Entre Les Murs

A Free Man In Paris

My day has developed a routine: the first part I spend in class, learning French at the Alliance Francaise. The class is too large and proceeds too slowly, but my classmates are diverting (with the last two additions, there are 14 nations represented). The afternoon is spent painting the apartment, which likewise proceeds too slowly but also has its rewards.

The best part of my day is the middle, where I run errands or do chores. Whether the hardware store or a street market, I'm out and about in the city of light. Everything is novel, and a bit of an adventure.



There is a market that sets up twice a week down the median of Boulevard Raspail, where I take my class. I walk down the middle of it on my way home, perhaps purchasing a loaf of bread, or some cheese I've never heard of before. I was there on Tuesday, and paused at a display of slaugthered ducks, their heads and feathers still on. Another passerby followed my gaze and remarked "Grippe aviaire?" How gratifying: not only can I run errands in French, I can sometimes get the jokes. (The avian flu is very topical in France at the moment as infected birds have just been discovered in the EU area.)

posted 20.10.05