Perfume and rats

Sept. 20: Sacre Coeur, Place du Tertre, Arc de Triomphe, Ave. Champs Elysees, the Louvre

Is there truth to the stereotype of French people as shunning routine bathing in favor of drowning themselves in perfume? On the way home on this, my first day out in Paris, I witnessed a stinky man produce a bottle of perfume from a bag he was carrying. He then proceeded to douse both his pits in the stuff heavily before rubbing it over his arms (several times).

This little show did draw stares and muffled laughter from other passengers (I watched discreetly, horrified and captivated), but it remains true nevertheless that I have never witnessed anything like this in any other country, but I did on my first day in France. Freak coincidence?

Sept. 21: Cathedrale du Notre Dame and “Ratatouille” tourism

Walking from the Notre Dame across the River Seine in search of the rat-trap shop from “Ratatouille,” I got lost in a maze of hip shopping streets. It seems the owners of Aurouze Julien haven’t taken happily to all their newfound attention, and have temporarily closed shop. After an hour of wandering, I was pretty sure I had found the right address, but I only saw shuttered doors — no rat corpses. (Update: I found it, a block from where I thought it would be.)

Tray tables in their upright position

It’s 2:30 a.m. In a little over four hours, I take off, life packed away in bags, for the second time in as many years.

I might ask myself what exactly I think I am doing – jobless and chasing something across the ocean – which I did a couple hours ago, pacing in the darkened kitchen while looking for an umbrella.

But I’ve screwed my courage to the sticking place, and at the moment, philosophical questions can wait. At the moment, I’m hungry and all I desire in the world is my bed. The bed that I won’t be seeing for a while after tonight.

The world awaits! It’s just Europe, really. And a couple other countries. But it’s also important in some way, not to find myself, really, or to find something else, but to see and to be a part of. That’s what it is.

“All paths lead nowhere, so it is important to choose a path that has heart,” Carlos Castaneda is quoted as saying. That’s what it is … that’s all it is.