We safely made it to Vincennes, France – a cute little suburb outside of Paris. We are staying at our friend Harold’s apartment. Harold is currently in LA with his fiancee, Verdell. Sean and I introduced them and it’s one of the matches I am most proud of. Oh l’amour.
The flight from LA was pretty uneventful, so much so that a number of people commented on how well behaved Ripley was. I don’t really think a 4 month old can “misbehave” but when someone tells me that my kid is “perfect” then I’ll gladly agree.
We arrived around 6:30AM on Wednesday, July 7th, got our luggage and Harold’s Dad met us after we got through security. We had never met before but Harold provided pictures of us and his Pere spotted us right away. He doesn’t speak a lot of English and my French is very rusty but we managed to communicate. I still can’t believe that he picked us up and drove us over an hour in traffic to Harold’s apartment. He had a crib setup for Ripley, showed us around the apartment, made sure we had all of his contact information if we needed anything, and pointed out the direction of the trains. Whoever stereotypes French people as being rude can SUCK IT! I have personally never thought that and usually it’s Americans who make these remarks, and really, I think it’s vice versa. Regardless, 5 stars and 2 thumbs up for Harold’s Dad. And for Harold, of course, for letting us crash in his place.
It’s an adorable one bedroom that has a view of a park. The train is just steps away along with markets and boulangeries and supermarches. I am excited to stay in the suburbs of Paris because I have stayed in the city a couple of times before and I feel like I will get a more authentic experience living a little further out. It’s a 15 minute metro ride into Paris so it’s easy peasy.
The highs get to around 27 degrees celsius but it doesn’t feel stuffy hot until around 4 or 5 pm. Right now it is 11:00AM and perfect. The windows are open letting in a nice breeze. The sky is blue and it’s very bright outside. It stays light until 10:00PM. This reminds me of long summer days in Vancouver and the more light means the more time to do things OUTSIDE! If you read any of my posts from Singapore you know that I struggled with the weather and lack of things to do there and felt like a prisoner in our apartment.
I’m feeling very happy and content. Ripley is doing fantastic, he has become well traveled already. He managed to sleep on the plane ride over which means he got onto Paris time right away. He has already conquered his jet lag.
Sean just left for Dublin to see Glen Friedman’s Fuck You All show so Ripley and I will have some of our own adventures today just as soon as he wakes up from his nap.
Au revoir for now!
