Our new life in Paris report
 

Read about it here:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/travel/14985980.htm

and more about where we live here:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/14985988.htm

Hope to see you all in Paris soon!
Lutece

Lutece, I read this in the Sunday paper. It was good.
I'll be there in October for the first time and am very excited! But I will be sad if I get seated in the dark at a restaurant! hehe

Jayne1973,

How crazy that you've read this - do you live in DFW? I'm glad you liked it and are coming to visit Paris for the first time!

You know, my husband and I are in summer French classes through the city, with immigrants from around the world. And who should end up in our class at our same level? A guy from Grand Prairie. Then he gets a call from a friend in Dallas who tells him about the article, and then he tells them he's in class with us. Small, small world!

I hope you have a wonderful trip!
Lutece (Paula)

Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you, your DH and pookies have a terrific year...or two...

Lutece -
I can totally identify with the "crime drama withdrawal" and add to that "Angels baseball" withdrawal for me.

But, to live your dream . . . what is more important? Thank you so much for sharing your adventure. Please keep us connected with future articles. I'm bleeding green envy right now!

Linda

Ooooooh Paula, you are living all of our dreams. You did it. I have read your posts on the horrors of renting your apartment and all the work that went into it. As a FORMER landlord, I sympathized with you.

Now you are enjoying the fruits of your labor, along with making your dream a reality. We all hate you - but we love you for actually making it happen ;-)

Love your writing style and feel as if we know you ... watch out here it comes ..... how big is that studio couch????? And when is your mother leaving?

Maybe we'll pass you on the street in the next year. We'll know your by your happy American face, which has now become a happy French face. Texas and probably Paris, will never be the same.

So when are you getting a tattoo, perhaps a small papillion on your shoulder - discounts to locals.

Nina

LOVED it and I wish you the very best year in Paris imaginable! I'm originally from Dallas but moved away to Colorado a couple years ago. I asked my folks to save the paper with this article

Lutece -- great articles. How lucky and brave you are! Keep up the reports.
((c))

Paula, yes I live in DFW and my husband actually read your story to me Sunday morning. We enjoyed it very much. Had you done some freelance for the Star-Telegram before?

&quot;<i>Had you done some freelance for the Star-Telegram before? </i>&quot;

From the article: &quot;Paula Caballero is a <b>former Star-Telegram reporter</b> who ran away to Paris.&quot;

Nice to read your article!
I used to live on Rue de Bruxelles so know your neighbourhood very well. Loved the area but hated the Monoprix on Place Blanche... ;)

Lutece-

Thanks for posting this. I also read it this weekend--yes another Dallasite.

I'm headed to Paris on Monday to scout neighborhoods. Who knows?

It is not often that I can say to someone &quot;You are living my dream.&quot; (Usually there are kids somewhere in the mix and I'm childfree.)

But yes, you are living my dream. Great articles, thanks for posting them.

I had no idea there were so many people with Texas ties on this board! Thanks for all your kind words. I will post links to future articles here, too.

Nina66 - You have a good point, perhaps we should consider tattoos. I was thinking a cute T-shirt would be enough, but....

As for the sofabed, well it's plenty big and comfy. The only problem for most people is we're right above it in the lofted mezzanine bed. I can't really convey just how &quot;cozy&quot; the setup is, but my parents did only stay one night with us and two nights in a hotel, if that gives you an idea!

hanl - Yeah, it's not the Monoprix in the world, but it's what we've got. We use the Franprix on rue Vintimille as well as the ATAC near Place de Clichy.

LoriS - You have to wonder how many Americans come home with a new mortgage after a trip to Paris! Did you read the NYT article about Americans buying real estate in the 17th? It ran just a few weeks ago. If you can't find it, I can email the text to you, at least.

Jaynie1973 - Yes I worked for the S-T for nearly a decade. I left to work in PR for a few years and then we quit our jobs and came here! With any luck, maybe I can reinvent myself as a travel writer!

Thanks again for everyone's supportive comments!

flagging--will check this out later from home. :-)

PS After meeting you at the DFW GTG, I really wanted to buy a condo in Paris too!! :-D

Please continue to post your articles here, as they are most enjoyable.
((S))((*))

Tagging to savor later....

Yes I used to frequent that tiny Franprix on rue Vintimille too. But my favourite thing was to shop on rues Lepic and Abbesses on Saturday/Sunday mornings. My boyfriend at the time (now my husband) used to live on rue des Abbesses so we'd constantly be shuttling up and down that street...

Also used to be regulars at the bar called le Vallois at the Blanche end of rue de Bruxelles. The barman that used to work there was a great character but it turned out he'd been a bit too generous with the free beers and got the sack. Used to be frequented by all sorts of characters, from bikers to policemen to French celebs...

Anyway, hope you manage to make a go of things in Paris.

Lutece - Ah...to simply quit your job, pack up the belongings and move to a foreign country sounds so dreamy. :-) I'm another DFW person (Plano) who loves Paris as well and will be there come Sept. 2nd with older sister in tow (I'm playing tour guide). As much as I love London, the city of Paris and pretty much anywhere in Switzerland would be my top choices if I were to just move abroad. Glad you love it there!

hanl - We love Le Valois! Such a great neighborhood place!

trafaelwyr - I cannot believe all you DFW people coming out of the woodwork on these boards! Glad to hear you're making a trip soon.

Sounds like maybe we'll need to plan a Paris GTG with DFW/Texas folks...