phoenician parisian

i love Paris.

today as i was walking to catch the metro,

there was a man playing a violin in the tunnel.

about 6 feet away from him, 

another man sat up against the wall sketching the man playing the violin.

i couldn't help but think to myself,

"Paris, you really are something wonderful."

::

i've been here just long enough to begin fooling people into thinking i'm French.

i've learned some slang,

i walk with an air of ambivalence,

i nudge tourists,

i go when the sign says 'dont walk'.

as a result, about once a day now, someone will say, 

"bonjour mademoiselle?"

"oui monsieur.."

then they will proceed with 2-3 beautiful french sentences,

and i struggle to find a polite place to interrupt them and inform them that in fact, 

"je ne parle pas Francais. desole."

(sorry- i don't speak french)

i was standing on the metro a few days ago and some bright eyed,

young tourists from the states were talking excitedly.

"everything here is so...so...GRAND!

the way people talk and the buildings,

and how people dress! i mean look at her (meaning me),

NO one would ever dress like that back home.

the women here are so fashionable. i just wish i could see her whole closet."

not knowing that i could understand them, they kept going. 

i gave them a half smile & was almost urged to tell them that my shirt was actually from Target,

but i thought- forget it- let them wonder at it all. it's more fun.

i traveled to Normandy.

it was perhaps the most delightful day i've known. 

it deserves it own post,

but i will add this relevant lil encounter: 

at the end of my day in Dieppe, 

i wandered into this local artisan shop.

the woman was painting at the register & you could tell all the little goods were hers.

(and that she was born & raised here)

i said, "bonjour," and shopped around.

i took a lil keychain up to the register & she started speaking to me in beautiful French.

 i apologized and informed her i can't understand.

her response:

"no?! you speak English? oh my- you really fooled me when you came in and said hello. you say hello like you are definitely French. i believed you were from here! my my my.."

she was shaking her head in disbelief.

i thanked her and started blushing. 

yep- 5 weeks and i've successfully mastered one word, the most common one.

i'm practically Parisian.