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MERCI BEAUCOUP!
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I have decided to do something a little different today... as an experiment. I thought instead of sharing a week’s worth of experiences in one sitting, I would instead chose a café in Paris, have a drink, observe and record all that I see in one hour. The joy of life in Paris is really in the details, and I am hoping to capture just a glimpse of that today. We will see how this goes...
I have chosen the "see-and-be-seen at" Fouquet's café on the one and only Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Fouquet's is a premier Parisian brasserie that is seen in EVERY movie that features Paris. :) It was founded in 1901 and has been a celebrity favorite ever since. Jackie O and Churchill liked to go here! Sarkozy came here to have a coffee when he won the last election…which was reason enough for my last French teacher, Celine, to tell us never to darken the door of this famous establishment. Clearly that didn't stop me.
Fouquet's at 99 Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
The time is officially 4:54pm on Tuesday, August 16. My one hour starts now!
Since it is August, Paris is empty of all Parisians and the city is left to the tourists. Walking through my neighborhood the streets were quiet and all the volers were shut tight while the apartments' occupants are still vacationing. However, the minute I approached the Seine the energy level rose as I started walking along the river and then to the Champs-Élysées. I became part of a sea of tourists clad mostly in shorts, brightly colored shirts, backpacks and all with cameras around their necks or dangling from their wrists. The line to get into the new Abercombie and Fitch store on the Champs Elysee was snaking back and forth as always. Europeans LOVE and CAN’T GET ENOUGH of A&F, and God Bless them for it. It is nice to see that they still love all things American…even if they are supporting a company that promotes push-up bras for tweens. Puhff.
My outside café table is right next to a plexy glass wall lined with flower pots that separates us, Fouquet café goers, from the pietons walking the avenue. As I sit here, Asians, Africans, Europeans and Americans walk by me. Not a one looks like they live in the city.
My set-up during this experimental blog.
Note the business man in the white suite...he will be referred to later.
Also note the bowl of nuts...they too will be referred to later.
Ah, the waiter has brought me my glass of 13 Euro Chablis…now I can really concentrate. As I take my first sip I am overhearing a kinda cute American business man in front of me. He was talking telecom, but now wants to know how to get to the Eiffel tower…huh!? I must have heard that wrong. I have a German couple to my right drinking beer like good Germans, and behind me there is another single table…a man who has his map of Paris out and his backpack at his side…oh wait, he isn’t alone his wife just came back from the bathroom. But I am not the only one sitting alone, there are 2 other tables around me. In fact both of them are occupied by bald men. One just lit up a cigar and is now reading a French newspaper. The other just put a Madeliene cookie in his mouth. I am sure they both appreciate me staring at them. Okay, the cigar man just got a glass of whiskey or bourbon or something strong…oh, and he has these hot white leather shoes on…uh oh, I am developing a little crush. I must stop looking…he has now caught me several times…and probably sees me grinning right now as I write this. Hmm, perhaps a little café flirting is okay. I will try to get a picture, but it may be difficult.
Okay, back to business! Fouquet’s is next to the gargantuan Louis Vuitton store, but I have yet to see someone walk by with one of their bags. Also incredibly absent from the Champs-Élysées today are the abundance of Arabs. Now that is Ramadan all the Saudis, UAE, and citizens from other rich oil producing middle eastern countries are no longer lining the streets with their black Mercedes motorcades, filling the cafes or spending thousands of euros in a single outing at one of the many designer shops. The hijabs that these rich arab women wear are quite beautiful. They are usually colorful and poofed-up a bit in the back so it looks incredibly fashionable and a little bit sexy, if I can say that. I honestly don’t know if they all went back to their home countries, or if perhaps they come back out after sundown. C'est un mystère.
Got it! Cigar Man!
By cleverly pretending I was looking at my photos in my camera, I slyly caught his image.
In the picture, he kinda loses some of his je ne sais quois...oh well...you get a glimpse of his hot shoes though.
I need to take a break to stretch. My fingers are a little tired. FYI – the kinda cute American business man in front of me just said “50 basis points” ….seems like such an odd thing to hear right now. Oh, just saw my fist Louis Vutton bag! He also had a Chanel bag! Lucky!
OH MY GOD! A PIGEON just landed at my table…horrible! I think he wanted my plate of nuts! No worries though, I swooshed him away. I don’t think I have ever had a pigeon that close to my face. But the good news is that the cute guy with the cigar looked over J….but so did every table around me L.
So get this, I have inspired others to open their laptops. Honestly I have never seen anyone on their laptop in a café in Paris…but a guy just came back from his room (yes, Fouquet’s also has hotel rooms) with his Mac. I would like to think I influenced him.
Of course, the good Germans next to me speak perfect French! Argh! Bollocks to all these Europeans who grew up speaking 10 languages. I am sure too if they were in Kenya they would easily slide into their perfect Swahili!
Interesting development, the kinda cute American business man just said good-by to his drink companion and now is just like me, sitting all alone. He ordered a glass of red wine and is randomly looking around. At least I look busy with my cool netbook! Oh, but now he looks busy too cuz he just pulled out his iPhone 4. What the heck did we all do before these electronic devices!? The man with the cigar lost his fire so he had to relight the cigar…he is still looking very yummy over there.
LORD! The pigeons are back! And again landed on my table…in fact, the kinda cute American business man just said into his iPhone, “Sorry, I am being attacked by birds.” Which is sort of a false statement because it was my table that was really attacked, he just felt the wind of all their wing flaps as I tried to scare 6 of them away!
Only 5 more minutes left …uh oh, just had another pigeon attack that made me scream out a bit which prompted my singing waiter (I have heard him sing Abba's "Money, Money, Money" and Debarge's "Rhythm of the Night" as he passes me) to take my nuts away. Brilliant! However, before leaving he threw a few out for the pigeons!!! WHAT!! Is he trying to sabatoge me!!!! I think my outburst has totally ruined it for me with the cigar man…it is hard to look cute and composed when being attacked by flying rats.
TIME! Experiment complete! This was kinda fun…for me J. Next time I will chose a place where there are more Parisians and less tourists (and less pigeons). I didn’t see one person with a baquette walk by me so I know I am not surrounded by Frenchies J.
Now I am going to finish my glass of wine…and enjoy this lovely day in this city that I am so lucky to live in. A Prochain! Bisous a tout!
***Addendum**** After I finished typing and was enjoying my glass of wine, the kinda cute American business man struck up conversation with me. Turns out that his name is Clint. He is from Oklahoma but has lived and worked in Germany for the past 2 years. He was here in Paris on business. Clint has been to Paris about 7 times but he had never seen the city!!! So we spent the rest of the evening walking the heart of Paris. I showed him all I loved about the City of Light and he took me to dinner. We talked literature, art, travel experiences, politics and country music while walking Place de Concorde, Jardin Tuileries, Rue Rivoli and the Seine. At the end of the evening after he had seen the Eiffel Tower sparkle at midnight, I escorted him to a metro stop and gave him a metro ticket so he wouldn't have to buy one. We exchanged hugs, but nothing more…no phone #s, emails , last names, nothing. I will never see Clint again …but I will never forget him. As he started into the metro he turned to me and said, “I hope you find what you are looking for in Paris, Jen. And tonight has been one of my favorite travel experiences ever…you made me fall in love with Paris.”
I think this experimental blog has been a complete success.
The view Clint and I ended our night with.
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