It's a good thing we're in Paris...

Over the last few weeks in the states, what with both Tina’s and my departure imminent, quite a bit of celebration took place, turning me and most of my friends alcoholic-lite. So what to do when in Paris? Go the Monoprix for 3-Euro bottles of wine (which are surprisingly good!) and, once again, drink up a storm, inducing contentment, sarcastic humor and extemporaneous, wine-fueled mass-napping. It’s not that I’m failing to see the sights – you see, right now I’m just soaking up the culture, wine glass in hand.

Actually, it is fairly true that I am not missing out the sights of Paris; I live next door to most of them. Madeleine is within spitting distance, the Opera within another two blocks. The Place de la Concorde is two blocks the other way, meaning that the Arc de Triomphe is a short hike down the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower is a half-hour’s walk and across the river down the Champs Mars. The Louvre is perhaps a third of a mile east near the Place Vendome and down the Rue Sainte-Honore. The Isle de la Cite, with Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle is just farther and over the Pont Neuf.

So it’s really not like I haven’t seen the city. I just don’t see it after mes camarades and I drink five bottles of wine and pass out in en masse on beds that are roughly 2 feet by 4 feet in size.

Place Opera