After landing last Monday, I gathered my bags and waited for word from the Madre about her arrival so that we could meet up and taxi over to my apartment. She landed in a different terminal, so after waiting about an hour she picked me up in a cab and we were off. Our cab driver was nice, but quite possibly the slowest driver ever. We FINALLY arrived to my apartment (after a way too expensive tab, and about 40 minutes late for my walk through) but the first thing we saw were the smiling faces of my landlord and his daughter. We were apologetic for our late arrival but they could not have been more gracious. They immediately helped us schlep all of my belongings upstairs (it took a few rounds, we have an elevator in my building but, this is Europe so it's small) and proceeded to show me the place. It's fantastic. Small, but it's only me so I don't need much. It was my landlord's daughter's place but she's moving for school so I'll be renting while she's away. It's fully furnished and they were kind enough to show me any quirks of the place, how to operate appliances, and where to get the best deals for markets etc. As fate would have it, there's even a canvas of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's on the wall (one of my all time favorites.) I was home.
Ma and I were able to unpack all of my things in about two hours which we were pretty proud of. There were minor adjustments here and there but the major work was done so we decided to venture out a bit to run some errands. We wandered the neighborhood and did my first round of grocery shopping with only minor hiccups (you have to weigh all of your produce BEFORE the check-out counter, whoops). We trekked back to the apartment, unloaded the groceries, and looked up a good place to eat nearby. We found a little café just up the road and enjoyed our first Parisian meal, which having realized we had not eaten all day, was much needed. After heading home, we turned on the TV and drifted off to French chatter...for all of three hours. Despite the rigorous travel schedule, and lack of sleep, we were still thrown off and had serious insomnia. We finally drifted off again around 6am and slept for another three hours.
Once we woke up, we had some coffee, got ready, and decided to venture out and enjoy Paris. We had the whole next day to take care of some other necessary things to get me settled before ma left, so I wanted to make sure we had a tourist-y day so that she had some fun in the city as well. We started by walking, in the rain, all the way to the Eiffel tower. We were basically drowned rats by the time we were in range after our trek, so we stopped at a café for lunch and coffee before heading to the actual tower. We enjoyed some delicious salads to fuel us for the day and wandered to see the monument.
As luck would have it, the clouds broke during our meal and the sunshine arrived just it time to take in the glorious sites. It was pretty surreal to see the Eiffel Tower in person, and it really solidified that after all of the planning, I had finally arrived in Paris, and for the next ten months, this was home. Since we had more things on our list to see, we wandered the park for a bit, snapped some pictures, and went on our way. Ma had already climbed the tower, and I will have plenty of time to do so soon, so we wanted to keep moving. We walked along the Seine for a bit, and then rented our Velibs (rental bike sharing system in Paris) to get us to our next location.
Last time Madre was here, she never got to see or go to Montmartre, so it was high on her list of locales to see. While making our way there, we were able to walk the Champs-Elysees, see the Arc de Triomphe, and the Moulin Rouge.
We walked quite a bit, obviously, but it was great because I was able to get my bearings and really get a feel for the city. Thank goodness for my sense of direction (not necessarily ma's strong suit, but it's all good!) because after a long day of walking and biking, we made it to Montmartre. It was worth the trek for the view alone, but we also got to take in some of the charm of the neighborhood and see a beautiful church, the Basilique du Sacre-Couur de Montmartre.
We had had a long day and had seen so much that it was time to make the long trek home. We started by walking back to the Champs-Elysees but since the rain started we attempted to Metro rest of the way home. We were booted from our train after two stops because due to construction they were no longer running our line, so long story short, after a failed attempt to get back on track, we found some bikes again and started making our way back to my apartment. After about an hour, we were starving and stopped for dinner, and finally, decided to take a taxi the last mile or so home. Ma didn't want me to have to navigate and it was after 11pm so we were over walking. We crashed exhausted and ready to take on the next day.
