Ahhh the City!!

I had a great afternoon off work and it was my first day back to exploring Paris! Today was a 'stress-free' tourney of transportation....I easily got my ticket for the train, made great time, and had zero problems finding the right train. That's a huge deal here...big confidence booster jsut to be able to get around correctly with public transportation! It's a 15 minute train ride (I timed it) from Bougival into La Defense (a huge 'gare'). I actually just stayed in La Defense (per Virginie's recommendation) for a quick shopping trip. The gare has a 'mall' just above it, so I made a few small purchases...a stop at the Monop got me some pesto sauce, tortellini, and cereal. I held off on the wine and oil for the bread...maybe this weekend? I CAN ask Virginie and Jerome to get me these things because they do buy my groceries and tell me to take whatever I want, but I figure a few times I will just buy my own speciality stuff for the studio, or when I 'entertain' I'll buy my own wine, etc. But actually, I have not drank much alcohol here at all this summer...just some wine, but really, I'm drinking much less then in the STates....for example, I haven't had any wine in a week (and no other alcohol for that matter). So that's good...I feel like I'll only have a drink when I'm with a friend (which won't be often) or when I have lunch w/the family sometimes on Sundays. Anyways...the only other thing I purchased was a very small grey/pink Puma 'backpack'. It's quite small, but I think it'll be perfect for my day trips when I know I'll be gone all day and need more than just the essentials...and I won't look too "touristy" with it!

So I was thinking about the train and metro today....as I sat there with my bags, listening to my iPod and looking at the other people....it is a GREAT place to "people watch." And to sum up the people of Paris: for example, today, these were the people around me:
*a white teenage girl dressed in jeans and black, black 80's type fish-net gloves on her hands, dark hair and dark makeup (kind of gothic) but pink lipstick and a backpack
*a 40 some year old man in a grey suit (he was handsome, probably wearing Armani) and briefcase
*another man w/a briefcase with shirt and tie on
*a black guy, my age, in jeans and Nikes, basketball jersey and Nike hat, definitely looked like he was here from another country playing basketball or something
*a woman in her 40s, with great jewelry and defnitely French
*a black woman with an African robe on (i don't know what you'd call it, but def. African) and a great head wrap around her hair
It was great. We all kept to ourselves, but it seemed like everyone was nice if I were to talk to them! haha! I just enjoy the diversity and wondering everyone's 'story' or where they're going or where they live...or if they can tell I'm not French or that I'm American or that I have no idea what's going on here...haha.

Anyways, having a successful venture into the city was a good way to start the weekend. I will be hanging out with Kristi this weekend, we'll do fun Paris things (we still have to research and choose what we want to do/where we want to go), sleep in, workout a little, and talk to some friends back home.
Kristi is actually debating whether or not to stick with her job here...SOO everone cross your fingers and say prayers that she'll stick with it, because I think we'd be partners in crime if she stuck around!