i am sitting on the corner of la place des armes et la rue pharaon at a coffee bar and vegetarian cafe called numeroC. hannah often comes here to get online, since they have wireless internet access...i am waiting for my lunch, which is going to be mostly a surprise, but it involves brussle sprouts, which was one of the english words the waitress could remember for the french menu items. hannah assured me they have good lunches here, so i'm not worried.
it's a warm but very windy day, so i still need my light scarf and jacket; about 19 degrees celcius, which i think translates to the hi 60's. han has some school work to catch up on today after her classes, so after this i'm going to walk around, shop, and entertain myself until about 4:00. yesterday we went shopping, but all i bought was an inexpensive (but cool!) scarf...and hannah bought a shirt and a pair of (not so inexpensive) shoes! So she told me that by the time we meet up this afternoon, i better have spent some more money. i don't think lunch counts, i think she wants me to buy clothing, haha.
ah, here is my cafe au lait! it smells wonderful, looks like a cappucino, and comes with a little biscuit. right now, too hot to pick up. across the street is a petit casino, a chain of small grocery stores. right now, it's closed - most french businesses in the city close for an hour or two over lunch! except for restaurants and cafes, of course.
last night we went to a shisha bar (i spelled that wrong, aka a hookah bar) with han's friend pam, also from mansfield; frederika and wenke from germany; and sanna from finland. we drank delicious tea, shared a hookah, and had a lovely evening chatting. all of han's friends love talking and sharing about their countries and lives, it's so interesting!
yesterday for lunch, han, pam, and i got chevre miel panini's (again with the spelling), which is a long roll filled with goat cheese and honey, and grilled. sound odd, but is quite delicious! then last night han took me to her favorite kabab place, where we got "kababs" consisting of lettuce, tomato, chipped beef, french fries (i know! they were fresh-made from the potato, tho!) and a white sauce, all wrapped in fresh fried flat bread. it was yummy, han's toulouse version of a burrito.
my lunch et ici! it is a simple salad with a vinagrette dressing, a homemade roll with bits of carrot in it, and the main course is a ratatouille with couscous (i think), eggplant, zucchini, and a tomato sauce, topped with two skewers each containing three fried brussle sprouts. on the side is something like hummus, which is quite tastey as well.
i've just finished eating and started typing again, and there is now a busker playing the violin!! i'm so glad i sat outside. this is so great! wow. i will tip him when i get up to leave. nice thing about restaurants here is that tips are not only not expected, but you really shouldn't give them because it is sometimes considered insulting...ooooh, the busker came around for tips - well, that's good. i gave him 50 cents, or whatever that is in euros...oh, but he's leaving now, i guess buskers here don't just sit on one corner for hours...so only that one song. still cool. he was tres bien.
i'm getting chilly out here - the sun's moved, so the whole intersection is now in the shade, and the wind hasn't let up. i think i'll get going and do some shopping, and hopefully everything will be open again now that it's after lunch.
au revoir!
Sorry for no pics yet, i will eventually i swear!!
