Day 190: or The Last Saturday

My last Saturday in France. I knew I was going to be busy this weekend because there was no time for laziness. I woke up at Sara’s and we headed into Paris after a light lunch of leftover pasta salad, which was delicious. We were going in to do another walking tour, our 3^rd and last. Since we had over an hour to burn, we headed to the Champs Elysees for some light shopping. I am really trying to avoid adding anything to my already stuffed bag, but with the sales being on, it seems everyone I’m with is searching for something in particular; therefore, I end up in the stores.

I bought some new sunglasses, which I needed but are still small enough that they shouldn’t do too much damage. I find the key to fighting the shopping bug, is to give into little wants, like sunglasses or some cheap jewelry. They’re small and inexpensive and you still leave the store with a bag. After the shopping, we headed to Le Parc Monceau. When we got there, I realized that this was the park I just happened upon my first weekend in Paris when I decided just to walk in an unknown direction. It’s much nicer than it was in January, when it looked cold and dead. The walk we were taking was Paris and the Impressionists. We walked through places they painted and lived and saw the neighborhoods of their patrons and friends. The guide was very knowledgeable, but after three tours, we may have been pushing our interest. It was also one of those situations that I’m very interested in the subject, but the speaker tries to take an original approach and loses me somewhere along the way. After the walk we headed home for a little break.

There was a possibility of babysitting, which I was not pleased with. I’ve babysat a total of maybe 3 times. I really lucked out with my weekend schedule. But it just so happens that the Mom was going into Paris to have dinner and the 17 year old might be going with her. That left me. I didn’t find out until 5pm that I wasn’t working and my future brightened noticeably. I headed home anyway to help with the Kid and have dinner, but after I read to him, I headed back out for one last night at the pub. Many people were there and it was a nice time. Since I’m not leaving for 3 days, I didn’t have to say goodbye, even though I probably won’t see most of them. I prefer saying “see you soon”, less chance of water works.