Il Pleut - Saturday, 1 June

It's raining = "il pleut" in French, and "pleut" is pronounced approximately (and totally appropriately) "pluugh."  It's been drizzling all day, with temps in the high 50s, and when I went out to run a couple of errands this afternoon, it suddenly started pouring.  Happily, multiple cafés were a couple of steps away!   Normally, downpours pass pretty quickly, but this one kept going, stopped for a minute, started again, ....

Nobody comes to Paris for the weather (although when it's glorious here it's GLORIOUS!), but still....  Happily, I had nothing that I absolutely HAD to do this afternoon, so I could sit and watch others deal with their umbrellas (or lack thereof) and their little kids and taxis and strollers and tour group leaders and squeaky bicycle brakes and parcels (like one guy I saw carrying a couple long 2x4s)!  Not to forget those who had to work in the rain, like the cleanup crew at the temporary open-air market across the street.  And the homeless woman sitting on the sidewalk under an umbrella with her little puppy.