Friday--3rd day in Paris

My plan for the day was to go to the Internet cafe then to the Deportation Museum before meeting Pat for lunch at 12:30 However I woke up with a sinus headache (the first I'd had on this trip) I'd noticed that my allergies hadn't been bothering me on this trip like they normally do. I went back to my room after breakfast to take an aspirin and lie (lay?) down for a bit. So I got a late start and ended up blowing off the Internet cafe.


Went to the Deportation Memorial....very moving. This memorial is dedicated to the nearly 200,000 people arrested in France by the Nazis and deported to work camps. Not only were Jews targeted, but also Slavs, gypsies, gays, political prisioners, Resistance fighters, political opponents, stateless persons, social misfits, Jehovah's Witnesses, professional criminals, the handicapped, and anyone who didn't fit the Aryan ideal...... You know, I've always wondered about that. If I were going to name a superior race you can bet it would be green-eyed brunettes--what I am. I wondered why it didn't dawn on Hitler that after a while his "superior race" might turn to him and say, "Uh, excuse me, you are not one of US"...... Even though you are behind Notre Dame and right on the Seine as you descend a long, narrow set of stairs (only wide enough for one) the sights and sounds of the city fade away. You are in an open area surrounded by high walls and with just one opening (covered by bars) giving a slight glimpse of the Seine. Through another narrow passage into the memorial. There are triangular insets on the walls with the names of the different work camps along with ashes gathered from each camp. The most striking feature is a long narrow passage with small lights on both walls. There is a light for each person who was deported but did not return. At the end of the passage is an eternal flame.

I tried to find the famous English bookstore, Shakespeare and Company but finally gave it up so I could get back to the hotel to meet Pat. When I got to the hotel Pat was waiting out front for me. We set off walking to find a place where we wanted to have lunch. Around the corner from my hotel she pointed out a restaurant where the portion of Sicko she was in was filmed. She took me to an area near my hotel that she said was one of her favorite parts of Paris. We had a good lunch and a really good talk. It was interesting to hear a fellow American's take on living in Paris. She told me about the bureaucracy (which seems to make it's American counterpart pale in comparison).We discussed the different medical systems a little, both agreeing that the insurance and pharmaceutical companies in America have such a stranglehold we don't see how there can ever be a national health plan. She did say that they had stressed to Michael Moore that their health system isn't perfect........but it is still much better than ours. She said that when a woman has a baby in France (with no complications and not by Caesearean) it is standard for her to be in the hospital for a week. I was astounded by the way French companies and the government take care of citizens, and others that are there legally, if they are ill. Sigh...........

Pat is from the Northeast and on a trip to Paris with friends several years ago she met her future husband---when he tried to pick her up as she was walking down the street. That didn't work, but they ended up writing to each other and as they say the rest is history. I was hoping some man would try to pick me up as I walked down the street...........but no.

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting and wandering around. Then she had to leave for a parent-teacher conference. I feel like I have made a new friend in Paris. Pat told me of some good shopping areas so that is where I headed. On the way to shop I stopped by Sainte Chapelle, but the last entry was 30 minutes before closing and I had just missed it. Something else to put on tomorrow's list.

I did go into a Sephora (on the Rue Rivoli--the street behind the Louvre), and it was larger than any store I had been to here. There were several men in the shop buying cologne. I have to say that I don't think I have ever seen a man in a Sephora here.

One thing I really like about Paris is that there are so many tiny, individually owned shops. A shop were I bought some earrings was no more than 10 feet wide and maybe at the most twice as deep (not including the part in the back). I love that all these small businesses can survive and are not pushed out by large chains. There are chains (such as H&M, C&A, etc) but Pat said they co-exist with the small shops. People are loyal to the shops in their area. Makes me wonder what the small shops pay for rent. The first time I was in Paris I went into a shop that sold bar utensils and cork products. I had never really seen cork before (this was 10 years ago), but they had cork placemats, bowls, floor tiles, etc....more things than I could imagine being made out of cork.


For dinner I went to an Italian restaurant and had a pizza. When I was about halfway through it I recalled a conversation Monique and I had about pizza toppings. She swore that tuna pizza was really good and I promised that I would give it a try. But, I didn't think of it until then. Monique, I promise I will try it. Although I am pretty sure I will have to come back to Europe, as that is the only place I have seen tuna pizza.