Bonjour,

Weekends are always eventful around here.

6 pm on Thursday arrived and our meeting was postponed. Great to know I was here until this late just to go home. Well, shit happens, right? So P, R and I met around 8 and went to Ephemere. The place is extraordinary! Is right by the canal and right next door to a fire station, which is a plus because every now and then some cute firemen come by. The thing about French firemen is that they are actually hot. Unlike Portugal, here their uniforms are designed to show us what a great body they have and they're all young and brave, or at least they seem so. Anyway, the place is divided in 4 different areas. You have the café/bar area, the restaurant, the art gallery and next door the club. It's a very lively place, full of different people and with a great music selection that goes from 80's classics to the latest house beats. We had a good time, drinking our wine on a plastic cup and talking about trivial things like religion and politics. Politics, or to be accurate, American politics is a very common subject between us. E and I are liberals, totally democrats and Obama's fans. But P, our little baby, is a republican. For us this is, In many ways, incomprehensible. P justifies it by saying her family is republican and so she was brought up with those values. When facing some questions about, for example, abortion or guns, she tries to defend her views, but it's increasingly difficult because E and I are passionate enough to start raising our voices and losing our temper. This is so unfair to poor P. She's always the target! But recently she became more and more open to our ideas and has even asked me to send her some information so she could read and think about it. One small victory!

So, we liked the place so much that we've decided to go back there on Saturday for brunch. Friday I didn't go to work, I didn't have anything to do so there was really no point. So I spent my day doing laundry and watching TV shows. Feeling a little depressed, I mean it was friday night and I was home alone, I decided to get some dinner and a bottle of wine. Don't worry, I'm not on the verge of alcoholism! Since I don't have a bottle opener, I went to restaurant next door and asked for help. This is one of my favorite places to eat on my street, the best turkish food you can ever have! The owner, a middle aged man that is always smiling, asked me if I was going to drink with friends or alone. As he heard my answer he looked at me surprised, almost sad. Well, I guess it is kind of sad and pathetic! Anyhow, he gave me a red rose for company and with a smile, always a smile, said goodbye. I was touched, really. He didn't have any agenda with that, it was a really genuine and kind gesture and it made me feel really happy.

Saturday came with a full schedule ahead of us. We met around noon for brunch...

Oh, I have to stop for a minute to write something really important! The thing about P I didn't explain yet is that although she's the only American she is, in fact, the least American of us. There are so many things about the American culture she doesn't know that E and I are constantly shocked! For example, this is a classic P moment: I don't remember why but James Bond came up. P, always so naïve, told us she didn't like George Bond because he was so cheesy. "George Bond?!" E and I yelled. And then P replies: "Oh yes, James Bond. I'll be back! So cheesy!" Ok, E and I were ready to throw ourselves into the canal. I mean, who can relate James Bond with The Terminator? Well, that's our P!

Anyhow, after brunch we left the café and started our planned tour of vintage stores. The first three were a little bit of a disappoitement, but all my faith was on the last one called Star. After the first three our energy level was considerably low and so we decided to stop for coffee. Of course that after looking at the menu and all their yamhy cocktails we've decided to have a drink also. Don't you love drinking on a Saturday afternoon? Specially when you're on this great café, drinking strawberry margaritas in the sun. It was perfect! After two cocktails we went to Star which was a battle field. It was packed with people, all in combat mode, looking for that perfect dress or bag. It was mental! And I loved it! I love this kind of things, I love to dig and find something special buried in a pile of stuff. We spent almost 2hours on that store and I feel I didn't even see a quarter of their selection. With a shopping bag full of new/old things and our wallets considerably lighter, we went home to get ready for our evening.

Champagne and pizza, the true fashionista's dinner. R met us at E's house and we all went out to meet some of her friends. I want to spare you the details of the hour we spent looking for the apartment and then the hour we actually spent there. There's really no point! So after a brief stop at this bar that really looked like a brothel we went to a club called Fleche D'Or. It is a very cool place, with nice music and a cool ambiance. We sat in this room with different, strange couches with our drinks and soon enough we were talking with the group next to us. Of course the people next to us were all boys and E had already a favorite. It turns out he was married! Anyway, we made small talk, or I made small talk, until I needed another drink. That's when I met JM. So me and JM started, don't ask me for the details, on this dance competition which was a lot of fun. I mean serious fun! Well at least until he grabbed my face and asked me if he could kiss me. I looked at him and said "Can you...? Noooooo!" And left him on the dance floor. This was hilarious! I got back to the room and sat with my drink, relaxing. 10 minutes later he comes in and I sent him away. 30 min after he comes again, and I sent him away again. At his third try, after one hour, I thought to myself, "well at least he doesn't give up easily", and so I gave him a chance. We laughed the whole time and talked a lot. It was a lot of fun. With my number safe on his cell we left the club, after the necessary drama and went home.

Well I guess it was just one more weekend in Paris...

"It's all happening...!"

Until next time,

Papillon