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How We Ended Up in Paris

Sunday, January 21st, 2007

Not so long ago, I was offered the chance to move to Paris for six months to help launch a special project in Europe. My husband Robb and I jumped at the chance. Now, here we are, three months later, living in a house in the 16th arrondissement, with our two children, Noah (4 years old) and Sasha (21 months old). We thought this blog would be a good way to keep family and friends up to date on our interesting and not-so-interesting stories from Paris.

Our First Night Out on the Town

Sunday, January 21st, 2007

I’m sitting at our kitchen table at 6:45 in the morning with Noah who got up more than an hour ago. Luckily Sasha is still asleep and this morning is Robb’s morning to sleep in – I got yesterday. Last night was Robb and my first night out on Paris without the kids and boy, did we need it. We finally got a babysitter lined up last week – a nice girl – American, 26, with a French fiance. So, she came over and we went OUT!

We went over the the Arc de Triomph (not sure how to spell that). It was dark out, but we went to the top anyway. It’s amazing up there. It’s not that tall, but it’s located on the top of a hill, and has roads branching out from it like a spider web, all the way around, so you get a great view of the city in all directions. After that, we strolled down the Champs Elysses, a long, wide boulevard that is famous for it’s shopping and people watching. We had a nice dinner (our first in Paris) and then I bought a pair of tall black boots, which I guess, if you live in Paris, you have to have – I was clearly in the minority up until now.

Today, we are hoping to go to one of the children’s museums. Noah has said that he’s getting tired of going out everyday, so maybe we won’t go anywhere, but we’ll see. Yesterday, we found a gymboree – just like at home – where they have music and gym classes for little kids. We’re going to sign Sasha up, so she can get a bit more interaction with other kids. Also, it turns out the American Library of Paris has Mother Goose story hour for kids under two, and another one for kids who are 3-5, so we’ll probably start going to that every once in a while.

There are so many parks here, and playgrounds – it’s really amazing. Every weekend, we find a new park, but there’s also a fantastic park really close to our house – about 3 blocks away, for the quick stop. The funny thing about the parks here is that they have some climbing apparatus that are truly scary. There was one park with a ropes set up that went more than 40 feet up – Robb and I were astounded that anyone would let their kids climb on that.

We also found this incredible water park with a life-sized whale – truly huge – at least fifteen different water slides and pools etc. We haven’t gone yet, it turns out no one under 3 is allowed, and men and boys can’t wear boxer short type bathing suits, so the boys around here have to go shopping to get themselves some jockey-type bathing suits – Robb is already cringing at the idea.

Here is a note from Noah: “Dear everyone, I want you to know that I threw up a couple of nights ago. It went all over my arm, on my pajamas and everywhere. I even had to rinse off in the sink.” That’s all he wants to say.

Noah’s school is going really well. He really looks forward to going every day and has made a few friends (the people who speak English, apparently.) I’m studying up on my French on my ipod when I take the metro to work everyday, and am always really excited when I can actually communicate with someone. Most situations are a bit out of my language range. (Like, trying to call tech support to get our internet and TV to work. That was a joke.) Luckily, I was able to speak enough French to schedule a home visit by the technician for tomorrow. Hopefully, person to person, I’ll be able to communicate a little better.

Robb is starting French classes tomorrow, 9 hours a week. He’s a bit nervous, especially when he saw that his text books have ONLY French words in them – no English.

Already, the funny stories we have due to our lack of French are piling up. The other day, Robb saw a woman next door who he thought might be a cleaning lady, and we were looking to hire one. He mimed to her as if he was mopping the floor, and she thought he needed a mop, so she went inside and got him one with a bucket. So, not sure how to correct the mistake, he decided it would just be easier to take it from her. She could see him through the window, so he ended up mopping the entire kitchen floor, waving through the window at her from time to time. That one made me laugh and laugh.