Minor Differences in the Courses of Action Taken by Myself when I Arrived in Paris and Abbey when She Arrived in Paris

First thing I did: Wander around the loading dock of the Post Office next door with a ton of luggage looking for the front door of our apartment building while being laughed at by French postal workers.

First thing Abbey did: Walk through the front door and go right up to the apartment.



First thing I did in the apartment: Put luggage in the middle of the floor. Sent out an e-mail that I got here safely. Took a five-and-a-half hour nap.

First thing Abbey did in the apartment: took her suitcases to the bedroom, called family members to let them know of her safe arrival. Took inventory of the apartment, making a list of all of the cleaning supplies and household items we needed to go purchase.



First thing I did in public: Avoiding eye contact with people, I found a grocery store and bought an alarm clock, a six pack of beer, coffee, some frozen pizzas, and some apples. Did I say I bought apples? I meant that I took them to the cash register and got yelled at in French and had my apples taken away.

First thing Abbey did in public: Speaking French to people, she located all of the cleaning supplies we needed in the store and everything we would need for a nice, French dinner (I’ve been informed that despite being bought in France, frozen pizza is, by and large, not considered French) and bought them.



First thing I did after my first shopping trip: Came home, put the beer and French pizza in the fridge, figured out how to set the alarm clock, and took another nap (this time with an alarm set).

First thing Abbey did after her first shopping trip: Found a boulangerie near our apartment and bought dessert. Upon returning to the apartment, she put all the cleaning supplies and food away, wiped the kitchen counters with the disinfectant wipes she had purchased and began unpacking her belongings into the appropriate drawers, lamenting that there weren’t more organizational cubbies/containers while I checked facebook.



First meal in Paris for Tommy: Un frozen pizza and a few beers.

First meal in Paris for Abbey: Salad made from fresh produce with homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Baguettes with a vast array of toppings including: Fresh Chevre, Fresh Brie, oil and vinegar, two types of pate (mousse de canard, terrine de champagne), a glass of pinot noir and – for dessert – crème brulee and un tart citron from the boulangerie she found on the way home from the grocery.



First thing after I finished my first dinner: Had another beer, emptied my suitcases onto the floor looking for toiletries and went to bed with the apartment in cluttered disarray, making a mental note to go buy toothpaste the next day.

First thing Abbey did after her first dinner: put all of the food away and began to do some dishes before finishing unpacking and putting all of her things away. She then brushed her teeth, turned on a movie and went to sleep.




My more generous readers will say that Abbey and I complement each other well. My more honest and realistic readers will agree with my assessment that I married up…way, way up.