Bookish Matters

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.

—Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Monday, June 20, 2011

Day One

This keyboqrd is kicking ,y qss:

This keyboard is kicking my ass. Not only are the buttons in a different order, the buttons dont even make the symbols they claim too. I cant find the apostrophe, for instance.

OK, here I am in Paris, France. Day one of the pilgrimage.

Day one and Ive already run into my first epic challenge: I discovered on the plane that the one pen I brought with me was out of ink. A writer without ink! It took me hours and hours to acquire a new one, by which point many thoughts that needed written down had come and gone.

My plane was delayed two hours so I got here about 10:30, then ran about CDG airport; then a train; then the metro. Metro was confusing at first, but once I figured it out it became quite simple. Ive spent most of today wandering around the Louvre district: Lunch in the Gallerie Vivienne at A Priori The. The plat du jour was ham (jambon de bayonne), feta; cantaloupe; mint; and mixed greens. I enjoyed it; but Ive eaten so much ham Ill be fine if i never see another pig in my life. Too bad theyre partial to pork in Spain.

I spent most of my afternoon in the Jardin des Tuileries. For dinner I kept it simple; went to the open air market; got cherries (cerises) at a fruit stand; quiche and pain au chocolat at a patisserie. Spent the evening getting unhappily lost trying to find the Montmartre district then happily exploring the Montmartre district. Which is where I am now; at my hostel in Montmartre.

Technically the hiking doesnt start until Thursday, but I think today should count. I spent six hours with my pack on walking up and down Paris with few breaks. Ive got blisters already.

4 comments:

  1. One pen! Now there's something worth having a backup on even if it does weigh 5 pounds... Thanks for the phone call, continued good travels, my dear.

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  2. A five pound pen! Please, no!

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  3. Hurray you are in france!

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