Pages

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Sucre et Beurre, S'il Vous Plait

24 years ago, when I was 19, I took my first airplane ride. It was to Russia. Not too long after, although I forget exactly when, I went to Paris for the first time. I was in my early 20's, I guess, and I'd saved enough money for the ticket and that was about it. I went alone (most of my travel has been alone) and I remember meeting this young couple on the plane beside me and they didn't have a place to stay their first night so I offered the floor of my hotel room. I also remember that I'd messed up my travel plans and when I arrived at the hotel after the trans-Atlantic flight, my reservation was for the following week. And that I wasn't sure I'd ever even make it to the hotel because the cab driver from the airport turned out not to be a cab driver but just a guy with a car, but I didn't realize that until we were in the basement of the Charles de Gaulle parking garage. And when, finally, all of that got sorted, I spent several days wandering around (thanks to a pre-purchased museum pass) the Lourve and the d'Orsay and the Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportations, but I couldn't afford anything else, really; I could barely afford to eat. And for every meal that week I ate sugar and butter crepes (the cheapest kind) from street vendors. There was this one older guy at a little rolly cart at a corner near Cathedrale Notre Dame who was nice enough to let me try to pronounce my order, the same every time, as he waited patiently.

Anyway, my point is that I'm sitting here at a crepe house this morning. I'm having a little breakfast and enjoying a lazy Sunday. It's sunny out right now, but here in Portland we've had every flavor of weather imaginable in the last week or two in Biblical proportions. Did I just misplace my modifier? I never know.

I have a:
  • new job with a lot more responsibility
  • pain in my mid-back that isn't debilitating but it won't go away
  • hair cut and color appointment coming up, thank goodness
I need a:
  • surf
  • far-away vacation
  • jog
I want a:
  • kitten
  • more easy-going temperament
  • macroon
I just wanted to say hi. Things are going better overall with rough patches here and there. I feel old lately and am trying to make sure I don't use it as an excuse for too much. 42 is a bit early to get crotchety.


2 comments:

  1. Dang, now I want a crepe and to visit Paris

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Hi" back at you.

    I'm feeling old, too.

    A friend decided to come an visit my city yesterday. He was told at check-in that he'd booked for NEXT Monday. He is 25.

    I hope your surf helps with the lower-back pain

    G x

    ReplyDelete