I woke up at about 8 to Ma Skyping Padre, Grammy and Aubs back home. Normally I'd be super excited, but after our long day and my cold medicine induced sleep haze (I'd been fighting something since CT) I was not the most exciting or enthusiastic person to chat with. We showed them my apartment, enjoyed some coffee and pastries, and got ready for the day ahead.
Our main priority was to do a trial run for my commute to school. We mapped it, rented our Velibs, and headed to the school. The commute is joyously easy and direct, just a 15 minute fairly straight shot on the bicycle, a little walking, and I'm there. Off the bikes, we grabbed some snacks from a Boulangerie and headed to the school. We wandered in to the front offices to check it out and were greeted by a very friendly woman at the front desk. She asked when I was starting and what program, and then gave us an excellent recommendation for dinner just around the corner.
We walked the neighborhood for a bit, stopped for some coffee,
and headed back to my apartment to map our way for our next destination (with no cell data it takes a little extra planning to get from place to place until I get my international plan squared away). Ma wanted to go with me to see the Galeries Lafayette, one of her favorite places from her last trip here. It's a shopping mall in a stunning building and totally worth the trip. 
We wanted to make it back to the apartment in time to freshen up for dinner so we trekked to some Velibs and rode home. We had just enough time to drop off our stuff and get ready to make our 8pm reservation. When we had stopped in earlier that day, the Chef was super friendly and informed us that there would be live music to accompany our meal. Lucky for us, The waiter was equally as lovely and helped us select our meals as well as a delicious wine. The musician arrived and the restaurant began to fill up. The musician played his acoustic guitar and played nothing but American covers (everything from Bob Dylan to Mungo Jerry) so we were already pretty excited. Singing along to the music, we were ready for our very classic French meal as promised, and we were not disappointed. 
I started with white asparagus which was perfectly cooked and seasoned, a filet served with mashed potatoes (with butter of course) and bone marrow (delicious) and a marvelous dessert of pistachio crème brulee. Heaven. If this is what the people of my school are suggesting, then I chose correctly because clearly they love and appreciate food and ambiance. This, is why I chose to study in France. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the apartment for mom's last night in the city.
I woke up around 6 about 15 minutes before her departure and we said our goodbyes. Her cab arrived on time and she was off to the airport, where she thankfully made her flight, (she was non-revving so it wasn't a sure thing).
I spent the next few hours hanging out in the apartment, re-organizing some things, cleaning, and planning for some errands etc. I got ready and headed out a few hours later and found what I am now calling my French version of Target (much smaller, obviously) to pick up some essentials. I was happier than I should have been wandering the aisles, but it was fun to explore and see my options.
I laid low at the house most of the afternoon figuring out my international phone plan, how to stream TV and movies abroad, and cooked my first meal in the apartment (I had only really eaten out with the Madre, spoiled I know).
Yesterday, I trekked to finalize some visa details, wandered my neighborhood some more, and slept, a lot. I guess I'm still getting over this bug so I'm taking advantage of the down time before school starts Monday.
After sleeping in again today, (seriously, have I been this sleep deprived?) I took my time having breakfast, getting ready, and mapping my adventures for the day. After successfully making it to the Post Office to learn that it was closed, I decided to wander my neighborhood a little more to get a feel for everything. I enjoyed a fresh strawberry pastry (so spoiled by options here) and made my way to the park just up the street from my apartment. I lazily wandered taking it all in; people watching, gathering the lay of the land, but mostly just smiling to myself that this is my neighborhood and my new way of life.
School starts Monday so tomorrow, I'll take advantage of the down time, continue my lazy streak, and maybe have a Sunday Funday. Macarons at Laduree perhaps? Or maybe scour some vintage shops that I read about online. Who knows, I've got options! I miss everyone at home a lot, but it still feels selfishly wonderful to be here and enjoy and take everything in. Okay, enough with the novel. I'm shocked if anyone is still reading at this point, I won't make all of them this long, promise! Until next time!
