by Angela Sanford
I enjoy travelling and have visited every province in Canada, no territories yet, and several countries beyond our borders. Currently, I am in France, a country that never made, on its own accord, it to my bucket list, believe it or not. I mean, obviously, given the opportunity I’d have come to explore but, until now, there was nothing compelling me to make it a destination of choice.
Most of you are aware of the reason why I am in Paris, to watch our son, Wyatt, compete at the Olympics, and many of you have learned of the struggles we met upon arrival, so that leaves me to share our experience of France, thus far.
Having booked an Airbnb, nine months prior to our departure, it was refunded within the hour of our booking. The host, realizing that the booking was during a peak interest time - for the Olympics – cancelled our booking and opted to repost it the next day and over double the rental fee – extortion really of some soul trying to partake in the adventure of a lifetime. However, that meant we had to rebook and so we did. We are better for it, I am certain.
We rented a bachelor apartment 15km north of Paris in Soisy-sous-Montmorency whose owners have been more than accommodating and welcoming. Dylan is also a professional driver and made arrangements to collect us from the airport and returned later in the week to pick up the couple joining us. With the luggage situation, they checked in regularly to offer to provide us with anything we needed – we couldn’t have asked for better hosts.
The apartment itself is cozy and comfortable, and just a short 5-minute walk to the local market providing us with a morning jaunt and fresh breads, vegetables and more daily. Not since travelling to the Czech Republic have I had the pleasure of a fresh stroll to purchase products that can satisfy any immediate craving I may be having for meals. Don’t get me wrong -there’s the convenience of a local store near my home – more of a ten-minute walk but one I enjoy – and they offer a selection of vegetables and meats – but not fresh from local for everything nor could they!
Soisy boasts a population of 18, 000 though, aside from the proximity of the homes, one would never believe it to be highly populated. The community is fairly quiet and on our walks we have yet to meet mor than a dozen people at any point. The largest crowd is often at the cigar bar just a few doors around the turn from our apartment.
While I comment Europe for its quality food products that have much better processing standards than America, I am baffled by the number of people smoking in public venues or walking down the street. Considering how few times I encounter someone smoking in public it can be easy to forget people even smoke. Not until we entered the heart of Paris did I think we weren’t travelling a decade (OK - reality check - 3 decades) ago. Both Soisy and previously, Udi, in the Czech, remind me of the nostalgic days of my youth and much simpler times.
I would be remiss if I didn’t note the weather and would receive taunting from my husband who is fascinated by the weather no matter where we may be - with or without him. The temperature has been moderate with very little humidity, just about perfect, in my opinion. We may not be home, but it is home for several more days and it was an excellent choice, one where we benefited from a little adversity - much like life.
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