Wednesday -- 21 May 2014
As the title of the post says, this is part one of my articles, "How the French Do It." I have no idea how many parts there will be, but the series must start at one (or "un" in French). Today is our first full day in Paris, but Day 02 of the 60 days we will be here. We were just discussing "how it seems we've been here for a long time already." That doesn't mean it's been dragging; it means that we're already so immersed in the Parisian lifestyle that it's hard to believe that our plane landed just a little over 33 hours ago.
These photos are actual photos I took here in our apartment. By the way, most of the "stuff" you'll see in my photos belong to the apartment owner. She lives in the apartment when it's not being rented. Anyway, I always wondered how the kitchens in the French apartments I looked at all seemed so organized and complete. Notice how the lower cabinet on the left opens to reveal a perfectly sized refrigerator; it's not as large as most in the USA, but it holds enough. Most French who live in the bigger cities buy items fresh more often, sometimes even daily. So they don't need a big refrigerator.
But then another question occurred -- where do they find a refrigerator to fit so perfectly inside that cabinet?
As you look on the cover for the eggs (those are ours), you will notice the answer to the question. That great Swedish export IKEA makes both the cabinets AND the refrigerator. How convenient is that!!!
That would be enough for the day, but there's more...
We stopped at the neighborhood boulangerie (bakery) and bought un baguette, s'il vous plait on our way back from our 3 PM lunch. Well, the skies resonated with thunder a little while later as we had the windows in the apartment opened. Then the rain came pouring down. What else were we to do? We sliced the baguette, put some buerre (butter) on the slices and enjoyed them with a bottle of wine from Bordeaux as the rains came down and the thunder kept on crackling. How nice (both the pleasures and the fact that we can enjoy great Bordeaux wines for practically nothing!).
Speaking of lunch, we ordered everything (even asking for the menu) in French, spoke to the waiter in French, completed everything in French. It was good! We're even having a few [short, very short] conversations in French here in the apartment! Not bad for day 2.
I hope you're enjoying your day.
Au revoir.
Stuart (and Darlene)
As the title of the post says, this is part one of my articles, "How the French Do It." I have no idea how many parts there will be, but the series must start at one (or "un" in French). Today is our first full day in Paris, but Day 02 of the 60 days we will be here. We were just discussing "how it seems we've been here for a long time already." That doesn't mean it's been dragging; it means that we're already so immersed in the Parisian lifestyle that it's hard to believe that our plane landed just a little over 33 hours ago.
These photos are actual photos I took here in our apartment. By the way, most of the "stuff" you'll see in my photos belong to the apartment owner. She lives in the apartment when it's not being rented. Anyway, I always wondered how the kitchens in the French apartments I looked at all seemed so organized and complete. Notice how the lower cabinet on the left opens to reveal a perfectly sized refrigerator; it's not as large as most in the USA, but it holds enough. Most French who live in the bigger cities buy items fresh more often, sometimes even daily. So they don't need a big refrigerator.
But then another question occurred -- where do they find a refrigerator to fit so perfectly inside that cabinet?
As you look on the cover for the eggs (those are ours), you will notice the answer to the question. That great Swedish export IKEA makes both the cabinets AND the refrigerator. How convenient is that!!!
That would be enough for the day, but there's more...
We stopped at the neighborhood boulangerie (bakery) and bought un baguette, s'il vous plait on our way back from our 3 PM lunch. Well, the skies resonated with thunder a little while later as we had the windows in the apartment opened. Then the rain came pouring down. What else were we to do? We sliced the baguette, put some buerre (butter) on the slices and enjoyed them with a bottle of wine from Bordeaux as the rains came down and the thunder kept on crackling. How nice (both the pleasures and the fact that we can enjoy great Bordeaux wines for practically nothing!).
Speaking of lunch, we ordered everything (even asking for the menu) in French, spoke to the waiter in French, completed everything in French. It was good! We're even having a few [short, very short] conversations in French here in the apartment! Not bad for day 2.
I hope you're enjoying your day.
Au revoir.
Stuart (and Darlene)
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