Bring me your cheese and your wine...

Well, this is interesting, to say the least! I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Paris, freaking out over the crazy keyboards. You know how I said the keyboards in England were different? Well, in France they're not even QUERTY. They're AZERTY. If my typing speed was slow before, heaven knows what it is now...! To add to the challenge, the computer is set up in French, and you can't change it, so I'm spending half my time translating the screen.

Everyone else went off to the Moulin Rouge tonight, but I wasn't inclined to pay 130 euros for the pleasure of a dinner I probably wouldn't eat and a bunch of semi-naked people. Before coming here, I went next door to the supermarket, and - although identifying food on the shelf - found myself struggling when the checkout chick fired off something in rapid French while pointing at the banana I was attempting to purchase. I asked her to repeat herself. She did. Still unintelligible. Damn. We reached an impasse, where we stared at each other for a moment, before she rolled her eyes and marched off with the fruit, returning a moment later with a barcode sticker stuck on it. Apparently you weigh and barcode your own fruit and veg here before taking it to the checkout... The things you learn, eh?

Other than that little hiccup, things have been going quite well. I managed to purchase tissues, throat lozenges and Nurofen from a pharmacy without resorting to English, and ordered and paid for a meal in Versailles 99% in French. I'm very proud of myself : ) I saw the Palace de Versaille and the Eiffel Tower today, did a night tour of the city yesterday and I'm going to a perfumery and up to the top of the Tower tomorrow. Chicago - for those whom I have not spoken to directly - was entertaining, though the stage was small and the set was... minimalist, shall we say?

Anyway, that'll be it from me for now. I have photos to upload and dinner to eat. A demain!