The Paris metro is a very romantic place on a Friday night.
As trains rush by like clockwork, a rose petal wafts by on the turbulent air currents and lands by my toe. I look up, and there are roses everywhere. Suave, dark-haired men lean casually against the railings holding decadent bouquets. Couples fling similar bouquets aside and drape themselves over benches, whispering in soft French. An elderly women clutches a single flower to her face and breathes, a little smile on her face.
And all the while the trains flicker past, crowded with people off to see what the evening has to offer. That night, the metro efficiently delivered me to the 3ième arrondissement to a wine and cheese party at a friend's apartment.
The apartment was tiny and warm and crowded, filled with a buzz of conversation that spilled out the open windows into the cobblestone streets below. Artists, musicians, and architects from France and Italy and Spain milled about or gathered around the raclette grill, a wonderful machine used for melting cheese into a delicious molten goo.
At one point, I leaned out the window to smell the fresh air and the glowing of a restaurant on the street below caught my eye. A couple leaned toward each other in the candlelight. On the table between them sat an engagement ring and a single red rose.
C'est tout très romantique, and somehow doesn't make me want to gag. I will re-evaluate after Valentine's day, but am feeling optimistic. Perhaps because the chocolate here is so much better.
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Today's language achievement: Had my first successful phone conversation in French in which information was exchanged and communication occurred. This is not as easy as it sounds.
Today's language failure: While talking to artists at an open-air market, it somehow became apparent that I am a model for figure-drawing classes and am in the market for studios where I can pose (this is not at all the case). By the time I understood the misunderstanding, it was much too late, and I now have the list of five or six studios looking for models. Oops
