Gros baiser

[elffers]

So tonight I went out with Robert and Harry, two other lecteurs here in Rennes; Irish and English, respectively. Hung out at the Westport, which is a cozy if smoky Irish pub (fittingly enough, as Rob also brought a friend from County Kerry). Afterwards we headed to the Rue de la Soif, or Street of Thirst, dubbed thusly for its popularity with college students at night. At first I was glad to be out of the smoke but quickly became apprehensive when Rob's friend turned down a graffiti covered alley and settled on maybe the sketchiest café imaginable. It wasn't so bad actually, aside from the lively yelling by people situated on opposite balconies facing the alley, and I was beginning to relax a bit. But by the time Rob and James were halfway through their beers, I suddenly felt a pair of hairy hands on my shoulders. At first I didn't think much of it--thought it must be a friend, another lecteur or someone we knew. But then I realized it was in fact a complete drunken stranger. He leaned down and put his head right next to mine--I tried to pull away but he pulled close, gave me a big kiss on the cheek and then immediately walked away into the café. It all happened so quickly that we were all in shock--the other guys didn't even ahve time to react. I wasn't sure if that was normal or not--I remember the guy from Lyon I met in my hostel in London 2 years ago who was, in general, quite affectionate--but the others assured me it was quite weird, and launched into a discussion on how the French can't hold their drink and are quite disgusting when drunk. A few minutes later the same guy comes teetering out the bar and starts harrassing Rob--who, I might note, is not a small guy. he had him in some sort of headlock-embrace until Rob was finally able to pry him loose and tell him to "Goo fook off." He promptly stumbled off, tried to prepostion another girl in the alley, and then tottered off again, crashing into doors as he went. Decided at that point he was probably not just drunk--"looked like he had about two decis in him" as Robert put it.

So yes. Welcome to France.