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October Return
Paris, France
October, 2002
A very odd return to the bookstore indeed. When I arrive, not only is George not there, but he has been gone for 6 days and no one knows exactly where he is but all clues hint towards Barcelona. He had torn out a few B maps from a Spain travel guide, he had been complaining about our horrible selection of Spanish books, and he had been talking of a trip to B for a long time. So one evening he cooks his famous stuffed bell peppers, gets his daughter and the rest of the Tumbleweeds sat down for dinner and then dissapears without saying a word to anyone. Of course this is all second hand info from Sylvia and Steven. When I arrive they tell me all this and say that they expect him that day because he will probably return to meet me. But no such luck. Two days went by waiting for George. Sylvia offered and I decided to stay in the office until his return. Knowing that he would take the night train, I wanted to be right there, in his bed, when he returned. The first morning I woke to a key in the door, I sat up really excited and Sylvia walked in. She was very startled and said "Oh my god Ron, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot you here here." Another day goes by and no George. We are getting a bit nervous but I know George's sly and devious ways and he is probably just making us sweat. How could we find him even if he was in trouble?? Steven comes up with the brilliant idea of having Sylvia go to the bank and trace any checks he had written. She would go the next day. That night I drank a bit too much of the cheap red stuff, so when I heard the key the next morning, I sat up but a bit slower and with a really bad taste in my mouth. I could tell the room was filled bad wine breath. George bursts in and accesses the situation. I'm not sure what to expect. Maybe he'll yell at me for being so hung over. Maybe he'll look at me with disgust and begin to unpack. What George will do is impossible to guess. He stops, looks at me inqiring glance, puts down his bag, looks back at me with the same stare and says like a father "I'll get the coffee, you want coffee don't you"? I agreed, got out of bed and he told me a little about his trip. He had taken the night train to B, spent the entire next day walking around trying to find a Pencione (he forgot the maps he tore out leaving us one of our clues). Everything was sold out but he finally found a nice place, not too expensive. He said he should have gotten a room with a TV "since the bookstore was paying his expenses" but just stayed with Penciones. The next day he went bookshopping, bought over 1000 Spanish books (who the hell knows what we will do with them when they arrive because the Spanish section is really small) and that's it. Whatever he did for the other 6 days is unknown. Very George. Very secretive. Always with an air of mystery. Soon it was a day like any other in the bookstore. Running around, putting things in order, and seeing to any of George's requests. Normally, with George being gone for so long, the store would be in complete disorder. When I arrived earlier in the week the place looked different, it looked really good. I was really stoked! Sylvia was doing a great job and all of the employees actually worked and enjoyed themselves! What a pleasant surprise.
The next day George invited me to lunch at one of the most Famous restaurants in Paris "Le Pied du Coushon" and then go and see a Shakespeare documentary done back in the 70's. Another surreal George experience. It was a beautiful day so we walked to Les Halles and le Coushon is right on the other side of dealer park. When we arrived at the restaurant George reviewed the outside menu and we dissatisfied. "Where's the Carte du Jour" he kept on saying. So we wander in, past the Maitredee, looking for the Carte du Jour. This may not seem so odd, but George is wearing sweat pants and sweat shirt, I'm wearing a T-shirt and shorts and we are wandering around one of the nicest restaurants in Paris. After checking counters, walls and a few customers food, I follow George up the back stairs to the second floor dining room. I'm waiting for some waiter or manager to come over to us and say "What are you doing you stupid Americans" but we were stealth, no one seemed to notice. Soon we find an open table and George, giving up his search for the Carte Du Jour, says "Will this due or do you want to go back down stairs?"
I say "This looks great, but don't you think we ought to talk to a Waiter?" He looks at me with a disgusted looks and says "Of course we have to talk to the waiter" then quickly marches over to the first waiter in sight, grabs his arm and escorts him over to the open table. George asks the waiter (in French) if we could have the table. He looks at both of us really funny like "Why are they asking me strange Americans." He then looks down at the table, shakes his head and says "Why not" in English. I couldn't believe it. So we sat down, asked for the Carte du Jour, they didn't have one, so he brought us the regular menu. George didn't seen too happy, but decided on a dozen oysters. I was scared. Everytime I have ever been to lunch with George he always tells me what I will have, "And you better eat it all." I keep my head buried in the menu. "So what do you say, two dozen oysters!" enthusiastically burst George. I look at him like "If I have to eat a dozen I will die" and say "You are going to eat two dozen oysters?" He says "Noooo, 12 are for you, what, don't you like oysters?"
"Not really."
"There really good for you!"
I give another sour face.
George stalls, give a stern look and says dejectedly in a low tone "OK, Order what you want."
Whew, what a relief. It was and excellent (but way over-priced) lunch, I got a steak with this killer Bernaise sauce and I even tried one of George's oysters. Of course, George had to take some bread and butter to go and his timing was perfect. He put the bread in his bag right when our waiter was standing next to him. The waiter looked and smiled. George is a walking piece of fine art. Everything he does had an eccentric flair unmatched by anyone.
After lunch, it was time to go to the Shakespeare and Company documentary. He knew that the movie was down in Les Halles, right near the restaurant but he had always told me it was in the George Pompadu center so I guided him there. It was cool to go into the giant bibliotech with George, but when we finally found the Video Tech we found out they did not have our documentary but it was back at Les Halles. On the way back down the stairs at Pompadu George looked at me and said "You really don't want to go see the picture do you?" I say "No, we have to see it, I'm sorry to lead us all the way here, do you have enough energy to make it back to Les Halles?" He gave me a funny look and we went back to Les Halles and found the theatre. The documentary was awesome. It was filmed in 1978, its in French and all the background music was Bob Dylan. Lots of scenes with George doing his various tasks at the bookstore, a real tear jerker.
What a really awesome day!!
George Quote "Take that cat to the Dog Pound" when a strange French dude brought his roommates cat to the store because Kitty was missing and Simon, somehow, thought this guys roomie might have Kitty - great quote, odd story from Simon.
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