One night in Paris...

...is what I will be very shortly be spending!! (With reference to the above title). Yes, tomorrow I am accompanying a group of guys on a stag night in the aforementioned French capital!! Tres excitement!! A friend of mine is shortly getting spliced. Well, to be precise he's already had a registry office ceremony but as he is Sikh his "proper", traditional wedding is yet to take place. Hence one last night of freedom and debauchery, as it were. Except if he's technically already married, that might have occurred before. Okay it's all getting too complicated now...

Anyway we are due to leave tomorrow from Waterloo on the Eurostar and should arrive in Paris around 8-ish. I love the Eurostar! Such a brilliant invention and it's just amazing how quickly you find yourself zooming through the French countryside, then before you know it, you're right in the heart of the capital. From what I can remember the Parisian nightlife is pretty good too. Admittedly on my previous visit I ended up doing the gay scene and a particularly trendy area called La Marais. This time round I'm hanging out with a group of straight men and I suspect the choice of night-spots will be different. Looks like I will be the honorary fag, as it were. I suppose I feel slightly wary about spending a (very long) night out with a bunch of straight men - there's already been talk of visiting lap dancing clubs and chatting up stunning French birds who resemble "Nicole" from the old Renault adverts (remember?) Not quite my scene. But then again I've no objection to being a fly on the wall and I'm sure watching these guys "in action" will be a tres amusant experience. One has to tolerate these things. Just as long as they don't expect me to participate. I am a happily married 'omosexual after all.

On a similar-ish topic, I've just finished reading "The Devil Wears Prada", the latter part of which takes place in Paris! SPOILER ALERT - Anyone who doesn't want to know the ending, look away now please! The ending was slightly anti-climatic I felt. As I predicted Andrea does the decent thing and finally decides to quit Runway magazine, when imperious ice queen Miranda makes one too many ridiculous demands on her. By an unfortunate (yet ultimately fortunate) turn of events, Andrea's best friend Lily is involved in a bad car accident back in New York. Andrea knows Miranda won't grant her permission to go back home to visit Lily, as she needs her in Paris, attending a series of all-important fashion shows. But finally Andrea sees the light, and in a confrontational moment tells Miranda "F*ck you", before heading back home to where the heart is. The conclusion sees her gaining some freelance journalist work. And she manages to flog all the designer wear she got as a perk whilst at Runway, making a small fortune in the process.

"The Devil Wears Prada" was certainly a far better read than "The Time Traveller's Wife", the last read-it-on-the-way-to-work-novel I struggled through, and a rather over-rated one too. By the end of "Devil" the tone has got rather samey though. What is most disappointing is that ultimately you don't get any real insight into the psychology of Miranda, which is what I was hoping for. After some 380 or so pages of her non-stop bitchy, tyrannical behaviour and moods, you really want to find out what makes her tick. Unfortunately we don't get beneath the surface of Miranda and nothing major is revealed. A missed opportunity.

Anyways time for me to say adieu ... I will return with hot gossip from Paris! (But no Sarah Brightman. Ahem. Crap joke, mais non?) Have a bon weekend, mes amis!!

OC xxx