A VERY quiet Paris

We are so lucky to be able to stay in Stephane and Eve’s beautiful apartment in the 17th for the week. They are off on a vacation in Italy and offered us the chance to stay here. After all the moving around, it is nice to take it more slowly and settle in for a while. We’re hitting up some major sights and museums, but also spending plenty of time cooking meals at home, hanging out in parks, and visiting some of the municipal pools in the city. The city is incredibly quiet these days, sometimes feeling almost like a ghost town, aside from around the major tourist attractions. In our neighborhood, for example, many of the shops, bakeries, and restaurants are shut for August vacation. The one store open on our block offers artisanal and very expensive rum.