Pancakes and backgammon

Had quite a nice day today. I started out by getting up late and meeting Claire for brunch at an American-style diner called Breakfast in America few blocks from her place -- I had been craving pancakes after my week being annoyed with school. It was so great! Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, unlimited watery coffee, exactly like something back home, including coffee mugs they'd collected from diners all over the US. I wish Lyon's was still around. I also got a decent brownie for the road. Yum.

Afterwards we walked to the newly renovated Grand Palais to check out an exhibit called Melancholie, all about representations of melancholy in art over the last 2,000 years or so. But there was a long line and it was cold (I only had a long-sleeved shirt two t-shits on -- I learned my lesson), so we went to the Champs Elysees just next door. Claire had never been there before (she's from Strasbourg, not Paris) so we walked around a bit and tried to find a movie. We were going to check out the new Harry Potter but the only one that was going to be playing soon turned out to be the version française. What the hell? We were so disappointed. I wanted to keep my all-American afternoon going but stupid French linguistic pride got in the way. Dammit!

We decided to head over to Bastille and get hot chocolate, because on the Champs a hot chocolate costs like 6 euros 50 and the cafes are full of tourists. We went to a cafe where my cousin Blessings got hit on by some woman who wouldn't stop staring at her. Apparently, while my cousin's husband was in the bathroom this woman "shook her titties" at her. I didn't have the same experience, which would have been kind of awkward in front of Claire, but we did make a backgammon board out of paper and had a lovely time until Claire laughed on the board and the pieces went flying all over the place. She was ahead but I'm convinced I could have come back.

Then I went to dinner at the apartment of my former English student Edouard (Edward, for the monolingual among you). No, he's not the gay count I taught last year, he got computer lessons. I would have liked to keep giving lessons, but it's just not worth the time. Claire took over for me, and I'm much happier just stressing out at school instead of trying to figure out what I could possibly teach Edward for an hour and a half without being boring. Anyway, the family is really cool and sweet, and Edouard is now almost 15. They didn't break out the champagne this time though, but it's for the best because we all have to work or go to school tomorrow, and I have this really annoying cough. But champagne would have been nice. I'm going to have to smuggle some onto the plane with me when I catch my flight back to Paris on New Year's Eve.