Chez nous...Ile Saint-Louis

We visited our apartment today!  We met our Swedish tenant, Arta, who has been there for 11 months and will stay another year, possibly two.  It was wonderful to see the apartment as a home, and Arta loves it.  She works outside of Paris, a 45-minute ride on the regional train, and spoke of her routine...a picturesque walk from the apartment, behind Notre Dame, to the Saint-Michel RER station.  She had the choice of living in the town where she works, but opted to live in Paris, and was excited to find an apartment on Ile Saint-Louis.  She tells her friends that, living on the Ile in the middle of Seine, she feels a little like Switzerland...not Right Bank, not Left Bank, just neutral!

We had coffee afterwards with Thibaut, whose company manages the apartment rental, and it was great to catch up with him.  We engaged his company in the early days of their business and it's great to hear how well they are doing, and still enjoy that personal touch that convinced us they were the right people to work with.

My favourite moment of the day was observing an older, white-haired man and his greying Dachsund crossing the street close to where we were having lunch.  I watched as he paused, waiting for his four-legged friend to commence the crossing.  Waiting...waiting...and then a gentle nudge of encouragement from behind with the tip of his shoe got the old boy moving and away they went.  Such understanding between man and his dog...