The First Week

We have managed to survive our first week living in Paris.  Most of this week was spent learning about everything around us.  We both figured out how to get a Navigo card and use it to navigate Paris' amazing transit system.  I learned that the bakery we live above makes amazing bread and pastries but isn't open on Mondays.  We found that food is actually fairly affordable.  I discovered that going from a 5 minute commute to an hour commute is a bit of a rude awakening.  We also found out that while living in an apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower is great, trying to find an affordable restaurant in the area is not so great.

But, by far, the most interesting thing I have found is how attuned your brain becomes to one language.  I can be in a crowd of dozens to hundreds of people who are all talking amongst themselves and easily pick out the two people speaking English.  Hopefully French will eventually get to that point...

We started out this week just looking around our neighbourhood.  Here is my obligatory askew picture of the Eiffel Tower.

Then Jessica surprised no one by looking at the ducks in the pond rather than admiring the world famous monument right behind her. 

On Saturday we spent the day out at Versailles.  If you ever have a spare day while travelling through Paris, I would highly recommend it.  The place may be incredibly busy but it's worth it.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves but keep in mind that at one point this was just some guy's (OK, the King of France) house and back yard.

Finally, on Sunday we had intended to go visit Paris' catacombs.  Unfortunately we didn't think far enough ahead to go first thing in the morning.  Instead of the 2-3 hour wait, we opted to head over to the Montparnasse Tower for a Google's eye view of the city.  They say that seeing the city from the Montparnasse Tower has 2 main advantages over the Eiffel Tower.  The first being that you can see the Eiffel tower and the second being that you can't see the Montparnasse Tower.  Although I wouldn't call it an eye sore, it definitely stands out against Paris' old world aesthetic.  Either way it makes for some good pictures.

Up this week is house hunting and getting bank accounts.  We are finally penetrating the depths of French bureaucracy!