Coins Préférés

I'm home!

I shouldn't really say that, but it sure feels like home here. It took several hours to tromp around the Charles de Gaulle Airport, RERs, streets, Metros and more streets with suitcases (always nice the odd travels when I don't bring the violin!) bumbling over cobblestone, stairways, and doorways before I found where I'm staying ... and still, I couldn't be happier. I feel complete somehow.

It's not like I'm French at all. A third of my life is all I've spent there (diminishing rapidly the longer I live), and I don't believe I have a drop of French blood in me. But oh, do I love it.

It helps that the couple who has let me use their apartment is very much a home. They left pasta salad and a tarte au fraises to welcome me. This is the street where I live. After a short nap (had to tell myself very clearly: this is not bedtime, this is a Short Nap), I ran out to explore. First to learn my way around this neighborhood and then downtown. To Île de la Cité, Île St Louis, Hôtel de Ville, Conciergerie, the new Church Exposition, St Merri chapel, Sainte Chapelle (although missed the concert there), and the seine reflecting deep blue skies.

The pistachio gelato, the fresh fruit stands, the full roadside cafes at every turn. Public transportation, uneven pavement, people from everywhere in the world. The smells of fresh crèpes at every corner, smoke, strong perfumes, and body odor in the public transportation. The high fashion, the fitted suits, the pointed shoes, the strappy sandals and stilettos in the metro. The architecture, the language, the people... oh, this month is going to fly by.

This day of Wednesday / Thursday (there wasn't really night in between) has gone on long enough though, and I am exhausted (right on time!) day 1 over.

ps: happy birthday to leland spindler hope it's fabulunctious
oh and pps: I've not yet been here a day yet and I have been asked to participate in a concert... tomorrow night. HA!