Sunday, October 31st
Overheard in the breakfast room at the Leveque (woman in her mid-50s with big hair and a heavy Texas drawl speaking to group of traveling companions):
“My 80-year-old parents, who are, might I add, more Internet savvy than I am, have not checked in with us once! I mean, they are out there, traveling around, doing God-knows-what and not taking two minutes to post an update on Facebook or Twitter. They could be lying in a ditch dead somewhere and I would not know about it” (and after a brief pause) “not that there would be anything wrong with that at this point….”
I get a good chuckle from that last comment and when she sees me snickering, says, “Oh, you have those parents, too?” More chuckling and eye-rolling as we all tacitly agree that parents can quite effectively and with very little effort, ruin your life. I briefly toyed with the notion of interjecting that I was raised by drunken gypsies, but decide to keep that bit of information to myself.
We decide to return to Vanves to check out the flea market vendors we missed yesterday. Encouraged after the previous days’ learning curve of negotiating in French, I become bold and sassy with the vendors, pretending like I only have these few Euros (holding out the coins in my hand) and walking away if they won’t make a deal. ALL of them were willing to deal when I pulled that “C'est la vie” stunt, and I was giddy with acquisition excitement.
Later, since it is such a mild evening, we take a stroll by the Seine, listening to street musicians and snapping photos. It’s Halloween back in the states, but there is no sign of it here except for one couple in costume who appear to be heading for a party and one little novelty shop with masks and hats in the window. Quite a different focus than the traditional Halloween festivities back home where people seem ravenous for any excuse to dress up like hookers and pimps and indulge in massive quantities of alcohol and/or sugar.
I notice that there are posters all over town advertising the Jackass 3D movie premier. Apparently, it’s the only American film being promoted here which makes me wonder if this is why we (as a nation) are regarded as the large, immature, bully children on the playground.
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