A better day :o)

I am considerably more upbeat writing today's blog, than I was when labouring over yesterday's. I still woke up late, even after vowing to try and get up earlier. Sat at the computer contemplating being more positive with the day today until I decided to go and get the important things sorted.

First stop - Bank account. Holly and I headed back to HSBC to get me one of these sensible French bank accounts, so that I don't have to be charged to get money out of my English ones. We followed somebody else into the building and I decided to be brave. I went straight up to the first desk I came to and said:

"Bonjour, est-ce qu'il y a ici quelqu'un qui peut parler en anglais, s'il vous plait?"

The woman I had spoken to looked bemused, even though I knew my French hadn't been too awful to understand. I'd like to think, instead, that this puzzled look was because my French was so plausible that she wondered why I needed someone who could speak English! Oh well, I'll never really know, will I? So, might as well dream :o)

She called somebody on the phone then led me around the desk towards an office, and guess who we should meet! Yes, it was that GORGEOUS banker we met before! He smiled as we walked towards him and we said our "hello"s as he directed us towards two chairs in his office. You don't need to know the Ins and Outs of how I got my bank account (to be honest, it's just as dull signing the forms as it is hearing about someone signing forms!) However, we made simple conversation with him and found out that he is from Marseille and I tested my spoken French on him. He smiled politely, and responded to whatever it was I said, before giving me lots of forms to sign and date. After that we left and I could barely keep my feet on the ground as we left the building. I am sad to say that I didn't leave in a dignified manner; I was in such an amorous daze that I managed to trip over a 6 foot potted plant as we walked towards the door. What a retard.

Now I'll have to find an excuse to return to HSBC; not only to snare the HOT bloke, but also to prove to him and the rest of the bank staff that I am not always such a clumsy fool! I should have to go back within the next week or so to collect my credit card from the desk, so watch this space!

Feeling thoroughly deranged and humiliated, I dashed back up to the flat to collect a few things and drop off my ID documents, so that Holly and I could go explore. We headed for what Holly described as "a nice little public garden" in the direction of the river Seine, which I suppose was about 5-10 mins walk away from our flat. This turned out to be the Forum des Halles within the grounds of the magnificent St Eustache church, complete with fountain, tiered lawns around a sort of circular courtyard, and huge stone head. . . . hmmm. Anybody who's been to Norwich's Haymarket recently (By Next and opposite Primani); think of those new stone/marble sculptures. This one beats them. There were children climbing all over it too. . . *shudders*

Anyways, Holly and I sat in the "Jardin Des Halles" for a good period of time, watching the wannabe rappers and breakdancers performing (I doubt any of them were older than 15), writing spontaneously in out little studnet notebooks, and watching hundreds of dog owners with their pets meeting and allowing their animals to play together in one, . . . thronging. . . canine jumble. We found it astonishing that apparent strangers were strolling through the park and stopping to chat to each other for company's sake alone! It was quite pleasant to see :o) Makes you realise how unsociable people are in England, where you can't even smile at someone without leaving them with the sneaky suspicion that you have a knife and you're planning to steal their wallet.

Also, We saw a ferret :o) One couple walked right past us with a ferret on a harness lead and sat on a wall nearby, speaking to any passers by about their pet and allowing strangers to stroke it :o) Even the mass of dogs were finding the small creature amusing and kept trying to lure it away from its owners to play.

Actually, people do seem to be slightly obsessed with their pets. When walking to the "Halles", we spotted this fashion shop. . .

FOR DOGS! (What IS the world coming to?!)

Finally, Holly and I decided that we were hungry so we headed for one of Holly's favourite restaurant/fast food places, Flunch. I was instantly attracted to the place due to its very cool name (Don't judge me now, you've seen the supermarket pics ;op). As we descended into the darkness. . . . nah not really, it was OK, but, on the way down into the restaurant, we passed a scary German man who decided to start talking to us. . . and insisted on telling us over and over that he was German for some reason . . . . . I'm not kidding!! We did our best to tell him that we were English (in both French and English) but he eventually tired of us and moved on (for which we were extremely grateful).

Now, Flunch, I am impressed with and disappointed at the same time. Here's why: They offer a vegetable and pasta stand (like the salad cart in Harvester restaurants) from which you may serve yourself with as much or as little as you desire :o). I chose Lasagne and was not disappointed with the huge portion they proffered; however, it tasted as though they had spread cat food in between the layers of pasta :o(. They give you a drink into the bargain and a dessert is only 1Euro 50 extra, so we paid it (to have yummy Chocolate Mousse for pud) :o). The drink I chose was called Oasis and it tasted just like the children's juice drink I used to have when I was little, Um Bongo! Blast from the past, I remember drinking that after my swimming lessons! Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that, in the end, drink and dessert inc. I paid the equivalent to £5.70! If the Lasagne hadn't been intended for feline connoisseurs, it would have been a good quality, good value meal.

Do you remember yesterday's entry boasted the possibility of playing with small aminals? Well, we hiked to the Seine riverbank to see if the pet shops were still open, but, finding them closed for the day, we decided to have a little wander and see what we could discover. We got as far as the famous "Hotel du Louvre" where we stopped at a little café for a few drinks and a chat. I met a friendly Italian woman who complimented the scruffy doodles in my notebook. We also chatted to the main waiter in the café who asked if we would return tomorrow. I said "peut-être" and we departed. We ambled back to the flat via the Louvre and "La Pyramide" (which was beautifully lit in the twilight of the evening). . .

. . . then we crossed the river and went down some dodgy stone steps to walk along the actual riverbank which was quite a pretty walk.

Back across the river (on the right side now), we sauntered past Notre Dame (which isn't far at all from our flat) and headed for home. When we got back, we watched the televised episodes of Casonova (starring the Shexy David Tennant. . . . mmmmm. . . ) and now consider yourself up to date!

We have a busy day tomorrow, hopefully going to do some enrolling at the Sorbonne, so we need to log off and make sure we have all our important documents sorted and ready to take with us. I'm gonna head for bedlies soon anyways coz I'm cheese and crackered! There you go, Ma. Proof of the exercise and fresh air having it's effects on me :o)

Night all! Wish me luck for tomorrow xxxx

P.S. Here's some fun artwork I thought I'd show you, seeing as I have no rude food for you today :op