Oh la la, l'excitation de mes premiers jours

So, I left San Diego on Monday 8/31 at 0800 hours, waking up at 0400 hours to get there on time since I had extra luggage to check in (and pay for … ugh), and I arrived in Paris at about 0810 hours on Tuesday 9/1, the layover at Dallas/Fort Worth was delayed about 30 minutes. Going through Customs was easy, got the entry stamp for my visa (which is very important) and spent more time waiting for my luggage then going through Customs. My driver was waiting for me and it took about an hour to get from the airport to my apartment.

The landlords were outside on the curb when we pulled up. What a cute little old couple – they can’t be more than 5'4" and are as nice as can be. I just wanted to keep hugging them. He only speaks a little English and would prefer to speak French, she speaks English quite well. They were so sweet, they left me a fresh fruit basket and a box of chocolate! (You'd think they knew me - ha!) The apartment looks exactly like the photographs I had seen, so that was a relief. It’s about 50 square meters (538 square feet) and has two bedrooms. Surprisingly it doesn’t feel small (most of the time). I got everything put away the day I arrived. That first night I slept for 14 hours, I guess I was both physically and mentally exhausted.

I’ve received quite a few emails asking me where the pictures are – I’ve laughed at every one of them (that of course was a loving laugh). It’s not like I’ve done any sight-seeing yet! It’s amazing (at least to me) how much needs to be done to make an apartment a home, especially when it comes to filling the pantry. The first day I got here I knew I needed to go to the market for food. So off I went to Monoprix – it’s like a cross between Wal-Mart and Target (Wal-Mart quality, Target prices) but way smaller. So here I am thinking this is a piece of cake – I bought ham, cheese, bread – what else do you need for sandwiches – as well as a few other things (eggs, juice, etc.) … So I get home and for dinner I’m going to make a sandwich – get out the ham, cheese, bread …. hmmmmmmmmmmm – oh, there’s nothing to put on the bread – no mayonnaise, no mustard, nothing … so I eat the ham and the cheese.

Needless to say, everyday I’ve been here I’ve been to the Monoprix – right now my life revolves around it … you should try it sometime – it’s really hard to think of everything you need to stock a kitchen …. And you also have to take into account that you have to carry (via walking) everything you buy to your apartment! A funny story about my grocery shopping – I needed washing machine soap, I’m standing looking in the correct area, but because my French just isn’t that good I can’t tell the difference between dishwasher soap and laundry soap – everything here is in those plastic pre-sized packets so all the boxes look the same ….. I had to have a friend go with me one day to tell me the difference ….

So, you wanted pictures of my exciting life in Paris – well, here it is - this is where my life is revolving at the moment – Monoprix!

On my second day here the Street Market was held (in my arrondissment it is every Wednesday and Sunday) – so I’m there to shop for meat and vegetables (I still had a lot of fruit left in the basket I was given) …. Now this is the stuff that I’m going to have to change my way of thinking about … to me, meat comes on a yellow tray covered in plastic wrap …. so looking at some of the meat that still had scales (most of the fish had not been filleted) and feathers – ick! Also, to see the meat sitting out in the open (yes, it was on ice) goes so against the grain for me … but I took a venture and bought one chicken breast (yep, that’s me being adventurous) … I also bought 2 onions, 5 mushrooms, 3 tomatoes, and a head of lettuce. "Hey big spender"! I should tell you that my refrigerator is pretty small, it’s the kind you find in work places that fit under the counter, so no Costco buying for me. I’ll be going to the Street Market on Sunday for more fresh meat, fruit and vegetable shopping … I have to admit the fruit I’ve been eating is delicious – I’m not normally a big fruit eater but man oh man, I crave it here – and so far I've eaten all kinds of fruit that I normally wouldn’t …. (I’m trying, you know "when in Rome …. ")

There is a flower shop about 1 minute from my apartment - I went there to get flowers because she had a special of a ‘bottle’ (bunch) for 2 Euros. I went in and ‘Bonjour-ed’ her and she responded back to me – I have no idea what she said and must of had the ‘deer in the headlights’ look because she switched to English … I told her "no, no – I’m trying to learn French" and she responded "Well, I want to practice my English" …. Guess who won that battle? I told her that we’ll have to trade off back and forth – one time English, the next time French … so now when I pass the shop I pop my head in and say to her "Bonjour, Madam" … I’m hoping she’ll get used to seeing me so that I can go to her shop when she’s not busy and practice my French (and I say, ha! what French?) ….

And speaking of French, today (my fourth day here) I actually used it and was understood and not corrected in what I said (the French have no qualms about correcting you if you say something incorrectly – which I like, that way I learn) …. I’ve pretty much got "Je ne parle pas français, parle vous anglais" down (I don’t speak French, do you speak English) and I’m doing better in getting it out in one sentence without stumbling over the words (ha! practice DOES make perfect …haha) … then in a cafe this morning I said to the waiter "Je voudrais du thé verte" (I would like some green tea ….. you never, never, never say "I want …." that is considered rude) and he answered me back in French (well kind of) he said "Croissant?" I said "oui" and he walked away …. I’m feeling pretty good that I had actually spoken French … until he returned with my tea and said "here’s your green tea" in English …. LOL LOL, so maybe I wasn’t that good and was feeling a bit too cocky ….. but my last phrase for the day went over well …. "Je dois un rendez-vous avec M. Desvignes" (I have an appointment with Mr. Desvignes) … this I said to the receptionist at the bank and she completely understood me – told me in French she’d let him know I was waiting …. Woo hoo …..  Oh la, la - BOY DO I HAVE A WAY TO GO …

You may already know that my apartment is about a 5 – 7 minute walk to la tour Eiffel (the Eiffel Tower) – I’m wanting to get back into my exercise routine, so this morning I went from my apartment to the École Militaire (Military School) which is an anchor at one end of the Champ de Mars (Field of Mar) then walked/jogged up one side of the Champ de Mars to la tour Eiffel then back down the other side of the Champ de Mars, and then back to my apartment. I tell you this for the people who want to look at a map to ‘see’ the area that I live in …. It’s kind of surreal that I’m using la tour Eiffel as a point of my exercise routine, when it’s such a famous landmark – it’s kind of weird to see other people (French) just passing it by like it’s no big (no pun intended) deal, every time I see it, it kind of takes my breath away ....

And one last story … my apartment building has 133 steps to get from the ground floor to the top floor … in Europe the first floor is what we’d consider the 2nd floor, as they count the street level/bottom floor as zero or ‘ground’, then the next floor up is the first floor, etc. So to the French my building has six floors – to me there are 7 floors …. Additionally, many of the older buildings don’t have elevators so people have to go up and down the stairs, carrying groceries, etc …. (I’m on the ground floor so I’m lucky in that – the drawback is that my view is of the street … my building does have an elevator – Paris law is if a building is remodeled for any reason they must install an elevator, so eventually – I imagine – all the apartment buildings will have an elevator …. Two of the girls I know here – neither of their apartments have elevators … one lives on the 4th floor (5th for us) and the other on the top floor – she has 109 steps to her apartment) ….Now you’re wondering why in the heck I counted the steps (oh lordy my knees were hurting and I was breathing heavily) … I’m trying to figure out what kind of exercise I can do when it’s raining out, so I thought I’d "do stairs" …. I’m either going to die doing them or my legs are going to get better toned …. Woohoo!

À bientôt (I’ll let you figure out that one)