Homesick

What the custom was in this township he did not know.
-Franz Kafka
"Wedding Preparations in the Country"

Twenty-five years ago today:

September 10, 1985
Tuesday

Paloma left early on this morning. I slept-in until 12:30PM or so. We had plans to take pictures all day but my camera shutter was black after I took pictures of this cute, little apartment.

Last night I had a portrait sketch drawn of me by an artist in Paris. It’s okay. I don’t like it that much. We also went all the way up to the third deck of the Eiffel Tower last night. It was scary hearing each click-clack while the elevator was ascending. Yikes!

I took the METRO to the KLEBER station. It’s the station nearest to Paloma. We went to the Pigalle area for a hamburger and fries. Then we went to the Sacred Heart Church which is beautiful. The only thing is that we had a lot of steps to climb to get there! It’s one beauty of a church.

We mulled through some of the local Montmartre shops that were here n’ there. It is fun just sitting as a passenger in the car and watching all of the Parisians.

Paloma’s car had trouble. It needed water in the radiator again. Thank God that’s all it needed (luckily). We went to visit her brother, Luis, and Bernadette for a while. I had a mixed drink of whisky and Coca-Cola. I watched a bit of French TV. In the news there was sensationalism about a New York child that had contracted AIDS. There was a huge ‘Mad Mother’s’ protest on the streets of New York.
PHOTO: Paloma

Paloma and I left shortly after and I went home to go to sleep. Paloma left, too, since she had to be at work tomorrow. It was 9PM or so when I decided to telephone mom. She was pleased to hear from me. She still had not received any postcards. I explained to her how we had missed out on meeting Pat and Richard (and how terrible a feeling it was to be lost). 

Mom suggested I get an earlier flight for Sunday but I said, “The flight times were all prearranged and I can’t just change them.”
I felt homesick. I miss her.

You forget how much you rely on something as simple as a phone until you don't have one.
-Julia Child
"My Life In France"