Alban

I had lunch with Alban today, a French guy I met while working in Valencia. Alban worked on an America's Cup team, but due to the recent legal mess with the America's Cup, teams are temporarily disbanded and Valencia is full of unemployed nautical engineers like himself waiting to get back to work. Finally, he gave up and decided to move back to Paris.

I had planned to go to the Chinese New Year parade today, and intended to surprise him and drag him along when I innocently left a voicemail last week proposing lunch. But when he returned my call with a proposal for a restaurant "in good light" in Paris' recent mild weather, I couldn't resist.

So we met outside a metro station on the western side of the city and had brunch in a nearby restaurant. The lighting was indeed perfect, but the terasses were crowded and we ate inside.

Afterward we took a walk to the Eiffel Tower and along the Seine, to a bridge he swears is very famous from the film "The Last Tango", starring Marlon Brando. From the center of the bridge we walked along a footpath in the middle of the Seine, which I'd never seen before, and wound up at the miniature Statue of Liberty, which I'd also never seen.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and I found that Alban's cheerful company made me not regret missing the parade at all. Although I could feel his sadness in leaving Valencia and readjusting to Parisian life. It seems everyone gets in a funk when they leave Valencia.