Mornings are beautiful here.  The breeze is cool and the sun engulfs the apartment.  The shutters and windows are open with no screens.  A fly flies in, but soon flies out.  Far less traffic in the morning than usual.  It’s actually quiet.

Time for reflection.  And lots of coffee, of course.  The jet lag is still with me; three hours time difference is not as hard as six, plus this time it is in the opposite direction clock-wise that I am used to.  For some reason that makes it harder, perhaps because I am a night owl.

My apartment is about half the size of my house at home.  67 meters.  I find, for the most part, that it is a perfectly fine amount of space.  Smaller means less to clean.  Less cleaning means more time to enjoy life.  No yard to take care of.  Few things to dust.

The only things from home that I’ve missed having so far are a few more toiletries, a few more shoes (because of the oft-mentioned sore feet here), and perhaps a robe.  I just didn’t pack them; there is room for them here.  The bathroom could use some a small countertop and more room for storage, but it’s not that hard to make do with a small cart.  Overflow goes into the linen closet.  One thing I love … the bathtub setup.  They install the bathtubs higher here; maybe 18″ off the floor.  So they’re a little harder to get into (nothing a grab bar wouldn’t solve).  But otherwise, it’s awesome.  You can clean the tub without kneeling.  And it must be really nice if you have small children.  With the a hand-held shower nozzle, just spray the tub, wipe, rinse and go.  Two minutes.  Done.

The kitchen is small but functional.  There were a few ants when I first got here, so I find myself obsessively cleaning and sweeping the kitchen.  That’s not a bad thing.  Bug spray along the baseboards seems to have solved the problem.  There’s not much counter space, but it is enough with the smoothtop range.  And since you can walk around the corner every day and everywhere for food, you really don’t need a big fridge.  (There really is a nice market every block or two.) Dishes are in a cabinet in the main living space, which is sometimes annoying.  I think there’s enough room to move some into the kitchen.  There are no drawers at all, though.  Silverware goes in a stand.

The washer/dryer is kind of fab since I figured out the controls.  Very convenient in a small place.  If I were living here permanently, I might miss the aspect of being able to wash a load while another load is drying.  But it’s a worthwhile tradeoff.  Also, no dropping socks when you transfer stuff to the dryer.  I did some laundry before I went to bed, then felt bad that the “finished” signal might disturb the neighbors.  LOL, it’s Paris, and I live on a busy street.  A little ringer is not going to bother them.

All in all, it’s a good lesson on the value of stuff.  Stuff is not so important.  I shall shed some stuff when I get home.

Off to the market to get some flowers and wine to celebrate Amy’s arrival in a couple hours.  Once she is here, I feel like the basic learning curve is over and the fun begins.  Say a prayer for my feet.