Paris, Day 1

There is a chance that this post may be loopy, but it is only because I have slept only 3 or 4 hours in the last 24 hours. We made it safely to Paris! The flight was lovely. I spent a good chunk of time speaking with several flight attendants, all of whom were enchanted with Emma and wanted to know more about how we live and learn. Emma did wonderfully on the plane and did not feel sick or uncomfortable at all. Unforunately, the taxi ride from the airport to the apartment ended that. Poor Emma was green by the time we arrived.

The gentleman who met us with the keys to the apartment was a little late, so we spent almost two hours sitting in a cafe, trying not to fall asleep before he arrived. He finally called my cell phone to announce he had arrived. I had forgotten that I had put the theme song from Hawaii 5-0 as my ringtone, and when it rang the entire cafe could hear it. Well, the waitress and two customers immediately began humming along (loudly!) and everyone began laughing. Too sweet.

The apartment is too fabulous for words! It has an ancient door with the handle in the middle instead of off to the side. The key is gorgeous and has the old fashioned star-shaped design. The apartment is clean, elegant and really quiet. Emma has already claimed the loft as her own and is up there right now writing in her travel diary. The furniture is comfortable and beautiful. The windows are spectacular!

Even though the apartment is awesome, we have not actually spent much time here. We spent a few hours wandering the neighborhood, just getting a feel for things. We had a picnic lunch in front of a fabulous fountain near the Louvre. Then we got some groceries from a local shop and some toiletries from the pharmacy. Trust me, running mundane errands in Paris is so much more romantic than just running errands at home.

Once we finished our errands, we decided to take a double decker tour bus on a loop around the city. We saw the Opera house, the Louvre, the Champs Élysées, The Arc de Triumph, Trocadero, the Eiffel Tower, Champs de Mars, Notre Dame and more all in under 2.5 hours. It helped us get oriented and allowed us to plot out our next few days.

Emma managed to speak entirely in French during dinner. She even ordered, requested a refill and asked for the check. Despite our efforts, it was daunting today to realize that no matter how much French we know, there is so much more that we don't know! Ah, c'est la vie!

Well, we are off to get some much needed sleep... More to come later!