Wrong-footed

Has it happened to you when on some day almost everything goes wrong? Congratulations you’ve met Murphy! Well yesterday was one day sprayed with quite a bit of incident. All was well till the evening when S and I were going out to meet friends as always on weekends. The first incident was at the first bar we stopped at, Le Drapeau after scourging like 15 bars in the center of Paris. It was one of those places, clean tables, high-priced drinks and not-so-crowded, making you wonder if the drinks weren’t good or what was.

Klutz, Part 1 –> We didn’t spot anything right away and ordered drinks even though it was past ‘Happy Hour’. The cocktails were a bit overpriced at 8.5€ but I figured if the glass was big, then it wouldn’t matter that much. And so in the gang of 7, I was sitting at one corner and I after feeling a bit warm indoors with the coat on, I took it off to drape it on the empty chair next to me. And while I reached over, the waiter coming over with the tray of drinks didn’t see my hand which in turn knocked over 2 beers all around the other drinks, the floor, my jacket and what not. I knew I wasn’t entirely to blame and I hadn’t even had a drink yet. Funny. And I was right about the place too. The cocktail was soo miniscule that it vanished into me in no time with no effect or satisfaction. The place was largely overpriced. No wonder there were empty tables on a Saturday night.

Stomachs rumbling, we then hunted down an Indian restaurant in the heart of Chatelet to dine in. And we found a couple of them. After comparing menus and prices we settled on one in which the owner uncle seemed rather enterprising.

Klutz, Part 2 -> Getting bored waiting for a table outside, a friend and I went inside to wait. And no sooner had I gone in and tried to lean on the side rail to allow other customers to pass, I knocked over a vase. And believe me, I wasn’t drunk from the not-so-visible cocktail. I only just caught it in time to realize that neither was the vase glass nor were the flowers real. So, it wouldn’t have mattered ultimately, I guess. I set it right and vowed to watch my step.

Klutz, Part 3 –> Of course things didn’t happen as I’d planned. The waiter led us downstairs to the well-lit cave basement to our table. And I tripped. On the steps and thankfully I balanced myself on something before cascading down the steps or something just as embarrassing. The downside was that I twisted my wrist a bit. A small price to pay for being spared the horror of a fall, I suppose. And visibly everyone started being careful around me. But right after that I guess Murphy ran out. Or I stopped noticing. And so I survived. We all did. Whoosh. Some days you are just happier that the day is over. I was, last night.It was enough excitement for a 2-hour outing.