Day 6 Home away from home.

After another uneventful drive on the wrong side of the road back from the Loire Valley we arrived safely at Orly Aiport where we were to drop off our car. We then headed back on the train and then the metro to eventually arrive at our home-away-from-home for the next two and a half weeks. We are staying in a little apartment that we had heard about through a friend before our last trip to Europe in 2008. We enjoyed our stay here enormously and at the time we commented to each other that we would love to come back here one day for study leave – we are surprised that this has come about so soon.

The studio is on the Right Bank of Central Paris in the 20^th Arrondissement. If you know Paris we are just around the corner from the most visited cemetery in the world Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise. If you are unfamiliar with Paris we are on the eastern edge of the 100 square km circle that, with it’s over two million people, makes up Central Paris. To get into the apartment you first have to enter a security code before passing through a huge wooden door, which is painted bright blue. The block is at least six stories high and without a lift. Luckily we are on the second floor. The unit is small, with a narrow cluttered entry hall, a tiny kitchen, a small bathroom and a lounge/dining/bedroom about the size of a reasonably sized master bedroom (such as Jim Masterton might build in Kellyville). It is decorated in a rather over the top, unique, crazy, French, eclectic style with a touch of shabby chic. It is filled with flea market treasures including about twenty cushions, which grace the two dining chairs, two small lounge chairs and the bed (that is before we put them away). But most importantly it is beautifully warm!

It is wonderful to unpack (although finding somewhere to put our clothes was a challenge) and begin to feel at home. We are located only about 300 metres from the metro and more importantly about 50 metres from a bakery, which sells the most divine baguettes for a steal (1 euro). Even though we did not arrive till nearly 3pm we decided we would still try to get to an English speaking church we had heard about called Trinity International Church. With the wonders of the French metro we arrived only 10 minutes late, even though it was located on the other side of Paris. We enjoyed a church service that was very much like our church at home. It was an interesting experience being a visitor and we were very grateful to the one kind French woman who did her best to talk to us. Although she spoke perfect English, she did not seem to understand a word that Richard said. At one point she commented ‘You have a very strong accent!’ After leaving church and making our way back to our cosy, little apartment we were able to enjoy our first home cooked meal for over a week…scrambled eggs!