18 May 2005

paris

On the champs elysees, this guy was offering to cut out your silhouette for 2 euros in one minute. We watched for a while, very impressed that all he had was a piece of black paper and a pair of scissors. Then of course we parted with our cash and enjoyed being tourists.

In the Sacre Coeur we sat watching the constant stream of visitors pouring in to stress out the attendant at the door. He made more noise telling everyone to shush and move along than the visitors themselves. Just as we were beginning to be irritated, eight nuns appeared at the front and sang the most amazing, haunting piece. It was a special moment.

At the bar, a German couple couldn't get the waiter to understand that they wanted him to make a recommendation from the menu. Eventually I couldn't stand it any longer and offered to help. They were all smiles and thank yous. It was most gratifying until the waiter, whose linguistic problem clearly wasn't limited to foreign languages, proceeded to translate the menu instead of recommend.

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