I came to Paris at a relatively terrible time. I’m really busy with work right now, so while Sabrina gallivants around Paris, seeing the sights and getting her feet licked by a self-proclaimed foot fetishist in the park, I sit at home and type ones and zeros into a black box. Seriously, I’ve been working 10+ hour days since I got here. I enjoy my work, and it’s fun just to be able to sit in this Paris apartment, looking out at the view, and wandering around during lunchtime. But having Sabrina here just hammers home what I’m missing. I want to climb the Eiffel Tower! I want to drink wine on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur! I want to adopt a fake French accent and lick the feet of naïve tourists in the park! Or whatever.

Still, it’s been a lot of fun. We make morning trips to the store and try to navigate the customs of buying fruit in France. We spend an hour at night trying to find a specific bar, spend thirty minutes there, and then spend several more hours finding our way back. We try to learn new French phrases and then try even hard to work up the courage to use them. Right now I think 80% of our spoken language starts with “je voudrais” (”I would like…”). I have no doubt that we sound like idiots. If we’re prepared for a conversation we can generally get along pretty well, but the unexpected ones are hard. One time Sabrina said “no comprende” to a bunch of French people in a car who pulled up alongside us and started asking questions. (My gaffes will selfishly go unmentioned. But really, Sabrina is much better at speaking French than I am.)

This weekend I finally got to spend some time roaming the city. We walk most places and spend a minimal amount of time concerned with the actual destination. So there’s a lot of random wandering. Sabrina is pretty great to travel with. We playfully bicker and talk a lot of shit, but it’s all for fun. She’s finally realizing that most of the things I say are lies. When I told her the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, underneath the Arc de Triomphe, was a memorial for Michael Jackson, she only believed me for about four seconds. That’s progress!

I have to work a few more days, and then I’ll take a week off. Then we’ll attempt to get in as much trouble as possible. OUI.