The apartment on Rue Greneta that we rented was perfect, and this was important, after miles of walking and getting caught in a downpour on more than a few occasions it was a nice place to return to. You entered through giant ancient wooden doors into a court yard and then up some very steep spiral stairs to our little flat. It was on a quiet street in a very un-touristy area of the 2e, just a few blocks north of Les Halles. We were one block from the market street Rue Montorgueil. This street was amazing, closed to traffic and just filled with boulangeries, butchers, fromageries, shops, cafes, etc. The street was always packed day and night with Parisians doing their daily food shopping and just chatting, smoking, sitting in cafes etc. The way life ought to be. I heard very little American English during the whole week in this neighborhood, though we did meet these two men who were living in Paris. They overheard Melissa and I speaking English and came over to chat. We were out at the cafe while Ian was babysitting. We talked about my idea of moving to France for a year with the family, great experience for the kids, etc. They had so much information and it was nice to chat with them. Someday.

A chilly petit dejeuner on the Rue Montorgueil. We frequented this boulangerie as well as many others, all within a block or two of our flat. I must have been in there at least once a day, and perhaps they began to recognize me, and my limited grasp of French. They never made me feel rushed, often complimented me on my French. Of course the lovely pleasantries are exchanged when entering and exiting the store. If you’re not willing to at least say bonjour madame, au revoir, etc. then don’t go. You need to understand that the casual ways of the U.S, such as not greeting people in supermarkets, coffee shops, etc. is just seen as rude in France. The idea that you wouldn’t greet somebody that you are face to face with is rude. (See my earlier post)

Here in the states the pleasantries are too often part of the policy as in Starbucks, that sort of sucre (sweet) non sincere greeting is insulting. Don’t you agree? By the way, Starbucks are all over Paris and I did visit one, mostly out of curiosity and to see if they offered the same things. You would think that the French would avoid such a blatantly American institution, but they loved it, they love us, our movies, our music etc. While dining in cafes we heard Jimi Hendrix, jazz, Judy Garland, etc. They universally dislike our current government -and as always I came prepared with a few phrases on how I feel about our current leaders and policies. I made many friends this way.

Kids don’t really care much for monuments, museums, etc. They have wow moments when seeing the Eiffel tower for the first time or the Louvre but really all they want to do is this. I truly believe the most fun they had was playing here beside Notre Dame, or at the really cool playground at Les Halles with other French kids, or playing with newly bought toys from the comic book store Album. I could have avoided some frustration and energy if I had simply let them do more of that. I like the French way of life and just being in Paris and though I’m really interested in history, the history of Paris of course pretty much being a good slice the history of the world and western civilization, the tourist thing gets old quick.