Je ne sais pas - I don't know

This phrase has become a constant in our every day life here in Paris as daily we have been asked directions, not by Americans but Parisians. At first when asked we fumbled, laughed nervously and said "Anglais?" then threw in some weird hand motions but got the message out that we had no dang clue. Now as we have became a little more comfortable and familar with our surroundings we have changed it up. We still laugh nervously but are able to say "Je ne sais pas" and it works, they quickly apologize  and walk away - we high five each other as we have finally and succesfully communicated in French.
The other day as we were heading out, we were approached by a couple of people who asked if we spoke English. Here was our big moment to speak English and possible help someone,  we couldn't say yes enough. They asked in the clearest of English if they could give us something, yep it was a Jehovah Witness Watch Tower brochure, just our luck.
These past couple of days have been amazing not that the others have not but I think I have a crush on Paris. She has this certain type of beauty that I have only seen in pictures, she is rich in history and culture. Food is like porn and porn is like food, its everywhere.  There is a dirtyness to her that plays into the intrigue. Litter in the streets, graffitti on the walls, a strong stench of urine in the corners of the buildings and lets not forget the dog poop. To be honest I didn't know what to expect of Paris, yes the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame were givens but what was Paris really like. Would they judge me as being the overweight assumming American? Was I wearing the right clothing, the right shoes, I didn't want to stick out as a tourist ( not that the map in my hand would give it away). All I can say is that Paris has been nothing more than kind to me, helpful and pleasant.
I worked myself up for nothing, so as I let that go my crush grows stronger. I want to find out more but not about the standard postcard picture stuff. I wanna know the politics, where do people get their money, how do 4 markets, 8 cafes and 3 bakeries on the same block stay open...I want to know why all the outdoor cafe chairs face the street - there is so much to know.
 I have two weeks left to explore my crush, so much more to take in with my eyes, my mouth and my soul. Trying not to begin the countdown to when we leave but embrace the days we have left.

Hotel de Ville

Montmartre windmill

Lunch!

Jardin du Luxembourg

Boats in the fountain

Sand box fun

Tatum's first crepe

"Us"

Some day I want to sit here

Rue de Rivoli

Crepes everywhere

Street art

The beautiful flowers

The beautiful smells

The beautiful art

The beautiful tastes

Stinky cheese tasting

Green man, Poisson and Beer

I can't believe it has been a week already but according to my Fitbit and shoes we have logged 45mi of walking in 6 days. Speaking of walking, crossing the street in Paris is lke the game of Frogger - sure there are cross walks but I think that is the target zone for drivers. Even though we have the "green man" as we have named the walk sign, you best not jump off the curb to quickly or it is game over. The last couple of days have been less about doing and more about seeing. We have taken wonderful strolls down the streets in our arroundesment and found some quaint shops, cafes and parks. We have spent hours this week just kicking a ball around, playing in the sand, sliding down slides and collecting rocks - the joys of a two year old are the joys of a 48 year old.
I decided to try and make poisson du almondine tonight for dinner, the trick was to find fish as we were warned not to purchase fish at the local supermarket but then the street market was closed for the day. Laura recalled we saw a Poisonn store not to far from our house, so we traveled out in the rain - ahh Paris rain feels so different than Portland rain. We arrived at Poisson Lacroix where we were greeted by the owner Charly a Michelin award winning Poissonaire - what a chacter he was. He spoke as much English as I do French but we had the best conversation. He was rollicking and expressive, he easily could of been a character in a movie Laura remarked. He called out to the guy across the street at the dry cleaners when I needed change, he called out to the young man at the cafe on the corner who spoke some English to come over, it was truly the highlight of the day. He asked us to "like" him on Facebook, we took a picture together and he invited us to Les' Heures Heureuses de Paris (sort of a taste of the local streets in each arroundesment,small bites for 2 Euros). Even though I have no clue what type of fish I bought and the fact I paid 14 Euros for one filet, it was an amazingly entertaining and delicious dinner.
As for the beer, I know I am in wine country but there are so many beers here to try and so inexpensive and so unusual (tequila flavored, red beer, etc.) I just couldn't miss out on it.
This next week will be filled with a crepe or two, more cheese and bread, wine, beer and hopefully 50 miles of walking oh and a trip to Paris Disneyland.

Sacre Coure

Colonne de Juillet

Random goldfish on the Pont de Arts aka Lovers Bridge

Locks of love

Daily fresh herbs

Do you want to build a sand man?

