Saturday, October 07, 2006

In the fulness of time

In the fulness of time, we arrived in Paris. Promptly, we fell asleep.














You didn't fall for that, did you?

Truth be told, we couldn't keep ourselves from vagabonding a bit in the quartier. We slowly picked our way down the Avenue des Gobelins, searching somewhat aimlessly for dinner. It was sunny and we took our time. This was how we discovered the Rue Mouffetard: unannounced, winding, narrow cobblestone streets where pedestrians pretty much crowd out the vehicles for a day and just shop.

Oddly enough, there is a both a Starbucks and a MacDonalds that jointy guard the entrance to this lovely haven. We braved these formidable dragons, shunning their corporate caves with our best upturned Parisian noses, to see what unspoiled treasures lay beyond. Our courage was well-rewarded, as we found our way to the bread store, coffee roaster, cheese shop, wine store, and fresh fruit market, leaving a trail of receipts behind us like some modern-day Hansel and Gretel. (Not a bad idea with the wandering streets, come to think of it.)

At Rue Mouffetard, there are neither checkout aisles nor credit cards. There is only a friendly but tired face asking you for your order while you stammer your way to a decision with literally hundreds of cheeses spread before you. Finally, with stinky cheese (or dripping fish) in one hand, and euros clenched in the other, you fight your way through the little knot of people and come out the other side. Victory! And it is sweet. (Especially the wine: 2,90 euro. Not quite as cheap as the recent Trader Joe's wine phenomenon, but somehow more complex than your average bottle of Chucky Shaw. ) In short, the Lord has blessed us with a day of warm sun, safe journeys, a good Word from his lips, fine wine, daily bread, and tasty morsels along the way.

Oh, and our dear little apartment. You know, 410 square feet is pretty small. But somehow our future apart had shrunk even further in our imaginations, so that it actually seemed kind of roomy when we got here. For those of you who asked, here's a mini-tour:

This is walking in through the front door. Yup, that's Karl. Still sleepin'. He hardly slept at all on the plane, poor guy.

















If then you go straight forward and turn left (at the white door), you will see the hallway, where most of the storage is:













To the left is the toilet, but that's kinda self-explanatory.


To the right is the bathroom, in cheery yellow:












Then there's the bedroom to the right of that, which is acres bigger than we imagined. Karl's already started setting up shop for a mini-studio, so it will probably be more of a music room than a bedroom. It's the only room in the whole place that's a little drab - everything else is quite charming.




Moving back to the living room. This is the dining table and a corner chair.










If I sit there, I see...
my wine glass, flirting with the bottle in the kitchen.












The kitchen. Tiny, yes. But do we look over the rooftops of Paris while we're washing dishes and slicing vegetables? Oh my, yes.





I have no new pictures of the balcony, which is really the best part. But it is now dark and I must go lay my head down. Thank you all for praying for us. Ciao.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"They fly!" we emailed our friends yesterday. Tonight we will write , "They Land!" and on your feet in a bowl of cream, I think. The apt. looks delightful and will, of course, reveal its idiosyncracies as the weeks go along. This house seems pretty quiet; the Jetta has returned to Chaska; the weather stays VERY warm; the sailor returned from a windy final sail for the year; plum kuchen bakes in the oven.

Love you muchly!
Mom-2

Anonymous said...

Oh, after all day being sure to be close to my phone(s), here I find that I should have been close to my computer! C'est la vie. Sounds like a delightful introduction to your new life as Parisians. Thank you for all the fun details! Love you both oh so much... Mom/Robbie