Posted on May 9, 2015 in Paris | 2 comments

2015_05_08_dinner_IMG_9652

The couscous restaurant.

2015_05_10_my young friend

My friend E. from Germany arrived on May 9!

On May 8, K. and I had a couscous and merguez dinner at this restaurant above, which I probably shouldn’t have done, but it was before my doctor visit on May 9, when I got the official order to only eat rice.

On May 9, after the doctor’s visit in the morning, I picked my Vélib city bike card at City Hall, since it was Saturday, and none of the district offices were open. There are also always holidays in France. I think that each week of the year must have a holiday, because May 1 and May 8 were holidays, and May 14 and May 24 are also holidays. So when Paris seems surprisingly quiet on a weekday, you can be sure it’s a jour de férié!

I immediately activated the Vélib card (it’s great, you just touch it to the receptor right next to the bike you want and it’s yours instantly!) and borrowed my first city bike of the year. I went riding around Paris, always an exhilarating experience. I think I don’t really take the traffic here seriously, because it’s not home. It’s a tourist paradise, and I feel cocky and immune when I’m on the bike. I like to zip through traffic and people.

A bit later in the afternoon I met up with my Berlin sketcher friend K. at the Printemps rooftop terrace and I also checked out the Galeries Lafayette terrace. Then I raced home by bike to meet another guest, 20-year-old E., the daughter of an old German friend, but it was hard to keep biking due to the narrow roads being full of cars and narrow sidewalks full of tourists. I gave up at some point, returned the bike and caught the metro to be home in time to meet E.

Lafayette

The view from the Printemps department store rooftop terrace.