The apartment that I'm staying in is very old and a bit quirky. (When I texted my friend Kim, who is visiting next week, that it is quirky, she asked "should I be scared?" Scared-no. Prepared-yes.) It looks like a Parisian apartment (go figure). While it is roomy and I’m sure very expensive, it lacks some of the amenities that I would get if I were staying at a hotel. Although, staying in an apartment does make me feel more like a Parisian. When I was looking ...

My trip and arrival to Paris was uneventful (phew). Our taxi driver didn’t speak any English and I was happy that I spent the time sitting in Chicago traffic learning French. The cab was a new, clean, SUV and the cab driver apologized profusely when he missed our destination by a couple of buildings and offered to back up. Now there’s something you don’t see in Chicago. My apartment is in a very old Haussman-style building. I had my mom and Marianne wait o...