In Paris there is a pharmacy on every block, denoted by ubiquitous green neon crosses. You can tell a lot about the neighborhood you’re in by what a particular pharmacy chooses to display. For example, in the chic neighborhoods like the St. Germain and Champs Elysées, they advertise beauty products and diet pills. In my neighborhood, there are a lot of orthopedic shoes and sitz baths.

The third Thursday of November is always the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly crappy wine, meant to be drunk quickly and in large quantities. It’s a big deal here, because it’s an opportunity for 1) bars and restaurants to up sell a lot of cheap product and 2) for consumers to declare open season for drunkenness. I left work in the 6th (beauty products and diet pills) and had a relatively quiet walk to the metro. The usual tourists and students were out, drinking late-night coffees or leaving the cinema. I went to meet up with friends for our taste of the B.N. in my neighborhood, and we were all a little concerned about where we were going to go, seeing that is was 11:30.

HA! I stepped out of the metro and I heard music in the distance. Hmmm? The café du coin with it’s zinc counter top and all had a band and clusters of purple balloons hung up like bunches of grapes! All the cafés and bistros within a ten minute walk of my apartment were like this, all filled with bands and neighborhood Frenchies in the 45+ age bracket who I thought couldn’t physically walk without their dog and pull-behind shopping tote. Jeremy said it reminded him of back home in Ohio. “They’re not hip or attractive, but they’re not letting that stop them from having a good time.” Vive le 15ieme!