Settling In and Setting the Mood

I have been reading Hemingway for the past week, and it has inspired me. Paris is so conducive to creativity, and I have been wishing for the time and talent to sit in a cafe with my notebook like Papa to find the mot juste. Of course, I am not the first Son of Minnesota to want to seek his literary fortune in Paris, but that is not what I am here for. I have come to spend the next two months using the collections and library of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle to move the MUSSEL Project forward. Freshwater malacology — not literary fiction — is my strength, and we all have to play to our strengths.

We arrived on Sunday 25 May 2008 at CDG and made it to our apartment by 10 AM or so. The RER B line is a smooth sail from Terminal 3 to Luxembourg Station — adjacent to the Jardin, and our flat on rue St. Jacques is just a few blocks away. It is a small, studio apartment, but I think it will suit our needs for eight more weeks. It has an interesting layout, with the front door opening to the bathroom, which is split over two floors. The shower and sink is upstairs over the toilet. The rest of the flat on the same level as the shower, with the bed, kitchen table, stove and fridge. Daphne sleeps on an inflatable bed in an improvised fort composed of the kitchen table and a sheet. It gives her shelter from the sun that never sets here, and it gives Mom and Dad a little privacy.

The real strength of our flat is the view. We are on the 6th floor, and there are three, large, French windows along our north wall. We have a wonderful view toward the Seine, and off to our right is the Panthéon.

For the past week, we have mostly been settling into a domestic life in the Latin Quarter of Paris. I go each day to work. It is only a 15-minute walk to the Jardin des Plantes and the museum. So far, I have been working in the library, doing data entry. Except for a short lunch break to eat my bread and cheese in the Jardin, I have been sitting at my laptop, listing to downloaded NPR podcasts and getting information on European freshwater mussel names. It might not sound like it, but it is truly exhausting.

Nancy and Daphne have been tending to our household and getting to know the neighborhood. We don’t have much food-storage space, so they shop regularly. But their primary goal while in France is to enjoy themselves. They go the Jardin du Luxembourg and Louvre, they practice their French, draw and do sketches. Most nights we have dinner in the apartment, but we have had some lovely meals out as well. Daphne ate snails and thought they were great. Unfortunately, with the dollar as weak as it is, we generally opt for a 1 € Fanta from the grocery store rather than a 4 € soda from a cafe. Wine, cheese and bread here are fantastic and cheap.

We have made it a point to get out and about as well. We made a nice long hike to the Eiffel Tower. The lines for both the stairs and elevators were crazy long, so we decided to save going up and enjoying the view for when Barb and Kari visit in June. Today, we bought day passes for the Metro to visit the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen to wander what is allegedly the largest “flea market” in the world (17 acres), and then we stopped over to Vert d’Absinthe so I could try some anise-flavored alcohol. I haven’t tried it yet, but I will when I finish writing this blog entry.

I love all the book stalls along the Seine around Notre Dame, and I am especially geeked up about our proximity to the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore. That is our closest source for new and used English books. I am afraid that is as close to being Hemingway (not a Minnesotan, but still an interesting guy) as I will get.

The real surprise treat is how well behaved Daphne has been (knock on wood). The jetlag really kicked her back a peg, but once she got back on track she has been fun to travel with. Of course, it was uncertain for us how much appeal the City of Light would have for her, but she seems to love it. She was engrossed by the Egyptian sculptures at the Louvre, and she has finally taken to her own reading. She requests going to a cafe so that we can sit and read. Today, as a reward to for good behavior, we took her to the carousel at the Luxembourg Gardens. That is more than a mere Merry-Go-Round. The riders astride the outer circle of horses wield wooden batons that they use to impale brass rings. She got six.