L'adventure commence!

Bonjour! This crazy busy week has come to its end. With its finale, my Paris adventure begins! Even as I wake to a French Saturday as I'd done so many times when I lived here (it's my 10-year anniversary of having lived in Paris!), I find myself relishing each individual moment... the collection of which may likely end up in this blog!

Saskia and I are already enjoying all things French, including brasserie dinners (escargots!, charcuteries!, creme brulees!) and what it means to be living in the 1er. After work yesterday, we checked in to our new hotel, found a nearby boulangerie, ordered hot ham & brie sandwiches on baguette accompanied by eclairs au chocolat, and sat in the Tulieries gardens near the Louvre to enjoy a late lunch. "Really?", you ask? Yes, Avid Reader, really. It's that awesome.

After lunch, we enjoyed our first (of many, I hope!) photo sessions of one another around the Louvre courtyards and hit high-end boutiques where Saskia scored a pair of fashionable pants on her way to her 'Parisien outfit'. Me? My big purchase was a bottle of water. So far. I'm on the hunt for the most amazing biscuit under the sun; I'm 0-3 to date with grocery stores -- wish me luck!

Other highlights so far...
- Um, that's the Louvre. Do you realize we're staying a block from the Louvre?
- Confident, if simple vocabularized, French. Saskia is impressed.
- Waiter twin of my NYC colleague Luke Pardi
- Saskia making an escargot scene. She ate it; I am pleased. Next time, she won't make the fuss.
- Mousse au chocolat (anyone sensing a dessert theme here?)
- Christmas lights @ Printemps & Galleries Lafayette
- Our alley view of St. Roch
- The woman at the Tulieries fountain thinking we were British, married, fluent in French and spoke to us as if all three things were true after we continued to suggest otherwise.
- Being here. Seriously, just being here.