23 July 22: One week into the trip. Some random thoughts…

1.) I appreciate that Paris keeps itself quiet on Saturday mornings so we could sleep late. Thank you.

2.) There’s a scene in the beginning of Gene Kelly’s film An American in Paris where he’s using all 4 limbs to open/close cabinets, flip up his bed, make his coffee, and get ready for his day in his tiny Paris apartment. It’s a choreographed scene and lots of fun to watch.

We have a decent sized AirBnB apartment here, as far as central Paris apartments go (way bigger than a hotel room would have been); just the same, I felt like Gene Kelly’s character…constantly moving things around to access other things. An example of the tight spaces is in the photo at the top of this post. If someone is in the kitchen alcove, they have to get out of the way for someone to use the shower/bathroom sink.

Dave asked if I could live like this permanently. I think in my 20s I’d have been all over this. We were close to this in Korea, in fact. But not so much in my 40s. I’m a spoiled American: I like my space.

3.) I’m eating too much bread. I’ll go a week at a time at home not having any bread at all, and now it’s with every meal. It’s to die for, especially with a big old smear of Normandy butter…but I need to slow down on this. I get the feeling Germany won’t be any better.