Three Months, Nine Days...

That’s how long I was unemployed. Yes, you read that right. As the French are going on strike, I’m taking a part-time job showing vacationers into their apartment rentals in the center of Paris (http://www.rentals-paris.org/). It’s a hand-me-down job from another American, working for an American-speaking American who the rents the flats to other American Americans. I meet them at the office, show them to their flat, and learn them the right (or left) way to turn a French key in a French door, so they can get into the bedroom and French kiss in private. In case you are nosy like me, it pays 700 euros a month, which at press time is like $125,000 a year. Also, I get a small commission if I line up clients, so if you are really rich and want to stay in a private apartment in Paris, email me.

After the first four hours, I have to say that the best thing about the job is the location at 274 Rue Saint Honore, one block from the Louvre and the Jardin du Tuileries. It’s a mind-altering experience to see some of the most famous and beautiful sites in the world while riding your bike (in a dedicated bike lane) to work in the morning. It certainly beats the hell out of almost getting run over by some redneck Longhorn fan in a seven-ton pickup and then sitting at my desk all day. Vive le France. Or, if vous ne parlez pas Français, here it is in bumper sticker: Tuck Fexas.

Here we see a map of how I get to work in the morning, riding along the Seine. Green = home, red = work:


All told, it was a great 98 days (+/-) of blissful freedom. I managed to visit such desperate locales as Real de Catorce, Zacatecas, and San Tiburcio, Mexico; New Orleans, Louisiana; Albertville, Alabama; Clarksville, Tennessee; Springfield, Missouri; Bartlesville and Norman, Oklahoma; Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; Bethany Beach, Delaware; Paris, France; and Prague and Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. Quite an adventure after 13 years of static cling.

In homage, here are a few panoramic photos from our trip to Mexico in August:

Real de Catorce: The Lucero

Real de Catorce: The Road to El Quemado

Real de Catorce: Looking West from the bottom of El Callejon Zaragoza

... and a special shout-out to recently unchained Plus Tard donor Shawn Badgley
who will be taking an immersion course in Zacatecas (pictured below) before going to Real de Catorce to write a novel about what an awesome friend and confidant I have been to him. Good luck, buddy. Say hi (and then adios) to that delicious sopa de mariscos (and a shot of Don Julio) at La Leyenda for me.