Happy Birthday, Eddie, wherever you are.

It was really a terrible, horrible no good, very bad day. Except for the weather!

I was up quite early with Luigi who was desperate for affection in the wee hours. Men! Amiright? I kid.

Remember how I decided to go with a new/burner phone for this trip? Everyone thought it was a good idea. I certainly thought so. For those of you considering it, there will be complications/snags.

Making purchases online (e.g., museum tickets) often requires there being a code sent to your iPhone. Oops. Didn’t think of that. And of course, the number with my bank and credit card(s) is my OLD number! Fail. Oh-la-la! Easy fix, right? Just change your phone number online with the credit card. OK, I did that. Nope. There’s all kinds of “refreshing” needed on their end for changes to go through. So now, the system just denied, denied, denied saying they could not verify who I was – even though they sent me a verification code to the new phone number. So, just be sure you’re prepared to speak with a live being on the phone at the credit card company when you travel. This works for most larger companies, but not your local bank, because they have M-F workdays with 9 to 5 “customer service” hours. Ask me how I know?

First of all, wasn’t I cocky to think I’d just dash off to Orsay today? Yeah, that’s not happening. They are sold out. It’s not very touristy where I’m staying, so I’ve completely lost perspective. I’ve been trying and failing all morning to buy a ticket for the next earliest date – Wednesday. Finally, I went through a third party ticket agency because the Orsay web site was done with me. I had my credit card company on the phone, and success. Finally!

I don’t know how to advise any of you on this burner phone stuff, except to say, it’s complicated. And, also, remember to vote. It really does matter more than ever who we elect. Why? Well, always, but for the moment I mean, did you ever consider a burner phone before now? I sure hadn’t.

For the most part, it’s been fine, and I like the new camera. But my friend actually had to buy my ticket yesterday to the Louvre fashion exhibit because I think they blocked me on their site after so many failed verification attempts. (I Venmo’d her the $22.) OK, well there’s a piece of advice – have a friend who lives in Paris who will buy tickets for you when you can’t prove who you are online with Bank of America or Capital One or whoever. That, or just call the bank/credit card company after the first fail. (You probably all knew that. I eventually figured it out.)

And here’s the other thing – you HAVE to buy your tickets online in advance because they sell out – especially if it’s August in Paris.

It feels like it should be 16h00! It’s 9h00.

Did I mention Luigi was howling bloody murder as I was trying to talk on the phone? He was racing across the terrace, hopping the rail, chasing pigeons in the gutter on the rooftop here, while I calmly chatted with the banker. I’m going to have a heart attack with his antics. I’m just glad it wasn’t a video call because then he jumped on my lap and started “making the biscuits” like a madman, and fell asleep on me.

Time for some exercising/stretching while he now rests in the chair beside me.

The day got weirder.

I had a ticket for the Montparnasse Tower at 18h00. I made my way over there – not easy – and it’s closed. Yes. Closed. I walked around the entirety of the base of the structure, and everything is chained up and shut down. Hmmm…. I think I need to call it a day.

But, my phone is offline. No maps. No Métro. No anything.

As I rebooted my phone, I looked around the train station (Montparnasse is also a quasi-train station), and spotted a sign inside the building for the Métro. Hooray!

I made my way to Line 7, hopped on the train and 5 stops in, I hear the conductor announce (oddly) that we were going to Mairie d’Ivry. Thankfully, I looked up at the “live map,” and realized I was going in the wrong direction. OK, that’s par for the day.

Not my favorite part of town to begin with, and getting worse.

Hopped off and crossed over, doubling back and then some. It’s such a lovely evening, but it’s Sunday, so things are closed. I headed to the grocery store for some wine and cheese and butter and chocolate. Hey, I said it was a bad day.

The clerk giggled as she checked me out because of the Haribo Orangina gummie packages. Another woman behind me also laughed and inquired. I explained this particular flavor was “non disponible” aux États-Unis, and everyone laughed.

I think it was my first smile of the day.

Cheers!

Santé! Ça arrive.

And I did a second pass on this graphic…