Further Adventures en français
Minus money for my hostel, I have 30€ for the next two days. Which wouldn't be a problem except: a)I'd like to go out at night, and b)I don't want to feel like a douche for wasting my time in Paris. The issue is less going over budget (but I'm pretty spot on), but running out of cash. My hostel takes cash only. Anyway, where was I?

On Monday morning, I got up early to go to the Louvre. My plan was to spend all day there, getting the greatest bang for my buck. Especially because the Louvre is open late on Mondays & Wednesdays. Or at least so I thought. And so Michelle thought. But I got to the Louvre, and it turned out the late days were Wednesdays & Fridays. So I left the museum a little disappointed. Instead, I walked over to the Centre Pompidou (Beaubourg), and I spent some time there. I've come to the conclusion that I don't really like modern art. I mean, I can make myself spend time there, and I can be mildly amused, but I never find it that awesome. The exposition was interesting, though. Instead of focusing on a single artist or medium, they selected a theme of "the Big Bang," which emphasized the idea of how creation and destruction are intertwined. From there, there were subcategories, like "sex" or "war," then sub-subcategories, like "mirrors" or "empty," which occupied a single room. And there would be sculpture, painting, photogrpahy, video, music, etc as needed. It was kind of cool, even if a lot of it was innately off-putting.

After the Beaubourg, I went to the Musée de Cluny, which is Paris's center for medieval art. Its focal point is its set of tapestries, The Lady and the Unicorn, but there were a bunch of interesting things to see. The museum site was a church, I think, built on Gall-Roman baths. So in the museum, both are visible.

When I finished, I went back to the apartment to relax a bit, before going to meet Mosh at her friend's place. I was supposed to get there at 9:30; I walked in about 10:40. And they had gotten done with class an hour earlier than they expected. So I was really, really late. Part of it was bad planning/bad metro, part of it was this insane code that Mosh left me to get into the apartment building. The code was 12A48, and she required a different knowledge base for each number. The "A" was a throwaway, given as "alpha." But the riddle went like this:

• Janet's house #
  
• Edison's zip code, 4th digit
  
• alpha
  
• <Chinese character for '4'>
  
• second digit of your birthday

This situation's kind of precarious. It's only within the last few years that I've stopped incorrectly mailing Janet at house #2. The next two were fine. Then, the chinese. See, my chinese isn't great. Mosh had written it perfectly clearly, but I originally saw it as a box around a chinese '8.' Then, the second digit of my birthday. I wasn't sure if she was considering my birthday to be 0m-dd-yy, m-dd-yy, or maybe she meant birthdate, so it was dd? What was the second number? In the end, it didn't matter, because she incorrectly thought my birthday was on the 18th. And some woman entering the building let me in, even though I was clearly just mashing the buttons.

Anyway, it was Chris's apartment, and Mosh and Kyle were the only others there. They fed me some fish, rice, and chicken. Whenever I write about people, I try to assume that they will eventually read it. And since Mosh's classmates have her contact info, there's a chance they'll get here from her site. So it's not a bad assumption. Let's just say that Chris is cool, he laughs a lot, we don't know what his primary source of income is, and he has massive upper arms. He does mountaineering. Onto the next day.

On Tuesday, I apparently didn't get up until rather late. I met Mosh after her class go out, around 5:30pm. We went over to the Parc André Citroën with the intention of going up in a hot air balloon. We found a small patch of grass near the entrace of the park, where we split a slice of quiche and chewed the fat. It was a nice moment of laying back, staring at the sky, and discussing our lives. Sufficiently relaxed, we wandered until we found the hot air balloon, but it was closed for "storm possibilities," which was a bit of a crock. But we amused ourselves in a section of the park that I believe translated to "Garden of Shadows." The plant life was varied but always tall, and there were many grassy nooks, some with low square benches, perfect for making out. Some spots were clearly isolated enough that you could probably get away with sex. Almost everyone there was in pairs, so it's quite possible. Mosh and I were on a date again.

We went to the Parc Monceau, which had a popular jogging loop and many folies. Follies are bits of random decorations. So there was a small pyramid, many statues, a pagoda-like lamppost, and a stone bridge. As lovely and popular as the park cas, we both preferred the Parc André Citroën, which felt much less manicured. Also, not only did its flora hide things from sight, but they also hid sounds, making it feel quite private. It's admirable, however, how much use the Parisiens get out of their many parks and gardens.

On the way back to Mosh's apartment, we stopped at Bangkok Café, which was clearly not heavily touristed. We were even asked how we had heard about it (my Let's Go). Mosh started with a papaya salad, and I had a seafood soup. Then I think she had curried chicken, and I ate beef sautéed with Thai flavorings. We were ordering from the same set menu. For dessert, Mosh had fresh mango, and I had "black rice" with coconut milk. I've had the rice in Taiwan; it's a deep purple, sticky, and often used for desserts. I don't remember what I was told the english name was,but "black rice" was the translation of the french. We traded halfway through, and I think we both enjoyed both desserts.

The next day, I got up sometime after Mosh had left for class (again), and I went to the Louvre. I spent about eight hours there. My legs were tired after 2.5. I splurged on the audio guide, but I would sometimes snot, "are you still talking? omg," and walk to the next display. Which is why I thought th audio guide was better than a tour: self-pacing. Despite eight hours there, I didn't even walk past everything. I saw maybe a third of the museum with decent depth. And it was hard to remember that the building itself was also really another exhibit unto itself.

After a full day of gawking and sighing while sitting, I went to meet Michael (mee-kah-ELL), who I like to refer to as my French boyfriend. Which has two problems: he's 31, and he lives in France. But he's cute, and I've had a lovely time with him, and he really deserves his own entry.

I've stopped and started this entry multiple times because I needed to exchange dollars to pay for my hostel. And the nearby exchange bureau that I like is closed on Saturdays, so it involved a Metro ride (I have a weeklong pass). There's nothing like wandering around Paris, trying to get Euros, while intensely needed to take a dump.

Anyway, these are my two favorite places to change money, because of their good rates. And I feel good about recommending them, because I think the first one is the exact same one we liked in 2000. The first is by the Louvre, near the intersection of St-Honoré and Jean Jacques Rousseau. If you turn down St-Honoré from Rue du Louvre, it's on the left. No commission, no fees, and a tight split between buy and sell prices. but it's only open 10-6, M-F. The other place is by the St-Michel metro stop. Also commission free. Standing at the fountain, facing the Seine, it's on the left side of the road. As an example, they were buying dollars at 0.76€ today and yesterday. Yesterday, the Louvre exchange bureau was giving 0.785€. Changing $100, it's about the difference of a crêpe.

I might head to Père-Lachaise today, not because of intense interest, but it's free. I'll be sure to let you know.
- posted by roger @ 11:47 AM