You see I will be leaving France in well under 48 hours now and I just spent the most lovely evening with my bestie just doing the "Paris" thang. We enjoyed a lovely dinner (note that we were seated next to Canadian tourists and HOLY COW we DOOOOO sound soooo funny!! I knew they were Canadian right away!!! I've heard enough different French to know my people when I hear them - AWESOME!!! I never would have noticed the difference 2 months ago). We had "Pantheon" Ice Cream (photos to come) and sat on the Pompidou pavillion where we were entertained by an asian man with an accoustic guitar singing pop/folk classics. LaBamba, Twist and Shout, Mrs Robinson, You're the one that I want, Unchained Melody (but I didn't hear that one...Jill caught it though LOL) and after asking me where we were from he sang some Bryan Adams "Everything I Do" and some Joni Mitchell! He was a riot and it was such a awesome way to spend an hour chillaxing with all sorts of people and catching some live entertainment. Jill and I are lucky that way - strolling into free and AWESOME entertainment! GO US! We said our goodbyes after our posteriors were beginning to be permanently imprinted with cobblestone outlines and headed towards the Seine. 
Other than the Seine River (which is GROSS, to put it lightly) there are no bodies of water for public enjoyment anywhere near Paris. So every summer the city of Paris opens up "Paris Plage" where they literally turn the banks of the Seine into a beach area (they even truckload in the sand!) There are beach stands, beach chairs, water fountains and sprinklers to keep yourself cool - the only thing you can't do is swim! We decided to check it out and I must say I was quite impressed with the entire outfit. Very well patroled, no vehicles (but bikes unfortunately), mostly locals, street acts and entertainment all over the place and even "petit foot" tables (that's FOOZE for you non-frenchies). I think it's great that the city pulls this together because this city is so stressful and hot and icky - it's amazing to just go out to the river and relax as you would at the beach anywhere. It's no French Riviera or Deauville - but when you're in a pinch - and you're always in a pinch in Paris - it's a great substitute. We parked ourselves back down on the side of the Seine (I carefully removed my sandals as to not have them fall in the river) and laughed laughed laughed for the next 2 hours. It's been a long time since I laughed that hard for that long - people had to think we were drunk! Unfortunately for all of you it's all inside-joke stuff that just wouldn't translate well and the effect would be lost so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say that we had quite possibly the BEST evening of our entire stay in Paris and there isn't another soul I would rather have shared "CE SOIR" with. Jill looked over at me at one point and asked "What are you thinking about?" and I thought about it and looked back and said "nothing" and for the first time ever I actually meant that. I had really been thinking about NOTHING - I was fully present and loving the moment that I was in - perfect in every aspect. I was 100% happy and there wasn't a single thought going through my mind. AMAZING!
Ouistiti!!
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