Remeber this post?

November 15, 2005

Well, we're here!

Exhausted, and a little disoriented, but we made it to our place with our 200+ lbs of luggage.

First of all, let me recommend that you don't fly American Airlines. It really was a fine flight, but for some reason, flying through Chicago really didn't make any sense (we were going the wrong way...plus a long layover). And the food was quite possibly the worst I've ever had. It will just make the Parisian kind taste that much better!

Well, our apartment is pretty awesome. We have literally just walked in the door (after making 4 trips up in the ancient elevator--its just big enough for one person and a suitcase. We had four), and wanted to share the views that we have from our windows. They might not be the nicest views in Paris, but they're really the only ones we've seen yet, and we think they're pretty awesome (by the way, flying into the city was so dissapointing! We were hoping to see some of Paris, but the plane somehow managed to completly avoid it, and we got to see farmers fields instead).

So, here you go. Enjoy, know that we're here safe, and we'll write more as soon as we've eaten (or maybe tomorrow).

Take care,
E+T

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November 15, 2006
Hard to believe it's only been one year!

I feel like we've been here for so much longer, and I have to admit that I've fallen in love with this city.

Part of my excitement at reaching the one year mark is that it brings us that much closer to moving back to Canada and all the people and places that we miss, but I'm beginning to realize how much I'm going to miss Paris when we're gone.

I love seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle every hour, I how every inch of this city is so beautiful, I love how good the food is, and I love how polite people *usually* are. I love that we live in a building that throws parties in the courtyard, and I love having school holidays every six weeks. I love that we have a cafe called the Time Machine on the corner of our street where we know everyone who works there, and they know us. I love that we have a long list of restaurants that we need to try. I love that we managed to find good restaurants, after the terrrible, terrible 10euro tourist menus that we were eating when we first got here. I love that people get dressed up for everything. I love that they're setting up a skating rink in front of the Tour Montparnasse, and I love that we can easily rely on public transit for almost all of our transportation needs. I love that you can order champagne with your meal and people don't think you're crazy. I love that we think that it's reasonable to drink Champagne on special (and not so special) occasions. I love that Erik is turning into a wine snob.

I could go on, but it doesn't change the fact that I think we're pretty happy here. It's been a long year, and it's probably been one of the hardest years of my life, but it makes me pretty proud to look back on everything that we've been through this year and realize that we're doing alright. Actually better than alright. We've spent more time together than we ever would have if we'd stayed in Toronto, and we still enjoy each others company. There's no one that I'd rather be in Paris with, and that makes it a dream come true.

(Please attribute any sappiness in this post to the Champagne that was ordered with dinner. My usual sarcastic self will be back in full force, probably tomorrow, after the field trip that I'm going on. Stay tuned...)