You must have a rendezvous.

These words were spoken by the guy manning the information desk at the bank in the 11eme (our neighborhood starting in September). His use of French for only the word "rendezvous" made it sound more like he was reading our horoscope than explaining that we can't just show up to open a bank account.

Apparently, an appointment is required for many things. There are a number of restaurants we haven't even attempted to go to, because one must book many days or weeks in advance. But we were a bit surprised when we took two subways to the Deux Fois Plus de Piment from my earlier post, and were told we couldn't have even une fois de piment without a reservation. And we had a long hoof to the Latin Quarter on Saturday (moi in new boots) to catch another in the Eric Rohmer series playing at La Filmothèque, and wrestled a throng of bespectacled Frenchmen and women only to find "pas plus de places."

We are learning that anywhere you would want to eat requires a reservation (even if made the same day) and if you don't have one, your best bet probably is dining "chez vous." So on with the practicing: "Nous voudrion une table pour deux," and more importantly, how to understand what phrases might come flying back at machine-gun pace.

But we did manage to have a more horoscope-style "rendezvous." On Thursday, we went to La Filmo to see Rohmer's La Femme de l'Aviateur (Recommended). On the way over, we passed by the Palais de Justice, with Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité inscribed on the front. I asked N which of the three he would choose. He chose Fraternité. (I chose Liberté.) After the movie, we ate sans reservation at a brasserie on the Place de la Sorbonne. When we got home, N noticed he didn't have his backpack, which had his computer, and a bunch of important papers including official copies of our birth certificates (we had hoped to open our bank accounts). I called the restaurant, and managed in a mix of French and English to confirm they had our backpack--though the waiter after seeing what was inside joked, "Maybe I have found *my* backpack." As we walked back to the brasserie, and again passed the Palais de Justice, N said, "I'm sure glad I picked Fraternité."