Yesterday, November 15 was the two-year mark of our lives in France.
And you know what, France was nice enough to get us a gift.
A lovely transit strike, that started on Wednesday.
But I have to say, that despite the hassles of extremely limited service, it hasn't really been too bad (ha ha, I say that now that I'm home on a Friday afternoon, with the heat on). On Wednesday morning I enjoyed a nice Velib ride up to St Lazare train station to catch one of the few trains that took me out to the American School, two hours early. On Thursday morning I squeezed my way onto the metro after a 25 minute wait, then walked from Passy to school. That evening I walked 40 minutes to the line 1 station at the Etoile to catch the train out to Nation so I could teach a fitness class. Luckily I didn't have to wait too long for the line 6 once I was done, and enjoyed a much needed seat on a quite empty train all the way home. And today I was lucky in the morning to catch both of my very crowded trains and make it to school early. On all of the way-overpacked trains I've been on the last couple of days, people have been generally pleasant, and even helpful. We're all in the same boat, I guess, and I'm sure none of us would choose to get sucked into a stampede of people while entering a train, or to spend our ride with our cheeks pressed up against the glass, praying that no one will get off or on at the next station.
And there is some consolation in knowing that despite the fact that I have spent more time walking and biking in the cold than I would normally do, I've also gotten to spend more time appreciating how beautiful this city was.
I biked all the way home from school today and as I cursed the cold and choked back exhaust, I couldn't help but appreciate the view as I crossed over the Seine. Eiffey on one side, the Statue of Liberty on the other, and calm river waters as far as the eye can see . A wrong turn took me through an interesting neighbourhood that we'll have to check out some day. Warmed my heart enough to get me home.
And so, here I am, feeling very at home in Paris, and also excited about the year to come. We still face all the same unknowns (dare I say that I'm getting used to not knowing what our plans are?) that we have for the last two years, but we're also getting quite used to our lives here, and feel more and more each day like we 'belong'. We handled the renewal of our cartes de sejour like pros, scowling for photos, lining up in the cold and leaving everything to the last minute. We are starting to forget what it was like to have more than 36 square metres of living space. We think it's incredibly strange to eat before 8:00 (and the one night we did, we both woke up starving in the middle of the night). And, I can't imagine life in a city that doesn't sell fresh bread and pastries at every street corner and wine at the grocery store.
So let me raise my (imaginary--it is after all 3:00 in the afternoon) glass of Beaujolais Nouveau (plus if I was to have a glass of wine right now, I'd want a good one, not the banana-y stuff we had last night) and toast our vie a Paris. Let's hope this third year is the best one yet.
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