Yul du Paris

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We had a lazy day today. Cleaned up the apartment somewhat. Unpacked our bags. Got necessaries at the grocery.

In the evening we went for a walk around the Marais then down to Notre Dame and further south around the Boulevar Saint Germain.

We returned home to relax and get ready to go out for the Saturday evening.

We didn't get to the square where we wanted to eat (Place du Marche Ste Catherine) until about midnight and by then even the Parisians were finished eating and the kitchens were mostly closed. However, our night was just beginning. As we circled the square we ran into a nutty french guy of around 30 yrs. old. He was ushering us through our circulation of the square. He began speaking to us in English and we started conversing. He said the he knew the American preconception that Parisians are cold to tourists and wished to dispel the rumor. My first thought with talking to him was to watch my wallet. He was very fun and high energy and just seemed to want to chat with us.

But as we talked to him I could see (and he told us repeatedly) that he was a little drunk and certainly high as well. He introduced us to a couple more of his friends that he had been drinking with and that offered us some the the wine they were drinking out of little white plastic cups. We drank with them and talked more. Yul (the main guy who we talked to) was really genuine and goodnatured. He described French people with the analogy that there are two stones in the middle of the road and many on the sides. The two in the middle are the friendly French people (usually younger, he said) and all the many other bricks are the rude and cold French people.

Yul had this game he liked to play where he said they would make us a heart firework ("What color would you like? Red? Yes. Red!") then he and his buddy would get out the lighter and cigarette and get all prepared on ground (cupping their hands around a mysterious imaginary firework). Once the firework was lit, Yul made a very loud whistle with his lips and followed the firework with his eyes and outstretched arm high into the air. While people around crane their heads upwards to see where the imaginary firework. Yul made the final burst with a clap of the hands. What a rouse!

The game, it turned out, was really about watching the faces of the people around who thought there was an actual firework. It was very funny.


Yul and his two friends, Lucy and another guy who's name I don't remember, I think Juo Juo, invited us back to Juo Juo's flat for more drinks. While Lucy and Juo Juo took a scooter to get more drinks, Yul led us on a personal walking tour of the Bastille and the surrounding area as we walked to the flat. Here are some things I learned from him on the tour: The History of the Bastille and Bastille Day, The name of the rental bikes Velib (comes from Velo for bike and Liberte for freedom, hence "Bike-Freedom"), If you want to take a girl on a first date you take her to the restaurant "Hippopotamus" because it's pretty good food but still cheep, The last numbers on car's license plates refer to where in France they are from (75 being Paris, 81-85 being the suburbs etc. and north being 40's, South being 90's), a braided girl's hair is called a Knot, and Yul is "fluent" in English when he's drunk and high (or so he says).

We got to the large flat of his friend and watched music videos in English and French projected on the wall while we drank more beer and wine. We got home to our place around 3AM. A lovely night with some true Parisians.

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