Springtime in Paris

France had a holiday on Monday (I still don't understand why they have the day after Easter off but not Good Friday), so I've fallen behind.

My second excuse is that the weather has been fantastic, and I had no desire to spend any time at the computer over the weekend.

Anyway, to recount:

Saturday morning I visited the other large market in Levallois. It isn't as big as our regular, but it also isn't as crowded. I didn't feel pressured to blurt out bad French and make other customers wait for me to figure out how to communicate. At the butcher's booth I encountered something relatively new for me in France. The butcher asked about my origin. Of course, this isn't that unusual, but in the states, I'd usually answer with "half Vietnamese", the American part being implied. However, in France I'm inclined to stand up for my American half more because this is the one that people tend to forget.

The butcher scoffed when I said "et Americaine", but he was still smiling, so I figured it was safe he didn't spit in my meat.

After stocking the kitchen I retrieved Dave and we took the metro to Gard du Nord to pick up my friend Adam. Adam is a close family friend living in London for a year, so it was a real treat to see him. After dropping off his bags at the apartment, we went out to Sacre Coeur and ate lunch on the grass in front of the church. Did I mention that the weather was fantastic? Perfect.

Adam didn't have a "to-do" list, so we decided to hit the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Elysees next. He also doesn't have a camera, so sightseeing with him is extremely fast. And educational, as he read us the history of everything from his handy Frommer's Guide. We're terrible French residents; we have no idea when anything was built or why.

That evening we welcomed Wally and Marion over for another French cooking lesson. Marion made homemade ravioli, and managed to get all the boys to help put them together. It was excellent, as always, and everyone's handiwork held up just fine.

On Sunday we did the one-day tour of the rest of Paris. We visited Marais again and went to the Picasso museum, which was quite interesting. We stopped at Notre Dame, despite Adam's dislike for the football team, and joined a huge throng of people touring through it. I was happy to be able to say that we went to church for Easter. Then the Louvre, Tuileries, Opera, and Place de la Concorde. The only thing we didn't visit was the Eiffel Tower, but decided that we'll save that for his next visit when he comes with his parents (hello Mrs. Winkel!).

Monday morning before he left, Adam and I walked out to a local cafe for a proper French coffee. We sat outside and watched people and birds and enjoyed the weather. We had some communication problems with the waiter, or else he was just annoyed with us taking up two seats for one coffee, because we ended up with three coffees and of course the bill for all of them. I wasn't confident enough with my French to argue, and Adam didn't mind drinking all three, but I'm afraid he might have been jittery for the rest of the day.

After Adam left, Dave and I hopped into the car and drove out to the Bois de Boulogne for the afternoon. We brought a blanket along and stretched out on the grass. Our intention was to read and do French homework, but all we did was talk and people-watch. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

I never knew what all the fuss was about springtime in Paris before this weekend.