Walk in Paris - June 8'th

I discovered a new scam today, actually yesterday but it happened to me again today. A fellow bends over in front of me and picks up a shiny ring that is apparently lying on the ground and asks if it is yours. When you say no ( or if greed kicks in and you say yes ) he offers it to you. He walks away and then turns back and asks for Euros. He actually palmed the ring and pretended to pick it up and when you look at it closely it is polished brass NOT gold and is worth maybe a few pennies. A good profit for him even if you offer him one Euro. Of course they ask for many more Euro. I turned down the first couple but the last one who tried I put the ring in my pocket said "Merci" and walked away real fast. He ran after me asking for Euro and when I said no he wanted the ring back ... thus the obvious scam. My answer ... 'Je nes parle par francais' and kept on walking. He finally gave up asking for the ring back. I then threw it in the Seine in front of him.


I did find a shopping cart today while at the fabric market and went to Gallerie Lafayette and bought myself a goose down pillow and pillow covers. There is a 40 percent off sale so I got a good deal and trust me it made a difference last night with my sleeping ... not that I've had trouble sleeping or anything but it is always nice to have your own pillow.


Also bought an inexpensive weight scale just to try to keep some discipline with my  eating. It is metric rather than Imperial but I found a conversion program on the internet so can track pounds instead of Kilos. This internet thing is something else ... how did we get along without it.


I figure if I weigh myself everyday then I just might watch what I'm eating and or do more exercise. Not sure how I could do more exercise though since I'm out walking already about 6 hours each day and come home dead tired. My goal is to come home to Canada no heavier than I left and if I can achieve that it will be a small miracle. I might be able to maintain my weight while alone but on my trip to Lithuania I put on weight with all the dining with Lucy's cousin and on my trip to Stuttgart I'm sure I'm going to put on weight with Marcus. Go to Swabia ( Germany ) for three days and not put on weight ... you've got to be kidding!!!


When everyone arrives I suspect we will be eating non stop and I also suspect I will have to cut down on my walking at little since few have the stamina to do as much walking as I do and I want to make sure we all hang together. Maybe I can set my alarm and go for an early morning and or a late evening walk alone to keep my steps up. But this will be the challenging time as far as coming back at the same weight. Maybe I should lose a few pounds while alone which will give me a cushion for when people arrive.


Speaking of weight I've been eating  a really nice goat's cheese all morning as a supplement to my glue ( oatmeal ) and man do I like goat's cheese. In france goat's cheese is almost like wine with thousands of different vintages. Next week I'm going back to the Marche Barbes and buying this one again.


I did go out late last night at about 10:30 and went for about an hour's walk down by the Tour Eiffel and along the Seine. It is lit up at night and quite compelling. You can see why they call Paris the 'City of Lights'. Didn't bring my camera so no pictures.


Following are my pictures from through the day. You will notice liberal use of my LensBaby and my fisheye lens.... I think I'll go back to my regular lens today.


Life is good .... enjoy.


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