Comme des professionels

Ah, I did it. I did my first interview with a French party member ::golf claps:: It went off without a hitch. Got you! In typical Jen-style, the interview did not come off smoothly. First, we met at different places. I was at Gare de Lyon and he was at Porte Vanves. I didn't quite understand the word though since his stop is not well-known. Here is a morcel of our conversation: Me: I'm at Gare de Lyon. Him: Oh! Zoot! I'm at Porte de qskdfjmqskdjfmklqsd (unintelligble French name, complete with a lot of nasal sounsd). Could you meet me here as soon as possible? Me: Sure. So you are at Porte d'Orleans? Him: No, Porte d'adfjsldkjfl. Me: I'm sorry, I didn't understand you. Him: It's not Porte d'Orleans, although it is near it. It's Porte de rehaoero. Me: Porte de Rhone? Him: No, it is on line 13. Me: Okay... (looking desperately at my metro map...nothing that looks at all like azlkejr) Him: Porte de qlskfj... v-a-n-v-e-s. Me, silently panicking: Got it! Unfortunately, the two are impossibly far apart in terms of metro lines. I devised what appeared to be the most direct route to get there (and here "direct" translates to "circuitous"). Seriously, I've been riding the Paris metro in preparation for this. To my utter dimay, my connecting station was closed! Oh, the horror. I dashed outside and hailed a cab. For what it's worth, the interview itself went very well. I was just horrified by my tardiness and my inability to understand French prononciation. I must have looked like such a light weight! In other news, I went chez Odette this weekend in Amboise. As always, it was wonderful! Odette now has a flat-screen tv, wireles, and is my friend on Skype. I swear, she must be the most technologically advanced 70-something in the world! And with that, I have to get back to work. À bientôt!