Paris is for lovers...

[meboriqua at aol.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Ebony AKA AngieJ" <ebonyink at h...> wrote:
 
> When all is said and done, though, I must say that being in Paris 
was 
> wonderful.  Not much enjoyable, but having the experience of seeing 
> the other, less glamorous side of Paris was wonderful... and 
> inherently rich for the writer of me.  A hundred stories in just 
> thirty-two hours...>

You have a nice storytelling way about you, Ebony.  I feel like flying 
to England, finding your traveling companion, and giving her a good 
shake.  If she had been more cooperative and less controlling, you 
might be in love with Paris right now.

When I was 15 I spent a summer in Lausanne, Switzerland as part of a 
program where I lived with a Swiss family and took classes with my 
American group each morning.  I had my own room in the house of the 
family and could see the Alps from my window.  I also had to travel 
alone and by bus from their house into the city.  One afternoon I made 
a wrong turn on my way to the stop (from school) and wandered around 
Lausanne for several hours.  Another time (and this was truly scary) I 
was waiting at the bus stop in Lausanne and a creepy man with a scar 
on his face (I kid you not) and who was quite a few years older than 
me approached me.  He sat down next to me on the bench and proceeded 
to talk to me in a voice I could barely hear, let alone understand, as 
my French was quite imperfect.  He wouldn't leave even after I told 
him I didn't speak French and when the bus came, he stayed there and 
watched me until the bus pulled away.

Having an unexpected experience in your own city is one thing; when 
you are in another country a sinister note is added, making it seem 
almost cartoonish.  Ebony, I'm glad to hear you are safe and sound and 
back with your program in England!

--jenny from ravenclaw, who would choose the south Bronx over a bad 
neighborhood in Paris any day!*******************