A Little Drop of Sunshine

Sound track of the day:
We’ve got tonight,
Who needs tomorrow?
We’ve got tonight, babe
Why don’t you stay?

Current Temperature: The veil hath been lifted…sorta

Culture clash: The Lycee de Jeune Filles is just a few doors down and is, duh, a girl’s school. And all the long locked laddies seen out front cradling the young girls in their arms are trespassing! Ah young love.





The sun made a brief and coy appearance today, as my well-being struggled the surface. I promised myself I would step out today even if it required bundling up in an unseasonably rigid fashion, even if only for a while to breathe uncontaminated air cycled from the French countryside. The promise I didn’t keep myself was that I would be up early. Nope, after a night of strange dreams, legs in and then out of the covers, sweater on and then off the shoulders, making the twelfth cup of tea for the night, checking Facebook for the umpteenth timing in the hopes that Rose took her freaking Lexulous turn, after all those exhaustive attempts at sleep just short of reading Jen’s case study I did not feel the need to pressure myself to wake up with the sun.

Instead I let it linger and tease my slumber until nearly noon when I heard rustling from Jen’s room, my signal to get the java brew started. Still, it was a struggle. Coffee in my PJs, pouring over an email from Mom who hadn’t quite yet made up her mind about whether or not to come visit, and morning glories still snuggling in the corners of my eyes (Jen is in the shower so I hadn’t washed my face) – these little bits of joy are what my morning was made of.

We hit the pavement just after noon, our reusable grocery bags in tow. It had been decided that today would be a shopping day to shake off the depression we’d accrued over a rainy and dank weekend. And so, we aimed for Rue de la Paroisse.

We started with lunch at La Cantine (the cafeteria), a modestly-sized café decorated like a children’s classroom, with mini-backpacks lining the walls and cartoons of little French children wishing what they’d like to be when they grow up (quand je serai grand, je ferai la gréve comme papa or when I grow up I will strike like my father – satire or a true aspiration? You can find more examles here.)I ordered a gargantuan salad topped with bresaola and green beans garnished with fresh parmesan. The food here, although it can be boring and redundant (for lack of variety), is fresh and colorful and so pleasing to the eye. Jen, after being here for over a year opted for the burger and fries. But leave it to the French to add an oeuf (egg).

At Sephora, despite my success at finding a perfect and mature lip stick, I was unable to ignore the fact that a man in a sterile black tunic kept his eyes closely watching my hands as I sniffed, sampled and all but tasted their products. In a town like Versailles where many of the country’s young elite live and train to be properly groomed, sufficiently educated and aptly cultured, I wonder if there is much of a shoplifting issue. Or is it simply the Asian tourists, having saved up their life’s efforts culminating in one fairy tale trip to France, that fall subject to their suspicious eyes? In any case, I couldn’t spend too much time pondering his doubting glances.

Rue de la Paroisse is a quant street with boutiques selling fragrances, shoes, home gifts. There is also the cobbler, dry cleaner and pharmacy. I was able to find some adorable wine glasses at Thym et Romarin for Jen’s apartment. If displayed along a windowsill, these glasses will reflect the sun in such a way that I know will take me back to my childhood and the days of crystal stained glass crafts and colorful friendship beads. If it doesn’t happen while I’m here we’ll try again when they’re in New Jersey where, I can’t believe I’m saying it, the sun will be more likely to shine with conviction.

Today, because the Marchee Notre Dame is closed on Mondays, we did not get fresh beets. No borsch. Instead, we got supplies to accompany the Vietnamese pork roll (cha lua) we bought on Saturday in Paris. A good end to a somewhat productive day. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as bright before the forecasted week of rain. God help me.