Finding our way

We have been in Paris now for just over a month and we are starting to find our groove.  

There is a lot of necessary learning in order to feel settled in a new country. Predictably, the transition has not been easy. The girls are homesick for friends, family and summers at the lake. H and I have been busy trying to figure out the logistics of life while also planning outings to explore our new surroundings. The Paris heat wave has made things more challenging although we are pleased at how cool our apartment stays without air conditioning. As we move into August, we find ourselves more comfortable, more familiar and more prepared to take on the next new challenge which is coming up fast: September and back to school.

Here are some of the things we have learned so far:

• How to rinse your hair with a bottle of filtered water. Paris has very hard water and for the first couple of weeks I thought I just wasn’t rinsing the soap out properly. A little research taught us that if you don’t have a special filter for your shower (we do not) you should do a final rinse with filtered water. This is effective but very cold! During the winter I am going to have to figure out a system to heat the water before showering.
• Also due to the hard water, you need to fill your dishwasher with reconditioning salt, buy the lowest calcium bottled water for the coffee maker, and use special products for the washing machine so we will not need to repair it while we are here. 
• Amazon.fr is a great solution when you cannot think of where in Paris to find a needed item or when you are shocked by the prices in the stores. Frying pans and hair dryers are good examples. 
• Amazon deliveries will be made to the gardienne: the caretaker that lives in the building and is responsible for taking care of the public spaces, putting out the garbage and recycling, and delivering the mail among other things. The gardienne drops deliveries outside our apartment door either the same day they arrive, or perhaps the next day.
• When you are feeling homesick and you are under 12 years of age, it is sometimes difficult to find anything positive to say about Paris. In those situations, sometimes the best thing to do is to plan a night in, cook some familiar food, and watch an English movie.
• It takes quite a bit of time to get things done. Since we’ve arrived we’ve had issues with our hot water, have had a broken showerhead, and a couch that needs to be delivered. All of these items are in progress and thanks to H’s ability to understand complicated phrases in French I am confident they will eventually be completed. We have noticed that there does not seem to be any sense of urgency on the part of the people providing these services. Nothing is done in one visit. 
• Similar timelines apply to getting internet service and thank goodness for H who was able to “borrow” wifi while waiting for our own to be installed. We started the process for getting internet while we were in Canada and were aware it could take between 2-13 weeks. It ended up taking about a month and two visits from Free mobile. 
• The costs of internet, cable and cell phones are very cheap by Canadian standards. Our cell phones are 15€ a month and include virtually unlimited data and free international calls. Other than baguettes, this is the only thing that is cheaper in Paris.
• If you spend more than 50€ at the local grocery store, Monoprix, they will deliver your groceries to your door within the hour, for free!
• It is important to say bonjour and au revoir when entering and leaving shops. It is also appropriate to throw in a merci and bonne journée.
• Even if your French is not très fort (this applies to me), trying to speak French is always  appreciated and the people you are speaking to will be gracious.
• Our girls are capable of walking a lot and can manage more than 10km in a day. It is not always wise to push them to do that much walking but when energies flag, a scoop or two of glace helps. 
• Even though we are capable of long walks, travelling with the new scooters makes the miles go by in style and with more smiles.

• There are endless photo opportunities. The problem is not finding beautiful things to capture but how to capture them in a way that does them justice.
• 150m2 might be a decadently large apartment for Parisians but for a Canadian family who is used to a two-story house and yard, it is just right. We knew 3-bedrooms was indulgent but I am grateful we all have a place to retreat when needed.
• When it is 35 degrees outside (or hotter!) you can find relief in movie theatres and shopping malls. 
• There is a dramatic difference between Paris in July and in August. Many of our local shops and restaurants are now closed for their vacances estivales. They may have cleaned out all of their inventory or papered over their windows. They post a hand written sign saying how long they will be closed for: anywhere from a week to more than a month. Far from finding this inconvenient, we respect how the French value their vacation time and have learned to live with their rhythms, including not being able to buy food after 1pm on Sundays.
• A dinner out with friends from home can be exactly what you need when you are in a new city and don’t yet know anyone. Thank you, Leanne, Neil and Kyle, Tineke, Deven and Laila!

We started the summer as tourists but feel we will finish it, not necessarily as locals, but as comfortable newbies. We are grateful to have had the time to find our feet. With some of the logistical learning behind us we are looking forward to expanding our scope. This year we will join new school and work communities, become more accomplished in speaking French, explore France outside of Paris, and get to know this amazing city on a deeper level. We're ready.