La question du travail: the question of work

Work, work, work. The French transport networks, SNCF and the RATP, are on strike again (today's the consecutive third day.) Thus, everyone tries to get round the city without the usual ease of hopping on a Metro train. It's pretty cold by Parisian standards, too: freezing fingers clutch their maps of the city. The city they should know better.

This photo shows the empty platforms at the main train station: Gare du Nord. I took it at the height of the morning rush hour!

I myself have acknowledged that I "need" to get a job, following a very pleasant year off. Just been thinking about what is really important in life.

So, yesterday I had an interview (in French) - I thought it went well, but the interviewer was giving nothing away. Wait and see on that one. I also used the Vélib city-bike system to ride across the city to hand-deliver another application. It was a perfectly crisp and sunny afternoon and the cycle routes in Paris are so significantly improved compared to a decade ago that I had one of those "I love my life" moments. Down by the river, you can ride through tree-lined avenues, on dedicated cycle routes, well separated from the road. Right from Place de la Concorde to the Eiffel Tower, in fact.

Then the evening was spent at the cinema, watching the excellent "American Gangster." Pretty well perfect, especially the soundtrack.

The night ended with a heavy argument with my partner. Darkness descends...