Landed in Paris

So I landed in Paris and moved into my apartment on August 25. The flight was long but I was able to catch a few hours of low quality sleep before arriving. While mildly sleep deprived, I forgot one of the first tips that I had read the week before: street signs are posted on buildings and not on sign posts! It took me an extra hour of circling around the 9th arrondissement to remember this. On the plus side, I know my way around the 9th (at least the Porte Saint-Denis area) as much as any resident.  Note to self: there are some sketchy neighbourhoods around la Gare du Nord; avoid after dark.

Aside from the street signs, here are eight other discoveries that struck me during my first few hours:

1. Paris is dense, i.e. crowded. At subway stations, in grocery stores, on sidewalks... every place feels packed compared to Ottawa, Vancouver or Boston. Part of this might be caused by tourist season though; I'll know in a few weeks.
2. Yes, there are a lot more smokers in Paris. I breathed more second hand smoke in a day here than I would in four months elsewhere.
3. There is enough dog poop and pigeon droppings that I have to walk the sidewalks like they're a minefield.
4. Paris definitely feels like a big commercial city. The majority of residents walk with a sense of purpose, like they intend on going somewhere, which is not always the case in smaller cities where everyone appears to be wandering aimlessly to a job or errand with no apparent deadline! (Ok, I'll stop before I get on a rant about Portage.)
5. Big city demeanour... when you look at someone, they will look back at you and make eye contact. This is a refreshing change from the statues with whom I normally commute.
6. The diversity. This is by far the most cosmopolitan city I have ever seen. In the 8th and 9th arrondissements, I couldn't tell you who is the majority versus minority.
7. Fewer elevators and escalators means more stairs.  I am getting great exercise from the stair climbing.
8. The ground floor is floor zero, which means an office on the sixth floor in Paris would be on the seventh floor in Canada. Basement floors work as -1, -2, -3...

Back to my apartment... I have a two bedroom unit on the third floor of an old building in the 8th arrondissement.  I am four doors down from a subway station on the 13th subway line, so the whole city is quickly accessible. The apartment comes with a "dressing room", which is something of a combination walk-in closet / laundry room / extra room where you put everything clothing related.  This is a nice luxury, although I do not have a den, so I might convert the dressing room into a combination dressing room / home office.

Here are a few photos of my apartment.

Main Bedroom

Dining area (which also connects all of the rooms; the stairs lead to an attic)

Dressing Room (maybe a den?)

Kitchen



Living Room (with a skylight)

View from the dining area

Second Bedroom in the attic

The apartment is small but it meets all of my basic needs and is in a great location.  Next up is touring a few Paris landmarks before the job begins in a week...