My Life in Paris part I: apartments, houses and inmates...

As I anxiously approach my return, I feel the need to reflect on my unique situation here in Paris. While many move to Paris not knowing a soul, I was fortunate enough to be enveloped into a very generous and warm family which I consider to be the size of a small country. A little background: I'm an only child. My dad is an only child. My mom has one sister who has only one daughter. That being said, I come from a very small, dispersed family. Needless to say, there have been times in Paris where I've felt more than overwhelmed.

For starters, I'm not used to sharing...ANYTHING! I've always had MY own space and MY own things. It's been a long time since I've lived with my folks, so moving in with parents was quite an adjustment especially when I lived as a BIG girl in the BIG city for nearly 6 years. Though I've had serious relationships, I never lived with a significant other (I'm rather old fashion about that!) until moving to Paris. So it's completely understandable why I experienced "mild" melt downs for the first 6 months I was here. But it's amazing what you can adjust to given some time...

When I first arrived, we lived in the 8th district with Joe's mom. It was a great place to begin my journey as it was in the heart of everything! Joe and I had some growing pains going from a long distance relationship for 11 months to living together. Well, actually, it's more like I had a lot of growing pains with not having MY own space in MY familiar world. Fortunately, Joe's mom has the patience of angel and delicately imparted her relationship wisdom and support as needed. I admit it wasn't always easy listening to her advice, even if it was given with subtle finger wagging. I tend to become rather defensive in these circumstances with "I'm not a child!". I truly commemorate her bravery in accepting a young, passionate couple into her home. Though it was a glorious apartment, it was a city apartment so privacy was limited. I know what your thinking, but ACTUALLY I was more referring to the passionate "discussions" Joe and I would share as any French/American couple desperately in love trying to understand eachother would. (i.e. cultural and language barriers)

By early summer Joe and I were fairly adjusted, and I realized that our growing pains weren't so uncommon. (I took a tally with friends and family regarding there own experiences and was pleasantly relieved by their equally horrific/humorous stories!) I was starting to get quite comfortable in our situation with afternoons of freedom and evenings splurged with good food, family gatherings, long conversations, laughter and music. Although, sit down dinners every night took a little getting used to. As for the music, Joe's step dad is akin to a concert pianist. So it didn't take long for me to rediscovered my love of classical music. But just as I was getting used to my new living situation, we had to move. So we went from living in a luxurious and serene apartment in the heart of Paris with a grown up couple to a house with 5 other permanent residence and a revolving door of others.

Now living in a house in Paris in itself is unheard of, but living in a house that can very comfortably house two little girls, one 20 something brother, a young couple, a dad and a step-mom is unimaginable. Add to that a nanny, au pair and a crazy sri lankan chef, well you can only imagine how (in Joe's words) "alive" the house is at any moment of the day or night. And then there is the night life! Yes, late at night you can here cackling, music, restless whines and loud voices from the street. No we don't live near a club district, but a jail. Amongst all the luxury of living in this beautiful house with all it's comforts, there is the dichotomy of inmates in a jail just across the way. Don't worry, we are safely separated by a large wall and regular patrolling police cars. Apparently, it's the club med of jails with mostly white collar crimes. It does add a strange sense of surrealism to an already fairy-tale like existence.

Now, I'm sure by this time you are asking, why don't they get there own apartment like a grown up couple? Well, we do have what I call our "love shack", but it's the size of a dorm room just steps away from Joe's school. It was pretty clear early on that we could not survive as a couple living in such close quarters. So while Joe is in school, his family graciously opened their home to the both of us. Lot's of perks when you are adopted into a large family. But with all the perks there are many more concessions.

More to come...

-CityGirl