Now Broadcasting Live from Paris!

Bonjour, mes amis!!

Claire and I have successfully made it to Paris. We're very pleased with our apartment, which at a mere 800 euros a month I think will turn out to be a real bargain. We're renting it out from a couple of American academics who have owned it for awhile, and therefore it comes pre-furnished. This includes not just the big items (e.g. bed, sofa, microwave, TV, etc) but also the little things (e.g. hammer & tool set, toaster, extra umbrellas, flour & salt already in the pantry, etc) that would just be a pain in the ass to get on your own.

The apartment is very compact. Like most things in Paris, space is at a premium, and as a result everything comes in "mini" sizes and is made in as efficient a format as possible. Perhaps nothing captures this spirit quite so well as our fold-out bed. In the daytime, it can be used as a dining room (we have a table which can also fold-out to fit up to six guests), but at night....voila! An instant bed!

Finally, here is picture of Claire posing by the bedroom window. Not surprisingly, she is VERY happy to be back in France...

My first impressions of living in Paris? It's all exciting to be here and all, but honestly my overwhelming thought is this: Damn, it's going to be hard to learn French! I have a lot of work to do...