Bienvenue Paris Plages!
Bocce ball! Boardwalks! Sand! Swimming! No, we haven't left Paris for St. Tropez. We just stepped outside our door....and onto Paris Plages. For a month every summer, the city of lights closes the road that runs along the Seine, imports 3,000 tons of sand, 300 lounge chairs, 240 parasols and 40 hammocks (meubles courtesy of IKEA), tropical plants, trampolines, spray misters, and even a swimming pool, and plops it all down by the river on a 3K stretch that begins in front of our flat and ends a few blocks past Notre Dame. Along the way, there are cafes and restuarants, souvenir stands, boardwalks, a bookstore, and a lot of French people burying each other in the sand, playing beach games, lazing around on benches and hammocks, drinking wine, smoking (of course) and just strolling casually, looking as though they're not a bit bothered by the oppressive July heat. We hit the Plages last night after dinner at Paradis du Fruit and a gelato in the Latin Quarter. I optimistically put on my swim trunks and flip-flops and we walked beneath the misters, gazed longingly over a guard rail and into the (closed) swimming pool, wondering whether we'd be able to take a dip before it's time to leave on Sunday. It was a rather civilized evening. Heather wondered how the same thing might go over in New York, and my mind immediately flashed to Jones Beach...or even Coney Island. We sort of just let the notion hang.

Programming note: I finished my paper for the fellowship. Hallelujiah! 4500 words on artificial morality. I was in full lockdown mode there for a few days, but I think it turned out pretty well -- or at least not bad -- especially considering I don't have any real scenes. Now I just need to come up with a 90-minute presentation in the next couple days. I'm not too worried. There are a lot of robot movies to show (Does anyone know the running time of T2?). Good news is that my new boss tells me he's definitely interested in the piece, and I'm hoping to do some on-site reporting once I get home, which I hope will make it that much better. Oh, and a bit of other news...another big magazine wants me to write up my "Summer of God" for publication. They said I could do it however I wanted -- travelogue, essay, whatever. I decided that if I'm going to do it, I should actually do some more research. So, in the last week I've been bombarding scientists all over the world with a survey I created on the relationship between science and religion. I've received about 50 completed surveys back so far -- some really insightful, some incredibly snide, some pretty angry. Writing about religion is almost as bad as writing about Apple. I'll keep you posted on the results. In the meanwhile, Heather and I are off to pay our respects to Mr. Mojo Risin'. Au revoir.