A Very Good Welcome

We’ve had a whirlwind day… jetlagged and disoriented, but stealing moments of wide-eyed wonder and amazement that we now call this city home. And although we’ve only been here for a few hours, here are some choice things we’ve thus far experienced:

1. The oh so endearingly nonsensical inefficiencies of the French. Par example, we reached the customs area in Charles de Gaulle Airport only to find a huge line for French citizens (of course) and an almost non-existent line for “Others.” We took the obvious choice, only to find that after walking through the maze of the roped-off “Others” line, it merged right into the French citizens line. So we essentially cut almost the entire line of Frenchies and were thus forced into the stereotypical role of pushy Americans right off the bat.
2. The local love of political discussions. Our cab driver wasted no time getting right into it with us. We went from droll small-talk about weather into abortion and gay marriage. Nice.
3. The Metro just rocks.
4. After wandering aimlessly around the Marais, then stumbling on Place des Vosges and its surrounding adorable side streets, I can say I’m officially in love with that part of Paris.
5. I understand a great deal of what I hear (to my delight), but my speech skills are still severely lacking. Thank god for Nate – he really made things happen today. The 40 minutes we spent opening a bank account were already touch-and-go (the jetlag hit me hard and I’m lucky I got out of there without drooling on myself), so I’m extremely grateful he was able to deal!
6. Last but not least, WE GOT AN APARTMENT TODAY! Someone or something obviously wants to make our transition super smooth, because this apartment was the first and only place we looked at. It’s in the same building our dear DMD and Stella lived in when they were in Paris (thanks so much for hooking us up with the landlord!). Ideal location, in the Marais (3rd arrondisement), spacious, light, hard-wood floors, a block away from the Metro and within blocks of great nightlife, shopping, and Musee Picasso. We deliberated and after trolling the Internet all summer to suss out the rental market, we’re convinced we’ve found a true gem.

So that is all for now. Come back and check in from time to time. I’m committed to updating the blog fairly regularly; there will be photos, too. And feel free to post comments any time.