June 12, 2003 – Thursday

Jean Paul, Coco, Tin Tin

Our train into Paris was delayed until 1:15pm, but we got distracted and missed the Romanel train, and almost missed the Paris train entirely. We managed to get there just in time.

I had a very emotional goodbye with my grandmother. It is hard because I do not see her as often as I would like. Its been about every two years lately, which is not often enough, but I guess you don’t have much choice when the distance between is so large.

After the train left the station, a conductor came through to check the tickets. He said “Ca va?”, to which Kelsey replied “Ca va, et toi?”. My father, the conductor, and I all started laughing, because this was the incorrect form. Kelsey had addressed him in the familiar and not the formal, which assumes a sort of connection to the person. The conductor was hilarious, exclaiming that she was the perfect woman, since he could win her love without a single date, and he was going to steal her from the train and run away with her down the Champs Elysees. We translated this for Kelsey, who was completely embarrassed, and wouldn’t look at the guy for the rest of the ride.

Yannik was supposed to meet us at the train station in Paris, but when we arrived, he was nowhere to be found. We called him and found out that he was stuck at work and could not get away. He was going to be stuck there the next day as well. So, we would have to take the train to Reims to visit our friends. When we arrived in Reims, Jean-Paul was there waiting for us.

He grabbed our bags and took us over to what had to be the fanciest car I’d ever seen (a very high-class, custom-built Mercedes). Apparently, it cost over €600,000. It was completely keyless: it opened, closed, and started up all by the digital imprint of the owner’s hand. The man who owned it had lent it to Jean-Paul in order to pick us up. There was a TV inside the front of the car and on the back of each of the seats. Unfortunately, it was playing a DVD of a Johnny Hallyday concert, which wasn’t so much my taste.

We got to the Bar, and Valentin and Coco were there, as was Mr. Martinelli, the man who owned the expensive car. Several other people were also there, as this place is the center of activity in the town.

My mom started drinking, and actually ended up quite drunk and very giddy. She and Mr. Martinelli hit it off amazingly, he really liked her foul sense of humor. He liked my mom so much that he invited all of us out to this 5-star restaurant for the next day, to have lunch, his treat.

We went back to Marie-Jean’s house (Coco’s mother), where we would be staying the next few days. Kelsey and I had to share a very small bed, and during the night, I kept accidentally rolling over onto her and waking us both up