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SETTLING IN.......

Settling into a more daily life as a part time Parisian, may not be much different from back home but since this also coincides with our retirement, life has swung very quickly into the slow lane and I must say so far it is not bad.

In my prior hectic fifty hour work week life if I wasn't up by six, showered by 6:15, dressed, coffeed and working by 6:30, I was off schedule and out of kilter. Here there is no alarm clock, no clock even in the entire apartment which perfectly suits the pace of our days. 

We have a long list of things we would like to do or see, they include grand sites such as the Louvre and small ones like the Marche d'Aligre.  Monday night promises to bring spectacular fireworks over the Seine at I'le St Loius at our doorstep and more another night in the gardens of Versailles with dancing fountains and prancing horses.  Some days will be nothing more than washing and ironing and a visit to a lovely park to sit and read and others on our list promise some unique experiences like dining at Dans le Noir where you eat in total pitch darkness served by blind waiters.

But our goal to see almost all of Paris seems to be within easy reach. Steve is counting the kilometers or rather balking at the number of kilometers I have made him put on his legs each day. Imagine the day I suggested we walk from the 16th arrondissement metro to the Architecture museum, past the Eiffel Tower 
  
through the 7th, through the 5th and 6th, across the Seine, through I'le de Cite, I'le St. Loius and back to the Marais.   I am sure we clocked ten kilometers and Steve  grumbles when we walk down Kelly drive two miles!

On Wednesday, we met our Paris greeter, a lovely retired engineer who lived in the 11th arrondissement and took us on a walk through his neighborhood to show us how a typical (read not rich, not posh, not touristy) Parisian lives. We visited the town hall of the 11th and were treated to seeing the Salle de Fete, the room built by Napoleon III for public celebrations, the old small beautiful factories that have been repurposed into
 

 architectural studios and film makers schools.  And a surprising invite into his flat which proved to be Steve's nemesis six flights UP via the winding stairs.  Of course our guide Francois, 65 or so, had no trouble hoofing it up.  He took us through Pere Lachaise to his favorite tomb and then luckily as we were walking by an art school, the door was open.  We could not watch the students paint as there was a live model, but we were invited back next week to participate in an open studio day. All we need to do is bring our own pencil and sketchbooks (do you think we should buy berets too?). You can bet we are going! So we will have to move around our calendar and bump the St. Ouen market from Monday the 24th to Monday the 1st if we want to avoid the crowds of the weekend, but maybe  bump it back to Sunday June 23rd as July 1 starts the Paris haute couture shows and again we have so graciously been invited to attend by our friend. That  will bump the trip to Fountainbleau and......well you get the idea....none of it really matters because every day is a surprise and we have the time for serendipity. 

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