After about 30 hours door to door, I've finally arrived at my tiny Parisian home away from home. My host is overseas so she's arranged for her friend to meet me and help me get oriented to the apartment - it really is very cosy and lovely.
My host has left a few staples in the fridge, and some helpful instructions which her friend walks me through before she leaves me to get settled. After she's gone, I feel tired and a little homesick, but I know that after a good night's sleep I'll feel better. I have about an hour to find one of the local supermarkets before the closing time of 1pm (Sunday) so I make that my first mission, after which I can relax and take the rest of the day as it happens.
I have a quick bite to eat, then I rug up and set off to find the supermarket. I realise when I get down to the street that I was so anxious not to forget the entry code and my doorkey (visions of locking myself out gave me the shivers!!) that I've forgotten to bring the map with the supermarket locations clearly marked by my kind and helpful host. I could trek back up the stairs to retrieve it, but I decide to have an adventure instead! I walk in the general direction I recall from the map, turn left at the street that I think is correct (it's name looks to be about the right length.......... does that sound like your kind of strategy my lovely husband??) and then follow my nose. One thing I know about myself is that I'm good with maps - not so good at locating myself without one, but if I've looked at a map and have a visual memory of the location, then I can usually rely on that memory and orient myself fairly well. Et voila! After walking for about 10 minutes I come to the local Carrefour supermarket - my second directional success and a big confidence boost!!! I manage to decipher enough French labels to get some things for dinner and breakfast, and am able to pay easily with my Travel Money card, so another win!!
Back at the apartment, I could easily crawl into bed and sleep, but instead decide to go for a big walk to get the vital daylight I know is necessary for minimising jetlag. I admit to being a little nervous about getting lost, so make sure to take the map with me this time. As it turns out, this is completely unnecessary as Place de la Bastille is only about 2 minutes walk from the apartment and is a great big unmissable landmark and roundabout with many streets converging, so I figure if I take one of those streets and then just head back in the reverse direction I can't go wrong.
I head up Boulevard Richard Lenoir, and serendipitously find myself in the midst of what looks to be a huge and amazing outdoor market. I've only caught the tail end of it, as everyone is packing up their stalls, but I ask one of the stallholders how often the market is held. Despite his minimal English and my almost non-existent French, I manage to establish that the market is held on two days per week. I then ask an obvious tourist (hmmm, I wonder if I look like that too) and she confirms that the market is indeed held on Sundays and Thursdays. Once I get back to the apartment, I look it up in my Lonely Planet Paris guide (thank you my lovely son) and discover that this market - Marche Bastille - is considered one of the best outdoor fresh food markets in Paris. What a bonus, right on my doorstep - fresh fruit and vegetables, seafood, olives, cheese, bread, and much more - fantastic!!! I'll definitely be a regular visitor.
3pm
Not wanting to go home and be tempted to bed too early, I decide to walk towards the Seine - about 5 - 10 minutes at the most, it turns out. At the Pont de Sully I spot a familiar spire not too far away, and after another 15 minutes or so I find myself on Il de la Cite with Notre Dame looming majestically before me.
Again, a thorough visit for another day, but I take a couple of quick snaps. As I discovered earlier, finding my way back to Place de la Bastille is easy and the walk does me good. A light snow is falling the whole time, which is wonderful and romantic - hmmm, well it would be if only.........................
Back on my "home turf" I pop into an amazing and cosy chocolate cafe and treat myself to a take-away hot chocolate, which is nothing like the traditional watery hot chocolate with which I'm familiar, but more like mostly chocolate melted into a little milk, so decadently thick it's hard to drink it through the hole in the take-away lid, and I need a spoon to finish it off properly!! I feel so much better for having it :-)
Having not worn my thermals, by this time my legs are feeling icy, so I decide to head back to the warm apartment for a hot shower. Note to self: wear thermals tomorrow, they really do make a difference!
After a 5pm dinner cooked in my tiny but perfectly adequate kitchen, I'm ready to head to bed to watch a movie and read for as long as I can manage. Turns out this isn't long at all, and I think that unsurprisingly I am alseep by 7pm. The end of day 1 in Paris!! :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment