The big day of moving came quickly Thursday. The movers came at 8 a.m. sharp and were ready to get all 220 boxes upstairs to the 6th floor. We figured it would take the full two scheduled days and were in it for the long haul. To our excitement, they installed an elevator on the exterior of the building and planned to haul everything up through the balcony and into the apartment. The kids loved seeing this contraption as it was being set up.
Around 9 a.m., the boxes started coming up and it was a whirlwind. The movers spoke little English, but we were able to get along just fine. We numbered the rooms and, as the boxes came up, we directed them to the right room. I think half of the boxes were kids’ toys and/or books! I was surprised how small the cargo truck was that our shipment came in, only to realize it was just 1 of 2 cargo trucks! Luckily, the second was not very full. 🙂
To our surprise, by 1:30 all the boxes were out of the trucks and in our house! The movers decided to call it a day and let us sort through the boxes, planning to come back early the next morning to finish the unpacking and take away the empty boxes.
We were all exhausted by dinner on Thursday, and I even fell asleep on the couch by 9 p.m.! (Which is quite a bit earlier than the normal midnight I have been staying up to… which is quite a bit later than what I would go to bed at in the U.S.!!!)
Friday morning the crew came and took out the empty boxes and finished the unpacking pretty quickly. That left us the rest of the day to buy the things we needed and sort through the chaos. Again, we were exhausted and decided to go out to dinner to celebrate… but boy did I pick a bad restaurant! Google did me dirty, and despite the high reviews, the food was very underwhelming and quite undercooked (even by French standards, in my opinion—and we even asked for it well done!). Needless to say, we will not go back to that restaurant anytime soon, or ever!
This weekend the chaos of the move continued, but the highlight has to be using the “Too Good To Go” app and getting surprise food bags that would otherwise be thrown out. We hit some winners from Boulangerie’s (bakeries), but have to say the produce surprises were in pretty bad shape. It is pretty fun to hunt for a deal and try to get a good one nearby.
Saturday we ran errands, went on our food scavenger hunt (we have also been scoping out boulangeries in the area), and unpacked here and there. I have to give Hailey a ton of credit for unpacking two rooms so far almost fully, and half of the living area, which was home to about 20 boxes of books!
Saturday night we had pasta on the balcony and then went for a nice walk around the block, just before picking up our last Too Good To Go box, which even came with a nice strawberry tart the kids devoured.
Today was another nice day in Paris and happened to be the finish of the Tour de France, which made the trip to church interesting. Well, not so much the trip there, but the trip back was “exciting.” The church was yet again a highlight and quite a nice service. After the service, we picked up Hailey’s new cargo bike across the street. We were actually able to cross the route of the Tour de France, which was cool for me. I used to watch it quite a bit when Lance Armstrong was crushing the Tour (and we all know why now!).
We picked up the bike and some accessories and tried to get home quickly before the hunger struck… surprise! The entire area was blocked off and it would take us over an hour to get home. McDonald’s to the rescue! So we hiked back and grabbed a quick bite (next time we will aim for a more local option, but we were desperate and getting hungrier by the minute). I was a bit reluctant to lock up the bike on the street being not more than 15 minutes old from the store, but we had no issues. After the meal, I took Hailey and the kids to the metro to make sure it was not closed, and then I was off. I took the bike for its inaugural run in Paris, and while it handles like a boat, it was a speed machine. I raced around the route of the Tour and saw some really cool spots we will be sure to head back to, possibly next week. I am excited to get my bike this week and unlock Paris for the four of us.
And that is the week. The rest of the day I ran a few more errands (picked up another food box… we are done with produce surprises…) and hooked up the TV so we could have Sunday movie night as a family. We watched Peter Pan and ate pizza—it was a great way to end the chaotic week and get ready for another.
We will continue to unpack, organize, and sift through what we need vs. what can go into the “cave” and get ready for another week in Paris!
So happy to read your unpacking ventures and see pictures of your new home