Paris, with side trips to Bergerac, Mannheim, and Berlin. Seven weeks. September 3. Up early. Flight left at Stopped at Seattle, then direct to Amsterdam. Watched Unfaithfully Yours. September 4. Arrived at Amsterdam a. Train to Paris. Had to switch a couple times, once getting off at the wrong Brussels station with two young German women — had coffee with them while we waited for the next train.
Paris at p. Talked re rock climbing, their recent doings in Europe, etc. We had originally met in a situ context during my previous trip, but by this time his focus had shifted to experimenting with ways to enliven his own immediate milieu. This may be as good a place as any to note that despite living most of my life on fairly modest income, I have been able to make these lengthy foreign trips because of the truly remarkable hospitality of many friends. I originally got to know most of them via situationist connections and collaborations, but we have generally continued to be good friends even in cases where they are no longer very actively engaged in such things.
Apart from occasional side trips, when I go to Paris I simply live there, often for months at a time. While I am there I of course incidentally see lots of interesting places and things, but my primary goal is to be with my friends and to meet new ones. Thus, except for the plane fares and somewhat more restaurant dining than usual, living in Paris has not been much more expensive than my usual life in Berkeley.
September 5. To Au Vieux Campeur to look over rock-climbing equipment and guides to nearby climbing areas. To bed at September 6. Dominique called. I called Nadine: no definite plans for them coming up here yet. Wandered around the Louvre-Left Bank area. Bought both volumes of the original Surrealism journals.
Back home. I danced with Dominique. Not a bad place, but I was tired and the thick smoke was nauseating. Read some Potlatch. The whole series was later reprinted, but the originals were extremely rare and before this time I had not known anyone who had ever so much as seen a copy, so this was a very exciting discovery. In any case, nowadays smoking is prohibited in most indoor public spaces in France, as in most other countries.
