Seh Vah?

Ok. I swear I'm going to recap Angkor Wat. I'm getting a wee bit behind on everything else, though!

My trip to Paris from Cambodia:

It's amazing that you can actually waste so much time in an airport without doing anything productive. Even with internet access available, what did I choose to do with my time in Kuala Lumpur airport? Wander. Eat. Wander more. Potty break. Look at magazines. Wander through the jungle atrium in the middle of the aiport. Watch the crappy movie playing on one of the tvs. Wander. Eat. Potty break. Hence, 9 hours passed like so many Saturday mornings for me.
I arrived in Paris unscathed, dragged my luggage to the bus to my train then to my rental. I used www.airbnb.com to find a place. I stayed in the spare room of a gay couple on the Nanterre-Prefecture line. It was $68 for two nights! Can't beat that! They were very nice, accomodating and spoke perfect English. When telling me about thier travels through the US, in addition to Chicago, New York, Las Vegas and San Fransciso, one of their destinations was Detroit. Who goes to Detroit???? From Paris??? REALLY?

(OMG. I'm writing this on the train to Lyon- first class, I might add- and what did I just hear? Not only is someone clipping their fingernails behind me (the WORST sound ever- seriously worthy of ALL CAPS!) but someone in front of me just FARTED. Then grunted like it was a real effort to push it out. OMG. Nail clipping again. I'm going to diiiiiieeee.)

Ok- back to Paris. What did I do for my two days there? Taking a cue from my awesome time in the airport, I wandered.... Along the Champs d'Elysees, St. Germain, by the Eiffel Tower and around every neighborhood in between. And ate... I had baguettes stuffed with cheese and meat and sweet crepes. I rode the metro. I went to Shakespeare & Co to buy a book and ended up staying for an authors' reading.

(OMG! How many nails does this guy HAVE?????????)

The author is Luc Sante and he was born in Belgium but raised in New York City. Someone asked him about being bilingual and if he felt differently when using each language. He said he is well-educated in English (a professor of photography and literature) but his French education ceased at grade school. He said in French he feels very working-class- he can shout out the window of a taxi with the best of them- but lacks the verbiage to think critically. He also said there's something about the French language that scratches an itch that English just can't. I loved that. There is something lovely about hearing French all around you. It's far prettier than the languages we heard in Asia... At least to my ear.

So, I am on the train to Lyon to stay for a couple of days with Stephen. I wish I had done the sewer tour, but it was closed. I wish I had gone to Versailles, but I just didn't have the energy. I wish I had explored other areas but I was just so caught up in the wandering. I feel pretty good about my second time in Paris even though I chose to not do so many things. Regardless, it's nice just to be somewhere with such rich history. It's a lovely city. I'm hoping someday to see it when it's not cold and foggy. (Although that seems to make it all the more poetic.)

I do love using my rudimentary French. Usually this sounds like: "Bone-joor! See voo play, zhay voo dray... uh... (points to a sandwich)... wee! Mare-see!" I don't know WHY these people automatically speak back to me in English. Are they not fooled by my mad skillz???

Sigh. Ok, notes from Lyon to follow!