Monday, 5 May 2003 Metropole Paris 8.18/19 - Monday, 28 April - 5 May</a> <!-- the below lines check to see if 'print' has been called. Then it inserts the correct link into the right of the navbar. Notice the second line of 'echo $_SERVER' code - and notice the '?media=print' after it. When you are in 'screen' version, this is the link that will be displayed - and this is where the 'print' call is sent to this page. If it is already 'print', no '?media=print' is inserted into the URL, telling the php to compile a 'normal page' -->
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<h2 class="c2">Carfare for Corbeile-Essonnes</h2><img src="cafe818a.jpg" alt="photo: cafe le central, rue drouot"
align="middle" height="210" width="320" />
<p class="c3">A café, Le Central, with wine and good
food in<br />
the Rue Drouot.</p>
<h3 class="c4">Bagdad Café Makes
Comeback</h3><span>by Ric Erickson</span>
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<p class="noindent"><b>Paris:- Monday, 28. April 2003:-</b> At noon the sky
is blue with some orphan clouds floating harmlessly around
like cotton balls and in the streets there is a breeze
puffing the warm air around corners with shadows on one
side and bright sunlight on the other. It reminds me of the
first day of spring in Andalucia after a damp winter
exported from North Africa.</p> <div style="width:300px;height:250px;float:right;clear:right;margin:1em 0 1em 1em;">
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<p>I've put in this eye-ball observation so you'll know how
sweet it was, before getting to the week's usual dismal
forecast. But don't give up reading now, because these
things usually turn out to be less pessimistic than we're
supposed to expect.</p>
<p>For example, no matter what today's forecast was, it
didn't rain much. The Tour Montparnasse across the way only
almost disappeared once or twice. And it is pretty warm. Or
maybe it's humid. Nothing drastic though.</p>
<p>Tomorrow's morning sun is supposed to give way to a
cloudy afternoon. There is only one degree of difference
between the morning Le Parisien forecast and this evening's
TV-weather news prediction. Take your pick - high of 21 or
22?</p>
<p>On Wednesday the sun is supposed to shine very brightly,
even if it is above the clouds. This is kind of an iffy
day, somewhere between crummy and not-so-bad. But golly!
The temperature is headed for the pits, with tonight's TV
forecast predicting three degrees below Le Parisien's. Ah,
17 isn't too bad, for March.</p>
<p>Whatever it is, gets straightened out on Thursday on TV,
which foresees a lot of sunshine. It doesn't<img src="cafe818e.jpg" alt="photo: rue de rivoli" align="right"
height="170" width="240" vspace="2" hspace="5" /> foresee a
lot of heat though, and we'll be happy if we get 19. But 19
is close to 20, and 20 is nearly warm. Warm enough for May
Day. I've marched in worse on 1. May.</p><i>In some ways
'typical,' but in others atypical - the Rue de Rivoli.</i>
<p>The TV-weather news for Friday stopped on Thursday, but
the fearless Le Parisien predicts a day of rain for the
second day of what will be a long weekend for many people
in France - which almost guarantees rotten May weather on
account of all the long weekends. The temperature isn't
expected to be sizzling either, unless you happen to be
around the Mediterranean, where it'll be kind of warm.</p>
<p>A lot of people wish May had some other kind of weather,
but they've gotten so used to it that they stopped talking
about it on Friday, 26. May 1854.</p>
<p class="c7">Café Life</p>
<b>Corbeile-Essonnes</b>
<p class="noindent">Parisians can be very helpful to strangers who seem to
be lost. In this neighborhood, so close to the RER station
linked to both airports, there are a lot of lost strangers
wandering around. But since they are strangers, they are
wary, and they are prepared to be not lost - so they seldom
ask the way.</p>
<p>I should have remembered that only Parisians ask the way
around here. Most of them are looking for the local city
hall - the Mairie - maybe for birth certificates or a
marriage license. Anyhow, just say, 'turn left, turn right,
then turn left again' and leave it like that. Before they
get to the second 'turn left' they'll ask somebody
else.</p>
<p>So when this big Joe comes up and sticks a paper under
my nose with 'Corbeile-Essonnes' written on it, I assume it
is to some place in Essonne and all he needs is the RER
station and he's practically there. I point down the road
to the east.</p>
<p>I have also seen 'Rue de Lyon' written on the paper, but
I figure it is not part of the problem. But it seems as if
the big Joe's problem is also lack of funds.<img src="cafe818b.jpg" alt="photo: passage princes, toy shop"
align="left" height="225" width="180" vspace="2" hspace="5" /> Ohmygod! Stuck in Paris and needing to get all the
way out to Corbeile-Essonnes wherever it is - so give the
guy a euro.</p>
<p>Then the paper is back under my nose and the bottom line
written on it is 3<img src="euro3.jpg" alt="euro 3 sign"
height="9" width="11" />90. Wherever Corbeile-Essonnes is,
it is not close at all. It could be the stop before the
station for the Cadillac Ranch. So I give him two more
euros.</p><i>The passage turned into a toy shop, in the
Boulevard des Italiens.</i>
<p>Dimitri is shaking his head, but looking in his little
money purse. The two Californians with us are watching with
glee, but with their hands stuck in their pockets. Dimitri
decides to hell with it, and zips his purse shut.</p>
<p>Ludwig, one of the Californians, says, "This dude is
doing great! He's cleaning up."</p>
<p>And sure enough. With my three euros safely in hand, the
big Joe is 20 whole metres off, with his paper under some
other dupes' noses. If he really does want to get to
Corbeile-Essonnes, I glumly think he is going to have a
three-course lunch with wine, dessert and café,
before he gets on the train.</p>
<p>My lunch, with what I've got left, will just be the
café. But I've already had this, so it'll be no
lunch at all. Dimitri, and the Californians go off with a
good story about their Paris adventures.</p>
<p>Back at the office I look up Corbeile-Essonnes on the
map. It is on page 296. It doesn't even look like it is in
Essonne, because it's on the RER line 'D' - and I don't
know where it is, where it goes.</p>
<p>This Corbeile-Essonnes is so far out of town, that it's
the last place before the prairies start. Nobody in their
right mind would go there without a round-trip ticket.
Maybe I got off lucky.</p>
<p>It just goes to show that it can save you money, if you
don't read French, speak it, or hear it, when you see any
big Joes coming.</p>
<b>Hawaiian Shirt Days Update</b>
<p class="noindent">A reader named Vicki Richards has urged me to continue
these. She writes, via an email from<img src="cafe818d.jpg"
alt="photo: shop, roumet, rare stamps" align="right"
height="175" width="235" vspace="2" hspace="5" />
Australia, "We know the feeling, but in reverse. Saturday
in Broome in Australia's North-west with temps around 36 C,
then Monday back home in Perth, in the south-west, and 16
C. Wecall it autumn. Roll on more Hawaiian Shirt
days."</p><i>One of the tidier-looking shops in the Rue
Drouot.</i><br /><i>Continued on <a href="/2003/818/818cafe.html?page=2" target="_self">page 2...</a></i></td>
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<td valign="top" align="right">Send email concerning the<br />
contents to: <a href="mailto:radioblues@orange.fr">Ric Erickson</a>, Editor.<br />
Metropole Midi © 2010 <br />
– unless stated otherwise. </td>
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