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We're Back!

Paris, France - We've returned to Europe for a three-week sojourn in France, Switzerland, and the UK. We're obviously very excited.

We arrived in Paris Sunday around 11AM. Our approach to jet lag is akin to tearing the bandaid off quickly: We purposely sleep little if at all on our transatlantic flight (below is a photo of Hannah, trying not to sleep on the flight), consume copious amounts of caffeine after we land, slowly descend into irritability and mild delirium, and then collapse after staying up as late as we can on our first night in Europe. Our body's, overcome by shock from this maltreatment, eagerly accept a full night's sleep, even if it's offered at an hour that's entirely out of keeping with our normal schedule. Works like a charm. 

After depositing our things at the hotel, we aimlessly wandered around Paris for a few hours before meeting up with Maggie, an acquaintance of Hannah's from work. Maggie took us to the wine bar Delicatessen where we had a bottle of pet nat--a sure way to our heart. Maggie began living in Paris part-time about a year ago (part time because she shuttles back and forth between the US and Paris every few months). Unsurprisingly, her visa process in France has been troublesome: she originally applied for an entrepreneurial visa, having expressed an intent to open a branch of her company in Europe. The French, for reasons that remain unclear, issued her a visa on the basis of her exceptional talent and skills (a "talent" visa). Unfortunately, it is hard to open a company with this visa: the French bureaucracy were apparently nonplussed by the notion that one might be both talented AND entrepreneurial and they are now lost in byzantine administrative processes trying to address this conundrum. 

Next, the three of us went to Sur Mer, where we dined on various seafood and consumed yet another bottle of wine, this time a lovely chardonnay from the Jura. Our conversation shifted to romance and Maggie regaled us with the trials and tribulations of online and international dating. We discussed the delicate balance of trusting your instincts and embracing first impressions while also allowing relationships to percolate and mature. Modern love is tricky!







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Location: Paris, France

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