A felt compelled to write something...

Well... great title James! Way to inspire people. Been a while. Sorry for the lag in posts. What I've basically been doing recently has invoved a lot of french classes, a lot of walking around paris, and a lot of "thinking about the future".

It's strange how when we are occupied, when we have littl time to do the things we want to do, all we can think about is that if we had more time we would be able to take those guitar lessons, learn to salsa, study the stock exchange harder (what? I'm trying to cater to everyone's needs here). But when it comes down to having time, or perhaps a little too much time, I have been finding myself a little guilty, as if I should be doing something with my life... strange to say that coming from a guy learning french in paris while living with his girlfriend. Why are we never satisfied?

I was talking with a french mate here, Nicola, who was heading off to Bolivia for a month with his girlfriend. I flippently said to him, "wow, a month in Bolivia, now that's exciting!" He looked at me calmly and said, "shjames, you're in Paris! That's exciting!" I was a little ashamed to appear to be such a spoilt brat. But I guess it was a sign that, a city that two months ago was wholly daunting, foreign and undiscovered, is slowly becoming less so. I'm starting to feel more at home.

I feel I have discovered some great things about living Paris. A wonderful cafe called Fuxar nearby with wireless internet and great view over a quiant little church, the knowledge that around any corner you are likely to find a street you've never been down with a shop/museum/bar/park you never knew about, Mrs Bordes' cooking, sunday morning croissants in bed in front of a dvd, random vegetable and meat produce market streets, an efficient public transport system, art exhibitions, friday night freebies for under 26yr olds at the louvre, the joy of wearing a coat when it's really cold, the joy of seeing the sun when you have forgotton what it looked like, and lastly the satisfacion that comes from communicating with someone in their native language...
Top: I have no idea why I posted these photos.

Above: I was taken to this cafe on top of the le Centre Pompidou modern art museum/library building by a friend of Cecile's. It was great. And yes, it does look like I'm having a date with myself. I didn't quite understand the roses... but the view more than made up for it. Get ready Lukie.

Below: I took this photo about two streets from our place. That's the sacre coeur in the background.