À bientôt

I thought a move to the other side of the world was a good excuse to change the look and title of the blog. It’s hard to find a title that hasn’t been used before.

The movers were here yesterday and packed all of our belongings. We were told to expect to see them in 6 weeks. In the meantime, we’re living in the apartment with the bare minimum. We’ll move into a hotel in a couple of days while we eagerly await the arrival of our Entry Visas to Papua New Guinea. We hope to be on a plane by next Friday at the latest.

We’ve lived in many different regions of Canada, and now the world, and there is one constant in every place we’ve been; it doesn’t matter where you are, there is good and bad everywhere. There are a lot of things about life in Paris that I will not miss, but there is no sense in dwelling on the negative. What I will miss the most about Paris has to do with food: pain au chocolat, cheese, bread. What Lori will miss is sitting in a café, drinking a chilled glass of rosé and people watching.

I posted a picture of some of the packed boxes to Facebook yesterday as I wondered how many times our life has been packed up and shipped somewhere else. Some people have expressed concern about how often we move around and change our lives. They’re worried that we’re unhappy and must be searching for happiness in other places. I strongly disagree with that sentiment. What I have a hard time explaining to some people is that it’s the search that brings us happiness. It’s the discovery of new places and foods and experiences that we crave. I’m a firm believer in the adage that if you don’t learn something new everyday, then it’s a day wasted. We could read about the south Pacific region, but what better way is there to learn, than to live there?

I’m not foolish; I know there will come a time when I will tire of our new life in Papua New Guinea and regret leaving Paris. I will get up one morning and crave a pain au chocolat or the weekend will come and I’ll wish that I could get on a train to Brussels, but until then, I am excited for tomorrow.

I will leave you with some things I’ve learned in case you plan to stay in Paris:

1.     It’s tough to find ice. As North Americans, we are used to ice cold drinks in the summer, but not so much in Europe.

2.     Going to the top of the Arc de Triomphe is better than going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It’s cheaper, there’s no line and you get a great view of the Eiffel Tower. The downside is you have to climb 284 steps.

3.     Paris is built for picnics. Grab a bottle of wine, a baguette, some cheese and a salad and sit along the river or in one of the thousands of parks. Yes, you are allowed to drink in public.

4.     French pizzas are really good. When you think of French cuisine you don’t normally think of pizzas, but you should. They are different from what we’re used to in North America. They have a thin crust, use less cheese and have different toppings. My favourite is when they cook an egg in the centre of the pizza. All pizzas should come with an egg.

5.     Learn the basics of the language and use them. Bonjour(hello), au revoir(good-bye), merci(thank you) and s'il vous plait(please) go a long way. Say hello when you enter a shop and good-bye when you leave.

I’m not sure when I will post a new entry to the blog, but I’ll be wearing flip-flops when I do. Talk to you on the other side.

db