A whirlwind tour of the last few days

Haven't kept you up to date about my antics lately so:

Friday night I went skating in front of the Hôtel de Ville with N and some of her friends. Fun but the skates were dull and the ice was messy, so my back didn't last very long (I am still hoping it won't go out). But it was very nice watching all the people skating, with Notre Dame in the background. Every little while I'd do a circuit, and then rest and people-watch again so it was quite nice. After the skating we went to some Thai restaurant in the 3rd, and beautifully, there were a lot of Asian people there, always a good sign. Food was quite good.

Saturday shopping...oh, it all blurs together, my various excursions to various stores trying to fill in the holes in my Christmas list. But I think that was the day I went to Bon Marché, finally got the knitting needles I needed; walked back, looking through stores as I went, and eventually, once I gave up, ended up at the Bom with Js and his dad who was here visiting. His dad is very sweet and it was fun getting drunk with the both of them. We did move to the Rhubarb because the Bom was getting crowded. There I consolidated my knowledge of the barmen's names, and did not have a chocolate martini... unlike the last time I went to the Rhubarb, which was on a Sunday night several weeks back...that Monday was a bit of a slog after that!

Sunday, brunch with VH and like 6 of her friends at a place in the 2nd. Was a scene much like Sunday brunch in NY or LA: the place didn't take reservations, and so we waited outside for a long time, in the cold. The restaurant (Le Pain Quotidien, in the rue des Archives) is essentially a bakery, and they make lovely sandwiches, so it was worth it. But communal-style tables, and noisy, so I didn't get as much of a chance to talk as much with VH's friends as I had wanted to, and certainly I couldn't participate in the French conversation as much as I would have wanted, but I did make some contact with them. Quite nice; some of them had gone to MIT, all of them had spent some time in the states.

Had a drink in the 11th with A, who is up and going to Istanbul for the holidays! I brought him my Elementary Turkish book, which at least will give him some pronounciation guidelines; I don't expect he will be interested in learning about Turkish grammar, but if he wants to it's there. Since A is from Toronto, or as we say in that part of the world, Toronno, I asked him if there was anything I could bring him from Western NY. He immediately replied, "Reese's Pieces."

Today, among other work-like objects, I elicited from B a list of how to say things I need to say in French if I'm going to give a talk in French...did I tell you I'm planning to do that? It's a very basic topic, for a very sympathetic audience, and it will please my boss C, so I figured it was worth it to take advantage of this talk to try to do it in French, as a gesture if nothing else. Among other things I learned that "impliquer" can mean 'involve,' which is a bit of a mind warp, and "intervalle" despite its ending is masculine...

I have made a list of the things I think are important to do before I leave on Thursday. I guess I really must be leaving! Can't wait to go home and see everyone...