Intermittence

Judah had to work today, so Donnell and I climbed out of bed as she was leaving, made a quick trip to the local bakery/boulangerie for croissants au chocolat, and returned to the apartment to scarf them down with some coffee.

We headed out shortly thereafter for another trip to the Eiffel Tower, this time the opposite side, and were almost immediately targeted by a scammer. Stories of this particular scam are all over the Internet, but I’ll give a quick synopsis of how it’s supposed to work: The scammer pretends that they’ve found something on the ground in front of you, bend over, discreetly drop a cheap metal ring, and pick it up as though they had just discovered it. “Is this yours?” they ask, to which the victim inevitably responds in the negative. The nefarious villain then proceeds to explain that it is certainly of high quality and value, and while they don’t have time to turn it in or sell it for a profit, they would be willing to give it to the victim in exchange for a portion of the purported value. The ring is, of course, worthless, and any money the victim hands over is pure profit.

So, a woman tried to pull the same trick, bending over directly in front of me, blatantly dropping a poorly-palmed ring on the ground, and beginning her patter. We blew by with a brusque “Non!” in response to her half-formed question, and we never saw her again.

The park on the other side of the Tower is lovely, though it appears that the city is working hard to establish the lawn in anticipation for a hard summer of lounging and wandering tourists–it’s mostly fenced-off. Still, we got some fantastic photographs (a claim you’ll have to take or leave as you see fit), and enjoyed a nice walk despite the chill.

It was chilly, though, so we wandered a block or so away from the Tower to a nearby café and enjoyed a chocolat chaud and café crème. Lovely!

While walking back toward the Metro station, I thwarted what I am sure would have turned into a pickpocketing or mugging attempt. A man had tailed us down a mostly-deserted street for a while, working ever-closer and meandering back and forth across the wide sidewalk. I directed Donnell to a nearby crosswalk, came to a sudden stop, and turned to face our would-be assailant (a shifty-looking fellow with a pencil mustache and a black leather coat). He immediately turned to examine a sign posted on a nearby wall, then headed away from us with haste, only to disappear into an alleyway a few moments later.

Asshole.

We returned to the Metro and rode to Montmartre, where we consumed amazing croque madames (a grilled cheese-and-ham sandwich with a fried egg on top). A nearby park boasted a lovely carousel playing music from Amelie and, far above, the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. We did not enter, but admired it from without and took in a breathtaking view of the surrounding city.

The area was chock full of tourists, but we found a quiet street nearby (situated in such a way and narrow enough that ice still clung to the cobblestones, not having seen direct sunlight for some time) and meandered through the neighborhood in search of the famous (through Amelie) Café des Deux Moulins, where more coffee was consumed, along with a crême brûlée, a treat familiar to and beloved by any true fan of the movie.

I’m having trouble staying awake now, so that’s all I have for tonight. There was at least one more interesting event I have to relate, but it’ll have to wait for tomorrow.

I hope you have as nice a day as you’d like.