Last day of conferences.
Finished the day at 12noon.
Bought some sandwiches and went back to the hotel to dump the notebook.
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The Scruffy Guy
After that, went over to the Odeon area via the metro as usual.
Except today was a scary experience. I was approached/followed by this scruffy white guy. Shorter than me, but had a menacing look.
He spoke to me, something about asking me if I know French. I ignored him and he went his way on the escalator…or rather it was a travellator…like those you find in the airports, flat “escalators”.
Thought he’d gone off when I found out shit we were taking the same train. He stood in front of me and faced me for 3seconds. He had this wry knowing smile on his face…wah lau eh. I was freaking out inside but tried to keep my cool.
He went away to another carriage and I heaved a sigh of relief…
When the train came, I hopped on and kept looking around for signs of him. But he disappeared into the crowd already. He was nowhere to be seen. Got off at my stop and went to a corner to look around again…just to be sure he wasn’t anywhere near me.
He wasn’t and I really felt relieved….
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The Uncle
Spent about 10 minutes trying to look for the restaurant CC said I HAD TO GO TO. Hahaa..apparently it’s some gastronomy restaurant helmed by a 3-michelin star chef or something like that…
Was waiting at a cross junction for the traffic to turn in my favour when I heard a voice on my left. It was speaking in French so I ignored it. And then the voice came again. A male’s. I turned.
Oh, this uncle with a wrinkled face and a shock of white hair was speaking to me. Asking if I was looking for the metro. Told him no. I was looking for a restaurant. Asked him where it was and he said there’s lots of restaurants.
And then he asked me to have a cuppa with him…perhaps spend 10-20 minutes with him. Which I declined politely. He asked me again and I declined again. (Yes, the traffic light sometimes takes quite long to change to red). And then he asked if I was Filipino!!
Wah lau eh! I don’t look Chinese meh? People have previously mistaken me for being a Thai, a Jap, an Indonesian and now….a Filipino.
Finally the light turned to my favour. I nodded at the uncle pointed at the road and crossed…Left him on the sidewalk with only my bum for him to look at. Haaa…
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Le Comptoir
The restaurant’s called Le Comptoir. Went in, sat down, opened the menu and was stuck.
TMD all in French. Tried to get a waiter’s attention. No go. Tried a waitress. No go.
Sibei dao. All of them were really snobbish. “Nose in the air”…
Finally got a guy’s attention. Think he was the manager of the place cos he wasn’t in uniform. Ordered a fish dish. No idea how it was done though. Whether it was gonna be steamed, fried, baked, grilled…haha.
The fish came, covered with a mound of long beans, sundried cherry tomatoes and some funny vegetable which I wasn’t sure what it was. Zucchini perhaps.
Large pieces of fried garlic and some sambal looking paste on a corner of the place.
But of course, it wasn’t sambal. The paste tasted slightly salty.
I thought to myself…I’m paying $17 euros (i.e. $37 SGD) for this little plate of food?
Tucked in and well, it was nice…but definitely very very expensive.
The slice of fish was thick, and only lightly panseared on all four sides so that the middle was still slightly raw.
The dish was okay. But I think now I know what gastronomy means. If you eat the main item on the dish on its own, you wouldn’t think much of it. But eating it with the rest of the accompaniements helps to bring out its flavour…
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Museum de Cluny
Lopped off to the Museum de Cluny after that. FOC entrance. It was cool, but thankfully a small one. Haha…Lots of medieval artifacts. This time round from the 12th to the 16th century. They even had shoes on display.
And the same thing again, there was a lot of religious references. The Virgin & the Child. Christ. The Ascension. The Cruxifying. Mary Magdeleine. St Anne. St John the Baptist.
I have a few questions. A lot of times, both in paintings and statuettes and carvings of Christ in this medieval museum, why is that the bottom of his right chest always has a bleeding cut there? Always at the bottom of the right chest, near the ribs.
And then, what is thing about severed hands? It’s shown a lot of times that worshippers either had one or both hands missing…Hmm mm…very strange..
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Notre Dame Cathedral
Went there after the Cluny Museum. The place was thronging with hordes of people. Both tourists and locals.
Surprisingly, it didn’t feel as sacred as I thought it would be. Perhaps there were too many tourists. Too much noise. Too much hustle and bustle.
The security guard was abit irritated and kept shushing the people.
I gave a small offering there and lit a candle as well…Other than that, Notre Dame was nothing much…Oh but the stained glass windows were quite beautiful~!!
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The Spanish Brands
Went shopping after that…by now, I had walked for close to 4 hours.
My bunions were aching slightly already….but oh well..for the sake of exploration haha.
I went to the Le Marais area. Also known as the Chatelet area. Pronounced as Sha-Ter-Lay. The first shop I saw was Mango. Went in and came out with 2 tops and a bag.
And then the next shop I saw was Zara!!! Went in, didn’t buy anything for myself though I considered a lot of things for ahboy. Bought a kids’ T-shirt for Marc.
What is it with these two brands? They always have to be next to each other?
Or at least never more than 2 streets away from each other? Haha…
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Nissin
Munching on my beloved Nissin cup noodle now as I am typing haha.
I brought 3 cups there to stave off any hunger pangs late at night. But they have since become my meals.
I’m down to my last cup liao. Maybe I’ll take it on Saturday or Sunday night…
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