The nurses reading this will know what I mean when I say that jet lag feels like the end of a 12-hour night shift for which you did not sleep during the day. When we arrived in Paris yesterday morning, we made our way directly to the apartment that we rented, then slept for 3 hours, doing exactly the opposite of all the jet lag literature that states you should not sleep, and instead adjust your activities according to the rhythm of the local time. I believe that the people who suggest such nonsense have never actually flown to a different time zone.

Paris is my favourite city, and I have been lucky to have visited it many times over the past few years. As such, I never feel the pressure of a first-time visitor who must take in the major sites all at once. Yesterday, we simply wandered around, enjoying the sunny day and warm temperatures, re-acquainting ourselves with the city.

One of the most charming aspects of Paris is the number of beautiful parks and green spaces located right in the heart of this huge city. They are the perfect places for lounging, strolling, eating, and dodging aggressive pigeons. The apartment that we have rented is centrally located, so we were able to walk over to the Tuileries garden (Jardin des Tuileries), located right behind the Louvre.

In the evening, we headed to a café/bar near home for pre-dinner drinks. The French café culture is legendary, of course, and with good reason. There, you are never pressured to order anything more than what you want, be it a single glass of wine or beer, a cup of coffee, or indeed a full meal. Every customer is made to feel welcome, and it is understood that the table is yours for as long as you wish regardless of how much or how little you are consuming.

We enjoyed glasses of white wine at Lézard Café last evening, which was packed with locals socializing with friends both new and old. All the windows were open garage-door style, and the small patio was crowded with additional tables and chairs. We spent a very pleasant evening watching as seated customers called out to friends on the sidewalk who were hitherto preoccupied with the commute home from work until they were persuaded to pull up a chair and join their friends for a drink. We also noted a long table of eight customers, later joined by 3 more friends, one of whom may have been new to the crowd. He was introduced to the table and made his away around, saying hello to all, and exchanging the double-cheek kiss that seems so easy and natural for Parisians. 

Paris is alive and well.