Nanny Gig in Paris | Spring 2011

Today I took a bus from London to Paris….And it went through the chunnel. I didn’t know what meant. And I’m kinda glad I didn’t. Because it meant that our bus drove itself into a shipping container with about half an inch of clearance on either side and everything went black for about 30 minutes until we popped out the other side. I thought we were like being kidnapped but I looked around the bus and everyone else looked calm. That was weird as fuck. But I guess that’s how they minimize disruption in a tunnel that literally goes under the ocean.

As soon as we popped out the other side, the bus stopped at a gas station so everyone could pee and get snacks. I meditated and stretched in the grass next to the gas station. It was in the middle of nowhere in the French countryside and was so beautiful.

I met up with the family and we went to our rented apartment. The elevator was so tiny, we had to go one at a time:

The apartment they had rented was absolutely gorgeous and I had my own bedroom and bathroom. It was funny — in my room, the shower looked like a closet. Like it was a stand alone space with a door that closed like a damn closet. I would wake up ass early every morning and shut myself in the shower with my computer so I could Skype Kris without anyone hearing me or knowing I was up yet.

The mom was a good cook and did a fair amount of cooking in our kitchen so that was really cool. We had a schedule and basically she paid me $400 per week — 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, $10 an hour. Plus obviously my plane tickets and they paid for everything when we would go out together and kept food stocked in the apartment. So all I incurred was super minor expenses when I was out wandering on my own.

Paris was fucking stunning in the spring time like that. I couldn’t even:

One day we went to the Louvre and that was epic:

I took pictures of the important stuff:

And the Mona Lisa was a little underwhelming? Mostly because of the hoardes of tourists. Also it’s really small. And you can hardly get anywhere close to it and it’s behind thick, bullet-proof glass:

One night I was up so late that it worked to Skype with Kris since it was early morning for him. I remember not wanting to disturb the family so I actually used the phone in the apartment next door — the woman wasn’t there and had welcomed us to use her space if we needed. There was a knock at the door and I thought it’d be the mom, I don’t know, telling me it was time for bed or something, but it was the mom handing me a glass of wine. I felt so adult!

We had a really nice time together in the end — we had lots of meals out together and lots of time in the apartment together and it was super chill. Sometimes I’d take the baby out, sometimes I’d stay home with the baby while they went out. It was a total win-win.

The churches in Paris are stunning. Like. I don’t even get it:

Heather had told me to go to Saint Chapelle. She said she had a “religious experience” in there and I trust her. It took my actual breath away. Like. At one point I just sat and cried, I was so overwhelmed with the beauty. Even now writing about it — my eyes are misty:

At the end of two weeks, I was ready to get home to my boyfriend. I went to a bakery on my last day and got a huge box of Parisian pastries and they actually survived the plane ride! I took them as a carry-on and the box fit perfectly right under my seat.