Our second full weekend in Paris was quite fun. Friday night we saw Casino Royal. Lucky for me it was in English with French subtitles (rather than being dubbed in French). Saturday morning Steve and I met our friends, the Garcias for an early lunch and a bike tour of Paris. The Garcias are moving to America next month and they wanted to go on the bike ride as part of their farewell tour of the city. We had a great lunch looking up at the Sacre Coeur and then set off for the tour. After an hour of discussing which tour we would go on (I am told this negotiation process is very French – we reserved for one tour, were convinced a second tour was better, and finally ended up on a third) we set off with a Dutch family of six and a guide who rode so fast we thought she was trying to lose us. Our guide has a license to guide people in Paris and she was quite knowledgeable, but her information was all in French so I got what I could from what our friends translated for me. We rode through some pretty busy streets and ended up in the much more peaceful19th arrondissement. We saw beautiful parks where teams of older men were out for the afternoon playing balls, nice old homes, and a science museum that was built as a slaughter house but turned into a museum when they realized the doors were too narrow for the width of the animals. We rode past Notre Dame just as it began to rain and right as we rode into the Latin Quarter it started to pour. We took cover for about 10 minutes until it let up a bit and then rode for about 30 more minutes, returned our bikes and thanked the guide. I made a mad dash for BHV before it closed and completely enjoyed myself. The store is six levels and has everything you could need (a la Target), but with much more upscale offerings. The basement is all hardware and sells more than anyone could ever use.
Saturday night we went to a party at the apartment of a co-worker who Steve had met once before, and had a really good time. We knew no one before arriving but everyone was really friendly and interesting and there was no shortage of champagne. After, we met up with friends at two different bars until 3am when I pulled Steve home because I could no longer take the smoke. I am counting the days until the impending public smoking ban, but I am told there are quite a few questions as to how well it will be enforced.
Sunday Steve worked all day and I explored our neighborhood more. We are very close to the Moulin Rouge so I walked over there and past the Amalie hangout, Deux Moulins. It was very crowded so I did not go in, but I continued to find more wonderful stores, restaurants, bakeries, etc. which made me feel even more comfortable in our new neighborhood.
We are making progress getting the phone set up, but it will be a few more weeks.
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