Proof that the sun shines in Paris (sometimes)

Photos from this weekend. The weather was wonderful (I say that while still in boots, a coat and a scarf...I'm brainwashed). Proof that the sun does actually shine in Paris.

Day 8: Rue Cler market street

Spent Saturday (aka day 8) with Leanne who is apparently recovering from some sort of stomach flu. I ate lunch at a boulangerie on Rue Cler, which is a market street in the 7th.  There are lots of market streets all over, but this one is very well-known.  This is the standard way of shopping in France; grocery stores where they have everything in one place are considered secondary.  You get your meat from a bucherie, cheese from a fomagerie, fish from a poissonnerie, etc., etc.  Pictured here is a bit of Rue Cler, with the corner of the floriste on the left, the green-and-white-striped marchand de fruits et legumes, and the blue vertical sign is the poissonnerie. The lights above are left over from Christmas.

Day 9: Paris is for lovers

Sunday I decided on falafel for lunch so I made my way over to le Marais, the traditionally Jewish but now a bit gay area in the 4th arrondissement (in the center). Since the Jewish sabbath is Saturday, everything is open on Sundays (whereas a lot of other places close) and all the tourists are out and about taking advantage of that fact. I took my falafel to one of the quais that is open to pedestrians and ate on a bench across from Isle de la Cite, where Notre Dame is located (hence the skyline). This couple started making out soon after I took this picture, which was awkward when I first got here but now I'm pretty used to it...there seems to be no rule against the PDAs here in Paris. I guess when you are in a city as known for romance as Paris is you can't really avoid it. City of Lights my butt, City of Public Makeout Sessions would be more accurate.

Day 10: my new favorite lunch

Got this awesome sandwich from a boulangerie somewhere in the 7th near Ecole Militaire.  Lettuce, tomato, hard-boiled egg and smoked salmon with what I think was mayonnaise on what they call "Sweedish" bread (Suedois, in French) which is essentially square pita. I've decided that I would enjoy Paris a lot more if I stopped being cheap and started spending money on decent food every day. It's one of my favorite things, and I'm in a place that is world-renowned for its cuisine, and, to quote Lauren Borden, "life is too short to not eat good food."  So no more honey nut cheerio lunches; I'm being more adventurous with my menu and my wallet. Considering this sandwich cost me almost 4 euros, it will definitely be an adventure for my wallet. But there are few things that I find more worth spending money on than food.

Also, Leanne (who has complained that I don't write about her, so here goes) just broke the news that she will be leaving at the end of February.  I am going to come back to the States with serious abandonment issues.  It has got me thinking, though, about whether or not I should consider leaving early.  I mean, I don't really like the job, and I'm getting to a point where I could take or leave Paris, and it would help a lot of the anxiety I'm having about moving back if I had some more time to get settled.  It's just a thought...if I left it wouldn't be until April or later, sometime in summer.  But I don't know, I'm too proud to really call it quits quite yet, but it's something to consider down the road.  I'm pretty sure asking me to play waitstaff could count as a violation of contract and I would be justified in breaking it.  Then again, seeing the sun for the first time in what feels like months made me a little more optimistic, maybe once the weather warms up I will too.  We'll see.  Just throwing it out there; feel free to send it right back.