Ask the average Parisian what he's doing this weekend, and he'll rattle off a full itinerary of plans, appointments, and dates. Dave and I have often asked ourselves when the Parisians finally slow down and relax. I guess the answer is August.
Anyway, yesterday I had one of those jam-packed Saturdays. I started early, rolling out of bed with the assistance of my alarm clock (a device no one wants to have to use on a Saturday) and making it to the bottom of the staircase and the entrance to our apartment building at 9:30. There I met up with my dad's colleague Katie, her sister-in-law Carol, and Carol's son, Zack.
The previous week, Katie and Carol helped Zack move into his new apartment in the 18th arrondissement as he is about to start a teaching stint in the city. After discovering that "furnished" still left room for plates, cutlery, and linen, they sent me an e-mail asking for help. And this is how I found myself on a Saturday morning trip to Ikea.
It was Zack's first trip to Ikea, and I do believe he was a little shell shocked. But between the three women we picked out a cartful of stuff to get him going, plus I found a new duvet cover and a pretty lamp, neither of which I needed.
After dropping everyone off with their loot, I came home for lunch and a wardrobe change. David drove us down to the south side of Paris and Cité Université for a frisbee game. However, it seems I misread the French e-mails about this weekend's game, because no one was there. Ah, what a waste of time.
Back home, I made some phone calls to find a dinner reservation and changed again. We met Carol and Katie in front of Notre Dame, then Dave parted to meet his friend Guillaume for dinner. I escorted the ladies to Le Comptoir Gastronomie, where we all had the never-disappointing duck.
After accompanying Katie and Carol halfway back to their place on the metro, I hopped off at Place Saint Michel to find David and Guillaume. They had just finished dinner and were about to take a walk to see some of the Nuit Blanche events.
Nuit Blanche translates to "white night" literally, but the term means "all-nighter". In Paris it is an annual event where outdoor displays of art, light, and performances are put on all over town. Dave and I saw a few events last year, but they were so weird and uninteresting that I didn't bother writing about them.
This year was also weird, and in the end we all agreed that we should have found an itinerary instead of just wandering around. We did see some showy light displays, though, and stumbled upon a really cool performance of Chinese dancers. I would have loved to have taken a video of it....if only I'd remembered my camera.
The same goes for photos of Carol and Katie, a picture of Guillaume, who we haven't seen in many months, and photos in general of the beautiful fall day we had yesterday. In the end, I'm sorry for the boring blog without graphics.
I did find this video on the internet, though. I didn't watch the whole thing, but it starts with the Chinese actors rehearsing.
We ended our evening with Guillaume over drinks at a restaurant outside Saint Lazare. Just before we descended to the metro station, we found the itinerary for the Nuit Blanche. But by then I wasn't the least bit interested, I just wanted to end my jour blanche and go to bed.
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