A slightly damp Sunday

Parc Montsouris

Sunday was grey.  It drizzled on and off.  Nothing daunted we set off for the Parc Montsouris for a walk and criss-crossed the park by the various paths, noting the autumn colours and dodging the runners!

We came back to a restaurant in the area round the flat and had a large bowl of salad for lunch - one each, naturally.   And then wandered round the 'car boot sale' that was taking place along the surrounding streets.  Not even car boot really, just a very poor assortment of jumble and household paraphernalia.

Autumn's coming

La Butte Aux Cailles

After not buying anything we returned to the flat and lazed around reading until it was time to go to the cinema.

I think this is my first ever visit to a French cinema.  There were two queues and we got in the 'credit card' queue but the machine didn't like the card and rather than excite the anger of the crowd behind us* we bolted across to the other queue where there were real people at tills.  There was virtually no lobby to the cinema so the queues were in the rain outside.  Inside was dark and 'manned' by about 5 bouncers one of who had a microphone and periodically relayed messages about the number of seats remaining for a particular film (there were 7 screens).  The effect was to engender a mild panic. Once we had our tickets we were ushered out into the rain again and found other people for the same film sheltering in a doorway.  We were eventually called back in and walked down stairs and along black-walled corridors and down more stairs and into a small cinema.  We were lucky to have squeezed near the front of the queue** because they had clearly sold exactly the number of tickets for the number of seats but the seats were not numbered.  We picked two on the gangway in the back row. There was a lot of walking around by latecomers and people were separated.  Two people came in after the lights had gone down.  Goodness knows how they found seats.   It was really very comfortable and once we had checked the fire exits (we felt we were rather deep underground) we relaxed.  I can't say it was a good film (Magic in the Moonlight - Woody Allen), in fact I would only give it 4/10.  Peter was more generous (6/10) but it was an enjoyable bit of froth.   Afterwards we walked back and had dos de cabillaud for supper - a very thick cut of cod which we don't see in the UK.  Delicious.

* I have witnessed about three near fights between people who feel they have been slighted or insulted or bumped or jostled on the bus, metro or in the street.  It's really surprising how the slightest inconvenience generates a slanging match with each one provoking the other further.    My French teacher seems to think it's OK to give someone a 'paff' ( explanation accompanied by demonstration of a right hook) if you are disrespected in any way.  In some situations, it seems, there's a lamentable shortage of sang froid or turn the other cheek or 'sorry'.
** Unlike the English the French do not queue.  At the bus stop it's every man/woman for him/herself, unlike dear old Norwich where you get on the bus in pretty much the order you arrived at the bus stop!  Oh we are soft!