Mais oui, mademoiselle

Three words I long to hear. I've been checking into some tour packages to Paris, they seem pretty reasonable; with plenty of optional activities or the opportunity to just sit in cafes and smoke and drink all day and night. I'm already buying two additional black turtlenecks.

I remember hearing a piece on NPR about how Paris was no longer the bastion of racial harmony it once was for black ex-pats - the author remarked that as her french got better, the social climate got cooler. Lucky for me, my french is just this side of passable, but maybe I'll pack a few maple leaf t-shirts to be safe.

I've been listening to Nina Simone, Eartha Kitt, Edith Piaf, and any Ella Fitzgerald song with "Paris" in the title to psych myself up. I've always wanted to go to Paris, but always thought it would be with a significant other, or a group of girlfriends. Neither one of those has panned out, so I'm trying to get excited about drifting alone through the city streets. Maybe I'll try to look up that guy with the 9:10 am website that shows what he's doing each day at 9:10 in Paris...