Haircut

In honor of finishing my Parisian schoolwork this afternoon after handing in my dissertation on the European Union (French version of exams – one question, 2 hours, one essay), I celebrated by getting my first Parisian haircut. I went to a “salon” near school…the Parisian version of Cost Cutters. It’s called Tchip (pronounced “cheap”) and I figured it was easier to go to a chain than try to decide between the hundreds of salons I pass by every day. I had stopped by a week ago hoping to get a haircut, and after chilling for 45 minutes I decided I’d be better off coming back.

So this afternoon I returned, equipped with class evaluations to pass the time, and asked for a haircut. The woman told me it would only be a “small half-hour” wait so I took a seat. In general in life I get frustrated with the slow, chatty pace of hair salons, so multiplying that by the slow pace of Paris in general made this an exercise in patience. After about half an hour the woman started washing my hair. She promptly told me that the cut would be six euros more expensive because my hair was long. While washing my hair she walked away at least 3 times to chat with other customers or fellow hairdressers. When we finally made it to the chair, it took ten mores minutes to start cutting itself, which became a stop-and-go process as customers walked in, kisses were exchanged, phones rang, and some woman showed up with flowers that needed a vase. Overall it was quite the Parisian experience. The haircut turned out pretty typical Parisian…I’ll try to post a picture soon. She cut off a good five centimeters and my head is significantly lighter. Usually I leave haircuts thinking I should have gone shorter or more stylish, but I’m quite satisfied with this one.

After the haircut I hit up the gym and returned home at nine to find my host sister calling me to dinner. Never in my time here have we ever eaten before at least 9:15 and usually it’s after 9:30, but apparently Mme. Beguin was hungry earlier tonight. We had an Italian style meal with pasta in marinated tomatoes, ham, salad with parmesan cheese, and olive bread. We finished the meal with an unusual cheese (a purchase from this weekend’s salon)…a sheep cheese soaked in rosemary. I wasn’t a big fan…I know now that I’m not a huge rosemary fan. But the olive bread was fantastic and we finished with delicious yellow apricots.