Away from the River, Over the Hill

In August, close to the left bank of the Seine in Paris, there are more tourists than Frenchmen.

So we walk up a narrow winding, cobbled street and over the hill to find a neighborhood where few speak English.

Spared an all-day sruggle against misunderstanding, the people are pleasant and patient.

We buy a bottle of wine from the Val de Loire for four Euros and unavailable at home for any price. We duck into a used book store to get out the rain and make friends by way of primitive communication.

This, we learn, is a Roman road, and if we wanted to, we could walk it all the way to Rome.

Non, merci. We like it here.

copyright 2010 J. O'Brien