May 24th Saturday

I got up at noon. My breakfast was peanut butter and honey toast. After eating, Adrienne and I cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, and floors. We were hosting Amanda’s birthday party tonight because her place is farther from the center of town and the clubs. I got pretty sweaty cleaning, so I took a shower afterward.

We ran to the grocery store to get some items for the party. We got chips, wine, champagne and cheese. We also got a baguette. We stopped by the apartment and then had some lunch. I had the vegetable soup with some of our old bread. Dipped in soup, the bread was softer.

I wanted to get some more casual shoes that I could wear without socks so I made my way toward H&M. It started raining as I walked. I stopped in Monoprix and looked at their shoes, but I couldn’t find any. I made it to H&M. I found some casual shoes that were simple black canvas. I also got some bobby pins and hair clips.

I walked home and realized that it was a longer walk than I’d thought. Adrienne and I finished getting ready for the party. At 9:30pm, Tobias arrived with a television antenna. Our party coincided unfortunately with Eurovision (the annual televised European singing contest). Some people sounded like they would pick the show over the party so we promised they could watch it at our place. Our TV didn’t have cable so Tobias brought the antenna to try to get the channel. It wasn’t working so I tried finding it online. I was able to find a live stream online so we set it up on my computer. My laptop screen is very small so I was wondering if it would work, but we had it at least.

Manu showed up around 10. He seemed surprised that only Tobias was there. Finally, Casey and Amanda showed up. People started arriving soon after that. Our guests included: Ludo, Milva, Marilena, Violetta, Luis, Jeannette and Anna. There was one group in our bedroom watching Eurovision. They all made comments about the political tensions underlying the contest. We heard occasional cheering as well. Another group of us hung out in the kitchen and talked.

Eventually, Eurovision ended and we had had sufficient amounts of wine and champagne. We headed out to the club where Amanda wanted to party around midnight. The whole group of us walked across the Seine together. Some people decided to break off and go home.

We arrived at Cabaret and waited in a short line to get in. We had signed up on an online list so we were able to get in free. The club was nice. We walked down some stairs into an underground club. The music wasn’t too bad. We danced a lot and it soon became very hot and humid. I thought about getting a drink but soon discovered that they were €13. Screw that! I would just be thirsty. We discovered Carlos at the club as well. He showed up after most of the others had gone.

Amanda and I danced together and had fun driving the boys wild. Carlos even went to his knees before us and mimed wiping drool off his face. Amanda went up next to Manu at one point and gave me a look. I knew what she was thinking and soon we were dancing on either side of him. He seemed to enjoy it and Carlos was driven even crazier.

As it got later, the people started clearing out of the club. It got much cooler and we had more space to dance. We’d offered to Amanda to stay at our place so we were in it for the long haul. We danced until rather late and left around 5:30am. We stepped outside into the morning light. It was beautiful. I was thinking about my bed and cursing the space between us.

Manu, Carlos, Amanda, Adrienne and I walked for a bit together. We walked past the Louvres and I’d never seen it so beautiful as it was in the morning light. It was the most deserted I’d seen it. Then Manu separated so he could go home. Carlos walked us to our apartment like a gentleman, but unlike a gentleman, he asked to stay with us. The rule of no men sleeping in the apartment was still in effect so we had to turn him away. I helped him find the nearest vélibres so he could take a bike home.

We went up to the apartment and the three of us went to bed close to 7:00am.