New Digs!!

Out with the old (the 18th arrondisement) and in with the new (the 10th arrondisment). We finally left our lovely temporary apartment (tears) which we had been lucky enough to find through a grad school connection, and moved to a place with a little more space and a hefty trek up five flights of stairs.

But for that effort we get rewarded with an incredible balcony (score!). At three feet wide and running the length of the apartment. I told my mom it was HUGE, and then she asked how huge, and when I said "about 3 feet wide," it suddenly seemed less huge, but trust me it is expansive by Paris standards. I see many a morning cafe out there and plans are in the works for an herb garden (a la the rooftop garden in Boston).

Our two closest metro stops are Poissionere (fish store) and Gare de l'Est (Train station to the East) which is essentially as good as an address in Paris. This is actually how you tell people where you live. And we're right next to where you arrive from Charles de Gaulle airport by train (Gare du Nord) which will make it super easy for our visitors to get to us... hint hint hint.

Just down the street we found an immense covered market filled with little fromagerie shops, wine vendors, butcheries... you name it, and the quartier is filled with a slew of little restaurants and shops.

Whereas our old hood was more of an immigrant neihgborhood with its own itinerant (definition check anyone?) influences, this feels more like the traditional Paris you see in the pictures.

We've been doing a little fixing up and organizing and whatnot which is why we've been so silent, but we're basically settled now. Settled enough that we decided to jump over to Berlin for the weekend and meet up with some friends, so I'm off À bientôt!

P.S. If you look close, you can see me waving to you in one of the pics :-)