Mini Coke

J’adore Paris. J’adore Paris so much that I am too exhausted to write much of a blog post today. I hope that j’adore Paris just as much tomorrow!

Quickly though, I’ll start where I left off last night. After departing from Archie and then my three-hour stay at the Internet cafe, I headed to the Carcassonne train station, which I have to say was pretty creepily empty at that hour, as were the streets. But I got there, and after dealing with Bank of America, I met my new friend Jeremie, a 21-year-old French marine. I learned all about the French army/naval/marine system, and as a parting gift, he gave me one of his genuine marine chapeaus — like the real white ones with the red pom-poms. I guess I’m collecting military stuff apparently, my friend Daniel’s Israeli paratroopers hat and now French marine apparel. Next donor?

I slept very well on the overnight train to Paris and arrived here at 7:30 this morning. Despite the grossness I felt from having not showered in the previously sweaty day and a half, I set out to explore Paris almost immediately after dropping my bags in the hostel luggage room. I started my day with reporting — talking to lot’s of Jews in both the Jewish part of Montmartre and the Marais quartier, about anti-Semitism and the impact of Israeli-Palestinian tensions upon the French-Jewish population. Among others, I spoke extensively with a bookstore owner, a group of 20-year-old religious girls and the Israeli owner of a falafel joint. It seems that a lot of Jews are quite afraid here and feel like the French media and government spins everything possible against the Jews. One of the girls said she wears shorter skirts here than she does in Israel so that people won’t immediately detect she’s Jewish, and one man said he covers his kipa with a baseball cap in public.

Oh yeah, and I had a kosher lunch, certified by the Beth Din of Paris. It was nice to be with so many Jews in France today, and made me look forward to Israel (Sunday!!!) even more, despite the fact that I’m loving Paris.

For the rest of the day I ran from place to place, photographing lot’s of the big monuments and walking along the Seine. I just cannot believe I’m in Paris, the fairytale city. City of love and lights — though, the Eiffel Tower doesn’t sparkle as much at night anymore because the city is joining the global greening effort, true story.

In the evening, I met up with Sarah again, and we had a really great time hanging out with two new friends, Alex and Russell, from Texas. We went out to a relatively inexpensive (relatively) near the Champs Elysees, where the food was amazing! (called “Le Hide”). Alex and Russell are a hilarious duo, and we spent the evening snapping ridiculous photographs and drinking “mini Cokes,” tiny little Coca-Cola cans sold at the infamous Monoprix superstore, which largely resembles a Target + groceries. We wanted to climb the Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe, but it was a rainy, wet evening — so hopefully tomorrow the weather will remain great like it was all day today!

Okay, I really need to go to sleep now, and though I’ve already taken 79 photos of Paris according to my computer, I’m going to wait till I’ve taken all of my Paris photos to post them. Bonne nuit, and I hope everyone has had a good week going into Friday/Shabbat/Simchat Torah.

Layla tov.