Voici Paris...

So, finally, here we are, in Paris.

I have been very quiet on the blog lately. I wish I could say that I was busy preparing for our move to Paris, but I was not. Work took up a big chunk of my time, as always, but our Chinese New Year week-long break in KL was also a great excuse for procrastinating.

After a mini debacle at the French Embassy in Singapore (it's their way of welcoming me to France), we finally got our visas (only the halfway point to becoming fully legitimate residents of France), I finally got around to packing (and a good 80 kgs of it) and we finally arrived in the City of Lights (and romance, and fashion, and blood-boiling bureaucracy, and non-existent customer service) last week.

The Eiffel Tower again? Why is it everywhere??

Sophie & YL accompanied me here, also in part to hunt for an apartment. We were not successful.

We are not fussy people. We have simple needs. We just want somewhere with character but clean with modern comforts. Creaky floors in a 200-year old apartment I can take, walking up 3 floors without an elevator is part of life, but not kitchen appliances that belong to a previous decade or two, bathtubs and showers that are caked with calcium deposits, and kitsch furniture. So let's hope flat number 14 will be the one.

In love with Paris already

Sophie enjoyed herself thoroughly: squealing in delight at every sight, skipping along the cobblestone pavements, and practising the few French phrases she knew over and over and over again on me.

"Je m'appelle Sophie. Comment tu t'appelle?"

"Comment allez vous?"

This is a huge change from the indifferent and uninterested Sophie of 4 years ago when we lived in Europe. Of course, she was also barely 2 then. The short of it was that it was a very encouraging sign to see her embracing her new environment so thoroughly. We will have lots of fun together, mon cheri!

In the meantime, I will be here alone for the next 2 months, missing my 3 fireflies back home very much, and counting down the days till I return...

Bon courage!