Friday, May 3rd was a day of rest for the most part. Staying in touch with friends via Facetime, doing schoolwork via Google Hangout, writing in journals, reading and simply resting seemed to take over the day.  The weather being cold and drizzly didn’t help motivate us much to get “out and about” either.  But early in the afternoon, Bob had a brief meeting with Mme Tizon to discuss a small issue with the apartment’s dishwasher – it has a finicky dial/switch.  Mme Tizon, the building manager, is a gem.  She speaks basically no English but communicates well.  But, as this was a fairly complicated discussion about possibly hiring a fix-it man to come look at the dishwasher, I thought it was important for her to see and understand the issue better.  She came to the apartment and saw the problem. And then we sat at the table with Google Translate to discuss a plan of action.

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Result? I emailed my Uncle Jack who said not to worry… he’d take care of it when he arrives on May 14.

After the visit from Mme. Tizon we headed out to Rue de Sevres for a look at the famous Bon Marche shopping mall.  As mentioned earlier, the Bon Marche was one of the first “department stores” in Paris and in many ways changed the way folks thought about shopping all over the world.  Now, it’s a VERY upscale place… but you can still see the original structure from 1852 – the famous criss-crossing escalators are terrific!

Attached to the Bon Marche there is also an upscale grocery store – very reminiscent, although smaller, of supermarkets in the US.  The girls were intrigued by some of the items for sale.

Although not a really eventful day, it was still one where we learned a great deal about what it’s like to live in Paris…. if you have a lot of money!!