This is my first ever attempt at blogging anything - I suspect it will improve but here's my first entry.
The journey here was uneventful, which is good with air travel. Air France ain't what it used to be but then again I think that is the case with all of the airlines post 9/11. Every seat was taken and it was cramped for the 10 hour flight. I was grateful for the healthy snacks I packed because of course I could only eat about 1/2 whatever they served us. I should be grateful they served anything at all I suppose.
I found the apartment with ease (as the cabbie took me here) and followed the landlord instructions to a tee. The only problem was that the gal that was supposed to meet me was not there (Christiane). After a flurry of phone calls and visit to the brasserie across the street for tea, I called the realtor of the bldg. I arranged to pick up a key from their office (lugging my luggage) and off I went. As I was walking down the street a cute lady on a bike holding a bunch of fresh lillies shouted out "Are you Nance"? I shouted back "Are you Christiane"? Yes! Thank god because the thought of hauling my tired self + luggage across town was not feeling good. It turns out she was late and lost her cell phone, which is why she didn't answer my zillion calls. I thought to myself...I better be nice to her because she's the one assigned to look after this apt. while I am here and she is eventually going to hear every one of those voice mail messages I left for her....
Turns out it was easy as pie to be nice to her b/c she was so lovely. She is a beautiful 1/2 French 1/2 Ecuadorian gal who grew up in South America and went to college in the US. She is a social worker here in Paris and has to work 2 other jobs to make a living. We talked a lot about the strikes going on and predicted they would continue for a long while. Jen would have fallen in love with her the second she laid eyes on her....
The apartment is cute - tiny by Seattle standards but very functional. There are two bedrooms - the blue one is mine and the pink one will be Larisa's when she arrives. There are windows in every room and a tiny tiny kitchen with the surprise of a dishwasher. The washer and dryer allowed me to pack somewhat minimally however the instructions to operate such washer and dryer are intimidating me. There is no venting in these old buildings so when you take a shower or do laundry you have to open the windows to let the moisture out. Oh, and when you dry clothes they never actually get all the way dry and you have to empty out the water that accumulates after each dry session. Oh well, despite my minimal packing because of this laundry option I still managed to take 44 lbs. worth of stuff. Just a shy 6 lbs til I hit the limit. I am guessing I will want to take back more than 6 lbs worth of goods home with me so another suitcase may be in my future.
Now onto the good stuff. The neighborhood is awesome. I am in the Marais (third arrondisment) on Rue Rambateau which a mere 3 blocks or so from the Centre Pompidou. On my block there is a fromagerie (cheese/dairy shop); boucherie (butcher); greenmarket; Italian deli; Greek deli; 2 specialty coffee roasters and one of the best bakeries in Paris. That's just my block. I was astounded at the bounty and then realized it's kind of like this everywhere in the city and then I remembered why I love it so much....
I am ever so grateful to Reese who got me on Skype before I left. I have been Skype texting with Jen and had my first Skype call with Reese this morning. We laughed over my time conversion method which is "+ or - 3 and opposite". For me in Paris that means add 3 hours to the current time and make it the opposite day or night. So... it is 9:11 in the morning in Paris now. I will add 3 hours (12:11) and make it opposite of the time of day I am in now (night). This means it's just past midnight in Seattle while is only 9:11am in Paris. Hey, the method works for me.
I hope to make other posts very interesting with my adventures. I have to learn how to add pix too. More to come....
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