First few days in Paris

We have arrived in Paris!

After several hours on a plane we arrived on August 16 at about 1:30 PM. The flight was decent, actually short compared to other routes. We flew via Iceland which makes each flight leg much shorter and the layover in Iceland is incredibly short, ours was less than an hour after we made it through security and customs.

We arrived at our apartment got the quick tour and then wandered around the area to keep us from falling asleep. During our walk we went and hung out around the base of the Eiffel Tower and I, of course, managed to find a pond full of ducks to keep myself occupied for... A while... We then walked down the Seine.

On Sunday, we took the Metro and met some friends (Mike, Erin, Mo and Sheila) after walking around the area that they are currently living in Mike, Erin, Jason and I headed off into the suburbs to check out one of the areas we might be interested in living in. Walking around the streets of Paris on a Sunday is a bit surreal, especially coming from the mindset of a retail veteran. NOTHING was open, most grocery stores were closed, and the ones that were open are only open until 1 PM. It was even difficult to find restaurants that were open. The streets that are normally bustling with people were empty. It will definitely take some time to change our views and remember to NOT save our grocery shopping until Sunday.

Today (Monday) Jason had to go back to work. I spent the day getting settled into the apartment, grocery shopping and finishing up unpacking. I have even have a load of laundry in the washing machine, which naturally, lives in the kitchen.

Here are some pictures of our apartment, hope you enjoy.

This is our kitchen. You may note that there seems to be a colour scheme. Everything is red... Including our toaster, and kettle. It isn't very big. I can stretch my arms out and easily touch both walls. This kitchen differs from every other kitchen I have ever used. It is separated from the rest of the apartment by a door, and as I mentioned earlier, it has a washing machine.

Here is the bedroom. By European standards it is quite large, with one exception. The bed. Bed sizes in Europe are different than they are in North America. This is a double bed but is quite a bit narrower, as well as shorter. Now, if I can notice that it is shorter, that sure is something. 

This is our living room/dining area. In Europe bedrooms are small, but living rooms are HUGE this is no exception. The couch in here could comfortably seat 5-6 people.

This shower is certainly photo worthy. Rain shower. Amazing. Enough said. The strange thing about the shower here (and most places in Europe) is that there isn't a door or shower curtain. It is kind of just a hallway converted into a shower. So there is a squeegee that you have to use after every shower so water doesn't seep into the rest of the apartment.

Lastly, you can't really beat our view. Yes, that is the Eiffel Tower. The only downside to living in this area is there are plenty of tourists so there is a constant buzz. There is also a plus side to the touristy areas, things are open later and restaurants are actually open on Sundays.

Au revoir!