Fete dans la rue!

Walking in Paris is always an adventure for us simply because the 'grid' system doesn't exist.  The idea of going around the block thinking that you'll end up on the street you started on gets us in trouble every time.  For a confirmed 'flaneur' (someone who strolls), like me, it can be a problem especially if there's somewhere we have to be.

However, sometimes like last night it leads to something quite wonderful.  Imagine coming upon a lively bunch sitting in front of a shop--in this case it was a custom hat shop--at a table decked with sushi, oysters and copious bottles of wine.  This was the scene which greeted us as we made our detour walking home from dinner at 10:30pm.  You know that this is what I think of as an 'opportunity'!  I just can't resist stopping, and so I asked, "qu'est-ce que c'est?"  Well, it turns out that it was a celebration with guests from Argentina, New York, and Paris and they were delighted to speak with us--we even got a taste of wine!  In the few short minutes we stopped, we discovered that a celebration on a warm night can spill into the street quite easily and strangers walking by can be made to feel welcome.