Our first day in Paris

Our first day in Paris began as soon as we arrived at the flat around 14:00. After dropping off our stuff and getting settled we went for a quick jog around the neighborhood. This certainly helped delay the jetlag. We got a little lost, but were able to get back on track without too much trouble. [As I write this, I am sitting on a train in Italy and I honestly have no idea what I would do without google maps and GPS.] 

After our run, we went for a walk in search of a snack/late lunch. In Paris, it's common to find these little squares or plazas in amongst the many tall, old buildings. For the holiday season, they were usually lit up with beautiful lights. It was in one of these plazas that we found a cute little restaurant. 

As would be the norm for the remainder of our time in France, Alex attempted to communicate with our server in French only. The server was delighted. Alex communicated that I didn't speak French, so the waiter was very kind to speak to me in a combination of both English and some French (usually French first followed by English). Comically enough, after Alex ordered a bottle of wine the waiter asked him, in French, if he wanted one glass or two. This seem to confuse Alex, but randomly I understood completely AND responded in french. This thrilled him even more...and shocked both me and Alex. Honestly, I think it was my desperation for something to drink. I was parched. 

This was my first time watching Alex interact with someone in french and I was thoroughly impressed. He gave himself a hard time, but anytime he asked a question or made a request people seemed to understand him. The interesting thing about people in France is that they will take the time to help you pronounce something and/or if you don't know a word, they will teach it to you. It can be kind of intimidating, but truthfully it's really great if you are trying to learn the language. I'll say more about my overall impression of France and French people in a later post.

By the time our 'lunch' concluded it was starting to get dark. Not being familiar with Parisian neighborhoods I was a little on edge walking around after dark. It seemed like you would be in the midst of the hustle and bustle only to turn a corner and find the street completely deserted. 

On our walk we saw many interesting monuments and a small festival in front of the City Hall (Hotel d'Ville). The festival had some sort of a wildlife preservation/nature theme as there were life size statues set up all over the square. There were also people selling what I think were roasted chestnuts, but they may have been something else. They had these wok like things with burners set up on the front of bikes where the chestnuts, or whatever they were, were roasting. 

We made our way further west and then south toward the Seine to see the Isle de Paris and the Notre Dame. Our timing was perfect because the bells had just started to ring. It was nice to be there on an evening in winter as it was not the least bit crowded. 

We continued a little further along  the Seine toward the Eifel Tower, but the day started to catch up with me. After sitting on a bench for a while, we decided to head back toward our flat to grab dinner. 

The restaurant we had intended to try was closed, so we tried another place nearby. The food was ok, but not great. I had a Fois Gras salad and Alex had Escargot. The Fois Gras was not fantastic. As with the previous restaurant, our waiter LOVED Alex. We could tell that he was flattered at our (mostly Alex) attempt to communicate in french. And, as before, he was very nice to correct mistakes and helped with new words. At one point, he very kindly suggested that we start to speak English. This deflated Alex a bit as he was already feeling self conscious about his French, but it wasn't long before they were back to speaking French again. 

After our meal, we got into a conversation about our names and where we were from. This was great for because it helped me learn basic french phrases. Looking back, I now feel a little guilty for not having put more effort into learning some french ahead of the trip. Alex was great though. He and I would practice conversations with each other and then I would go and communicate with servers, baristas or whomever. At any rate, our server's name was Ali and, though he considers himself to be Parisian, his parents immigrated from Croatia and Algeria (I'm not sure if these countries are correct...I thought he had said one of his parents were from Pakistan. At this point in the trip Alex and I hadn't been taking notes with enough detail).  

Before leaving, Ali surprised us with complementary Lemoncello to accompany this sinfully delicious chocolate dessert Alex had ordered. It was the most amazing Lemoncello I have ever tasted...but that isn't saying much as Lemoncello isn't really something I drink to often. 

After returning to the flat, Alex ran to a nearby grocery store to pick up some eggs, potatoes and onions for breakfast. Having had few good experience with European breakfast, we decided to take advantage of the kitchen to cook our own.