Super-Duper Wacky n' Tacky Euro Adventure

Ok, so this will only be visible for a day because moscow times is stingy, but this honestly just sounds so cool. Gotta check it out:
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2006/01/25/002.html

If I could manage weather futures for the rest of my life and surf weather.com all day long, I believe I would have it, as they say, made in the shade. Or lack thereof! Oh that was bad. I know.

I generally see as a good thing.

I have had a few days to wrap up from the cold, stick on a few good albums and discover the big and little wonders of Paris. This pic is from the pleasantly placid St. Sulpice church (you remember, the one in the Da Vinci code) in the middle of the bustling St. Germain des Pres area.

Including that place I have also recently discovered:
*The jardin AND Palais du Luxembourg
*Where to get 2 euro coffee (may not sound cheap, but it is)
*The Czech cultural center
*The US Embassy
*The St. Germain church (it's a millenium and a half old, and has a Spanish language mass!)
*The American Church
*Where to get a sandwich grec and frites for 4 euro
*Where to get some authentic Russian beer
*Where to see a movie for less than 6 euro

And these are only the things I can think about right now. There are still many things to discover and my dPod (That's dell's shitty version of the iPod) has 15 gigs, so there's much more music to be heard.

Last night I discovered this wonderful metal thing that can rolled down at night to block the sun in the morning. Then I rediscovered the bottle of Melatonin I had in my suitcase. Then I programmed my alarm but never got around to setting it. Clearly I made it to class this morning at 9am. Whoops.

Well, with a title like that, one would assume that I was talking about Russia, but no. I think the first real experience I've come across with corruption just occured in Paris.

So Tim, Andrew, and I two lovely Italian ladies had just up a club in the bastille area at around 2:30 AM when we all decided to call it a night. It had been a lovely evening that included even Canadian jazz.(!) So we set Andrew on his way on a night bus that leaves him off by the Arc de Triomph where he lives. The girls were okay, since they lived around the Bastille they could just walk. Tim and I live about equidistant from the Tour Montparnasse which is the tallest building in Paris (and second talles in the Europe). So we found a night bus that would leave us there. Tim was well versed in how to cheat the system, so he feigned punching in a used ticket on his way in. I got out a fresh ticket from a carnet that I had just purchased a couple of days earlier and punched it into the machine. Hey, I'm a straight shooter. So Tim and I are sleepily enjoying our ride when these "undercover" transit people come on the bus and start flashing their badges and demanding tickets. I knew Tim was in trouble, but that I was prepared, so I thought. When I confidently flashed my ticket to the "man" he told me there was nothing on it. Crap, I didn't punch it in right. So there we were, both royally screwed, trying to find some way to get out of the (expensive) situation. We were talking with the guy for at least ten minutes. I even proposed that I would punch two new tickets. No deal. I was getting frustrated, but Tim persisted. Finally, when we told the guy that our stop was coming up, he leaned in close, so that the other ticket officers couldn't hear what he was saying. I think he said something like he empathized with our situation and was willing to let us go with one violation for two people, making the fee only 35 euro for both of us. He knew we had nowhere near 70 for both of us and we didn't bring any ATM cards, which he was gladly willing to do. But no, this guy found a situation where we were let off the hook but he still got the violators at the same time. Sneaky fellow.

Anyway, I was telling Tim how I never gave in to petty corruption in Russia, but I'm mad I had to do it here. But I see it this way: I should have been on that bus legally, so really, I just helped Tim pay his fee. There, that makes me feel a little bit better. Sort of. Stan will remember how this is not the first time I have been actually screwed over by the Paris transport cops. Damn.