Saturday 1 July 2017
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| Park where we met the dancing guy |
We woke up around 10:30 am and tried to
find a place to get coffee to go with the brioche sucre we got at the
boulangerie that was just down the street from the apartment, but of course
when you’re trying to find something specific you can’t and when you don’t need
to get coffee, you’ll pass 10 coffee shops. So we went with coffee, or in my
case tea, and sat in a park to wait for the rest of the students to show up. We
were meeting to ride this ski-lift like thing, but instead of bench seats, it
has these clear egg shaped things you ride in to get to the top of the hill
where the Bastille is located.
While we were waiting in the park this guy
was across the walkway from us. He had an orange drink in his hand, I’m
guessing orange juice and alcohol and in the other hand he had a speaker and he
was smiling and dancing like there was no finer thing than being alive in a
park. I had to admire how happy he was, and his confidence to be groovin’ like
it was nobody’s business in the middle of the park. I wish I had taken a video
of him.  |
| Near where we got on the eggs |
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| view of Isere from the Bastille |
More students showed up and he came over
to us. He wanted to know who we were first, and when we told him we were
students he immediately relaxed. Then he said he thought we were gangsters from
the other side of town and he came over to defend his turf. Seriously. I don’t
know why he though a bunch of American kids were gangsters, but hey, I guess
it’s possible. He was like, you guys need to check out my YouTube channel, and
he starts rapping with the music and tells us the song that is playing on his
speaker is his song. He was like, you should go see those homies on the other
side of town. That would be more interesting than going to the Bastille.
Wouldn’t you guys rather do that? WTF? This guy was crazy, but hilarious to
talk to. Then when he was done he went back over to the other side of the
walkway and resumed his dancing and smiling.
Finally everybody showed up and we rode
the eggs up the mountain to the Bastille. Apparently in ancient times, this
Bastille was a port to get into the valley, and during various wars, it was
reinforced to keep invaders out of the city. I liked reading about the history
of the place.
When we came back down, we started
wandering the city looking for something to do. I think we all thought the eggs
ride and Bastille would take all day, but we still had a good chunk of the day
left. Malory wanted to go get a pair of sneakers she saw earlier in the week
but hadn’t bought, and now wished she had, so we found that store and on the
way Eric and Anthony bought some clothes. I wanted to get back to the apartment
so I could take the bus home and not have to sleep on the hard floor for
another night, but as we wandered around it seemed like we wouldn’t make it in
time for me to get my stuff and catch the last bus because the last one leaves
at around 6pm on Saturdays. So as we shopped I kept my eyes open for a dress
instead, so I would have something to wear to church Sunday. I had packed in
such a hurry that I forgot to bring a dress for church.
Malory
and Eric wanted to meet up with a bunch of the other students who wanted to go
bar hopping that night. I was so tired from the night before all I wanted to do
was get home and sleep. I missed the bus and went back to Malory’s with
Anthony. Surprisingly he didn’t want to go out drinking, even though I had seen
him drink beer and wine during the week, he said he doesn’t like to get drunk.
So we both stayed back and chatted until I couldn’t hold my eyes open any
longer. He seemed like someone not easily offended, and he’d been asking me a
bunch of questions about Mormonism, so I asked him a bunch of questions about
gays. Since I haven’t had much exposure, it was nice to get the opinion of an
actual gay person, instead of speculating.
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