We had a difficult night with jetlag still being a part of our system. I didn’t go to bed until 1 am, and then had difficulty sleeping. George and I were both up at 3 – 3:30 hungry. We cut slices for the loaf we bought upon arrival in Paris – a cereal bread we love. Although it had gotten soggy, when sliced and toasted with a bit of butter and cheese it was delicious – especially at 3:30 am.

We ate, talked a bit, and then tried to sleep again. I heard the footfalls of our neighbors upstairs as they followed their routine — up at 8 am and off to school and work. I heard George, too, sometime around then, wondering through the apartment,. I heard him through that place where one can be — not quite sleep, but almost sleep — semi conscious, not fully conscious. It is a nice place – a place I love because I can go either way — wake up or go back to sleep. I love having that option. I love knowing that I’m bed and can enjoy my sleep state. It is too bad, I often think, that while I’m sleeping I don’t know I’m sleeping and thus can’t enjoy it. I can’t enjoy the feel of the comforter, its warmth and softness, and comfort of the bed – its feel which both together give me retreat from the day.

My bed – it is a place I like more and more. My routine is the same – ready for bed,
get under the covers and read or do a suduko puzzle. I often think I should be studying French, learning vocabulary, or doing a more mind stimulating activity, but I can’t seem to bring myself to do that. I want to relax completely and read or do a puzzle until I no longer can keep my eyes open.

Back to this morning — we’ve had our coffee, read email, touched base with ‘home.’ Have good vibes about Steve’s recent chemo — he feels well. He and Melody are planning to come to Paris this coming Sunday. We are hopeful.

George and I have lectures and concerts we are planning to attend.
Today we will stay home for the most part to rest. We have set up the electronic piano and I am going to prepare for tomorrow’s writer’s workshop.

Around 3:00 pm we bundled up and left the apartment. However, it was quickly evident that we hadn’t bundled up enough. The wind was brisk lowering the temperature considerably; we almost turned back. My fingers were icy cold despite the heavy mittens covering them. We headed toward Rue de Sevres, after passing the new fantastic structure which is a post office (we’ll take photos later) we turned up a side street to Rue de Cherche-Midi. A few more blocks and we reached our favorite hardware store. It’s the kind of place we used to have in the U.S., and can be found in some small towns, but the kind of “ma and pa” store HomeDepot has put out of business. One can find pretty much everything and anything one could possibly need for the home from paints, to wonderful little carpets for the floor, to dishes and light electronics, utensils, carryalls, shopping carts, baskets ; you name it — they have it! George found the special batteries we needed for our Bose speakers and I found small glass bowls made in France, each for only 1.40 euros.
The women who ‘man’ the store (no pun intended) are always helpful and pleasant (unlike at the smaller, less interesting hardware store in our immediate neighborhood). Despite being packed with shoppers, we entered and left to the usual “Bonjour madame — merci – — au revoir madame – bon journee” pleasantries. (Excuse the omission of accents as my computer doesn’t make them easy to add).

We meandered back up this wonderful street passing shop after shop of specialty stores of one kind or another – a children’s shop with handmade clothes and toys, several book stores, an antique shop with an exquisite tri-fold screen in the window ebony with sailing scenes in an Asian style, clothing shops — high end/low end – and of course, a tea house and several restaurants and cafes. Textiles and handbags in the window in another shop, JG – Johanna Gullichen, a Finnish textile designer. The owner of the shop and designer are one and the same running her shop for at this same spot for 12 years. Manufactured in Finland, her designs are geometric, unlike the more familiar Marimikko designs we know in the U.S. I purchased a shoulder bag in a black and white cotton weave, machine washable and light weight. Johanna spoke with us in perfect English and spoke in French with other customers. I kidded her, “So it is possible to learn French,” noting my own struggles. A tall handsome woman, she smiled, “Yes, I learned” And then she added, “…but it took me a very long time.” I thought, “I don’t have so long…..”

We turned down a different side street other than the one we came up and discovered a used book store which specializes in paperbacks in English. We’ll head back here on another day for sure.

Back to our warm apartment, we rested before heading out for dinner — the invitation was for 8:30 p.m. a reasonable time here in France. Although we’ve been to our friend’s home many times, I researched again on line exactly how to get there in the shortest time with the least amount of walking. Using the RATP web site it was possible – take Metro 10 to Sevres Babylon, change to Metro #12 , get off at Trinite and walk about 3 minutes! Total travel time: 28 minutes the web site correctly estimated. What it didn’t tell us that we’d be packed in like sardines on line #12 – — caused it seems by a confluence of factors — Friday evening with stores open for the ‘sales’ and a little slow down in train service.

Dinner was another delightful evening with friends, Veronique and Pierre and several other friends we know well from getting together other times at each other’s homes. Veronique teaches French language and culture to exchange students and despite a heavy work schedule she had prepared a wonderful dinner of fish with mushrooms, zucchini casserole, a cheese course, and a fantastic chocolate-pear cake which she made. Pierre and I tried our four hands at the piano playing a little of a Hayden theme and variations, but we were definitely out-shown by Marian the young daughter of Cosette and Jean Pierre, who after only two years of study could play quite beautifully. So delightful – so willing to play and provide enjoyment.

The evening moved along with barely enough time to catch up with all everyone is doing. This group of friends travels (as I think Europeans are much more prone to do than Americans) always with trips to Syria, Jordan, Italy, and Romania since we were last together. Next? Burundi for Marie Odile. Before leaving, Veronique invited me to join her and her maman in Versaille for a cooking class in a couple of weeks! What fun! YES! I’ll be there.

The evening ended and we got back to our apartment in good time before the metro closed down — 1:00 am is the bewitching hour.