With a few weekends spent “at home” in our Vincennes Airbnb apartment, we have had a little more time to be inhabitants rather than tourists. Living in another country is different than being a tourist, as everyday activities that are second-nature at home can be a challenge. Mark came-up with a great phrase for all of this, and we use it often: la courbe d’apprentissage (the learning curve, as we say back home).
Mark has had some things to send to friends in California for a while, but it is expensive to use the French post (and can take a long time to reach its destination). It took some research to find another service (kind of like UPS) – but then we had to find a good box (I have a pile of assorted boxes at home, but where does one get one here?). It even took a while to find packing tape.
Shopping
There is a great store here, Monoprix, that carries lots of things, sort of like Target. The larger Monoprix’ even have clothes, groceries, some fresh fruits and veg., and limited household goods. However, things that are not carried include: contact lens solution (must get at an optician) contact lens cleaner and over-the-counter meds like Advil and vitamins (only available at a pharmacy), if you want fresh seafood, there’s the fish shop next door, and another shop for a better selection of fruit and vegetables (or you can get all of that at a bi-weekly street/farmer’s market).
Think about grocery shopping when you’re in an unfamiliar store (how much longer it takes to find all of the things you need). Multiply that by a factor of four when you’re in another country! I enjoy seeing items on the shelves that are unfamiliar, and it is really fun to try different stuff. The tricky thing is to find items that you have a real preference for. We’re all loyal to some brands, because we like the way they taste, smell, feel, or perform compared to others we’ve tried. I have used Tide for over 20 years, but there is no Tide here. There are great products that work just as well – but which are best? They all smell different, too. The first one I tried worked fine, but made our clothes smell too sweet, like flowers – no “mountain fresh” or the like. Toilet paper – at home, I know just what to grab off of the shelf. Here, one was too thin and another was almost as thick as paper towels (weird!). Like Goldilocks, with a little trial and error, I’ve finally found one that is “just right.” Think of your favorite food – will they have something like that where you are? We like Mexican food, but the grocery stores have just a small selection, and they’re not spicy (though I can approximate it). In a big, cosmopolitan city like Paris, you can find almost anything, for a price. I found Skippy (peanut butter is not common here), 8oz for about $5.50. Yes, I bought it!
Last week, we were having new friends, Melissa (an American from FL) and husband Olivier (French), over to the apartment to play board games one evening. I figured I’d do an easy meat and cheese, bread, fruit and wine spread, since they’d be arriving after the work day, and we wouldn’t have time to go out to dinner. In the new Airbnb apartment, I have a stovetop, but no oven, and only the basic few pots and pans, so cooking a meal for four seemed a little ambitious. It was super fun to have them over, and the food was good – I think we were all full. Here’s the difference between the prep for this evening vs. doing it in my own house in CA: I made two trips to the Monoprix, because wine, some household things I needed, AND groceries would be too heavy to carry home on foot. On the second trip, I also stopped at the cheese shop, the boulangerie (for the baguettes), and the farmer’s market for fruit. All stores are nearby, and easy to walk to, and the quality of some items (cheese and bread especially) is far better than in CA. However, in California, it would have been one trip and done! Please don’t think I’m complaining, though! I’m just illustrating some of the differences between daily life here and there.
Friends and Family
Speaking of entertaining, we definitely miss our friends and family! Thank goodness for social media, especially FaceTime, so we can keep in touch and actually see the kids (and them us) when we chat. It isn’t easy with busy schedules on both sides of the Atlantic to find a good time to talk, but it is wonderful when we do. We can’t wait for a couple of friends to come visit, and Molly and Sam will be here for Spring Break!!!
Through the social media app, Meetup, we have found some friends through both a boardgame Meetup that Mark has started, and a Paris Dog Walk Meetup that Mark found early-on. We took a drive out of town with two of our new friends, Theresa and Stuart (ex-pats from New Zealand who have lived all over the world). Theresa and I both enjoy walking, so we often meet for lunch during the week and walk the different areas (arrondissements) of Paris, discovering shops, restaurants and interesting buildings all over the city. We have such fun together, and are so happy to have found them!
Seeing a movie in the theater
The bigger theaters have showings of American movies both in VO (original version, with French subtitles) and dubbed in French. Most theaters have ticket sales at automated kiosks, like we see at home, and the machines offer interaction in English, so you can make sure you’re doing it correctly if you don’t understand French. The seating is a little different sometimes – we saw a movie in one theater that had one long row of a high-backed sofa, that had pull-down armrests (not individual seats), but most are similar to ours. Popcorn and other snacks and drinks are offered in the lobby, but people don’t seem to eat quite as much in theaters here as they do back in the US. There is definitely less paper-rattling and popcorn crunching! Often, the smaller theaters have a restroom with one toilet for men and one for women right in the theater, rather than a larger restroom in the lobby.
Safety
This is a big question for many, and one of the first things some said to us when we told them we were going to be living here was along the lines of “Oh, stay safe! Terrorism these days…” Yep. Sadly, it has happened here, but it has also happened in America. No matter where we are in the world, we definitely need to be aware of our surroundings. Since the terrorist attacks here, the police have stepped-up their presence. You’ll often see them in heavily-populated areas, walking in groups of three or four, with automatic weapons in their hands. It is jarring to see that, but also reassuring. As for crime in general, Paris is quiet a safe place to be. The main concern for safety here is pickpockets, rather than mugging or violent crime. The cross-body purse is my best friend, and I use little carabiners (get them at a sports store, like Big 5) to attach the zipper-pull to the strap of the purse, to discourage sneaky fingers. Men should never put valuables in back pockets. Public transit is safe and easy to navigate. There are Métro stations sprinkled generously throughout the city, and you don’t have to walk far to get from one to another. Even after midnight, you’ll be among lots of other people of all ages, and feel quite safe. They may not be super clean or sweet-smelling, but they are well-lit and busy.
For reference, we live in the bottom, right-hand side, our stop is the Yellow Line (1), Chateau du Vincennes. Notre Dame Cathedral is in the island on the Seine at the map’s center, which takes about 20 minutes for us to reach from our apartment. Most sites in Paris are no more than 35 minutes from our place via the Métro or RER (regional train). Mark usually works outside of Paris (east of our apartment). He catches the RER just down the street from the apartment to get to work.
Some friends have asked if we love it here. We do love that we get to have this experience. Living in another country, even temporarily, is eye-opening in so many ways. While I might say that we do some things better in the US, they do other things better here. On balance, I think that this time in our lives has helped us to better appreciate both places.