paris so far

The eiffel tower at 7:30 in the morning.
I was walking past Notre Dame at 8:00, and heard the bells chiming the hour.
Creepy and beautiful, in the Jardins des Tuileries.

Paris so far:
We’ve been in Paris for 5 days, and have 4 more to go.
We are living in a tiny apartment in the Marais neighborhood of the Rive Droit (the north side of the Seine river). The apartment is about 12 ft square, but it’s tall and they’ve added in a loft with a desk, a closet and a sleeping platform. Downstairs is a microscopic kitchen, bathroom, and sitting area. It’s small, but perfectly adequate. (Although I have no idea how our two small suitcases have managed to produce all of our junk spread out through this place!) This neighborhood, the Marais, is the old jewish quarter, but has of late become a hot spot for nightlife and fancy little boutiques. Interesting mix. We’ve been shopping at all the local little food shops. there are great bakeries, cheese shops, kosher butcher shops, fruit stands, wine shops, and everything, all quite close. And we found a chocolate shop the other day. Oooh yeah. There’s a fantastic Falafel restaurant a block away, and lots of the pastry/bread shops sell fantastic quiches and sandwiches that are great to take on a picnic in the parks.
We’ve had some great times here. We’ve done a lot of wandering around, poking our noses into shops and watching people. We also got a delightful surprise the other day when we got a call from Rob Plaster. We didn’t know Rob, but he and his wife Nichole live and work here in Paris, and are friends of dear friends of ours, Rich and Joyce Swingle. Apparently Rich told Rob and Nichole that we were in town and they called us up and invited us out to lunch. We spent a fantastic time eating together and then went back to their place for coffee and great conversation. We left, but they invited us to a movie with a cinema discussion group that they oversee, so we joined them again that evening for “Penelope”, which I loved.
Yesterday we went to Versailles. After getting on the wrong train and figuring out how to get onto the right one, we had an uneventful trip out there. The chateau itself is, well, … it’s huge. We didn’t go inside, because I think it is sort of menacing, or even obscene. The grounds, however, are a different story. When I came to Versailles in 1996 with my family, we rented bicycles and cruised the grounds and had a great time. Fritz and I decided to do the same thing. It was sunny (though chilly) and dinking around Versailles on cruiser bikes yesterday was dreamy. We dawdled and poked along, taking our time and going down every alleyway that looked interesting. We stopped for sandwiches and later got strawberry ice cream. After we turned in the bikes, I spent some time journaling and Fritz went out and took pictures of the tourists. All in all, a satisfying day.
Today Fritz is shopping at the open air food market, and I’m home catching up on laundry and blog responsibilities. Plus some reading and eating of chocolate. Later, we’re going to the base of the Eiffel tower to join a group for a bicycle tour of the highlights of Paris. Yay, more biking! The rain is supposed to roll in tomorrow, so we’ll probably focus more on indoor pursuits from now on, like the Musee D’Orsay and the Louvre, along with some browsing at the big department stores. I have also found a museum on the history of textiles and fashion, which I’m going to try to see before we leave here.
I have found that my French is unbelievably rusty. I thought I’d do alright, but I find I am struggling to understand people. I can make myself understood OK, and I can understand most of what I read if I go slowly. Oh well, after Paris, we’ll have at least three more weeks in France. Next week we’ll be staying with our dear old family friends, the Drouet Family, in Nantes. Andrea first stayed with them on a short exchange trip back in High School, and we’ve been visiting back and forth for many years. We’ll be staying with Monique and Patrick Drouet, the parents, who don’t speak much English. Their kids, Jerome and Geraldine, both speak English pretty well, but are grown up and out of the house. Last time I stayed with the Drouets, it was with my family, and Andrea was there to translate. This time, I’m on my own. Thankfully, the family is generous, kind, and loving, so if there are misunderstandings or language frustrations, they will likely be forgiven. They are so much fun, so whether or not we can understand one another, I know we’ll have a good time.