Coffee shortage and Tamagotchis.

Saturday, August 28th, 7 p.m. GMT




Moleskine'n'pen out, brand new Motorola Dext on its side aaaaaaaaaaaand: coffee! At long last! A nice hot cup of deep black coff... hang on... there's no coffee on the menu! Giant salads with exotic names (as long as 'poulette' and 'cochonne' could sound exotic to anyone), cocktails, mashed potatoes with ham, beers, all sorts of appetizers, but no sign of coffee... Ok, i know what i have to do, i have to start writing a guide book about how to fight caffeine addiction in Paris, because i have to admit that my 'coffees' with Fernando have been a lot more caffeine-free than expected... Never mind: as i've just decided to increase the blogging rythm (YES), coffee there will be, at some point!


7 p.m. GMT SHARP i might have added with a proud and triumphant smile, but there's no point showing off, because our appointment is not before 8, on my request, kindly accepted by my dear friend. I start writing now, because i know i'll be busy later and will just have the time to take a picture or two, but i like things that way: suddenly stopping whatever i'm doing to take a picture and make a quick mental note of what i will write down later.

No coffee then, i'll have to have wine instead (poor me), Sauvignon, or a glass of Bourgogne Alligoté. It's a shame i'm not hungry because the food they offer here is absolutely delicious, though extremely simple. I've had many occasions to try it in good company the last few years.

Le Troisième Lieu could as well have been named La Quatrième Dimension: unlike most bars in Paris, it's not a place looking expensive or impressive or glittering. Le Troisième Lieu (located in the glamorous Rue Quincampoix, famous thanks to Jeunet and 'Amelie from Montmartre') is all about feeling good, about taking things easy. Benches, long wooden tables covered in glossy pink or blue paint, mismatched furniture and elements of decoration, David Bowie, Abba and The Bangles filling the air on week nights, flashy and/or ancient-looking wallpapers, knickers and thongs (yes, really) of all sorts hanging from the ceiling above the bar. Affordable food, affordable drinks, affordable fun, that's a change, because Paris is NOT affordable.

I'm waiting for a friend, Delphine, i won't introduce her now because i hope she will accept to post a little something here some day and i'll have plenty of time to do so then. For once, it's not Axelle i'm going to be with and that's why i cannot promise i'll be able to write a few lines at 8 p.m. GMT sharp as i would have done with her. I already knew it when i suggested the hour to Fernando and the reason why it did not bother me is because i knew i would be posting something else during the week.

...

Here we are then, the truth is out: it seems that i'm now addicted to 'The Bridge'! It's not completely absurd to literally 'get high' on a bridge, but it still feels odd to see how easy it is to create a need. One day, you just start thinking of doing something, the idea grows in your head, and then without even taking time to ponder on what you are doing, the idea springs into a cute blog-bud, you pour absent-mindedly some water-posts on it and suddenly it hits you that you now have something, something palpabe that you have to feed, and take care of. And you enjoy doing it. And more: you enjoy HAVING TO do it.

It's just like owning a Tamagotchi (please, don't laugh, Tamagotchis are great) and watching it evolve while pushing small buttons, with the difference that a blog is supposed to be an interesting Tamagotchi. Complicated, and useful as well, in more than one way but really it works on the same principle...

To raise a Tamagotchi, three tiny buttons only: with A, you move from one option to the other and choose what you want to do, pushing B you confirm and with C you delete or cancel your choice.

How to grow a blog-bud now:

A: You choose what you want to say, write it down, add a picture or two.

B: Pour the water on the seed, send everything and inch'Allah.

C: You have second thoughts, decide to cancel what you were about to post because you're afraid that the comparison blog/Tamagotchi will induce the loss of some of your credibility (for example :D ).

and now?

Ah damn it, i'll find a way to look smart later, i just want the bridge-bud to grow fast!

-*. B .*-

Oh what an ugly picture! I miss my Blackberry now...