It feels kind of weird to be posting on something titled 'Wades Journal', so I may end up doing one of these on my own, but this will do for now.
As W indicated earlier, my flight here was pretty uneventful. I was able to fly Business class on the overseas leg, and it was very nice. The added leg room and ability to recline are invaluable. I even slept for an hour or so, impossible for me to do in coach.
So far, everything is great. I love the apartment. It is small, but it is such a great use of space. Lots of ideas for us to use back in the states. I have just started to get out into the city, and it is great. All of the small shops and stores are going to be fun to explore. And the Shoes! Guys wear cool shoes here. Not the boring brown and black things back home. I've already got my eye on a couple of different shops near the apartment that offer some interesting choices. Wade was right, it's a good thing I will be working over here.
We ate at 'La Casserole' my first night here, and it was very good. The coolest thing was that the restaurant was about 30 feet from the entrance to our apartment. The words 'location, location, location' were never more true.
Spent yesterday learning how to get around. Since W was at work, we called Chris Hagan, and he came over and showed me around. I learned how to get tickets for the metro, and he showed me some of the city outside the city center. It was cool to get another persons impressions of the city to compare to W's.
As far as language goes, at first I thought it was bad. I couldn't understand anything anyone said. They speak so fast, and I don't yet have an ear for it. But it is already getting better. As W mentioned earlier, I had to go to France Telecom to help resolve our Internet problems, and nobody there spoke much English. My French was better than I thought. I didn't get very fancy, and pretty much stuck to present tense, but I got my point across. They were very accommodating, and very helpful.
More to come later.....
