DAY 18 - MON 3/18 - People Watching

Today was a day of just browsing and shopping, meandering and people-watching. So Marty got decked out for the occasion, trying to fit in as a typical Frenchman. I like his beret very much, however, you see very few men sporting them these days. Anyway, off we went, passing the man in the cafe with his early morning brew, and then on to some good shopping areas. We didn't expect to buy anything, but as luck would have it, we found some things we liked. Marty got some lovely shirts and Jill finally found the eye glasses she wanted. It's just amazing how many Optique stores there are in Paris, and they're not giving anything away either, so we don't know how they all stay in business.

We ended up on Rue Montorgeuil again, one of our favorite streets, a great food and cool shopping area. It was near the end of the day so we found a lively cafe on Rue Etienne Marcel for a pick-me-up of a demi bouteille de l'eau gazeuse (half bottle of bubbly water) and a draft Heineken (25cl), both the same price...5.50 euros, that's $7.15 each!! But I guess it was worth the price of admission, because we sat there for about two hours, relaxing and people-watching and chatting with the locals.

At one point a beautiful, nearly 6 feet tall, thin model-looking black woman, who left her big Mercedes SUV just across the street from the cafe with its hazard lights, made a grand entrance into the cafe and sat right next to us. You couldn't help but stare...she was stunningly beautiful! Before we knew it she was talking to us, asking where we got those shirts that she saw in Marty's shopping bag because she really liked them. Her name is Diariata Niang and she had been a top fashion model in New York and Paris, for Vogue and many fashion houses, and now is a personal shopper...that's why she wanted to know about Marty's shirts (you can check out her website: diariata.fr). She lives nearby and frequents this cafe often, so she just leaves her car parked on the corner where she can keep an eye on it...she figures that getting a ticket is about the same price as putting the car in a garage, so she takes her chances, and she said everyone in the area, including the cops, knows her and her car, so they mostly leave her alone.
                                  

                                                

Diariata told us she is 35 and has one child, an 8 year old daughter, who just got back from holidays skiing in Switzerland with her Swiss father. We asked her if she skied and she pointed to herself and said, "I'm black!" meaning 'did you ever see a black woman on skis?!' We all chuckled. She was born in Senegal, but grew up in Paris, and she has 18 sisters, yes 18, AND 3 brothers! Her parents live back in Senegal now, but she and all her siblings live in Paris, and there are 32 nieces and nephews from all these siblings. You can just imagine a family holiday gathering.  Just as she was telling us about her huge family, two other statuesque and beautiful black women, even taller than Diariata, arrived at the cafe.  They were Diariata's 'baby' twin sisters...younger than she...and each one had legs longer than the other!   We thought we were seeing triple!!  And we were!!!

Then she said she had to go and pick her daughter up at school after-care, along with one of her nephews, so she gave her car keys to the waiter to watch her car and dashed off. About 15 minutes later she returned with two of the most adorable children. The kids sat quietly playing with their electronic video games, while Mom and the twins chatted away...they knew the drill...probably do it every afternoon.  

This is a highly intelligent, charming, and active woman, at the top of her game and a real find.  We exchanged emails and said we hoped to see her again in Paris.  Here are some of her fashion shoots:

                                  

                                      

                                                       

                                                         

        

                                                         

                                                       

                                 

                                 

                                                    

         

We lingered and enjoyed the local sights for a little while longer...it was hard to pull ourselves away. Then we hopped on the Metro, not surprised by a woman holding her dog on the train (look closely at the photo), and bought some delicious food and bread and wine at Bon Marche Epicerie...I was dying for just some plain fresh vegetables and fruit (I noticed my jeans are a little snugger, but I think it's from the dryer...n'est-ce pas?...you think??).  

                                  

We walked back to our apartment, past a large Velib station (they are ubiquitous, the biggest self-service bike-sharing in the world, over 20,000, started in 2007), brought all our purchases home, and had a nice quiet dinner...a chez nous (at our house).

Et bien voila! Another great day in Paris, this time doing almost nothing...although we did drop some euros!!