Jacques in the box

Had a lazy weekend, especially today. 

I did manage to return to gare de Lyon to get my pass navigo which was an important accomplishment as it is the key to me being mobile beyond my immediate neighborhood.  For just 65€ I can now ride the metro and RER (commuter trains) anywhere inside the peripherique (zone 1) and the nearest areas outside (zone 2) for an entire month.  On the weekends I can go out all the way to zone 5 which encompasses Versaille and maybe even Fontainebleu (I have to check on that last one), which is pretty much anywhere you'd want to go for a daily excursion out of Paris.  I can also ride all of the buses and the velibs.  Velibs are communal bikes that are stationed all around Paris - velib stands for velo libre in French or bike free (as in freedom or liberty, not free as in beer) in English.  I'm interested to try those but wasn't feeling up to it today.

Most of my weekend was spent just ambling about in my neighborhood with a few excursions on the metro to get a bit further.  I've posted some pictures of things that I saw.  I'm pretty terrible with a camera as I usually forget that I even have one (it's just my phone, btw) so there are just a few pics.  In order below they are: 1) the monument at Bastille, 2) the statue at Place de la Republique, 3) looking down Blvd. Voltaire from Republique back toward my apt., and 4) a climbing gym that I visited in Pantin.

The gym was awesome and I expect I will be getting a membership there soon.  Being alone here in Paris can be pretty - well, lonely - so I'm gonna need to keep myself busy.  With work, learning French (classes begin Monday) and joining a climbing gym again (for the first time in 10 years) I might be able to stave off the worst effects of the lonliness.  Plus a gym might provide a good means of practicing my French that I'll be learning.

Well, since I didn't do much this weekend there isn't much more ro say.  Looking forward ro skypeing the family tomorrow.

A+ (btw, that is short for A plus, which is essentially "see you later" in French

Oh, I almost forgot about the title of my post "Jacques in the box."  This is undoubtedly pretty stupid to most of you, and it was to me too, but srill entertaining to see.  While I was strolling around Bastille today I happened upon a box.  Thankfully I was on the other side of the street, but a couple near me was not so lucky.  Just as they approached the box in front of me a boy jumped out and  said "boo" (apparently "boo" is a universal thing to yell when trying to scare someone.)  The woman promptly let a short high pitched scream escape her lips as she crawled up the arm of her companion.   Her partner (boyfriend I presume) was obviously taken a back as well and practically jumped through the door of the shop that they were passing.  Perhaps that was the point, i.e., to scare business into the shop. I'm not sure what the point was, or if there even was a point, but it was funny enough for me to hang out to watch a few more couples jump.  I wish I would've remeber that I had a camera in my pocket.  I'll probably never get that opportunity again.  Oh well, it was funny to have seen it regardless.

A+ (for real this time)