Do you recall that line from Sabrina? The ending of that movie always makes me tear up a little, though I never saw the original one – only the most recent remake.
My flight to the City of Lights was mostly uneventful. It was slightly cold on the plane, however. As I wrapped my blanket around me, the gentleman next to me offered his as well. After dinner was served, I was getting ready to hunker down and watch some movies. Unfortunately, they were showing “Silver Linings Playbook” first, so I opted to sleep instead. I saw that movie about a month ago, due to all the hype. I wasn’t fond of it and certainly didn’t want to sit through it again.
The flight arrived to overcast skies and fog in Paris. I was expecting rain, but it might have rained earlier in the morning before our arrival. Once I was outside, the weather was probably warmer than San Francisco. I was wearing a tank top with a sweater over it and felt plenty warm. After gathering my luggage and hopping on the shuttle, I attempted to call the woman who I’d rented the apartment from. She prefers that people call her as they leave the airport, in case their flight was either early or late. I couldn’t seem to dial out, though. My Android would show the number as being in France, make some funny little sounds, then hang up! The shuttle driver was nice enough to dial the number from his phone to let her know that we were on our way.
The apartment in the Marais, the 3rd arrondissement, is adorable. It’s a studio, tiled in sunny Provencal colors. Even my plates and glasses reflect the colors of the apartment! I have everything I need – a two burner stovetop, a coffee maker, a washer/dryer, a mini refrigerator, umbrellas, a small flat screen TV, a DVD player, a CD player, a fair amount of storage space in the closet, extra blankets, a toaster oven, a telephone and plenty of household cleaning supplies. The apartment is on the 3rd floor of a building in an enclosed courtyard, One has to walk up 3 flights of a very narrow circular stairwell; there is only 1 apartment per floor. The woman I rented the apartment from was here to greet me and tell me all of the basics about the apartment. She’s originally from New Orleans and also lived in Los Angeles for 7 years, so she’s a woman after my own heart. She recommended restaurants and gave me directions on how to get certain places. Before she left, we set up my laptop to make sure that the connection is working well. Afterwards, I unpacked everything and got comfortable.
Although we’d been served breakfast (a breakfast sandwich, a banana and orange juice) on the plane, I was hungry. I wandered the neighborhood, which is full of traiteurs (rather like delis with lots of prepared foods for takeout). I was surprised to come upon an Italian traiteur that had ginormous arancini. I picked up one arancini and some caprese salad. Further along, I also picked up two pain au chocolat, a financier pistache, two Oranginas, a tuna sandwich in a baguette, a crottin of chevre with thyme and a small piece of Brillat Savarin. Back at the apartment, I ate the tuna sandwich and part of the caprese salad, then drank an Orangina. At that point, I decided to take a nap for a few hours.
I awoke around 7:00 p.m., took a shower and was out and about by 8:00 p.m. I thought I was heading in the direction of Place des Vosges, but managed to get turned around several times. I’m not sure whether it’s because the map wasn’t that good or partially because I wasn’t sure if I was holding the map upside down in terms of the direction I was supposed to be going. As I contemplated my location, a young Frenchman approached me and asked if I knew where rue Oberkampf was. I explained that I was lost myself, but offered him my map. As we debated over which direction the map should be held, another young Frenchman stopped to say that he was lost, too! Once all 3 of us agreed on which way the map should be held and figured out where each of us should be going, they thanked me. As all of us took off in 3 different directions, I wished them both “Bonne chance!”
I managed to find the Place des Vosges. From there, I know my way around slightly better. I happened upon the chocolate shop that I remembered from before, so couldn’t resist picking up some macarons. I wanted to stop in at Le Tartine on rue di Rivoli for a glass of wine, but they were relatively full, with no place at the bar. Instead I stopped in at a little Italian restaurant called Boboli for dinner. (I know – the blasphemy to be eating Italian in Paris!) I ordered the grilled chicken breast with polenta, salad and mashed potatoes, a glass of their house white wine and a small bottle of San Pellegrino. The restaurant was small and cute; the service was good. The food was alright; nothing to get excited about. The wine was actually something from Sardinia.
I found my way back to the apartment, watched both English and French channels on the TV, then hopped in bed by 12:30 a.m.
It’s now 6:30 a.m., but I’ve been sort of awake since 3:40 a.m. My plans for today are to take the tour of the towers of Notre Dame; haven’t done that since my first trip to Paris more than 20 years ago. I also want to check out an absinthe shop in the 4th, plus take a Culture Fish tour of Montmartre, I have a tendency to half follow my plans, though, so we’ll see where my whims take me today.
