More people-watching

People-watching is somewhat difficult in France for the simple reason that people look at each other less here- when you're walking down the street you pretty much keep to yourself. That's not to say they're unfriendly and self-centered, though. I still greet my neighbors when I walk down the stairs and people still laugh if you have to awkwardly dodge each other on the sidewalk and you're definitely allowed to laugh at little children playing tag or whatever. But you don't, in general, smile at strangers or greet them as though you knew them.
So, people-watching. A few stories.

I have an American friend who lives in the Croix Rousse, which is a residential area up on the hill above the river. You have to take the metro to get there, and to get home I change lines a few times. Once, I was coming home from her place on a Thursday night, and while I was waiting for the train I glanced back at the long stairway that led down to the platform. Just as I looked back, I saw a couple at the top of the stairs- their arms were linked and they were both holding canes. They were blind. Both of them. The woman stumbled a bit at the top of the stairs, but the man (clearly a boyfriend or husband) kept her from falling. As I watched, they walked down the stairs with no problems and continued over to the platform to wait for the train. Up till that point I had assumed that the man could see a little bit (it had seemed he was leading her), but now I could see that he was, in fact, completely blind. I was trying to decide if I should offer help or not, but a Frenchman beat me to it and helped them onto the metro when it arrived. They got off at the same stop as I did and I watched them head in the other direction. I thought about offering to help them get home, but they seemed to get along just fine. Amazing.
A few weeks later I was at the same metro stop at around the same time of night. I was thinking about that couple and as I looked up at the stairway, there they were again! It was the same routine as the first time- head down the stairs, feel their way to the platform and onto the train, and listen for their stop. They must do that every night. Pretty unbelievable.

Another time, I was sitting on the grass by the river, reading and watching the people go by. There was a class of kindergarden-aged children with their teachers, and after a bit I realized that they were playing duck-duck-goose! I have no idea what the name is in French, though. I doubt they call it canard-canard-oie.

That same afternoon there were some college-age French guys sitting on the grass with their guitars, strumming away. I really enjoyed listening to them- one was singing, and he had a pretty good voice. It made me laugh that they were playing things like Wonderwall, though- you could tell he had no idea what the words meant. It reminded me of Young Life camp. After about 45 minutes of playing, some French girls came over and introduced themselves to the guys and then sat around and hung out with them. I guess some things (like guitars being girl-magnets) are universal.

Anyway, those are just some random observations. Today is free cone day at Ben and Jerry's, and apparently there is a B&J's not very far from my house, so I think we're going to go after class. This week and next week I have only three days of class because we have this Thursday off for Labor Day, then next Thursday is Victory in 1945 day, then the Monday after that is Pentacost. For a secular country, France has quite a few religious holidays. Not that I'm complaining. : ) Nine days of class left, then a week of exams, then some more traveling, then I come home!