Our Apartment

January 2nd Wednesday

Eventually we were able to spot the glow of a distant rising sun on the horizon. We had fruit and a pastry for breakfast (or midnight snack depending on how you look at it). My legs were yelling at me for staying in my seat too long. It wasn’t my fault that I had a middle seat.

I got off the plane and went to go wait in another long line. I eventually shuffled my way through Passport Control and managed to escape without being stopped by Customs. I just had to make it to my luggage and Terminal 2 to meet Adrienne. That’s how I discovered the joys and curses of suitcases with four wheels. On flat surfaces I can move a large suitcase with ease. I feel like I should be doing a musical number with it around the floor. Then I got on the moving walkway with three suitcases. The walkway had a steep incline. I almost broke my wrist trying to keep hold of everything as it tried to slide back down the hill and take me with it.

Amazingly, I made it to Terminal 2 and spotted Adrienne on a floor below me. I was so excited to see her. It would also be amazing to get help lugging my loads with me.

The ride into Paris from the airport was just as I remembered it. I couldn’t believe that I was actually here. Whenever I spend months planning on getting someplace, it’s surreal when I arrive.

We managed to wrestle the Samsonite family through the metro to Rue de Bellechasse. We have a temporary apartment there for the month of January. It should help us calmly find another place to live for the rest of the time. Despite its cute appearance, I immediately hated the two flights of spiral stairs that we had to climb. I need to become a nudist so that I’ll have lighter suitcases…. that or stop reading.

The apartment is quite adorable though. It’s owned by M. Choupin who lives in the apartment across the hall. We also met his daughter Ombeline. He showed us around and told us how to work everything. He even gave us the code for his wireless internet. The apartment has a bedroom, a bathroom, a surprisingly large kitchen, and even more astonishingly miniscule toilet. The door is basically right in front of my knees when I’m sitting down. I normally lean forward as I’m sitting down, but in this I have to keep my back perfectly vertical and squat like I’m doing exercises in the gym. I would just leave the door open but I don’t think my landlord would appreciate that very much. There is a window just in front of the toilet that has no curtains on it. I’m actually getting quite good at being able to easily sit down.

After stowing my luggage in the apartment, we went in search of food. We found this little restaurant called Croissanterie. It had sandwiches and a reasonable menu. I had a sandwich called Poulet Fermier. It had roasted chicken with coleslaw on it. The coleslaw had more mustard than the American variety. It was quite good. I also had an orange soda and a tiramisu dessert.

Adrienne and I took the metro and walked around near Notre Dame. We got to see the giant Christmas tree out front. The line to get in was quite long. I was happy to just do a quick pass and continue onward. Our goal was to reach the MIJE (the youth hostel that Adrienne had been staying in) in order to collect her bags and move them to the apartment. On the way we stopped in BHV, a cheap store that sells anything you can think of. It was really crowded and kind of crazy looking. We got a converter and managed to make it out of the store with our lives.

Our next stop along the way was to Orange so I could get a phone. I ended up getting one that was on sale for €19. It’s not as pretty as the more expensive phones were but it plays the radio. It seems to be working just fine.

We eventually meandered our way through the streets to the MIJE. Adrienne checked out and we got her luggage. It was another ordeal getting suitcases through the metro again. By the time we hefted her large one up the stairs to our apartment, I felt like my legs were going to give out from exhaustion. It was great to drop everything off and sit down. We rested for a little in the apartment before searching for some dinner. There was an Asian Traiteur Sushi near our house. There was a slight miscommunication and they didn’t heat up the food before we left. The Traiteur restaurants sell food that can be taken home and heated up later but they can heat it there when you buy it. It would have been easier to get it heated right there since we do not have a microwave. The rice was hot so we thought the other things were as well. In any case, I enjoyed my canard lacqué, legumes sautés, and riz (duck, sautéed vegetables, and rice) even though I had to heat them in a saucepan.

We stayed in the apartment for the rest of the night. We tried to watch Chicago on my computer at around 8 pm but my eyes kept closing. I was about to get ready for bed but realized I still hadn’t met my landlord. That was when he gave us the internet key.

I finally got to go to bed pretty late. I knew we would have to wake up fairly early because we wanted to try to get our Cartes de Séjour.