Le lendemain

I'm having trouble connecting to a wifi signal today, so there will be no new photos for a little while.

I had a well earned night of rest at Ricolin and I woke up for an hour or so with the roosters and dogs making their morning calls around 6am. I used the time to knock out a couple of new blog posts for the day and then I crashed out until around noon. The jet lag made speaking French really hard, but it's a little easier today.

I had an amazing lunch with Claude and Monique and then they took me to Saint-Etienne to meet up with Sandrine and Cassandre. I went with Sandrine for her first walk in the city in a month. She carried Cassandre in a Baby Bjorn. Cassandre slept the entire time.

We picked up drinks, snacks, and food for dinner.

Thierry, Nico, Sandra, Tophe, and Ivan joined us for dinner. Thierry made me show everyone the iPhone. The phone won't be available here until December or January so everyone was freaking out over it. I was kind of bummed that I couldn't show them the internet features (I turned off the data roaming so that I won't have a $4000 bill and the wifi isn't working at their place). Anyway, it was fun to catch up, but I'm still pretty tired from the jet lag.

Sara's apartment

This is my friend Sara's place in Brooklyn. She let me use the Hawaiian Breeze (a fan) last night, it was fabulous.

Tortured hunger souls!

Sara and I met up with my friend Yoshie and her husband James at Burrito Loco in the Village. I met Yoshie in Paris back in 1999 and we just happened to be in New York at the very same time. It was pretty rad to catch up with her after all these years.

Sara and I were already starving when we arrived at the restaurant. Meanwhile, Yoshie and James were lost in the subway system. This photo represents the desperation of the situation. Fortunately the food was hardy and fast.

The Hobo News

I just heard the following exchange in Christopher Park.

"She's a hobo. She rides the rails."

"The last time I heard that word was a long time ago. My father used to put out a paper called The Hobo News. You could find it in every restaurant."

Joe

Apparently, Philip Seymore Hoffman calls this Greenwich cafe his local.

They are playing the new Beirut on the house sound system.

Wonder Wheel

It's so calm out here. I'm really enjoying the cool ocean breeze and the bat sized butterflies.

I got a call from a recruiter yesterday. I was on the sidewalk during rush hour and I couldn't quite hear him and I was too distracted to answer his questions. I'm no even sure what company or position he was representing. Anyhow this seems like the perfect place to do a phone interview.

I might get a hot dog first.

Joe Jr.'s

We had breakfast at Joe Jr.'s this morning. Decent food with no nonsense service.

Free pizza

[PHOTO OMITTED BY REQUEST]

Brittain took me to this place called the Alligator Lounge (not to be confused with the Crocodile Cafe) where they serve a free personal pizza with every beer and the beer was only $5. It is actually decent pizza, cooked fresh in a brick oven.

It turns out that Sara's place us a good distance from the restaurant so I ended up staying with Brittain again. As she designed a birthday card featuring a peanut guitar (which she ended up scrapping in favor of a drum kit design), I tried to jam on the Autoharp. Me and that instrument bonded but I doubt we'll ever become best friends.

Other Music

I love this shop they pack a ton of titles into such a small store. I'm definitely dropping in when I get back from France.

Lunch at the Cake Shop

I found the Vampire Weekend cd in the record shop on the back of this place and decided to stick around for a turkey and avacado sandwich.

Some alarm techs dropped in and started setting off the fire alarm. I'm wearing ear plugs.

Fortunately I'm always prepared.

It's the humidity

It's unseasonably hot in NYC. I arrived here last night in my fall coat and cashmere sweater and somehow this city has managed to extend summer by a couple of months.

I walked from Brittain's letterpress shop in Greenwich Village to Hopscotch Cafe by Tompkins Park. I am taking a break with Brittain's roomie, Caitlin, before I head to the Lower Eastside.

NYC puppies!

Wish you were here! Love, theo

Landed

I made it to NYC in one piece. I'd was actually a really easy trip.

My flight was a bit late and I didn't get to my friend's place until about midnight. Regardless Brittain has been a super host and we ended up playing instruments and talking until 2 am.

I'm going to try to get up early to join her for bagels before she heads to work. Then I'll be off to do some shopping and siteseeing.

Taking off

I'm sure that I'm forgetting something. I'm always forgetting something. Not one for the fine details, but I adapt well to circumstances so I'll be fine. I'm pretty excited about this vacation and I'm looking forward to catching up with friends in other parts of the world.

I'll be on a plane in a couple of hours, but before that I need to drop some books off at the library and catch the bus to SeaTac. I don't have much time so I'd better get going.