The last few days have been less touristy than usual.  Jim’s conference has gotten underway, and he is preoccupied with that.  Also, the weather has been rainy and chilly – not the best for wandering around gardens and monuments.  On Tuesday morning, I was feeling a little rough around the edges, so we got a late start out of the apartment.  In fact, I cooked us lunch, which turned out quite nice.

The best part was the far-out stove-top in the apartment.  It’s a Whirlpool, and the controls are all built into the glass top.  You just push on the glass where the buttons are.  It’s incredibly cool, and I want one!

I don’t think there are a lot of ovens in Europe.  They do use a lot of electricity, but I notice that I cook most all my meals on the stove-top anyway.  There is a microwave in the apartment that we haven’t used, and there is a very small dishwasher and a nice under-the-counter refrigerator.  It is a highly functional kitchen for how small it is.

Later in the day, Jim had to attend to some business, so I window-shopped a bit.  I may actually be tired of shoe shopping.  Get me to a doctor!  I was on my own for dinner and unfortunately picked the wrong place to eat.  I remember now that I didn’t like the food much in Paris.  I ended up at a very mediocre restaurant sitting near two American men having a terribly boring conversation.  I’ve definitely had better meals eaten alone.

Yesterday, Jim had to be at the conference by 9:00 a.m.  I worked on a blog entry and did some other business online.  I decided to dress un-touristy today, so I put on a skirt, tights (lots of people wear tights here) and my Eccos.  Then I walked down to the dry-cleaners with a big bag of Jim’s clothes and barely managed to communicate with the attendants what I needed done with them.  It had taken a while to find a dry-cleaner on Google maps because I had to use the French word (presser).  Duh!  Then I wandered further and found a lovely clothing store with some delightful treasures.  I picked up a fashionable scarf so I can finally feel at one with being in Paris.  Everyone, male and female, wears a fashionable scarf here.  With my tights and scarf, I actually felt like I belonged here.  (Now if I just had the nerve to use their bike rental program – or, more to the point, bicycle on these roads – I would be a bona fide local.)

I walked further and found a copy shop, which Jim had been looking for.  After about $50 in text messages and a few hours (during which I had a mediocre lunch), I got 4 advertisements printed in very large format for about $50 each.  The quality was impressive, as was the fact that they printed them while I waited.  They rolled them up and taped plastic bags on them so I could deliver them without harm.  I made my way through the Metro to the conference hotel and helped Jim attach the posters to the walls of his booth.

We then made a quick stop back at the apartment and met one of his colleagues out for dinner.  We all had meat.  Well, mine was a salmon steak.  The food was good, and his colleague was very interesting and entertaining.  Our go-to dinner plan here seems to be Rue St. Severin.  It’s a lively few blocks hidden between major streets and is bustling with restaurants and food vendors.

Despite the fact that I didn’t see any sights, it was a fun day of “normal” life running errands in Paris.  I enjoyed getting to know my neighborhood a bit better and seeing how everyday life would be in this city.