It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

I came to Paris not just to savor the sights, the arts and the culture (which indeed I have) but also to enjoy just living in Paris--hence the name of this blog, "Quotidian Adventures." A month is long enough to begin to feel like more than a tourist. Trips to the grocery store, the laundromat, the bank--all of these have given me a small sense of belonging. As Mr. Rogers used to sing, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood..." So here are some descriptions and photos of the street where I live:

To get to the apartment, you come in through a large door, entering the password on a keypad. One of the delights of Paris is the big doors to the courtyards of people's homes and apartments. At 12 Rue Arago, the door is red, right between a men's clothing shop and a podiatrist. The door opens up to a foyer with mailboxes and a winding staircase up to some of the other apartments. Past the foyer is a courtyard with a garden. Then, to the right is the staircase. The French are very "green" so the lightswitches are on timers--hit the lightswitch to the right and up two flights to the apartment.

While the apartment is small (about 270 square feet), it's the perfect "pied-a-terre" for someone who wants to live and experience Paris as something other than a tourist. The neighborhood is in the 13th arrondissement. The numbers of the "arrondissements" begin right smack dab in the center of the city on the Ile de la Cite (sorry, no accent marks) and snail around in a circle all the way to, I believe, the 20th. We're on the "cusp" of the 13th and the 5th, which is walking distance to Notre Dame if you're feeling energetic. Otherwise, the quicker option is to take the bus--the No. 27--and get a view of the streets as well as enjoy hearing people speak French.

The neighborhood is truly that--a neighborhood, not a tourist destination. Daily chores like shopping for groceries or going to the bakery (boulangerie) are a treat, an opportunity to see all the curious products and packaging so different from our own and a chance to practice my halting French (much to the amusement and/or annoyance of the locals). Ordering my morning croissant or baguette at first made me very nervous and I wasn't always able to find the right change. Now I feel more at ease with the ladies in the boulangerie and this morning even called out, "See you tomorrow!" The woman reminded me in rapid-fire French that they are closed on Wednesdays. Oh, yes, I said, and asked a question which had been puzzling me: Why Wednesdays? I think she said that it's something that the "prefecture" ordains by neighborhood. Note to self: research that one.

Another choice experience has been using the laundromat or "Lavorama" (I'm assuming it's Lavorama but the last "a" is missing, so it could be otherwise). Figuring out the directions on these front-loading washing machines and how much money to put in, where to put the soap and how to work the dryer has been part of the adventure. Now it's old hat and I, like the woman sitting next to me, load my clothes in and grab a book and begin to read with a watchful eye on the progress of my wash.

I feel privileged to have an "insider view" of living in Paris this month. My friend Leanne has arrived so we're exploring new sights... she's been here before so we can skip the typical destinations and dig a little deeper to find museums, restaurants and shops that aren't always on the tourist's agenda. I'll let you know what we find.