Bonjour! I have returned. Debbie and I have been back in Courbevoie for almost a week now. We left Tucson last Saturday morning, arrived in Paris Charles De Gaulle airport Sunday morning. By noon we had checked into the Adagio next to Parc du Millionaire. That first Sunday, we rushed over to the Monoprix to buy some groceries before it closed (we remembered that there would be no place to eat on Sunday evening). Then we took a "brief" 2 hour nap (could have continued sleeping). Followed this with a walk around la Defense to show Debbie where to get the metro and pick up some tickets. After a long walk, returned to Adagio and ate some of our groceries, unpacked, ironed shirts, watched the French Open, and went to bed. Right now, it gets dark here at about 10 pm, so you don't feel you need to sleep until late.The week was... interesting. I worked each day, so that was normal. But our first order of business was to find an apartment. Pickings were slim - Debbie had e-mailed agencies to arrange visits, but some locations were rented before we even arrived. We did manage to visit one on Tuesday in the 16th arrondissement near Place Victor Hugo. Long story, short - we took it. Rather amazing to find a place on the first visit and get it. The area seems good (at first glance - we'll let you know). It is near interesting areas, but off a courtyard away from the street so it should be quiet. There is a nice marche' nearby, and various shops and restaurants. It is on Rue Mesnil, not far from the Victor Hugo metro stop. It is closer to my work, but I'll have to change lines at Charles De Gaulle Etiole. I timed it today, and it only took about 10 - 15 minutes. We also went to look at another place in Pont de Neuilly on Wednesday evening, but decided it was not really our style. It was on a broad, leafy boulevard, set well back from the street - we imagine it is like Park Avenue in NYC. We are more of a Brooklyn type. Besides, it was a long walk to the metro...
We visited l'Olivio, my friend Marwaun's restaurant in Courbevoie. He and Catherine were quite surprised to see us. Their daughter Lucy is now in her last year of high school - all grown. We had dinner and talked. Quite nice to be able to return somewhere and be greeted as an old friend! Speaking of which, it was nice to return to work and see many of my former colleagues. Most remembered me very well (maybe good, maybe not so good...). Mid-week I got to meet my co-workers from the UK. Of the team, only Hamish is a hold over from 2009. They were all off earlier in the week for the Queen's diamond jubilee. Seems like a good group. Lorenzo, one of the team, made reservations for us all to go out for dinner on Thursday night. We went to le Coupe Chou near the Sorbonne. When we arrived, Debbie and I realized we had been there before. I even have it on my spreadsheet of restaurants (3 1/2 stars of 4 possible - my rating). Small world. This was our fanciest meal of the week - others have been pretty simple (pizza, steak & fries, salads, etc.). Today, we visited our future apartment and had an early dinner / late lunch at Cafe Victor Hugo (croque-madame), which I can see returning to (our waiter spoke quite good English). Took a little walk to the Trocadero across from the Eiffel Tower, then back to la Defense. Yep - I'm back. Au reviour.
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