Looking at Paris through the eyes of a two year old

Carousel Sacre Coure

The infamous Moulin Rouge

Our new friend Charly

Oui oui we "Like"

Public toilets on the streets of Paris - I love it!

Home of absinthes

Rainbow colors of macaroons

Sobeautiful 

Red beer and raspberry beer - yes please

To the market we will go

The perfect carrot

Pick any day of the week and you are guaranteed to find an outdoor market here in Paris. My first market trip went really well, I scored some amazing deals but today I think I had an epic fail. We decided to head to the market early since it was Friday, we were sure the locals would be out in droves stocking up for the weekend and leaving the weekend markets to the tourists. We had a beautiful walk down Oberkampf seeing parts of the 11th arrondesment we had not seen before. A chocolatier shop, an artesian fromagerie and multiple butcher shops and fish stores, I was in foodie heaven well that was true until I got to the market. Rows and rows of fresh vegetables and fruits, strawberries so perfect and red you would think they were fake. Fresh herbs giant artichokes, the perfect orange carrots oh and lets not forget all the cheese, meats and seafood stands (live lobsters out of water) I was paralyzed by it all, overwhelmed with intimidation. I dont speak the language and I was trying to convert everything into what it would cost in the US (big mistake). I went from making pizza to fish to chicken to pork at ever stand I encountered...I couldn't make  up my  mind and I could not figure out how to order less than a kilo. Twenty two Euros for salmon-no way, oh yeah thats 2.2 pounds so half would be eleven Euros, uggg my head was spinning plus it doesn't help that I am speaking Spanish instead of French. So I bought fresh herbs, some haricot verts, mushrooms, apples, avocados and 3 Frankfort's and a head of garlic that cost over 1 Euro (it better be good)...well at least we had lunch. Laura had a great idea to see if I could find a market buddy, someone that would take me shopping and show me the ropes, until I find my buddy its study,study study...last thing I want to buy is viande de cheval..aka horse meat.

Fresh seafood

Beautiful colors

Later in the afternoon we had a wonderful walk to an amazing park called Buttes Chaumont. I was amazed at the number of people young and old just sitting in the park enjoying a beautiful late afternoon, they were seated on benches and the hilltops were so full I thought maybe there was a concert about to begin. The park overlooked a part of the city that teased you to come closer, there were puppet theaters a carousel, numerous eateries and a body of water that contained turtles...we cold of spent the whole day in the park.  
We were reminded by our stomachs that it was getting late so we headed home and dined on those Frankforters which by the way were fresh and meaty tasting, no nitrates or a tube of salt oh and dont even get me going on the French potato chips which actually contained potatoes.

Amazing view

Puppet show

The park

Park selfie

Sandbox mayhem

The girls

Park bridge

More turtles?

Slide kiss

Celebratory bottle of wine

Master of the kitchen

I just wanna toast some bread

In prepping for our trip I perused numerous travel guides and blogs making sure I knew some of the key nuances specific to Paris. I learned things like I am not to place my hands in my lap while eating, coffee is less expensive if ordered at the bar versus a table and I should only spread something on my bread at breakfast (otherwise its per bite). What I dont know and no one is writing about, is how to use the major appliances. Sure there are pictures to represent the different cooking options on the oven and if you push enough buttons on the microwave it will eventually start but why can't these everyday culinary accoutrements be universal. Luckily our landlord left all the appliance instruction books in the cupboard so problem solved as all appliance instruction books come in multiple languages, right? The manual for the microwave was a no go as there were no English instructions, I even turned the book upside down but on the bright side the oven manual was in English and turns out it is also a convection oven so we may have toast in the morning. 

Our second day was low key and everything we wanted it to be. A breakfast consisting of a bowl of fresh fruit and chocolate de pain. A wonderful excursion to Gardette Park which was filled with a language we can all understand, the sound of children laughing. A tour of the 11th and 10th arrondissements,our senses on overload with all the people, cafe's, scooters and history. I can't imagine trying to take it all in during a normal vacation period. Capping off the evening with a steak  dinner and the most amazing food item ever invented,Nutella.

Fruit and chocolate de pain

Gardette Park

Park time

Everywhere you go

Lunch!

11th Arrondissement 

Train station

Theater

Plaza de tired bebe

Blue Cheese Brie?