Embarking: First Steps on a New Road

As Michael and I boarded a plane bound for Paris, I was ready and excited to start our nomad year…or two. Staying in Virginia would have been comfortable. We had a great house with a pool and had incredible family, friends and neighbors surrounding us. But we weren’t looking for comfort. We were looking for an adventure. I knew this was the right next step for us and I felt rejuvenated. We prepared by downsizing our belongings, selling the house, filling a 10x15 storage unit to the brim, getting medical check ups, and stocking up on our prescription medication. We had anticipated this moment for over a year and here we were making it a reality.

Our 1 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment in Paris is, as all lodgings are, much smaller than it appears in the pictures on Airbnb. Will we ever learn? Experiencing jet-lag after a full day of traveling, I was not pleased when we first walked in. But, in the light of the morning and after a good night’s sleep, it seemed more promising. I cleaned a few things and moved some furniture around, made it more to our liking, made it home…for now.

The neighborhood, Montparnasse, is perfect. It’s not in the center of Paris, it’s more of a residential area. Tourists only venture this way for the catacombs. Our local boulangerie, which is ½ block away, gets a daily visit from Michael for either 2 croissants or a baguette. He does his best ordering in French and ending with a “bonne journee” only to be disappointed with their “good bye.” He fears they are signaling to him not to speak in French and destroy their language. I, who has no sense of direction, can get to the grocery store by myself. Bravo, Martine! We found a hair salon. Michael got a shave and a haircut for quite a bit over 2 bits and Sylvia turned my yellow hair into gray and brown. We still need to find a local pub. A place called The Galway Pub looks promising. Everyone speaks English so it may be a good place to relax while listening to live music with a beer and wings. “The French don’t know from Buffalo wings,” says New York Martine. But do the Irish? We’ll see.

When we want to set off to another arrondissement, neighborhood, a quick metro ride, which is 20 feet from our front door, will get us anywhere. And we have definitely wandered. One of the advantages of living here for 3 months is not being constricted by time. We’ve been here two weeks and haven’t even thought of when we are going to the Arc de Triomphe or the Louvre. We can take a day off, stay in the apartment, and not feel guilty of letting a vacation day get away from us.

Although we do want to experience everything Parisien, the food has thrown me for a loop. I am in the culinary capital of the world, I can’t find much to eat because I am not an adventurous eater. I’m a picky eater…..except for the pastries. I can eat any of those delicacies from any patisserie at any time of day. As for the savory food, however, I need to step up to the plate and, literally, eat the pate.

Friends thought this idea was brave but we weren’t worried or afraid to set out on our adventure. There are definitely challenges like affordable lodging in the right neighborhood to make into a temporary home, restaurants that are not expensive and to our liking, dragging luggage from town to town but we are going to focus on discovering what the world has to offer us.

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