Chapter 41: Vom-Com Countdown

nerd blog post #45

It's 1130pm. I have to leave this land at 330am to get to Milan. But since I likely won't be able to blog while there, blogging one last time in Paris is a must. I would also like to apologize if I have been tardy with e-mail answering.. I'm borrowing a compy and I'm on vacay. The office is closed. Life will be back to normal soon.

And so, on Monday after blogging, I went to go and meet Cynthia and RtC. I walked there, which took about an hour. On my way, I saw a couple of really cool streets and ended up at a dead end gate. But wait! It was no dead end! It was the Luxembourg Gardens. I walked through - very pretty, and encountered by accident.

I met my peeps, and RtC wanted me to see the Abbey Bookstore. It's a famous English bookstore that has been open 20 years. I was proudly toting my L'Arche Toronto (shout-out Jean V) bag and the owner asked if I was from TO. Turns out he's Torontonian, and the bookstore is a Canadian bookstore! He offered us coffee and we chatted. He told me that the original Abbey bookstore was on Harbord St (near UofT) and he closed it down in 1994. A really nice man, and always fun to meet a fellow TOian. Also, his collection of Canadian works was nice to see... The three or four books U of Rennes has is just pitiful..

Then we went to Notre Dame, and inside this time. It was amazing. You know, there are some things that I have seen and done that are unbloggable. The inside of this cathedral is one of them. And that's all I have to say about that. Just come and visit me!

We wandered around for awhile, and then made an epic walk back to this land. On the way, we think we spotted some Banksy art, who is this (in)famous graffitti artist (shout out MR). We all met Viktor for dindins. We ate in the caf, first-year stylez. I love caf food. When I was a TA at Queen's, I told my students that their marks would soar if they used their caf guest passes on me. Not too many took the bait.. But seri. Caf food rules. After that, the four of us hung out for a long time at RtC's. We enjoyed such activities as practicing their clown tricks, playing King's Cup, sipping wine, and eating cookies. It was a lot of fun. Oh, and skyping friends back home.

Tuesday morning was spent doing some Milan prep. I don't want to get into the annoyance of it all.. But I will say the following:
-We fly out of an airport 80 kms out of Paris at 830am.
-We have to get on a shuttle bus in the furthest possible place from here at 530am.
-The metro starts running at 5am.
-This all means that I have to take the night bus (vomit comet, as I like to call it) and leave here at 330am.
-I'ma be sleepy.

On Tuesday, after clown school, RtC and I went to Pere Lachaise, a giant and beautiful graveyard. I saw Moliere and Wilde's graves. Tradition is to put lipstick on and kiss Oscar Wilde's tombstone. It was abcolutely covered in kisses. I only had Vaseline and decided to opt out.

In the evening, we met up with Cynthia and a German clown who's name is Michael and was a theatre critic in Munchen before coming to be a clown. He's SO silly, just like all of them. His best trick is the flower-squirter. We tried to go bowling but the lanes were all booked. Instead, we had a beer. Michael is a very nice and interesting man. I think he and RtC will be good clown buddies. Later, Viktor and another Canadian girl came to join us in the bowling. But since we weren't bowling, we all went home.

Today, I met the clowns after school and .. oh! I forgot to say that last Friday I went into the school and looked around. Very cool, and great to see where they're studying. So, yes. When at the school today, I was introduced to a Milanese clown, and he told me where to go in Milan, and said the neighbourhood I'll be in is a great one. Then had a micmic lunch with RtC and then saw a play. It was a solo clown/mime show. Unlike anything I have ever seen. Possibly the best thing I have ever seen. This guy was amazing.. I just wrote a paragraph about the show.. But deleted it. It's unbloggable. I was blown away.

After that, Viktor, RtC, a British clown and I walked around. Then the other boyz left and RtC and I had a coffee and then a delish crepe. It's cold in Paris right now. I hope Italy is as warm as Il Fornello. 30 points if you catch the double meaning.

And so, my friends, life is good. Paris is wonderful, and though I'm excited about the next few days, I'ma miss it here. I feel like I live here... This week has been the best in France so far.

Love to you all,
Hincks.