La Vie Parisienne

It is the end of day two in Paris and already I'm falling in love with this city. First day was not much to tell - the shuffle of getting from the airport to my apartment and meeting the landlord - a jolly old French woman who spoke rapid-fire French to me while explaining the heating, laundry, cable, etc. This wreaked havoc on my fuzzy, sleep deprived, jet-lagged brain and I almost burst into tears. But instead I followed along, asking her to repeat each sentence "encore, plus lentement" (again, more slowly). This was a blessing in disguise, as it was exactly the French lanuage boot camp that I needed to dig up my long-forgotten dormant French vocab reservoir. This place is adorable - two big windows in the front with light spilling in, antique furniture, a comfy queen-size bed, and just enough space in the corner of the living room for the little makeshift studio I set up.







The location is a little hard to believe - my street literally empties out onto a view of Notre Dame Cathedral, towering and majestic in all her Gothic beauty. I took a walk tonight in my neighborhood to really get acclimated. Below is the view tonight from the end of my street.


At night, the cafes of 'le Quartier Latin' fill with exotic-looking people, and the steam, smells, and flavors of every kind of cuisine fill the air. Vintage neon lights shine against the late evening sky, and the energy - the verve and excitement- is contagious.

Today I decided to get acquainted with Paris by taking myself on a walking tour spanning the width of Paris all along the Seine. I walked miles, taking time to linger at all the major sites (This week I gave myself permission to be a 'tourist'). After stopping at the Hotel des Invalides (burial site if Napoleon), taking a stroll in the Tuilerie Gardens, passing the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay, browsing the art & antique dealers of the 7th district, the shops on the Champs-Elysees and finally the Arc de Triomphe, I stopped to eat at a sidewalk cafe. Sitting behind me was an old woman handing food to a squawking cockatoo perched on her shoulder, and to my right was a couple reading a book, kissing, and gazing into each other's eyes. This is my kind of city.