lundi, juin 05, 2006

Early Days in Paris

Since my last post, I have made the flight to Paris, settled into my apartment, gotten processed in my volunteer activities at OECD, more or less completed the adjustment to the new time, and begun to explore the city.

All has gone remarkably smoothly. The luggage that went astray, the time I locked myself out of the apartment, and a conversation with the upstairs neighbor about a leak in my bedroom ceiling have merely provided a greater range of opportunity to build French vocabulary--along with a certain Parisian sang froid.

I am finding it hard to set aside time for blogging right now. This matter of work is intruding, and I have to ask how I ever managed to work and have a life too.

Other things too intrude. I decided not to pay a king's ransom to join a health club for three months, reasoning that instead I could walk, walk, walk the streets of Paris. And monter and descendre the three flights of stairs to my apartment. And marcher the Paris Metro's labyrinthine corridors and many stairs. So I try to get in a walk each day, in addition to the commute by Metro (which at 35 minutes minumum takes more time than I had expected).

Part of the purpose of being here is to improve my French, and I am trying to be disciplined about reading, vocabulary review, and watching TV. Of course, there is my obligation while I am here in a football-mad continent to watch as much of the Coupe Mondiale as I can; with three matches per day on French TV, that too eats up a fair share of time.

But by now I should have established a rhythm to the days and weeks that allows me to experience Paris and then to reflect upon my experiences and to chronicle them here. With that in mind, I start my third week on Paris.

1 Comments:

Blogger Leslie said...

Good to know that you are settled in Paris. I enjoy the little vocab review ... Coup Mondiale ... keep these rolling off the presses

12:36 AM  

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