I'm moving 150 mph backwards as I type this: Globetrotter Day 5

I'm on the train from Paris to Berlin, and have about twenty minutes to type up this entry before we change trains at our next stop (Frankfort). In the train, half the seats face "forward" and half face "backward". Right now, ours are facing backward.

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6/28/09 Paris 1pm, Cafe "Grill 14" on the Boulevard Lefebre

The Holy Grail

Breon and I have spent hours scouring the streets of Paris, seeking the holy grail of sweet-smelling water for Lynda. The requirements make it next-to-impossible to find. It must be:

1. Eau de Toilette
2. Say "Paris" on the bottle
3. Look "pretty"
4. Smell "good"
5. Cost less than $20
6. Not be a name brand

Since Breon and I aren't sure what all the name brands are, we basically can't buy anything from a nice store (which might carry name brands).

#2 cuts out half the bottles
#3-4 are subjective, so we are convinced we will fail (especially #4)

The Gourmand

I've decided to order interesting food whenever possible. This is a picture of me two nights ago in Breon's favorite restaurant from the olden days with my lamb's feet and giblets stew. There being only three hooves in the pot, I complained to the waiter, "What kind of lamb are you serving me?"

He just frowned the french frown, and said, "Eat your tripe, American pig-dog."



Last night I learned that if you order the bone-marrow appetizer at the Hippopotamus, be prepared to scoop the surpirsing amount of fat contained therein onto the accompaning toast.

The Queues

Yesterday we had lunch with Bill Cagle, the director of the Lilly Library before Breon. They walked around, looking at dolls*, and ended up at Notre Dame cathedral. There were about 200 people waiting to get in, so we deicded to skip going in (if you look carefully at the photo, you might recognize Breon at the end of the line):



Ditto with St. Chapelle (only 100 people in line):




Now, we did successfully wait in line to get our train tickets to Berlin. There were a couple cute babies who met each other in front of us:



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This morning we went to mass at Notre Dame des Champs and then on to a flea market near the Port de Vanves Metro stop (see Holy Grail above). Receiving as much enjoyment from flea markets as I do from ambling stop-start down an alley under the oppressive sun, pretending to be interested in other people's trash, I seperated from Breon at my first opportunity to sit in this comfortable cafe and catch you up on our progress, such as it is.

*After reading this to Breon, he wanted me to clarify that they are not "dolls", but "marionettes" (which neither of us can even spell). And, here's a picture of some of his ill-booten-gotty: