Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006 - 2:16 p.m.

It is cold and raining.

Cold. As in, 60. Degrees. Fahrenheit. In the space of one week, it went from 92 and humid as Satan's sauna to 60 and wet. All the time, wet.

Paris, while still awesome, loses some of its magic in the cold and rain.

I'm just sayin'.

Plus, I'm getting antsy. I want to be taking pictures. That's why I came, so being forced indoors or having days where the light is all grey and subdued just kinda bites it. I'm still really happy to be here, but I have hit that point in the trip where you realize you are not going to be on it forever and that time is running out, so now I'm really impatient every day that I can't shoot something. Mainly because I don't have the faintest clue how long this grey is going to last, and it feels like forever and ever and ever.

I think I'm over most of the blechy except for a throat that feels all hot and scratchy and being completely exhausted all the time. Like, waking up takes a monumental effort every day. I must be tossing and turning and not sleeping well, because every single morning when my alarm goes off, I feel like I've had *maybe* 4 hours of sleep, and I'm exhausted.

I went out into the cold and rain today to buy a duvet cover and bottled water (and stock my kitchen) at Carrefour. I got all the way there and discovered that Carrefour was closed, either because it's Sunday or some sort of holiday. I could swear I've been there on Sunday, so I was a little shocked. And nothing else was open, so that was rather disappointing. Since I have nothing in my kitchen and nothing else was open, I stopped at McDonald's on the way home, and man, I have to say I really don't like McDonald's, and McDonald's in France is not any better than McDonald's in America. Less better, even. But I sat and looked out the window at the big crest on Line 6, which passes right at second-story window level there, and I thought man, I really love Paris, and it will suck so much to leave it. I really wish I could stay longer. I kinda wanted to cry, staring out that window into the grey of a rain-filled Paris twilight and realizing I was going to have to go home in less than 2 months. I admit it. I got a little watery for a few seconds, there. :(

On the Metro coming back home, this Asian woman got on and sat directly across from me and pulled out this little flowered book that was obviously oft-used, as it was falling apart. She writes in it for a while and then puts it away. I'm glancing around the train and realize she's fixed me with a look, so I look back at her, and she has these piercing, dark brown eyes. I smile a half-smile at her and she immediately looks away and then pulls out her little book and starts writing again. I figure she must document the events in her daily life. That one probably went something like this: "7:59pm - Made eye contact with woman on train. Did not smile, despite attempt to cajole me into revelry. Wuss."

Okay, gotta go. I think the internet connection is about to take a dive.

Peace out,
Katie

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