So, we landed last Sunday finally, in the City of Lights! Buoyed of course by the election wins - not just Obama but the many EMILY's List candidates who triumphed - we packed up our house in Nyack and flew over Saturday night. Josie was a dream on the plane, slept the whole night through.Our apartment is gorgeous, and the location really could not be better. We're in the 7th arrondissement right on the border of the 6th. Musee D'orsay? 5 minutes away. The Bon Marche (great food and clothes shopping)? 5 min. The Tuileries and Louvre? 10 minutes. Luxembourg Gardens? 10 minutes. The Opera (close to Jeff's Office)? 25 minutes. It's really incredible. It's a very Parisian apartment - with high ceilings, four fireplaces, a separate W.C. down the hall from the "bath" room, and a very non-Parisian, large kitchen. Jeff had posted great photos on our last blog entry if you want to see.
We spent the first night in Paris taking a long walk along the Seine (which is also a 5-minute walk from our apt) all the way down to the Eiffel Tower. Now every hour on the hour after dark, it sparkles -- really beautiful, we'll try to get some footage -- and Josie's exhausted face when she saw it was priceless!
We spent the whole first week acclimating to our new neighborhood. My priority was of course to find a good grocery store - which I did, finally. Food shopping here, aside from the prices, is a dream, even in the regular grocery store. I have yet to brave a real boucherie (butcher) but I've found a boulangerie (bakery) with incredible baguettes and pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants). We've figured out the metro system (it's quite expansive and clean, wonderful) but with Josie (and her stroller) the bus system is much easier to navigate.
We had our first visitor on Saturday - Jeff's aunt Louise - who is with us until tomorrow. Yesterday she and I had a wonderful visit to the Louvre, seeing a quite impressive Mantegna exhibit as well as a small Picasso exhibition based on his fascination with the Women of Algers by Delacroix. Both were terrific! Jeff and Josie came and met us for lunch at a local boulangerie/cafe, and we walked down the Seine to catch a "Bateaux Mouche," a boat tour that takes you all the way down to the Ile St. Louis on the Seine. It was a little cold coming back into the wind, but it's a great way to get the layout of this gorgeous city. Then she struck out on her own to an exhibition of a private collection of modern art at the Musee Luxembourg while I prepared apertifs of kirs and cheese and a roast chicken dinner with potatoes, onions, and haricots verts, of course! This morning she's out walking with Josie while I wait for our dryer to be delivered (thank god!) and when she returns we'll meet my friend Melissa for some shopping around the Opera area.
Everyone is definitely having his or her own adjustment. Josie was definitely unsettled the first couple of days, crying whenever one of us left a room... but now she likes her new room and lOVES how much space she has to toddle around, especially the one long hallway, which she enjoys tearing down at the speed of...Josie. She has also been adjusting to the new food, becoming quite a picky eater and staging several food strikes. But all in all, she seems to be acclimating to la vie francaise. Jeff and I are definitely missing American television - our hopes of keeping up via Hulu.com were dashed when the server rejected our non-U.S. isp address. I can still watch some things on Jeff's American Laptop, which still has its U.S. address, but I'm also just reading more and letting go my obsession with Gossip Girl, the View, Brothers and Sisters (sigh). We both also are eager to learn French -- Jeff started lessons before we left and I hope to start them next week - as soon as I can find a babysitter for Josie! I think once I can communicate better, I'll both appreciate and enjoy everyday life even more!
All in all, we're so happy to be here and enjoying this big adventure-- not feeling too lonely yet, since we're skyping often with family. More - and more photos - soon! a tout a l'heure!
