Chapter 95: Oil Thighs and Sad Goodbyes

nerd blog post #100(!)

Work at the university has made me quite crusty this week and so I will instead nerd blog about the rest of my time in Paris.

Friday was great. There were a couple of clown bdays and Viktor, Raffi and I headed to a party. It was at a bar that's across the street from the school. Most days after school, we have a coffee there and the bartender (Tim) lets us eat outside food, which is sweet. I normally make a micmic lunch so we don't have to buy, and we chow down and chat. But sometimes, at night, the afternoon hangout is converted to a clown party, complete with beer and tricks. The prices at this place are really reasonable, so peeps stay until the wee hours. As usual, the tripod of Viktorius, Raffiki and the Hinckster was in full force, and I had a great time.

The next day, I saw a friend from Queen's. Danny was in the Drama program, but one year below me. I was actually his Frosh leader and so I met him on his first day at Queen's and bullied him into singing the Oil Thigh several hundred times over the course of those few days. Since then, Danny and I have been good buddies and have acted in a couple of plays together. Now, he's studying at LAMDA in London and came to Paris for a visit!

So, on Saturday, Danny and I did a big tour, seeing Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe. The highlight was seeing a parade at the Arc to commemorate soldiers lost in the great wars. There was a marching band and flag carriers and soldiers with big guns and old war vets. No cheerleaders, though. We went to Rose Bakery at 7pm to meet Viktor and Raffi after work and then Danny and Viktor went to do some clown homework while Raffi and I did some clown homework.

In the evening, the four of us had a really fun night. We were invited to go to a clown party, but when we got there, the apartment was quiet and dark. Turns out, it had been moved to Francine's place. But when we got there, the clowns had been too silly and noisy and they Frolice had broken it up. And so, we walked Danny back to his hostel, stopping along the way to do handstands and the like. Though we failed to go to any party, it was fun walking around in the rain and chatting. What wasn't fun, was missing the last metro and having to take the dreaded night bus. ( Or, as we call it in Toronto, the vomit comet or the vomcom.) Still, it was great to have a wittle Queen's Drama (plus RtC) reunion.

On Sunday morning, I met Danny in front of the Notre Dame and we went to mass. It was supposed to be an international mass, but there was only one reading in English. The rest was about half in French, half in Latin. I think big brother Adam is the only one who still even recognizes Latin as a real language. Whatevs. From there, we checked out the Pompidou and then Montmartre, and then the Pere Lachaise cemetary. Danny and I said goodbye in the early evening and I went to Rose Bakery to get the boys.

Monday was my last day in Paris. Raffi and I had a micmic lunch in a nice park and enjoyed the sunshine. He started an improv group in the afternoon in the common room at his place, so I packed my bags for a bit and then watched them do their thang. I met Cynthia at the train station and we came back to Rennes together. It was good to see her and she had had a nice week in Italy with Benito. We spent the whole ride catching up and then entered our bachelorette apartment and climbed into our bed.

Easter Break is over. Back to work? Hardly.

To be continued...

Love,
Hincks.