Day Twenty five, first day of the rest of my life... or was that last week... uhm maybe next week?

Day Twenty Five
18.1.7
822pm
So the last 24ish hours have been quite nice.

Last night when I arrived, i hung out with Gael in the laundry mat as he finished his clothes, took a picture underneath a sign with my name (apparently I'm a line of grocery stores around here), and then dropped my stuff off at his place, which is a really really perfect appartment.

Afterwards, we headed out for food, and after being offered McDonalds, Chinese or French food, I went for the obvious... French food... I don't even eat McD's very willingly in the US, and I can get Chinese in NYC (probably even more authentic... the patrons and the staff doesn't even speak english in the last chinese place I ate at in NYC).

And well the meal was fantastic! We started with a Kir (Whitewine/blackberry liquor) then I had an entree (entree means entry I believe and thus is the first plate of a meal) terrine de chef(some good pate, condiments and bread), followed by a nice piece of steak that was very very delicious (they eat mustard with everything in france, which is quite fantastic in my books, and the mustard is even strong!), after the meal I had a delicious piece of cake filled with hot gooey chocolate sauce and a scoop of some french ice cream that was mostly sucre de leche (or caramel) with a hint of anise (or liquorice). Gael had the Gambas (HUGE shrimp) on a bed of rice for his main course (he had already eaten a meal just before I showed up in Paris, so he didn't have much else). It was a very nice meal and very french meal (and very expensive). At the end of the meal Gael decided to pay, which was quite amazing.

After that we headed back to his place, talked about Calcutta, God and our friends, as he did some ironing. Then we hit the hay.

This morning he left early for work, and though the room is *maybe* 20x30 I didn't really wake up as I had very little sleep the night before. I was so tired that I even dreamed I had a conversation with him.

I eventually woke up, got ready for the day and headed out to find Notre Dame cathedral and wander aimlessly.

I found Notre Dame rather easily, though after being happily shooed away from the palais de justice ( I was standing just outside it taking pictures as I was quite impressed). Notre Dame was very very impressive I like it so much more than St. Patrick's in NYC... maybe not as much as the church next to my school though. After Notre Dame I headed around trying to find a place for evening mass... and just to wander... I first came upon a horrid sight, well horrid at least to me and my french classmates... the red lips that signal a repeat after me phase... and another church with its doors wide open (the weather here is a bit cold but not too cold)... then I headed around and saw two MC sisters... then I bought a few things at Ed, and headed back to Gael's place... where I checked my email and then headed to findout if I could do evening prayer at a church nearby (aimless wondering aimed at finding a church I was pretty sure must exist somewhere). When I got to the church it was 1900 and I noticed on the door a sign that said mass was at 1900... so I went inside and found it empty... but I also noted a little old lady walking down the other aisle... so I switched aisles and followed behind her... (I think she was a bit scared by that, but I figured little old lady's always know where they're going.) and I was right. The other place I would have looked (the main chapel) was a eucharistic chapel and no one was in it... but the little old lady walked through a nodescript door, which I followed her through, and ended up in another chapel where mass was being held.

And now I'm back at Gaels about to head for dinner...
Ciao.
853pm