Well, we did it. We moved me across town, and into Georges' life. Or should I say, we've merged our lives together -- into one big pile of boxes and a lot of things to reorganize.
Saturday was Moving Day. We picked up the small van at noon, and our first stop was to head out to Ikea where we made our first major purchase together: a new bed and mattress, and Georges insisted on a new desk chair for me (on which I am comfortably installed at this very moment!) Plus a small area rug for the office/guest room and assorted small household items, because when you're at Ikea it is impossible to resist all the great deals and cool designs. They can even make a wastebasket look interesting, those people at Ikea. Total time getting to and shopping at Ikea: approx. 3.5 hours, including lunch and the wait time to pick up our order.
Then, we headed back into Paris and down to the 15th to my apartment, where Georges will now never let me hear the end of it for telling him, "Oh, it's really just a few little boxes, amour". Well, there were just a few boxes -- mostly packed with books and papers. Plus about 648 bags of things that wouldn't fit into boxes. Thank God for a building with an elevator and that we were able to park the van right in front of the door. While I frantically finished packing up the food in the kitchen and the last remaining books, and putting piles of things near the elevator, Georges moved it all downstairs and loaded the van. Fortunately he had the foresight to upgrade the size of the van and everything just fit.
Cutting across town in the late Saturday afternoon traffic, we had a chance to take a breather and drink some water. The next challenge would be to find a parking space close to the door of his building. This proved to be no small task, and he had to circle the block about six times before a spot opened up nearby, just barely big enough to squeeze the van in, with a little creative "bumper car" action on Georges' part. (This is how people park cars in Paris; c'est normal.) Then it was the two of us, sprinting back and forth into the entry of the building with all the things, trying to get it all in before it got dark and started raining. Then of course we had to do the second step, carting it all from the entry to the far side of the courtyard and into the house. Afterward, we decided to take the van back and go get ourselves a much-deserved drink. When we got home, we were both too exhausted to bother with putting the new bed together or doing any kind of serious unpacking, and instead settled for arranging the piles so we could walk across the floor without killing ourselves. The cat didn't know what to make of it all but she liked having new places in which to hide before jumping out to attack our unsuspecting feet (a hobby of hers).
Sunday, first I went with Georges while he cast his vote in round one of the mayoral elections. We also hit Picard to stock up on frozen foods and to the hardware store for a few odds and ends we needed. Then Georges spent nearly four hours -- bless his heart -- putting together this very complicated bed frame and the four big storage drawers underneath, and not once did I hear him swear at it. Meantime, I sorted which things needed to go upstairs and took as much as I could, leaving the heaviest boxes for him (it's awkward, this spiral staircase, when you are carrying bulky things). Then I put away groceries, we cleaned out the bathroom cabinets so I could put things away in there (and out of the reach of small children). So as of this morning we had the downstairs floor cleared enough that the nanny can do her job with the little guys without having too many obstacles.
The nice weather of Saturday has since turned horrible... starting with rain most of yesterday and today it's rain with some vicious wind gusts; a good time to stay home and work. This morning I spent a couple of hours unpacking some clothes (but not all) and making space in the office to unroll the new tapis. Soon, the boys will be home for lunch and I will go and visit with them before forcing myself to come back up here and do some much-needed W-O-R-K.
Last night, before falling asleep, we talked about the weekend, and about the future. Then we just looked at each other from the comfort of our new bed, and smiled. There were simply no words big enough to answer "How do you feel?"
