Things we love so far
We've been in Paris for two weeks. The first week was a little manic. Desmond and his two cousins, PT and Josh, arrived from home and spent a few days acclimatizing before heading off on their own one month european adventure. Friends from Calgary were visiting family in Europe and we were thrilled that they came to spend a few days in Paris. We took advantage of the opportunity to do some sight seeing with them and having familiar faces made seeing unfamiliar sights more fun and interesting.
We've been on our own for a week now and want to share our short list of things we love so far:
Food finding. Finding food close to our apartment is a joy. We have two boulangeries less than five minutes from our door and have yet to decide which we prefer. We are also moments away from the Marché Couvert de Passy, the year-round covered food market. We have not yet fully explored it but the girls and I did make a stop to buy some fish one evening on our way home and I know that we will be going back regularly. We also made a saturday morning visit looking for cheese and immediately loved the local cheese monger: he suggested an Abbaye de Belloc fromage and black cherry compote for our picnic and then gave the girls a sample of his Compté on our way out.
As good as a market, and just around the corner, is a street that is mostly closed to cars and has every food store you can imagine: fruit and vegetables, wine, chocolates, specialty Italian, some kind of mediterranean and, of course, bakery and cheese. It is bustling from morning to evening with ladies with their market carts, old men carrying their one shopping bag, and moms with their children. Goods overflow onto the street and the girls are offered cherries whenever we walk by the épicerie. From the terrace of the neighbourhood café we can sit and watch it all happening.
Secret passages. Taking our route to the metro, we saw a long narrow pathway of steps between two buildings leading... who knows where? The next time through, I suggested we try it out. It is now Our Secret Pathway and we take it whenever we can, even if it isn’t the most efficient route. Houman found another leading to a park in the Trocadero and I have one I need to show the girls by the Palais de Tokyo. None of them are really secret. In fact, our favourite has a street name. But they feel like our own personal discoveries and I expect that by the end of our year we’ll have a list of secret pathways around the city.
Rosé. I was not a fan of rosé until we spent our time in Nice last spring. It was definitely the après-midi drink of choice, sitting on the terraces, and a routine I happily embraced. Back in France, I love our glass of rosé with lunch or in the afternoon on a hot summer day. I also love buying it at the Monoprix for five euro but the best so far was taking a half bottle to sip in the Luxembourg Gardens for our first Paris picnic.
Strawberries. It is possible we have eaten more strawberries in our first two weeks in Paris than in an entire summer back at home. We buy them everyday, sometimes more than once. They are the loveliest, most flavourful berries any of us have ever had. On a day where we did a lot of walking, Mavis found she was hungry and we found we were out of snacks. No problem. We walked by a market, picked up a basket of berries, and continued on our, now happy, way.
The American Library in Paris. This is on the list because it has been, up with Notre Dame and the Louvre, the biggest hit with our girls since we've arrived. I admit to being a little surprised that english books generated more excitement than many major Paris sights. However, H wisely points out to me that there has been a lot of change and when you are eight and ten, change isn't necessarily easy. Also, the library is charming and has an excellent selection of children books. I am also grateful that our girls love books and that when in need of comfort, a big pile of new books can make them feel better. We are now members so we can go get our book fix anytime we want.
The energy. Bastille Day and France winning the world cup both happened in our first two weeks. We got to see patriotism as its best with people draped in their bleu, blanc et rouge, face paint and a wide variety of hats or wigs. Waiting for the Bleus to come down the Champs- Élysées, H and I saw young men scaling trees and lamp posts to get a better look. When they succeeded the crowds broke into cheers. I understand there was a dark side to all of the celebrating but from our distance (and we did keep a bit of a distance as the crowds were overwhelming for the girls) it was good fun and a wonderful way to introduce us to French spirit.
Our windows. I love our windows. They are big, almost floor to ceiling, and we can open them wide to get a breeze flowing through the apartment. We've had 30 degree sunny days but our apartment is always mostly comfortable. From the kitchen and Sophia's bedroom we have window boxes and plants that I am now remembering to water. We've added a pot of basil to the lavender that was there and I am on the lookout for some mint.
Two nights ago, we had our windows open and thought we heard singing. We are just around the corner from a church and what we heard was magical. It was a chorus, I think rehearsing. We were in awe and grateful for the soundtrack to our evening. I hope they sing every Friday.
We're pretty pleased to have this list after just two weeks. I can't imagine how we will keep it to a short list after we've been here for a year.
