Dining with Eiffel

After lunch, we walked down Avenue Junot and then Rue Lepic  in search of the cafe where the film Amelie was filmed. We got off track and never did find it. We stopped in a shop that had lots of odds and ends, including lots of baby dolls, some of which were just the heads with the top of the skulls shaved off. Jonathan gave Antonia strict instructions ("No French babies!"), so we passed up the opportunity to purchase any.

We arrived back at our hotel in mid-afternoon. Our room was available by then, on the fourth floor, with the bathroom on the third and no elevator. It is very warm for Paris -- about 93 degrees. The air was still and stifling. We all needed a shower very much, then we dozed. We woke and did some hand laundry. I poked my head out the window.

"Can we see the Eiffel Tower from here?"
"I don't think so."
"What is that?"
"I think it is a radio tower."
"I'm going to say it is the Eiffel Tower."

The name of our hotel is El Dorado -- very French, I know. We had to stop at the front desk to ask where we could purchase a three-hole converter for the electronic adapter that got left in Richmond. The clerk directed us to a large electronics store, but we have time to get there before dinner. We decided to go out. We needed a better dictionary.

Me (to the bookstore clerk): "Bonjour. Parlez-vous anglais?"
Bookstore clerk: "Non."
Liar.

Some rain cooled things off a bit. We went in search of coffee and sat outside a small cafe. The waiter was much more willing to work with our limited French. I ordered my coffee with hot milk, which I never do. I also put sugar in it. Our new friend the waiter told us we should go to the Catorama gallery up the street to look for the adapter. He wrote down the name for us, and we immediately found what we needed.

We had a scheduled dinner with the choir at the Eiffel Tower. We took the subway. While on the train, we saw three young men dressed in homemade gladiator costumes. They got on our car, but they were obscured enough I could not get a picture. They got off at the same stop and I followed them, but the crowd kept me away from them. We finally caught up with them, and made certain we got on the same car when we transferred. I still couldn't get a clear shot of them, but Darien took the initiative and worked her way through the crowd. Anything for three half-naked Frenchmen. I got my picture.

At dinner we sat with Cliff's mom, Betsy. Since the menu called for chicken, Antonia convinced the waiter to bring her and Darien something else. They ended up with a nice fish. The mashed potatoes were excellent, and the frozen dessert of some sort of shortcake was tasty as well.

Several of us decided to walk down the tower after dinner. At the bottom, in the large space under the tower, a number of people were running, shouting "cops!" At first I thought it might be some political street action, but it turned out that they were were after the illegal street vendors, of which there were many.  Someone saw the police had guns drawn.

It was still stifling hot when we got back to El Dorado. We went downstairs for beers. The garden was closed, so we stood at the bar, which wasn't much cooler than our room, but our room didn't have beer. There was some confusion over how to pay and I started talking to the woman next to me. She was from Madagascar, which didn't seem too unusual, but what did turn my head was when she told me she worked for Icelandic Air. We spoke about Iceland and where to go and what to eat. Afterward we stood in the street with her and her friends, finishing our drinks. We gave them the programs for the choir's performances. She was enthusiastic and said she wanted to come to one of them. Maybe she was just drunk.