Got My Walking Shoes On

The Orange Telecom store I walked seven miles for

I had a few missions today.  The first was to get French SIM cards for our iPhones.  Apple Maps took me on a wild goose chase, then Google Maps took me on even more of a wild goose chase.  Finally, the app Maps.me, which allows you to download maps to your phone, took me to the right place, the Orange Telecom store.  Consider this a definite plug for the Maps.me application.

The second order of business, and the primary one Priscilla sent me out on, was to buy some groceries and household items at Monoprix.  I managed to find everything on our list.  Google Translate is really handy for trying to figure out what things are in the grocery store.  It sure takes a lot longer to buy groceries that way though.  I also stopped in at the photography store on rue Saint-Antoine to see if they developed film and scanned the negatives, which I found out they do.  By the time I finished all my errands, I'd walked over seven miles and had been gone untold hours, according to the female contingent of this group.

Courtyard to our flat

I thought I'd tell you a bit more about the flat we're renting.  It is a two-bedroom flat that is fairly decent sized for a Parisian flat.  By U.S. standards, it is on the small side.  For us, it is perfect for a two-month stay.  My sister Karen, and family, stayed in this flat in 2011, and we thought it would be just right for our stay in Paris.

We are on the second floor, facing rue Saint-Paul, which is a quiet side street off of rue Saint-Antoine, a major retail oriented street.  The stairway to our flat is off a courtyard that you access through a hallway that you enter through this cool old door on rue Saint-Paul.

Entry door to our building

The stairway is made of ancient wood that is worn down with wear.  I have no idea how old our building is, but I suspect it's at least 18th century.  For being an ancient building, our flat has all the modern conveniences, including a washer and dryer that with a bit of fiddling, we were actually able to make work.  We have these beautiful, big French door windows that open out to rue Saint-Paul.  The weather is warm enough over here to leave the windows open, at least part of the day.

I have no idea what I will write about next, but I suspect I won't run out of material.  Living in the middle of a big city is adventure enough.  Living in the middle of a big city in a foreign country is adventure on steroids.

Priscilla coming down our stairs