Beautiful weather welcomed us to our first full day in Paris.  After fresh croissants from our corner patisserie, we tried a different Metro station for a weekly pass, and voila, my French improved overnight, and we got our passes.  Our pass starts on Monday, so we spent the day walking in the Bois de Boulogne,  the second largest park in Paris and 2.5 times larger than Central Park in New York City.  Hiking back to our apartment we passed the Roland Garros Stadium, home of the French Open and the  Jardin des Serres Auteuil, a beautiful botanical garden where I plan to spend more time.  According to Paul’s Fitbit, we walked 13 miles today.  Dinner tonight was at a French/Asiatic restaurant recommended by our landlady.  I ordered our entire meal in French and got a “thumbs up” from our waitress, which probably means my French was understandable but far from flawless.

We are now in our Paris apartment-plane on time, not too jet-lagged, all keys and codes to get in worked, and we love it.  After unpacking, we explored our neighborhood and tried to buy a weekly metro pass.  My French may be a little rustier than I thought, so tonight I am planning what I need to say, and we are going to try again tomorrow.

Feeling a bit grubby after being in our clothes for two days, we decided to dine in, and had a wonderful meal of wine, bread, four cheeses (never had any of them before), grapes, olives, and chocolate.  After dinner, we took a little stroll to the Eiffel Tower.

This is the view out our living room window.

Our bags are packed, we’re ready to go

We’re standing here, outside our door

Waiting for our friend to pick us up and take us to the airport, we are about to embark on a month-long adventure in Paris.  For a short time, we are going to live like the French in an apartment in the 16th arrondissement.  I am ready to eat croissants, drink wine, roam little side streets, visit the markets, and enjoy life in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.