Day 12 in France

Saturday morning view from a Parisian kitchen window

This morning, waking up after a very good night’s sleep, I headed into our rather tiny Parisian kitchen to make coffee for my Mom and me. As I stood over the sink, measuring coffee into the espresso pot, I could not pry my eyes off of the beautiful Parisian morning that was unfolding right outside the kitchen window.

These kitchen windows happen to look right out onto the street. And so through them I see our particular Parisian street of rue Caulaincourt teeming with life. I can see fabulous outfits on both the young and the old, people with their bouquets of flowers or their shopping bags filled with groceries and/or their crazy dogs in tow. I can see the teenagers on their scooters and kids with their Grandmas, and tourists in their shorts clutching their maps, and croissants and giant coffees .

Also through this window I can look directly into the bakery (our bakery) that is located just across the courtyard from the flat. I can see the bakers start their shifts at 3 am (when I am up getting a glass of water) and then see them working throughout the day bringing out trays of their terrific baguettes that people line up outside to purchase. From this kitchen window I can almost make out the extraordinary tarte citrons, tarte aux Normandes, croissants, pain au chocolats, Paris Brests (no, not a typo) macarons, or even the crème brûlees in tiny glass ramekins.

Being that it was such a beautiful, sunny morning I decided I should open the window and take in the fresh air. As soon as I unlatched the window to swing it open wide I was hit by the most amazing aroma of fresh bread. It actually may have been the croissants or the pain au levain or any one of the pastries but the scent was so overwhelming and delicious all I could do was to stand there, somewhat dumbfounded at the windows, sniffing wildly, making a mental list of a bakery shopping list.

I took my time as I washed the dishes and drank my coffee. I smelled the amazing smells and gazed out at the view from this tiny Parisian kitchen window. I thought about how it was very unlikely that I would be staying in this lovely flat on rue Caulaincourt ever again, that it would only be during these few fleeting weeks that I would get to smell these smells and enjoy this beautiful view. And so all I can do is to enjoy every single minute of it…