26 July, Wednesday
Last night we ate dinner (piata) with Carlos' parents Martha & Pepe, and some friends. Pepe has an English friend, Nick, who entertained us with his jokes (usually dirty) and his singing. Pepe played the guitar on the porch for us. Drank Scotch (and lemon) and had a great time.
One of the most interesting things was how Carlos' parents and all the adults treated us like adult friends. What I mean is that we could never sit with (most of) our parents and have the time we had last night. I was great! They were almost like we would be at my house at night - having a great time worrying about waking the neighbors.
27 July, Thursday
This morning Brad & I arrived in Paris at 8:30. We split from the other because they were forced off the train. We did not have reservations. There was room for two, so Brad and I stayed.
Met Eve, her sister, and two of her friends. They are all really friendly. We traveled to downtown on the metros - the same one which was bombed two days ago. The security was more stepped up, although it wasn't a problem getting around. Couldn't help but wonder if it was going to happen again.
Today we visited:
Notre Dame
The Louvre (didn't go in - tomorrow)
The Eiffel Tower
Napoleon's tomb
Tomorrow we visit:
The Louvre
Monet Museum
Some building with a light, water, electricity show (I'll know the name tomorrow)
Ate a great pizza and Coke for $15 (or a little more - 350 FFr). Paid with credit card and had everyone pay me so I could get more cash & not pay as big a penalty.
Tomorrow Brian & the others will get here around 7 or 8 (they called and left a message). The hostle is nice although out of the way a little.
Eve lives just outside Antwerp. So not only will it be easy for me to get my luggage, bu we will visit Antwerp on Monday. Hopefully I'll get a hold of Susan & Greit or see Carl or something. I hope my luggage is ok at the IBIS. It's ten to midnight. Time for bed.
Aside: Had to listen to a couple have (quite loud) sex in the shower next to me while I was on the toilet. After, they asked Brad if they could crash on the floor of our room for the night. As hard as it was, we managed to say NO.
"Use your _____ response & tell me when it will get done…cause it will never get done."
- Quote from Brad while asleep
One of the top 5 hardcover books in the US is "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" by John Gray. I think he's an English author who spoke to us and the Georgetown group in Antwerp. He also tried to sell/promote his book when he spoke with us then. It's interesting seeing it one of the top books in the US right now.
Also saw the French bank Credit Lyonnais right around the corner tonight. Coincidentally, the European Commission just cleared a state-funded bail out of the bank. I clipped out three articles from the USA Today: The Book, The Bank, and The Bomb. Tomorrow I want a picture in Front of the bank to put next to the article in my scrapbook. It's ten after midnight - time for bed.
