After classes this morning, I was just leaving the institute when I heard my name called in the happiest, most familiar voice. Kendall!!!! It made me so happy to see her, and who would have ever known that we'd be walking around Paris together? Love that girl very much. Got to hang out with her and her buddies all day and show them my favorite place to get the most delicious salted-caramel crepes. Took them around to see a few sites, including the lovely Galeries Lafayette mall. They were as enchanted by it as I had been the first time. At the Chanel store, there is this nail polish that I have been falling in love with since I've been here. A light, sky blue. very fancy and french-looking. It costs a few too many feathers, so I of course won't buy it, but every time I see it I get that warm feeling that's like hot butter melting as it slides down a piece of toast. Today Kendall, her friends and I walked up to the Chanel counter and were admiring the nail polishes, especially this one. Something came over me and I started to paint my nails right there on the shiny, black, laquer counters. I was able to do two, fairly successful coats without anyone objecting. So there you have it, my nails are fancy "Coco Blue," and I lost no Euros in the process. "As a paying customer, I expect to get what I want." -Rose DeWitt Bukater, Titanic.
I did another of my assigned walks yesterday. This one took my to the 16th Arrondissement of Paris which is the most expensive. Interestingly enough, I found it to be boring and not very charming at all. Though I did get to see that big bridge from Inception, so that was cool. I also saw the mini Statue of Liberty--also cool. The artist Guimard designed a lot in this district--you would recognize his stuff if you saw it. Those cool metro stops you see in Paris calendars--that was him. I also went to the Museum Marmatton which had a lot of Monets in it. It was beautiful! I really like these assigned walks because they force me to see so many different things in Paris. Although i thought this part of Paris was less beautiful than the others, seeing all these things is helping me for a complete image of Paris in my mind and I am really getting to know the city.
The Notre Dame has become my official meeting place with anybody. Rachel and I have no way of communicating with one another once we part ways, so we say "I'll meet you at Our Lady at 18h00." Which is exactly what we did today. We had a group dinner at a quaint little restaurant in Place Monge, where we all had delicious Boef Fondue, followed by chocolate crepes.
After dinner Rachel and I walked through the lively Latin Quarter and bought some fruit for our wonderful homeless friend (the one with the two doggies) Robert. We see him every day, and have become such fast friends with him. He is so happy every time we find him, and the feeling is mutual. Tonight he asked us if we would like his young Italian friend, Angelo, to get us pregnant. He thinks that we are old enough to have babies and that it is better for us to have babies than dogs.
Paris has some of the most interesting smells I have ever smelled. I could spend hours walking the streets smelling bakeries, patisseries, restaurants with garlic, homeless people, dog poo, sewers, stinky cheese shops, fancy perfumeries. These are essential parts of the Paris experience. I become acquainted through my sense of smell. At home in Park City, I always know when we are almost to my house because I can smell the water treatment plant. In Provo, I know I am almost home because I can smell the duck pond. While I was staying in India, as I was lying in the back of the van, I always knew when we were approaching home because there was a tile factory on the way that had the strongest smell of burnt rubber. Here in Paris- I always know when I am almost home because several metro stops before mine, there is always the most distinct smell of milk that lasts till I reach my stop ----This led me to discover that wherever I am in the world, there is always a smell that lets me know I am almost home. I don't know what it means, but it has become somewhat of a comfort. The French have a saying "Marcher le nez au vent" (to walk with one's nose to the wind)---it means to walk where your nose will take you. This phrase has come to mean much to me during my life in Paris.
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