Nicole and I stayed up late last night reading my book, laughing historically the entire time. We found it highly entertaining and it was hard to put down. So, we woke up late...again. Last day, we swear. I began the morning with a load of laundry as Nicole and I got ready. Jim left for work and we told him we would meet him at the bookstore when we were ready to go for the day. We left the apartment after all the laundry had been finished and we had put our things away. Nicole and I navigated to Jim's bookstore via the metro and walked in to say hello.
Jack had just returned with his lunch so we browsed the store for a while so he could eat his lunch in peace. Jim handed me a copy of "A Year in the Madre," and told me to read it on my plane ride home. I gladly accepted the gift called A Year in Shit and tucked it away in my purse. After Jack finished his lunch he came downstairs to man the desk so Jim could escape with us for about a half hour. So we all three left and Jim directed us to the art gallery shopping district. We stopped in at Cozy for lunch, a quick salad and sandwich shop. Nicole and I both ordered a baguette with mozzarella, lettuce and tomato and a coca light each. Jim enjoyed a wonderful looking salad. We ate in about 10 minutes without hardly saying one word to each other and that was the end of that. Jim pointed us in the direction of shopping streets and headed back to the bookstore.
So Nicole and I walked up and down the streets, sometimes stopping in art galleries and other times too scared to open the door. I should say sometimes we tried to open the door, but it was locked. Very strange these art people. We saw a welcoming hallway full of art and walked in the door to browse. We made it about half way down the hall and realized it was not an art gallery at all, it was a school. So we casually turned around and headed for the door, but not before a young women could stop us and inform us that this was indeed a school and what exactly were we doing. We quickly said, yes and ran out the door.
We spent the next hour or so walking up and down the streets, stopping in stores mostly for warmth. It was a freezing cold day in Paris and we decided to spend it shopping outside, what were we thinking? We finally stopped for a warm cafe and had a good conversation. Once we left the cafe we walked to a Christmas mart around the corner, but we mostly just walked right through. It was too cold to stop and look. We spent the next 2 hours walking in and out of cute boutiques and its amazing how quickly time flys here in Paris.
While we were in a store called Muji, Jim called to say he was almost done at the store and we should head back to his bookstore. We tried to find our way but got distracted by a post office and a fun dishware store with lots of bright colors. I didn't know exactly where we were, but I let my sense of direction kick in and we walked toward where I suspected the store to be, and wallah...there it was.
Jim was anxious to get out of the store and wanted to forget about his long day at the office with some chocolate. He lead us straight to what he considers a VERY good chocolate shop and we waited for a table. Once we found a table we each ordered a real hot chocolate with real whipped cream on top, then we all got up one by one and pointed out exactly which dessert we wanted to eat. Well Jim and I ordered a dessert, Nicole ordered a pretzel and the lady behind the counter thought she was crazy. She kept telling Nicole it wasn't sweet, and Nicole kept saying, I know, its perfect. I got a kick out of it. Jim ordered a chocolate/banana pie and I ordered a very thick cookie. It was all very good and it certainly was an overdose of sugar...just like we like it.
After we left the shop, we went directly across the street to a very neat boutique with really fun furniture. Its a shame we couldn't bring any of it home. We left the shop and Jim lead us towards a large department store so I could do a little last minute shopping, but we were distracted on the way and stopped at Sephora. Jim and I have a ritual where we stop at Sephora and do some perfume and cologne shopping together, so we couldn't let our tradition die. I was able to walk away from Sephora with 3 samples while Nicole was told only 1 per person. Looks like I got the better deal! But they didn't have the perfume I really wanted, so I didn't get to buy any. Jim found one he really liked, but I told him it smells a little like sunscreen to me. So we will see if he decides he likes it.
After a half hour in Sephora we finally left and headed toward the department store. To my disbelief they didn't have anything I wanted and we left empty handed. This was just not our day for shopping! On our walk home we stopped at a fresh fruit and vegetable store and loaded up on vegetables for a stir-fry dinner tonight. We also picked up some delicious fruit for tomorrow morning. Nicole and I had a lot of fun looking at all the different fruits and vegetables available to us!
We jumped on the metro and after a short ride home, and Nicole almost falling over with our groceries in hand we arrived at Jim's stop. Jim went to the store to buy wine and sour cream for our beats and Nicole and I headed toward the apartment. Well as usual we were distracted by a grocery store on the way and stopped in to get a few things...orange juice (because we drank all Jim's), Coca-light (because we have to get our fix in) and Kinder chocolate eggs (because Nicole apparently adores them). We met Jim back at the apartment to find he also bought orange juice, so he is all stocked up now!
Immediately Nicole and I began to clear off the dinner table that we had been stacking with our personal things throughout the week. Jim began cooking our dinner by chopping up all the veggies and steaming the rice. I was instructed to put on some music, wash all the dishes and wash the spinach. Nicole shelled all the peas and tore apart the spinach and I'm sure did some other things while I was busy doing dishes. Jim cooked a wonderful stir-fry meal for the three of us and we all sat down to enjoy it together. Along with our stir-fry and rice he served beets with sour cream. Its actually a good combination and I might take that one home with me. We ate at the dinner table for the first time since my arrival with lit candles and a bottle of wine. It was all very lovely and Jim entertained us with stories of his yesteryears.
After dinner Nicole and I did the dishes while Jim did research for our day trip tomorrow. Now we are all nearing bed time as our day was exhausting walking and trying to keep warm. Jim has a chocolate mouse yet to serve, and the best chocolate ice cream in the world. Its a good thing we all like chocolate, because I have most likely eaten it with every meal here. Nicole did open her Kinder chocolate egg but wasthoroughly disappointed to find a Madagascar Hippo toy. I might leave mine for another day, I don't want her to get two major disappointments in one day. :)
Nicole and I will most likely end the night reading my book again...we are nearing the end and we just think its hilarious. Its been really fun having Nicole here, we keep each other laughing and something always seems to happen.
Night! We have an early day tomorrow!
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