i really need to carry my camera with me at all times, because it would allow me to get better images of this kind of thing.
i haven't quite figured out what happened. all i know is that i walked up the stairs from the place d'armes metro, on my way to pick up some groceries in chinatown and, when i reached the exit level, water was coming at me. it was coming in quite a flood, as i think you can see in this photo, hastily taken with my mobile phone while while i was being jostled by similarly confused fellow travelers.
this wasn't the high water mark, either. as i stood there, trying to get a decent shot, i noticed the indoor tide rising. glad i thought to wear some pretty massive boots, or this would have been uncomfortable, to say the least. at an estimate, i'd say that inside of a minute, i went from standing on dry ground to being in almost two inches of water and there was still more coming.
all this serves to remind me of the strange sense of delight i get in seeing these sorts of oddities- things being where they really, really shouldn't. if you look on the stairs, there's actually quite a pretty waterfall happening... it's just not some place where you normally think to find one. i'm sure i'd think differently if this were happening in my house, but, in a place where i have the luxury of being able to escape unscathed, it has an undeniable charm.