Odds and ends

Things I've been wanting to write down:

At Christmas, my goddaughter Z giggled whenever I said "bûche de Noël", but didn't giggle when anyone else said it. I think it's because I was saying the /l/ at the end of "Noël" in a non-English-speaking way.

The other night when I was walking back to my place late at night, a car asked me for directions, practically outside my house. The car had two guys in the front and two girls in the back, and they wanted to know how to get to the Eiffel Tower. I thought I had misheard them, but that's what they wanted. The Eiffel Tower is way the heck across town. But I thought it was sweet that they were driving from somewhere else to get to the Eiffel Tower at n in the morning, very romantic! Anyway, all I could tell them was that it was on the other side of the river, far away... and good luck.

O and I took the train back to Paris together from Saint Denis on Monday. You'll recall (or not) that O was the only one I even remotely knew before coming here, but she's been on maternity leave. On Monday she had the baby with her, a girl (but I forget her name, aiiee). She's maybe... six months old? She liked my furry scarf.

Yesterday I got a "Bonjour, beauté," as I was walking to the RER station in Saint Denis.

For the record, sometimes French women do get fat. And sometimes, a baguette does come with a bag. Really.