Clueless in Paris, or, Angst in France

I went to the Préfecture this morning to pick up my carte de séjour. I was pleasantly surprised when the woman behind the counter told me it was a carte de résident for ten years. I’m so relieved I don’t have to go back there next year -- what a nightmare! While I was waiting this guy got annoyed with one of the clerks behind the counter, probably over missing paperwork. He starting shouting and banging his fist and he and the woman got into a shouting match. I knew how he felt. But, still. I was waiting for him to draw out a gun and shoot the lady, but he just stalked off.

I'm going to take a more advanced ballet class tonight, unless I chicken out. I took a class from this same instructor last Saturday and I thought he was going to kill us. Kill me, at least. He never let us stop for a minute. Usually I stand in the front because I can’t see very well, but this time I stood in the back, out of fear and embarrassment, and of course, didn’t get the steps. My leg muscles seized up from all the stress of it all, I think, and I had trouble with them all in class all week. Dumb way to spend Halloween, eh?

Maybe I’ll have an extra cup of coffee, just in case I need it, then I'm off to take the train.

"I like Paris. My problem is I don't like Parisians." Sir Laurence Olivier