up on your shore again one day. I would definitely reach out to you. That would be a lot of fun.