Let’s come together right now - jeudi, 07.06.07

Jeudi 07.06.07 Let’s come together right now

There’s nothing like waking up in a panic. I do so this morning. The sun is streaming in the window. I feel like I’ve only just awoken after a cap-nap. I’m convinced I’ve slept in and I’m amused by the hypothetical scenarios running through my head. With this much sunshine I reckon it’s just after 8,00. However, it’s not even 6,00; it’s always good to know I’ve mastered the knack of waking up just before my alarm goes.

Who is that weirdo waving from the seat opposite me on the bus? I’ve my sunglasses on and the shining sun illuminates the stranger’s face so much that I have to lean forward and peer over the tops of the frames to catch a glimpse of the strange form. Well, well. It’s Majid. He’s as surprised to see me as I am him. I tell him it’s my bus – to school. He proceeds to tell me about the work which awaits him on an exam jury panel before beckoning me over to the vacant seat facing him so he can show me the marking system.

He has mad plans for Paris though nothing as crazy as J.P’s jet-set solutions. Later, at the embarcadère I meet Nicola and tell her about my chance meeting with Majid when who should waltz along but the devil himself. The poor chap is going bald but we’ve no time to sympathise or otherwise as we spot J.P in the distance and set about fooling him. For once he’s alert and he spies us huddling by the water’s edge. Turns out he has just booked a mini-trip to Trinidad. Fecker. I’d love to go too but some of us still have school. Plus he’s going this weekend and will miss Nic’s farewell shindig. He’s also jetting off to Japan for a month during his holidays and a few return trips to London are also in order.

Our school care-taker is just back from his holiday in Guyane. If he has gotten a tan I don’t notice but he remarks that I’ve bronzed a bit which brings me out of my mood with Madame la Directrice who won’t allow me to hibernate in the computer room.

So after a cold spell in the capital’s own library I meet with Nic at the navette base. We’re waiting for one of Nic’s pupils to drop off a payment. We head for La Croisière as we’re starving and can have a good vantage point and a good meal there. The ladies however, are too slow so we decide to move on to the Mayflower. We bump into Charlie the Driver and I chat away to him while Nic shoots around the corner to collect her envelope. The meal in the Mayflower is average but the company is first-rate. Cyril the Sailor is there and we join him and our tables for lunch. Nic pops off to her lesson while Cyril and I chat, gobble up desert and set off on the trail for some special rugby magazine.

We decide to prolong the afternoon with drinks in the Terminal Café. It’s still daylight and J.P is, as per usual, committing daylight robbery with his overpriced pints. Mr. Ben is also there - he’s jetting off around the round tomorrow on another hush-hush trip. No sooner have we turned to take our seats than Nicola appears. She’s here to meet Nicolas II and before long the lads are chatting and we ladies are at pains to get a word in edgeways. Alain and Jean-Alain are in the corner with some lady friends and Thomas is counting his coppers in a lounger by the bar.

Cyber Délisse is our next port of call and here we’re treated to a slideshow of Cyril’s travels, his future foresting dreams and his blog repertoire. The poor chap seems like he’ll shed a tear if we leave but the navette is calling and so are our stomachs so we set off to cross the bay leaving Cyril to tap away at his numerous web-site projects.

A stranger insults Nic on the boat and it’s not long until we find ourselves talking openly to this mad lad, Chadly. Both the noise of the engine and the not-so-receptive Martiniquan ear makes it near impossible for him to catch my name. Il y a beaucoup du bruit. I rechristen myself Brie for the night. As in cheese I tell him. “Or noise!” Nicola quips. Chadly brings us to Tex Mex, where he works, but we opt for rabbit food tonight and leave him to dine at Le Malibu. An ice-cream by the marina, a beer at La Cabane and a soft stroll home along the beach is the perfect way to end the day.