After a long (four day) week of classes, ice-skating at the Eiffel Tower, and looking for an English language bookstore, I decided I was going to blow off some steam on Thursday night. Luckily, my friend from French class invited me out to a club night in St. Germain. It was ostensibly for kids from Les Sciences Po . . . but we crashed anyway.
This is because the deal for the night was a 15 Euro cover charge for unlimited sushi, caipirinhas, mojitos, and champagne between seven and nine.
So as long as I managed to consume more than 15 euros worth of the above mentioned amenities, the night would be totally worth it.
I think I quadrupled my investment.
After an endless stream of caipirinhas and champagne and a couple of mad rushes for the sushi table, we met up with my friend's friend, who was exactly what I always imagined an upper class British kid from Oxford would be like. He was ridiculously friendly, to the point of being philanthropic, and kept telling me about his custom tailored suit, which he apparently got through some sort of strange Oxford business class competition/swindle. I couldn't complain, though, because he was paying for extra bottles of champagne and buying tequila shots for us.
All of this led to me getting truly smashed for the first time in Paris. I am quite amazed I made it home without incident.
Anyways, I woke up this morning having missed my first class already, and upon walking into beautiful blue skies and sixty degree weather, decided it would be a crime to go to my second. So I took advantage of the weather, fully unaware that beautiful weather in Paris meant more unsuspecting Americans in the street, and that more unsuspecting Americans in the street meant more roving bands of street salesman and scammers trying to corner you.
So first I went off to the Marais, the old Jewish quarter, to have what was once called the best falafel in Europe by the New York Times. I am by no means a falafel expert, or even an amateur, but this was certainly excellent falafel. It was here, though, that I was first hassled on the street. As I walked along the Rue de Rosiers, I was multiple times, "Vous etes Juif?" which translates directly as "Are you Jewish?" I was confused, and said no, and then the guy handed me a postcard with some sort of religious message on it. This same exact scenario happened four more times. I have no idea what it was about.
Anyways, from there, I decided to head over to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur for some of the best views of Paris. As I walked up the beautiful sunlit and well-manicured hill leading to the Basilica, my walk was slightly ruined as even more aggressive scammers noted that I was alone and singled me out as a target. Groups of kinda sketchy looking guys would sit on the rails on the side of the path and as I walked past would yell, "EY BOY! EY BOY COME HERE!" To which I would reply by continuing to walk without making eye contact. The scammers will react to anything you do, even if it is shaking your head or saying no, by running up to you and trying to get you to stop.
Apparently their scam this day was that they would take your wrist and put a bracelet around it and then demand that you pay for bracelet. This is first of all a dumb scam, and second of all requires me to take my hand out of my pocket and offer it to the guy, unless he wants to grab it, which he knows is unwise. So I continued to walk, and they continued to shout "Ey boy! Ey little boy!" which is particularly annoying cause I was a solid foot taller than most of them. It also meant I that I look like I'm twelve right after I shave.
Anyways, my day could not be spoiled completely as the view from the top and Montmartre in general was breathtaking.
Tomorrow, I go to Tours and Chenonceau, and Sunday I crash.
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