This has a really corny ending.

1. I discovered today that the bookshelf above my bed has some books that are nearly 300 years old on it. Among them are a 1st edition Jules Verne (not quite as old) and some other French authors. I plan on inspecting more carefully when I have the time.

2. I can cook! I learned how to make pasta (i.e. boil water, put pasta in boiling water), so I had my first non-cereal, non-sandwich meal in about a week last night. Tonight, Sara and Tanya (two kids in the Brown program) came over and I made the same dish (pasta, with deli chicken, tomato sauce, and bell peppers). They brought wine and fondue supplies. We had a fantastic dinner and a very fun stain-fighting adventure with Clara's tablecloth afterwards.

3. I've been talking more with Clara, though one time I was interrupted by the deputy mayor of the 9th arrondissement, who I guess is a good friend. She also told me today that she dated Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French politician who might one day run for president (read here for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_Strauss-Kahn). Clara, being the kind-hearted caring person she is, had told him to get surgery on his face because "let's be honest, politics is about looks too." We had a pretty intense discussion about religion-- the French are all about secularness (laïcité), though she seems to have a thing for Jews-- she told me they're smarter than everyone else.

4. I just returned from a night out at Queen, a famous club that's gay on Sunday nights only. It's on the Champs-Elysées, which means it was a 15E cover and then 5E for coat check, but I've been dying to go out to an all-night club and it was definitely worth the pay. I met up with a friend I met through Chris named Isain, who's here from California, and two of his friends (girls). I met a couple of nice frenchies at the club, but I was determined to find my way home alone, on the Noctilien (the night bus, or the knight bus, if you're a big nerd), which is the only means of transportation after 1am.


So it was that I found myself alone, walking down the Champs-Elysées at 4am, looking back at the Arc de Triomphe through the lightly falling snow, wishing I could share the moment with all of you.