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.
