Tati's XXL

Two Willys 'First'

Paris:– Thursday, 4. August 2005:– We have been having more unseasonable summer weather that is like summer weather and it's getting a bit worrying because if we get used to it we'll never be able to put up with normal weather, or the exceptional weather usually worse than normal.

Look, rather than trying to explain this, let me say that tonight's TV–weather news confused me. I started out thinking tomorrow's weather would be okay except for some clouds out west in the morning, and then the clouds would spread east, and then there are these black clouds, dripping, and I write, 'clouds, afternoon?'

For Saturday I've written 'partly cloudy' with some confidence and high of 23 degrees. Yeah, it was a high of 25 degrees for Friday I remember now. It could happen I guess.

Then I've got Sunday down as 'mostly sunny' with no temperature change. Maybe it's because I'd prefer a sunny Sunday if it's going to be that cool. The TV–news showed a big sunball near Paris so it might be fine, or maybe TV–news has a fine–weather fan of a weather map technician.

Then I switched channels to find Arte–TV's weather map which is unusual because it has Germany too. If I had been paying attention I'd be able to tell you about Berlin's weather tomorrow. But when the map switched to the French part, those clouds tomorrow were shown raining on here. So I'm confused. My last note for Friday says, 'rain.' Very clearly.

The most unusual aspect of today's club meeting is that I have a sidekick along for the ride, on the Métro, and on the walk to the club and this sidekick is a relation of mine – to be exact, long not seen son Willy, who is visiting my humble abode for some reason of his own that he hasn't been able to put into words yet.

Yesterday we went out to see the sights. After about 20 metres Willy asked me if there are shops with 'extra large.' All I could think of is the sports place at Gaîté. Sports clothes are all extra large because that's the way sports people are. So we went there and it all smelled like foam, fake rubber and cheap plastic, just like last time.

There's a great selection of the new stuff for fall with all the chic logos. You pay extra for famous labels like Zipe and Abbas and you get the stink for free. The only thing extra large were the prices.

Willy remembered Tati being in the place, and although it is supposed to be bankrupt, it is still there. Signs said 'new fall designs' but it looked like the usual 1970 mess, but Willy found some jeans, nearly blue, just the right size, XXL. Not the kind of size that's necessary to try on first. The best thing was the price – 9.99€ cash.

Of course if you've got pants two of you can fit in you need a belt. Tati didn't seem to have any non–vinyl models, so we went down to Inno but there were only skinny ones there and at Galeries Lafayette some were nice but all brand names like Lacoste and Lanvin, cheapest at 25€ or more usual, 45€. Not the kind of thing you use to hold up 9.99€ pants.

It was the same thing at five other shops in the centre and then in the jeans places in the Métro entry we saw some pretty fancy high–heeled boots in ostrich and lizard, but no suitable belts. There was some three–toned shoes that looked pretty nifty, but out of our range for lack of a pink Pontiac cabrio.

Then it was a choice of looking for some rope in a hardware place or giving Tati another chance. We trudged back there and went in and looked at their six belts and after fifteen minutes one shortened itself to 80 centimetres, so Willy bought it for 4.99€, cash.

Thus attired we got the Métro in the usual place and rode it to the usual stop and walked down the usual narrow sidewalk and across the usual bridge, and unusually, the newspaper kiosk was closed, for summer holidays, but everything else on the Quai du Louvre was open and well–stocked with overheated visitors from out of town.

In the rear of the club's café sit members Kim and Ed Hurwitz, on their Paris segment of a vast tour of France. The couple are well–known, because they were at the club in June, and then had some 'real summer' in parts of France where it happens, sometimes without air conditioning – which is not exactly a good reason for leaving Florida.

"You have to put water in," Ed says, about air conditioning in France. It is news to me. I thought you put you in a room with air conditioning and then put on a sweater.

I hear that there are tides on the Atlantic side, none on the Mediterranean, and water restrictions all oer. Some islands are so low that tankers are hauling water out to them. Some towns are distributing free water in six–packs.