-Landmarks-

Well, I've learned my lesson.  Chain stores, such as H&M or any Pharmacie, do not serve well as landmarks when navigating Paris.  Try to look for big things, like Notre Dame cathedral, or the Louvre, or even the Tour Eiffel, because all of those landmarks have something very important in common: there is only one of each.

Saturday night was an interesting experience.  Despite the rain, I joined some fellow AU students at an Indian restaurant with a twist: byob.  Yes-the restaurant invites you to bring your own beverages.  Which meant our bottle of cheap wine was outdone by the sumptuos Indian cuisine.  I opted for the saumon in a curry sauce and served over basmati riz (salmon curry and rice).  And let me just say Mmm.  The curry sauce kept the salmon moist and flavourful, and it wasn't so spicy that I couldn't taste anything.  Ah, these occasional days of nice food make the crunch of a fresh baguette for lunch during the week seem slightly less delicious.

Things never go as well the day after: I woke up with a cold, and the western coast of Europe came down with une tempête.  The entire day was a windstorm of disastrous proportions.  Fortunately, Paris didn't receive nearly as much wind as more coastal areas, but I could still hear the wind howling outside my window as I sniffled and sneezed.  

The last report I read put the fatalities between Spain, Portugal, and France at 45.  Trees were blown over, buildings toppled, coasts, flooded, transportation shut down.  You can read more about the storm here: BBC story
Natural disasters are unavoidable and devastating, but I'm still glad more lives were saved than were lost.