Chez nous

Moving is stressful. No doubt about it. Throw a new country, new marriage, and starting from scratch into the mix and its a whole new adventure. We’ve had things scattered about for years, New York, North Carolina, Milwaukee and Oxford without a home to call our own. Finally, post-wedding, it was move time. And consolidate. The whole move was a bit of a challenge (Oxford-London-Paris) and finding the right apartment in Paris was no small feat. Between waiting on visas and finding somewhere to live, we were in limbo in London for a while. But we did it and found an apartment in Paris that we adore. Completely. A place of our own. Living in the same country. Together. Now….about filling it…

We opted for an ‘unfurnished’ place because all of the furnished ones were furnished to the point they even had plates and utensils. (Where on earth would all my lovely Le Creuset go?) Not to mention they all felt like someone else’s home. So, unfurnished it was. However, ‘unfurnished’ in Paris doesn’t just mean without furniture. No, we had to install an entire kitchen…all that we started with was a sink! 

Luckily, we’re just about there now and have created our perfect home…we’ll worth the effort!  Our next home will certainly have a lot to live up to. C’est la vie!

What makes it all even better is all the little adventures we had along the way…exploring les Puces (antique furniture market), Drouot (auction house), the hardware store, and even Ikea, all the while having to improve our rather non-existant French. Not to mention driving around Paris (a feat in and of itself) with furniture protruding from the car. I swore we would get pulled over and would be unable to explain ourselves! Luckily, it seems, no one gets pulled over in Paris… or so we’ve yet to see.

I was so thrilled we even found a home for my ‘Shutters’, a piece of artwork that my poor parents have been storing for the last decade or so in hopes that they would one day find a home!

And of course, I can’t not forget the lovely kitchen my handy husband built for me! 

That’s where we are right now. With all the little treasures to be found in Paris, I’m sure we’ll be making a few additions along the way.