Days Two and Three in Paris

When I was making the arrangements for the Paris Apartment (www.theparisapt.com), the owner told me that Severine, a young French woman who lived upstairs, would check on me and help me with whatever I might need during my stay. I met Severine tonight and she is a breath of fresh air. Very sweet, kind, and determined to make my stay as enjoyable as possible. Her perfect English is peppered with a slight British accent; I found out that she had been taught English by someone from Britain. It sounds beautiful! The owner is very lucky to have someone like her taking care of the apartment and the guests who stay there. I told her the most help I would need is finding train schedules for my day trip out into the country to visit my little village, Etrepy. She was surprised to hear that I had lived here so long ago.

I've also spoken to the apartment owner's daughter, Lisa. Lisa is an American living here with her attorney husband and teenaged daughter. I told her I was very interested in attending the Paris UU (Unitarian Universalist) services that Sunday (I was lucky that my time there overlapped with their service as they only hold them once a month). She was not sure that she would attend services, but I hope that she and I can meet and spend some time together before I leave.

The Eiffel Tower is my first tourist stop in this beautiful city. It is within walking distance from the apartment and I plan on going all the way to the top to look out over this amazing city. When I lived here, my father and mother only took us children up to the second level. I'm ready to ascend higher in many ways; who says I'm not making progress?

I did catch a small glimpse of the Eiffel Tower earlier during the wild ride from the airport and I teared up a bit and felt very emotional. I keep asking myself why it took so long for me to come back here when I have always had such happy memories of my time in France. It's almost as if anything before and after just could never compare to that idyllic time; I know that a lot of it was my age, but the experience of living in that beautiful, very green, small village, being a part of a close community of women and children, the food—especially the French bread, which my mother would flavor with sweet butter and granulated sugar—I can still taste it to this day—all that had high sensory perception value and has stayed with me my whole life.

October 15 – Wednesday

My first real meal on French soil. I am at a small café called Le Fournil de Pierre on rue de Commerce. Sitting in the back where there is dark wood, high windows, and beautiful art on the walls. Even the piped-in music is perfect. My croissant is flaky and rich, the chocolat chaud is just hot enough and very chocolatey, and the fruit is fresh. Hot chocolate here is served with sugar cubes and a small bar of dark chocolate (I munch on the sugar cubes and do not add them to the already sweet chocolate brew.) After I eat, I will continue up the road on to the Eiffel Tower. Passed by a fromagerie on the way here and was overwhelmed by the aroma—can't wait to try some new cheeses while I'm here.There are many beautiful and fashionable people in this city; maybe because there are so many nationalities represented here. People walk everywhere; I have definitely noticed much fewer overweight people here as compared to the States. In fact, the only obese person I've seen so far was a tourist from the Americas.

Later that day:

After I left the café, I walked over to the La Motte Picquet – Grenelle metro, which is the intersection for Metro lines 6, 8, and 10. It is one of the most travelled stops on the Rive Gauche. Across the street from the metro and under the rails is a large open-air market, carrying everything from designer handbags to fresh sea urchins (see my photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11609140@N03/page13/). The aromas of cheese were overwhelmingly satisfying, the fish and fowl not so much, but they were offset by all the fresh flowers; it was all part of a grand picture.I love the French and their fastidiousness of show and symmetry; these traits are seen everywhere. If you looked at the photos above, you can see it even in the way vegetables are stacked and presented for consumers. It is also in their gardens, the layout of streets. Rather delightful!

Next: Le Tour Eiffel