One Week In

We have been living in Paris (again) for one week. It has been a joyous homecoming for us. We love this city and feel very much at home here, with the exception of not being able to speak French. More on that later. We are also very thrilled to be back on the staff of The American Church in Paris. This is a community that we love and are grateful to have the chance to abide in ministry with them once again.
So here are 10 of my deepest impressions from our first week.
1. Jet lag is the devil. It is a miracle that we can get in a plane, fly half way around the world, and step onto a different continent in a matter of a few hours. The downside of this ability to experience travel that moves this quickly is that our bodies and minds don't really keep up. So while you feel a deep sense of tiredness and fatigue when you first arrive, it's also true that you can't really sleep when you are supposed to. Unless you are a dog. Then you sleep pretty well no matter what. Thankfully, we are almost through the fog and not feeling like we will never ever feel normal again.
2. The trip over: Everything went amazingly well. There was little traffic between Palm Springs and Los Angeles International airport the day that we left. I did have a pretty epic meltdown when I discovered a drawer full of clothes that I had intended to pack still in the dresser. How I had missed that one will never know, but with tears streaming down my cheeks, I shoved various items in different suitcases and left a few things behind. Thankfully, we had the nicest, most wonderful agent at the Air France desk. She was super accommodating and helped us with every detail, even checking a 5th bag for free that was supposed to be a carry-on in order to alleviate overhead baggage. Maddie had to go back about 2.5 hours before our flight but she didn't put up too much of a fight. The flight was crowded but we had bulk head seating and so had enough space in front of us. I watched The Art of Racing in the Rain, which is a lovely film, but caused a bit of uncontrollable sobbing in my seat since it's about the love of dogs. Thankfully the man seated next to me slept throughout the entire flight.
3. Our dog is a great traveler! We knew this from her adventures of last summer but Maddie is really the star traveler of all time. She handled the trip very well and was quite excited to see us once we fetched her from the special baggage area. She had to remain in the crate while we wheeled through customs and she wasn't so fond of that. She was whining and banging on the crate door. But once we got her out, she wagged her tail with delight was very happy with her newfound freedom. She did pee for awhile once we got her to a relief area. We arrived to ACP after about a 45 minute drive and in all of the commotion of meeting people, getting keys to our apartment, and getting our stuff upstairs, we forgot that Maddie might want to get out again. So the first thing she did in our new apartment was to take a dump. She felt terrible but enough was enough! Since that first accident, she has been a champion of waiting until we can take her out. Apartment living has been quite different for her but so far, she seems very content. She does sleep all night and doesn't make a move to want to go out until we get up. Which is good since we live on the 4th floor of an apartment, with an elevator, but said elevator breaks down regularly so we all are getting our steps in.
4. The apartment is great. Spacious and lovely even as it does take some time to make it feel like our home. Pictures to follow when we are more fully set up. My lovely husband has an uncanny ability to see a room and figure out how it would look great so he spent the first day moving things around and at the end of the day, the living room looked quite lovely. I spent a great deal of time getting the kitchen set up and that always makes me feel more at home. Our shipment won't arrive for 2-3 more months which will help the place to reflect some of our personal style, but the apartment is furnished so we don't have to start completely over. We did make a trip to Ikea and will be ordering some furnishings that the place needs. It's mostly fun getting set up. I even cooked a full meal tonight. Nothing fancy, just homemade bolognese sauce, a lovely green salad dressed with delicious homemade "real" French dressing...olive oil, balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard. Heaven on lettuce or with a bit of fresh baguette dipped into it.
5. Baguettes and butter. We had some good success earlier last fall following the principles of the keto diet. Almost no carbs or sugar. That's a bit harder here! Fortunately we've upped the number of steps we are taking in a day because I just don't see how to avoid eating baguettes. Pastries are a treat and I don't feel too tempted by those on a regular basis, but OH MY GOODNESS, the baguette...with salted butter, dipped in homemade French dressing. Do you think there are a lot of carbs in that? The French grocery store is still a delight. It's great to see such fresh, beautiful food! All the cheeses, the many different wines, the fresh produce. It's all wonderful. But while the avocados look great, they are quite a bit more money than they were in CA!
7. The city still dazzles.

