Le Coeur des Hommes, ou Les Hommes ne valent pas la peine

Wednesday, October 31. Halloween. Two weeks from today, I go home.

This is going to be an abreviated entry.

French tutoring session in the morning with Camille.

Afternoon outing: "Village de Vaugirard" in the southern part of the 15th.

Fondation La Ruche. Passage de Dantzig. 2 French women outside peering through gate, hoping to get it although it's not open to the public. however, the guardien takes pity on us a lets us walk through the garden.

Big police station: objets trouves. This is the "lost and found" department for Paris (other than the metro which has its own).

Parc Georges Brassens. former abattoir. bulls at entrance. bellfry. shallow lake. round theatre. ruchery pedagogique. vineyard. talkative woman. man ringing bell to announce the puppet show. decide to attend with all the little kids. 3 franc admission. one-man "show." I talk to him afterwards. he's been at this park for 20 years, before that at Champs-Elysees f0r 10 years. the puppet shows are given 3 times on Wednesday afternoons, on Sat and Sun, and every day during school holidays. what a treat to have stumbled onto this par hazard! if the French woman hadn't wanted to keep talking to me, I would have been long gone!

Rue Santos Dumont. another wonderful little street but too dark to take any pictures.

I have purchased the new Officiel des Spectacles so decide to sit in a cafe (Le Moka) on the r. de Convention and have some tea while deciding what to do next. I'm thinking of going to the new Ethan Hawke film (in version originale) but ultimately decide it's a waste to spend almost 10 euros going to an American movie. So what if I can't understand the French ones? I'm going anyway. There's a comedy playing, get this, in a movie theatre just down the street from where I'm sitting and it has Jean-Pierre Daroussin as one of the main characters: Le Coeur des Hommes 2. So that's what I'm going to do.

Later: OK, I survived that. I actually understood most of the movie, certainly in terms of the plot line. However, what I miss is a lot of the banter. But it's only going to get better if I keep doing it.

When I try to take the metro back Hotel de Ville, it turns out that line 12 is en panne. But while I'm trying to figure out Plan B (take a bus, walk to another metro stop, take a taxi!), it's been resolved and the ticket agent lets me back through the turnstile.

I have dinner at the Cafe Beaubourg, once again sitting at my favorite table between two shelves filled with books. I've been reading "A Single Pebble," by John Hersey, the only English-language book I've found. I'll have to keep coming back until I finish it! I have artichoke with sundried tomatoes, tiny ravioli, a glass of Bourgogne, and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.

At a table just across from me are a young man and a young woman. He's talking to her very intently, in a voice that sounds like he's trying to justify something (his actions, his feelings?). I'm watching them discretely but it's clear that she is upset. Later, I notice her wiping tears from her eyes. I want to go over to their table and tell her that "Les hommes ne valent pas la peine" and to tell him to take a hike. I'm such a nice person. :)