Chapter 94: Flying Bells

nerd blog post #98

Here in France, the Easter Bunny doesn't come around. Instead, it's a flying bell (yes, a bell with wings) that flies in from Rome to deliver chocolates. I wasn't sure if the Easter Bunny and the Flying Bell are friends, so didn't know if I would be remembered for delicious treats. But on Easter morning, there was an Easter egg hunt at Raffi's and a note from the Easter Bunny. Not sure if he made the journey, or just passed the letter along to the Bell. At any rate, it was a nice start to Easter Sunday.

The rest of the day went well. As it has been with all holidays, it's a big reminder of how far away I am from home and of what I'm missing. But I spent the day with friends so that helped a lot. Cynthia had three hours in Paris before continuing on to Italy. We met up and ended up sitting by the Seine watching families walk by and peeps run. It was nice to see her. In the afternoon, I met up with three Canadians. Francine is a clown and her bf and another friend from home were there, too. We brought some food and champagne and had a micmic in a park. I had never been there before and it was really beautiful. I stayed there until Raffi and Viktor were finishing up at work and then met them.

On Monday night, I went to a play directed by Irina Brook, who is Peter Brook's daughter. It was an adaptation of Don Quixote and a friend of Raffi's (through Armenian connections) was in it. I think I was sitting beside Peter Brook and we shared a program, but I could be wrong... Anyways, unfortunately, I think this is what happened:
IB: Daddy???
PB: Yes, honey?
IB: Can I direct a play at your pretty theatre in Paris?
PB: Of course, my dear! Will it be good?
And that's where the convo stopped. Though I'm glad I saw the theatre and was happy to see a play, it was not very good at all.

After clown school on Tuesday, Raff and I went to the biggest botanical garden in France. It was a really nice park and the main reason we went was to go to the zoo which is inside. It was really fun and had all sorts of animals. My fave were the orangutans which had babies and they were playing and being so silly on their ropes!

Yesterday, I met my first cousin once removed's wife for the day. This is the wife of my dad's cousin and they live in Montreal. She's here to visit her daughter who is working North of Paris but wasn't arriving until the evening. Linda is a really fun and spunky woman and it was really fun spending the day with her. It had been about ten years since I've seen her, I think. We went to Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter and then to the Louvre and all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. We also saw Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur. Linda is a librarian and a specialist in children's lit and a highlight was discovering a children's library in the Latin Quarter - the first one in Paris! We went in and after Linda explained that she's a librarian, they really rolled out the red carpet. We had a grand tour and the interesting history of how the library came to be was told to us. It was fun and I was glad Linda found a piece of home in the heart of Paris.

I'm not sure what the rest of the week will hold, but I'm very happy to be here. It's definitely Spring (flip-flops every day) and it opens up a whole new genre of activities!

Hope everyone is well.

Signing off,
Hincks.