A street near where we live.

We live in the neighborhood of the Eiffel Tower so are treated to many glimpses a day of that beautiful structure.

That's the church spire lit up in front of the dazzling Eiffel Tower. 

The church and our apartment, which is in the church by the way, in case you didn't know that, are on the Seine, and there are lovely walkways all along the river. Maddie is absolutely enthralled with the river and takes every opportunity to catch a glimpse of it. She also wants to jump into every fountain she sees. Getting her a little more leash trained for big city life has been a bit of a challenge, but she's actually doing well. But I digress...back to the dazzling city. It's lovely...and it's not even spring. Springtime in Paris...yeah, I can't wait.
6. More Maddie: Everyone loves her.  Seriously. Strangers stop and talk to her in French and as far as we know, say very nice things about her.

We did not know this woman. But she just had to pet Maddie.

Who knows what they are saying? We do not speak French. But she's quickly becoming the church mascot. I do not think we will have any problems finding dog sitters. We've already had one person tell us to go on vacation so she can care for our dog. We love her. She's awesome. And thankfully most of Paris thinks so too.
7. It is truly wonderful to be back at ACP.

Sunday was a fantastic day to return to worship and soak in all the joy of this community. We didn't have a role in the service so this Sunday is our real start. I am preaching on February 23 and Doug has planned and will lead and preach at the Ash Wednesday service on February 26. We did start work on Monday with multiple meetings and a evening council meeting. The week contained many meetings with various groups and people and while we feel excited about our job, we know that we have a lot to learn. Day by day we hope to figure more and more out.
8. Old friends, new friends. It is a great gift to return to a place that we already lived. To be reunited with people who are dear friends and know that the possibility of getting to know others is such a joy. The familiarity of the neighborhood and even navigating the city feels quite manageable. Once we got our new phone numbers and monthly metro cards, we felt that we could go anywhere! And we hope to do so. We need to find out what the rules are for dogs on the metro and busses. She might have to have a muzzle. But once we've got that figured out, look out Paris. Maddie is coming for you!
9. What do I miss? Sunshine. It's really gray here. But the last 2 days have been blue sky and sunny so we've taken advantage of that and gotten out. Golf. But not really. It's good to get back to work. And I've already started thinking about places we want to visit. Places that will likely have a golf course. My big kitchen. But the kitchen here is nice. Just smaller. Not tiny. But smaller. No garbage disposal. No ice maker. But a freezer that will hold a few things! And we have great stores nearby and we will shop most every day. And we miss friends and family, of course. But we're pretty sure that some will show up on our Parisian doorstep one day. And I miss opening the back door and letting the dog out. But I'm getting used to putting on my rubber boots, grabbing my coat and walking down the stairs and outside. It's good for me. It lets me justify eating baguettes and salted butter. Did I mention how delicious that really is?! Oh, and I really miss speaking the language of the country where I am residing. But I’m going to work to remedy that. French is hard. It's the only language of a country I'm living in that I feel like I might not be able to learn. Did I mention that it's hard? The written words sound nothing like the spoken words. The accent is unique. The vocabulary is vast. Every word that I know is a different word in French. Go Figure. I am determined to progress beyond Je ne parle pas français which means...I do not speak French. The French are more patient than people give them credit for. When you encounter someone who doesn't speak much English, be nice to them. They probably feel pretty bad about it.
10. This is a good move for us. We feel good in our skin here. It will take a few weeks to feel a sense of rhythm and to get more things figured out. I want to get set up for grocery deliver at a bigger grocery store that I take a bus to get to. We did successfully order some dog food for Maddie on French Amazon but the church secretary showed me a better website to use. I just need some help navigating it. And we want to continue to clean out closets and set up the apartment in a way that makes it feel like our home and not an air bnb. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to live in this world class city once again and be part of a church that fits us so well. The adventure has begun. Let's see where it all takes us! Thank you for your interest!