Settled
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2009
1
44
Trip End
Sep 01, 2009
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I was so excited to arrive here and slow down. I’ve LOVED the travel and have been amazed at all the things I’ve seen and experiences I’ve had.
So this will be completely different. We don’t need to schedule or move quickly.
We’ve spent the last two days resting and getting oriented. We’ve gotten passes for the Metro and cell phone numbers so we can keep in touch. We’ve gotten groceries and cooked three wonderful meals in our very small kitchen. We’ve walked around our neighborhood a lot and really haven’t ventured further afield yet.
Tomorrow, we’ll go visit some sites. We’re planning on going to see Ste. Chapelle, Notre Dame, the Orangerie Museum and l’Arc de Triomphe. So this will be a more typical “touristy” day for us.
I still love this city. I wondered if I would feel different—if it would have changed or I would have changed in some way. But no, I felt immediately at home. Most people think I’m French when I speak to them. Occasionally I stumble over some new vocabulary that I don’t know and betray my foreignness (conversations that involve anything technological are the hardest, as I never needed to learn how to talk about cell phones, email, internet, etc. before now).
It’s fun watching Eli and Hannah get to know the place too. And not just the practicalities, but the beauty and the soul of this city.
And the best part is we’ve got lots of time to let that soak in.
Comfortable, restful, beautiful…delightful.
